the trigger has been pulled,LTX '74 nova

[SSlowBoat]

well, my father in-law likes the way his 94 Z28 runs and drives so much, that we are forgoing the 4.8 lsx swap and he wants a LTX/4l60 combo dropped into the nova.

Little background: car is a original for the most part '74 with 68,000 miles, bench seat, vinyl top, yellow nova. Basic options were a 350, TH350 trans and a am radio. Thats it lol. Car is in a current state of disarray with the entire front clip off down to the frame rails and suspension as he is saving money to send it to a local shop for body mount repairs and a new full floor. Front suspension will consist of tubular upper and lower control arms, coil over conversion, quick ratio box, disc brakes, nice year one wheels and a good sway bar. Rear suspension is already mostly done with entirely new 5 leafs, poly/delrin bushings, and some caltracs. Rear will also get disc brakes. His focus is a nice driver with some pep. The original motor was shot for whatever reason (flattened cam lobes, and two big grooves in the main bearings), and the trans leaked from the front and rear seals. Interior will be updated a little, but was in such good shape its being mostly left alone, except for a covans classic dash. Pics will follow soon.

[popo8]

cant wait to see it....love ltx swaps.


Larry (Popo8) Co-owner
LTXtech.com

[SSlowBoat]

so here is the car
20754

in its current state :(
20755

motor is out, floors have holes, body mounts for front subframe need to be rebuilt.

new motor before teardown. got motor from evilopti (matt) with something up with bottom end. should be a good base. also got complete engine harness, all accessories, pcm, sensors, etc.

20756

[popo8]

Been watching on fb.... But everything looks great so far (here)

I really like the nova!

Co-Owner/Admin @ LTXtech.com

[JCzNova]

Approve.

[96lt1m6]

Welcome to LtX I truly appreciate what you guys are doing and want to thank you for not only preserving and old GM car but doing it in a modern way with an Lt1. All the conveinence of modern day performance with the sound of true muscle! Awesome build !!!!!!!!!

Sent from my LG-P999 using Tapatalk 2

[popo8]

Welcome to LtX I truly appreciate what you guys are doing and want to thank you for not only preserving and old GM car but doing it in a modern way with an Lt1. All the conveinence of modern day performance with the sound of true muscle! Awesome build !!!!!!!!!

Sent from my LG-P999 using Tapatalk 2

Well said.

Co-Owner/Admin @ LTXtech.com

[SSlowBoat]

thank you thank you gents. ill have tons of questions on the swap, especially for you JCZNova. biggest worry for me is the wiring harness. other than that, its still a small block so alot of things should work correctly.

[SSlowBoat]

oh btw, caltracs/new multileafs/new shocks/ hd delrin bushed rear shackles are on lol. its gonna be a shady car. people are gonna look at it and be like "oh a piss yellow nova who would think........." you get the rest.

[Ghettogmc23]

Looks like a good project. The car sounds about like my truck with all the floor rust issues lol. What year pcm n stuff you gonna run? I went thru it all recently so I might have some knowledge on the wiring

[JCzNova]

thank you thank you gents. ill have tons of questions on the swap, especially for you JCZNova. biggest worry for me is the wiring harness. other than that, its still a small block so alot of things should work correctly.

I'm here. The wiring is a lot simpler than I thought it was going to be.

[SSlowBoat]

who did your harness? also motor mounts, you just used regular sbc mounts? the old man is making me nervous, i found a pic online of a supercharged ltx nova and now he is talking all kinds of crazy. when he starts talking like this that means we are doing it, this is what happened with the swap lol.

[SSlowBoat]

i have a set of hooker headers too we had on the old 350, think they are squarish port, will they work? or what did you use?

[dawdaw]

Looks good boss!

[JCzNova]

who did your harness? also motor mounts, you just used regular sbc mounts? the old man is making me nervous, i found a pic online of a supercharged ltx nova and now he is talking all kinds of crazy. when he starts talking like this that means we are doing it, this is what happened with the swap lol.

Certified Performance (sponsor on here) pulled all the garbage out of my harness, emissions, ABS, etc.

I ordered regular Nova 350 frame side mounts on Summit, and LT1 block side solid mounts from the same.

The tranny dipstick tube will probably be crushed against your firewall, I added a flexible braided Lokar one.

My harness was from a B body so my ECM is front left of engine bay, next to the radiator (autozone '95 Z28 OEM.) if you swap from an F body you can go in the glovebox or right rear engine bay on the firewall. I kept the power steering an mounted the right inner wheel well.

Tranny crossmember from CPP made for a 4L60/700R4 swap into 68-74 Novas.

[96lt1m6]

i have a set of hooker headers too we had on the old 350, think they are squarish port, will they work? or what did you use?

If those headers that you have are 1-3/4" primaries you should not have any trouble using them be sure to use the square gaskets that go with the header though. If they are the 1-5/8 I would sell them and get the larger set........

Sent from my LG-P999 using Tapatalk 2

[JCzNova]

When you get an hour, or bookmark it, here is my build thread http://ltxtech.com/forums/showthread.php?17655-1970-Nova-LT1-4L60E-swap

After it is running, the build continues. There is a round two in the thread, and I think it is pretty detailed.

