1965 Chevrolet Nova Coupe Black

1965 Chevrolet Nova Additional Info:

This 1965 Nova has just had an extremely extensive restoration by Born Vintage Hot Rods in Bakersfield California. It was just featured on the "Autotopiala" YouTube channel. At the bottom of the page I will add the link to the video. As well as a cold start and functions video.

Vehicle Details

Exterior:

The untrained eye may see the exterior as being relatively stock. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. The front and rear bumpers have been custom fabricated to hug the body of the car. The carriage bolts have been shaved front and rear, and the license plate indention as well as parking lights have been removed from the front bumper giving it a very smooth and clean appearance. The bumpers have been finished in chrome that was done by Ogden Chrome in Utah. Below the front bumper, is a custom made front spoiler you won’t find anywhere else. The emblems you would normally find on the hood and grill have been removed. The hood is a factory steel hood with custom hand made vents to allow ventilation of hot air from the engine bay. Headlights are projector style from Dapper Lighting and feature a switchback halo that flashes amber for turn signals. Moving up past the hood you’ll notice the cowl has been completely shaved, following trimless flush mounted front and rear glass. Ring brothers mirrors on both driver and passenger side. As well as recessed door lock and gas cap, shaved drip rails and removal of trim on top of doors. Side exit exhaust just behind the back tire give an aggressive edge. Trim around the tail panel has been removed as well as the bulky reverse lights. Tail light bezels have been finished in chrome and the tail panel finished in satan black. The wheels are 18x10 front and rear Fikse Profil 5S that have been spec’d out and built specifically for this car and they are wrapped in Falken RT660 285/30R18 tires.

Drivetrain and Suspension:

a GM Performance 525HP LS3 backed by a Tremec T56 6 speed manual transmission. It features a Monster Clutches hydraulic clutch that is very smooth grabbing and easy on the foot. Past the transmission is a Currie full floater 9” rear end with 3.89 gears. Front and rear G-Comp “Race” subframes with weld it subframe connectors. It rides on RideTech fully adjustable front and rear coilovers. Stopping power is provided by Wilwood manual brakes. 6 piston front and 4 piston rear with stainless steel lines and adjustable brake bias valve. The belly of the car has been finished in a Line X coating for easy maintenance. The engine sings through 1 7/8” headers into a 3” stainless exhaust system featuring an X pipe and Borla mufflers. It stays cool with an aluminum radiator and dual electric fans

Interior and Trunk:

TMI seats, door panels, and suede headliner. All unnecessary holes have been professionally filled in on the dash. Top of the dash has been wrapped in suede. Classic Instrument Auto X gauges tell you everything you need to know. Quick release MPI suede steering wheel. Motion Raceworks turn signal lever. Resto Mod air conditioning that blows ice cold with their beautiful control panel. Removable custom made harness bar with Simpson harnesses. Custom made center console with 3 cup holders. Throughout the interior you’ll find Ring Brothers window cranks, door handles, and their shifter as well. Custom cut carpet finishing in both the interior and the trunk. The brake and clutch pedal pads have been added to match the GM style gas pedal. In the trunk it has been completely finished and closed out with custom made removable sheetmetal panels. Behind the panels is a fire suppression system and the battery. Rear coilover adjustment knobs are mounted on the close out panel for easy adjustments. A custom made wiring harness has been built for the car front to back.

Engine Bay:

Surrounding the engine is more hand made sheetmetal work. The hood is held with Ring Brothers hinges that open very smoothly. Stainless hardware throughout the entire engine bay. Custom made firewall into a custom made transmission tunnel. Custom fabricated intake and radiator lines. Coilover adjustment knobs have been mounted to the sheet metal for ease of adjustment. Motion Raceworks valve covers and catch can. The engine and transmission have both been professionally finsihed in gloss black to perfectly contrast the satin black.

Overview:

This car has been very good to me. Runs and drives very very well. Doesn’t get hot, let it idle as long as you want. Doesn’t leak a drop. Car handles like its on rails and sticks to the road like glue. No shakes or rattles. Turn the key and GO! I have many more pictures I can show upon request, as Im limited to 100 pictures here. Im well over $300,000 into this car. $60,000 in paint alone, and another 100,000 in just custom fabrication. The paint, body lines, gaps and finish on this car are all 10/10. Before the car looked like this it was a patina, pro touring, auto x and track machine. In its patina form I put over 2500 miles on it dialing the car in, highway drives, cruises, sitting in traffic, track days, auto cross events, and so on. I have driven the car over an hour to the track, raced it all day, then drove it home. It uses the same suspension and drivetrain it had during that time. Before disassembling of the car extensive measurements were taken on the entire suspension to make sure when the car went back together everything was set up EXACTLY the same. It will not need any test miles as everything is set up exactly as it was. With 45 miles of spirited driving since completion with ZERO issues. In the Autotopiala YouTube video you can see I was driving the car pretty hard in some parts. And I can confirm this car keeps up with new Corvette’s and Porsche’s around a track no problem. Put a amateur driver behind the wheel and it will still run consistent low 1:50’s at Buttonwillow raceway. I ran the car there once at a open track day and was almost able to keep up with a fully gutted and caged race car on slicks. Car is set up, and very fast. Over the years I have been able to drive some pretty high dollar built cars, some of them worth over $600,000, and this car drives better than all of them combined. Its really like nothing else, its very predictable, sticks to the road, and does exactly what you tell it to do. You will not find another 65 Nova that has been restored to this high level of quality. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Selling because I need the money for other ventures in life.

https://youtu.be/1RIh4YwT3rE?si=FeSnNxL2z63FbC0w

https://youtu.be/8wWAQdCZkwU?si=HKp76Syb-7r4CACs