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Chris Konecny of Tacoma, Washington, is the owner of this badass, blown 1963 Pro Street Nova. He has owned the car for about a year and a half now, and he couldn’t be happier about it. “I’ve always wanted one of these.” Chris told us. “My first car was an Orange Nova, and I’ve always been a fan of these first-gens.” There is an element of nostalgia in this build that helps push it over the top for Chris.
The orange color really makes this Nova pop.
The powerplant under that big huffer is a small-block 355 cubic-inch Chevrolet engine with dual Holley 750 cfm carburetors. The build of this car is reminiscent of the heyday of hot-rodding when blowers ruled the road and the track.
The small-block engine powering this Nova looks almost as good as it sounds, and that's only because it sounds damn good.
This Nova also features a Turbo 400 transmission with a reverse-manual valvebody, transbrake, and 4,500-rpm stall converter. The manual valve body modification to the automatic transmission gives the driver true control of shifting. When Chris wants second gear, the car is in second gear—no argument from the automatic.
The drivetrain is finished with a 9-inch rearend with Strange 35-spline axles and a ladder bar-supported reared. Chris also has Wilwood disc brakes at all four corners, Mickey Thompson tires on the back, a strut front end, and the entire build sits on an Art Morrison Chassis, made locally in Fife, Washington.
The underside of Chris's Nova looks just as good as the topside and inside.
When Chris bought it, this Nova was a complete project. “The builder finished it and parked it,” Chris explained. “It ran, but had an overheating problem.” Chris knew he wanted the car from the moment he saw it. Honest Performance out of Federal Way, Washington, helped Chris get the cooling system under control, and were instrumental in getting the build fine tuned.
A larger radiator and fan shroud that was fabricated by Honest Performance played a big part in getting the heat problem under control, and now Chris can reliably take his car out for a cruise without having to worry. The temperature stays well within normal operating range.
The interior in this car is really well done too, showing that no aspect of the build was neglected.
The interior of features a full spread of Auto Meter gauges, Kirkey Racing bucket seats, a Hurst shifter, and full rollcage for safety. The setup makes it safe, comfortable, and fun to drive. Not to mention the fact that the interior looks just as good as the exterior. We love the color scheme and the way the gauges are seated in the dash.
Do you want to read about more Home-Built Heros? All you need to do is click here. If you own a Home-Built Hero, we want to hear about it. Since we’ve started the series, we have received more than a few candidates, but we still want to see more – we can never get enough.
If you want to see more cars built by you the readers, send us a few pictures of your car showing the engine, interior, and exterior, along with all of the pertinent information, and we’ll make you Internet famous. You can send your submissions to chevyhardcore@powerautomedia.com.