Also ran:
-99 Intrepid dual electric fans IIRC
-Multi rear leafs from JC Whitney
-Ford 8.8 inch with 3.73s
-QA1 Coilovers in front
-Front power disc brake conversion from Summit (mine was manual drum front
-Meziere EWP
-1.6 roller rockers
-LT headers to X-pipe to two mufflers and dumped at first, now all the way over the rear axle and out the corners
-Moved battery to the trunk with the rear disconnect switch
-Grant walnut steering wheel
-Autometer gauges, in my own panel
-Front buckets with frames and sliders from Summit for $450 at the time I believe
-Lokar shifter linkage from the factory column shift to the 4L60E
-Wideband sensor in driver header
-Yank Stall
-I had to roll my rear fenders to get 275 drag radials to fit, 17x9 in rear 16x8 in front
-Competition Engineering SFC
-Had a sump kit from Summit welded to the bottom of my factory tank, external 255 pump and Fram spin-on filter mounted in front of the rearend (pics in thread)
-Phenix Industries black braided line and fittings feed and return (Also from Certified Performance)
-Tubular front control arms, upper and lower
-External tranny cooler mounted in front of Radiator (pics in thread)

I'm sure there is stuff I missed, you will get it in the thread though.

[SSlowBoat]

your second post here is basically what we are doing. just the big basics are my concern right now. motor is gonna go to ellwein. 38- something stroker, possible procharger after he heard what popo's car sounded like. big electric fuel pump, lotsa braided stainless lines, externally stock looking car though minus the wheels and disc brakes all the way around (cpp big kit). tubular suspension subframes possible 6 point cage, bucket seats. trying to make it fast enough that the vinyl top peels itself off lol

[JCzNova]

I definitely ready for some project pics!

[SSlowBoat]

motor teardown some more

rod bearings shot, #3 and #7. headgasket was on its way out. thank god we are just reusing the block/heads/intake/computer stuff


2123321234212352123621237

[popo8]

Where is the blower...? Oh wait... Other stuff first.

Co-Owner/Admin @ LTXtech.com

[SSlowBoat]

Slow Down!!!!! gotta get everything together first, like the basics. figuring out fuel system, to posi the gm rear or do something else, need to find a 4l60e core and send it to you know who, cam the camaro.....

yeah, i said that lol. heads are being shipped out to elliot soon. gotta figure out how to package them to make it to texas and back in one piece.

[shownomercy]

Bet that was a mad fast crazy 10 sec nitrous motor!

Oh wait.

[SSlowBoat]

*boom* hahahahahahah bro that was rough....

[green96ta]

Glad to see a ltx swap. I get to rewire and build tons of lsx harnesses, glad to see someone breaking the mold! Ill always have a spot for the ltx!

Sweet build!

[SSlowBoat]

could always use someone to make this harness much simpler *wink wink*. hahah ill be in touch. camaro #2 has trumped all as of right now before this gets rolling again

[SSlowBoat]

30994

this car is not dead, its just getting more interesting

[popo8]

Giggidy!!!!

[firebird_1995]

This is a project that is going to be very near and dear to my heart. While this setup has ran before in t/a kids car, I never got to see it firsthand. I'm going to see to it that they get off to a great start by building them a custom 10 rib drive setup. The great part about that is I have a nova to use as a template! I for one can't wait to see this thing huffing. Maybe we can work out joint custody??

[SSlowBoat]

Lol have to ask Ltconvert about that. I've been saying this for 2 years, but we gotta get the floor done, and maybe a cage, lol

[firebird_1995]

What floor??? If the pans are rotted out you pit the cage in now, then add aluminum to where the floor used to be. Racecar interior, done

This thing must be at Bowling Green in '15!

[popo8]

LT1leadfoot is the son of Denny whom i suggested u guys speak to. Top notch work.

[SSlowBoat]

What floor??? If the pans are rotted out you pit the cage in now, then add aluminum to where the floor used to be. Racecar interior, done

This thing must be at Bowling Green in '15!
Front pans at base of firewall. Also some rot above where the front of the leaf spring mounts to, the fender mounts on both sides are gone at the firewall, and the body mounts for the front subframe need some work. Tail light panel, hole in quarter just below vinyl trim, lower quarter behind door. Ya know, all the nova spots

[firebird_1995]

All I'm hearing is weight reduction, weight reduction, weight reduction lol

[popo8]

All I'm hearing is weight reduction, weight reduction, weight reduction lol

I believe that was how JCZNova did it. lol

[SSlowBoat]

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/12/07/de438d9939c7c59e94bb6a04980db2e4.jpghttp://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/12/07/f7980cc26e39493685f12fc40e31ddd9.jpghttp://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/12/07/d50344ba9ebe6c0153092a906fa2e5e3.jpghttp://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/12/07/31f9564285d99a7f175f00cd29b99f69.jpghttp://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/12/07/f544517d0c0f89edab964d72164d58d1.jpghttp://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/12/07/0faebb0bff8d0a589ee2beb559480672.jpghttp://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/12/07/13e5d6828091949bb91b7552de6d1161.jpghttp://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/12/07/e57494014faa0dde481544f79d0b8640.jpg

[popo8]

Hopefully cody gets back to u on here or fb. If not... u still have the shop number for denny (no pressure).

[JCzNova]

I believe that was how @JCZNova (http://ltxtech.com/forums/member.php?u=4556) did it. lol

I lost weight every run down the 1/4.... Not just from fuel burned :D

[SSlowBoat]

this thread is dead, and can be closed. the car is gonna be scrapped. its gonna cost us as much as finding a clean solid roller as its gonna cost just to get the rust repaired. plus we wont have to wait 2 years then. there WILL be another 73/74 nova here, unless he goes off the deep end and whipples the camaro with the 383. time will tell. the car just aint worth it, and there is no sentimental value to it.

[popo8]

Ok. Closed.