"Plain Jane" 1970 Nova Build

[Arrowsmith]

The Draggins Car Show came and went this Easter weekend. Getting ready was pretty much a thrash (aren't they all?). Just before the show, I decided I hated the Mopar SS spring suspension setup I had on the car. The fix was to rip everything out and install a set of Calvert split mono leaf springs and Smith Assassin traction bars (the Assassin bars are far more adjustable than Cal Trac bars and they don't bend springs).

Anyway, the first image is of Plain Jane on my pal Jeff Repski's open trailer, on the way to the show. As you can see, Winter is still here in a big way:



Here are two photos of Jane in the show. You can see we had a lavish display...L-O-L:




This is my pal Jeff's '66 Corvette. It's just a good old fashioned high quality hot rod. Jeff built this Vette from what could best be described as a rough project car, doing the body work, paint, mechanical and interior installation himself, in his own home shop. It is stellar.




The next image is courtesy of Jeff's wife Theresa. It's a loose interpretation of an old Instamatic photo we have of us (Jeff, long time buddy Bryon Marion, myself and my wife Cindy) from the same car show, 45 years earlier.



I met all sorts of neat people -- even a couple of very knowledgeable fellow Supercar Registry folks. One of them (and I'm very sorry, I was tired and forgot names...) had -- in the show -- what I believe is the finest 1970 LS6 Chevelle I have ever laid eyes upon -- keeping in mind in my day job I have the opportunity to see more than a few really, really nice cars. I didn't take a photo, but the SS454 was white over black with black stripes. It was done by Rick Nelson and it was absolutely awe-inspiring.

As most of you know, comments from spectators can be funny. One of my fav's was: "I have a Nova just like yours....but mine (his) is better...". L-O-L. One of Jeff's was: "I have a '66 Corvette just like yours....but mine is a (more desirable) split window..."

Even though I never mentioned the car might be for sale, I had several offers on it. When I told them to bring a wheelbarrow full of cash for the car, (north of $100K) most withered. An older (older than us!) gentleman came up to Jeff and offered him a straight across trade with a brand new C8 Corvette. Jeff turned that down too.

When it was all over, I was absolutely shocked to find Plain Jane won Best Street Machine (I'm pretty much wore out here....backstory: There was a good old-fashioned prairie blizzard Friday nite...howling wind and blowing snow. I buried my wife's Honda HRV in the driveway -- and our driveway is almost 1/4 mile long. We had to blow out the snow with our tractor/snowblower, shovel around and under the car, unhook the trailer and pull the car out with our 4X4. The wind finally subsided overnight, and just after daybreak yesterday, I spent several "quality hours: with the tractor and blower cleaning out the driveway again so I could actually get to the show with my pickup truck and Jeff's trailer. I survived...L-O-L...and of course, this coming week, temps are supposed to be near 70-degrees F.)

[Xplantdad]

Way cool in all ways, Wayne! Glad you had a blast. The Nova and the Corvette look amazing!

[ls6owner]

Thx for the comments on the Chevelle, Wayne. Much appreciated. It picked up the award for the Restored class for 1970 and '71. It was great to meet you folks, see your cars and have a visit. Also learnt a few things including that you are a another Saskatchewan fellow and that we were almost neighbors many years ago!
Oliver

[Arrowsmith]

Seriously Oliver...

Nicest 1970 Chevelle (LS6 or otherwise) I have ever laid eyes on, and that's coming from a grizzled old magazine guy who has been in the biz for 4 decades. That car deserves every award it receives. And for those who haven't seen it -- if you have an opportunity to look at it -- you should. Simply amazing.

[dykstra]

Well deserved Wayne! Congratulations

[BJCHEV396]

Congrats Wayne...you deserved it bud!!

[AnthonyS]

Awesome! Yes, congrats.

[Arrowsmith]

Figured some of you might be interested in this video (actually, it's a combination video and slide show). It shows how I rework (blueprint, recurve) a stock Delco point distributor to trigger an MSD ignition box. This arrangement works exceptionally well, is reliable and looks pretty much stock. Also, if you go to some of my other videos, you can see more details on how Plain Jane was constructed.

https://youtu.be/brb5QnCGpN4

[BJCHEV396]

Great tutorial Wayne!

[Arrowsmith]

Here's a short video of my Nova (aka "Plain Jane") idling in our driveway....Hope you dig it!

https://youtu.be/uiXzeQ-IP2c