Nova 2.0: Joe Stemmler’s Blown ’68 Street Terror

 

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If there is one thing that is certain in any car guy’s life, it revolves around the fact that if he has ever sold a car, he will inevitably want that car back. We’re creatures of habit, and we like what we like. Such is the case with Joe Stemmler and his ’68 Nova. “I bought my ’68 Chevy II Nova in March of 2012. I had previously owned a ’72 Nova, and ever since I sold it, I had the itch to build another one.”

The car as Joe found it and drove it for the first year, and then the rebuild.

Joe decided to enlist the help of a few friends to help him locate another Nova, and one of them happened to know of a car that was for sale. He and his friend went to look at the car, and what they found was a running and drivable 1968 model with a later-model 350 cubic-inch small-block engine and a Turbo 350 transmission. Joe says, “It drove good and the price was right. I took it home the following weekend.”

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This engine build started when Joe located the old 6V71 blower intake on an old truck at his uncle’s shop.

Joe reminisced, “I left it as it was for maybe a month, and then I swapped in another mildly-built small-block and an M21 four speed transmission. I’m sure the neighbors got nervous as I was doing this in the street in front of my house.” Joe enjoyed the car with that setup for a while until tragedy struck. “Hurricane Sandy came through, and I had the car up on jack stands in the garage. The flood water got high enough to get into the transmission case and also fill the oil pan. After that, I decided to rebuild the entire car.”

Fortunately, Joe’s uncle, Dave Koenig has a shop called Truck and Autoworks Inc., and Joe was able to finagle the car into an empty corner of the shop, where he began stripping the car. Joe recalls, “It was a long process, trying to put in an hour here and there between jobs. It was taking forever to get any real work done. I realized that with the amount of free time I had, the car would never get finished. So, I spoke with my uncle, and had his shop complete the body work and paint.” The shiny gold hue is a tint by Metalux paint, and according to Joe, “No one but me thought it was a good choice at the time.”

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While Uncle Dave and his guys were finishing the body, Joe started gathering the rest of the parts for the build. “I always wanted an engine with a supercharger, and I found a 6v71 intake manifold for a small-block on an old pickup truck my uncle had in his yard. I then sourced a rebuilt 6v71 supercharger online, and Dyers supplied the drive kit.”

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We can hear the engine whine just looking at this image.

Joe also works part-time at Kogan Motorsports, so he and Dave Kogen built the 383 cubic-inch stroker using Edelbrock heads, a Comp custom-ground camshaft, H-beam connecting rods, Wiseco pistons, and twin Holley 450 cfm carburetors with velocity stacks to top them off.

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The interior is mostly stock, with a few upgrades.

Behind that is a Richmond super T10 transmission, backed by a 12-bolt filled with Moser axles, and a spool with 3.73 gears. A set of Calvert split mono-leaf springs with Caltrac bars support the rear, while the front suspension features Moroso trick springs.

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Jee tried working on the car nights and weekends, but his work schedule and other time-stealing activities got in the way. Eventually, he got help from his uncle to complete the paint and body work.

When it came time to update the interior, Joe recovered the factory rear seat, and a pair of bucket seats from a ’69 Camaro. The door panels and headliner only needed a good cleaning to make them look good.

It took nearly three years to get the car to this point, and the week after Joe got the car back together, he drove it from Long Island, New York, to Ocean City, Maryland, with only one road side repair needed.

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Joe laughs when he says, “The radio wasn’t in the car yet, so I went a little loony after listening to the supercharger singing at 3,000 rpm for hours on end.” Joe is planning to take the car to New Jersey this year and make a few passes at the dragstrip to see what it does.

Finally, Joe would really like to acknowledge the help he received from his family and long-time friends Mike Enrico and Pete Desiderio. Without out them, this car would have never gotten together.

About the author

Randy Bolig

Randy Bolig has been working on cars and has been involved in the hobby ever since he bought his first car when he was only 14 years old. His passion for performance got him noticed by many locals, and he began helping them modify their vehicles.
Read My Articles

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