By Fuelish Media – Images by the Author
Everyone has their own reasons for building a custom car. In some cases, it’s to break a track record or cross a particular model off their bucket list. In the case of Eddie Motorsports, the shop located in Rancho Cucamonga, California, they had a few reasons of their own. It just all came together a little bit differently than the way a regular Joe might go about the process.
Eddie Motorsports (EMS) builds all sorts of billet aluminum parts for classic cars and trucks. During the years they’ve been in business, they’ve done quite a few project vehicles. In this case they wanted to veer away from the usual fare and do something a little bit outside of the box. The decision was made to do a third-gen Chevy Nova, which would serve a few different goals. First, it could be used for research and development. This way they could build new parts for the car and then add them to their product line. And then the second part comes into play: It would make a perfect vehicle for the 2024 SEMA show. Now they just had to find the thing.
As it turned out, their ideal car was right up the street. Well, 45 minutes away (freeways are streets, right?), but close enough that they didn’t need to take a plane to find it. The team ventured to check out the vehicle and it looked like a bone-stock 1972 Nova. The stock engine was underhood, the factory green paint was in great shape, and somehow it had remained untouched for over 50 years. Plus, it was owned by the original buyer and had stayed in California the whole time. Cash was exchanged and they drove the car back to the shop to start making it cool.
Finding a project car that’s in such excellent shape is exceedingly rare nowadays, and the EMS team knew their good fortune. They didn’t want to just tear into the car with reckless abandon, yet they had to make it something that would garner attention. Doing it right would take a solid plan and a lot of time. They could do the first part, but there was a big caveat. They had until SEMA 2024 to pull it off, and that was just 10 months away. (It was a busy 10 months, to say the least.)
A solid build starts on a solid platform, and there’s a lot going on with this Nova. The suspension is made from a combination of Heidts and QA1 components, with Wilwood brakes and 18-inch American Racing wheels on each corner. Those wheels would also set the scene for the rest of the car because it’s not often you find a Nova with 13-inch-wide rims on all four corners. That meant modifying the rear inner fenders and installing new mini-tubs from Detroit Speed & Engineering. Up front they removed the fenderwells entirely to show off that clean suspension. Well, that and the engine.
There’s a GM LS1 engine underhood with a ton of dress-up goodies from EMS and a bunch of performance parts to ensure this car scoots. There’s the FiTech EFI setup, Church Boys Racing 1¾-inch headers, and the custom 2½-inch exhaust that routes to Black Widow Venom mufflers, to name a few. All total it puts out 500 hp at 6,000 rpm and 525 lb-ft of torque. It’s all mated to a TREMEC TKX TR3551 transmission, with a McLeod Hydraulic throw-out bearing, a McLeod RST 10½-inch twin-disc kit, and McLeod steel flywheel to ensure the power gets put to the pavement properly. That’s not too bad for a car that was stock for most of its life.
The interior was a whole other ball of wax. For that, they went to Gamiño’s Upholstery, which is a mobile business. They tore the car apart and covered it in leather and suede, top to bottom. The suede is the key to this whole thing too because it gives off a more upscale appearance. Since it’s on the headliner too, you get a real fancy vibe when you’re sitting in the driver seat. It’s not what you expect, really, and that’s a good thing.
The car came to EMS in green and they had every opportunity to paint it a new color, but it was in such good shape they decided to keep it as-is. That particular shade is accented nicely by the bronze and matte black tones found all over the car. They added a 2-inch cowl hood from AMD and then put a nice matte black finish on that and the rear trunk lid. The grille and bumpers were done the same way, which also adds to the effect. It’s a clean package that has both a striking color theme and an aggressive tone.
The finishing touches are what set any build off the most, and that was certainly the case with the Nova. EMS built a whole slew of new parts for the thing, including billet door handles and mirrors, which both have a matte black finish. There are custom badges too, which don’t get as much attention as they should, but that’s probably because they look stock enough to blend in. Again, it’s the little details.
Ten months was a tight timeline, and yet they somehow pulled it all off. The car made it to the 2024 SEMA show in Las Vegas, and it got a lot of attention for the crew at Eddie Motorsports. It’s nice to see a plan come together in such a perfect way, and when the end result is a car like this, we can all enjoy the fruit of their labor.
Check out this story in our digital edition here.
Tech Check
Owner & Builder: Eddie Motorsports
Vehicle: 1972 Chevrolet Nova
Engine
Type: GM LS1
Displacement: 346 ci
Cylinder Heads: GM
Camshaft: Summit Racing LS1 camshaft with 0.550 lift, 284 duration, 112 LSA
Induction: FiTech Ram manifold with FiTech EFI Ultimate LS System Port Injection, FiTech Conical Flanged air filter
Assembly: Bob Frontino, Frontino Racing
Exhaust: Church Boys Racing 1¾-inch headers, 2½-inch custom exhaust, Black Widow Venom mufflers
Dress Up: EMS LS two-piece valve covers with coil covers, EMS LS Chevy billet aluminum S-Drive Plus, eight-rib, Pro Touring pulley kit with Cerakote finish, EMS billet aluminum hood hinges and new trunk hinges
Fuel Tank: Tanks Inc. die-stamped and galvanized 16-gallon tank, in-tank fuel pump kit by FiTech
Drivetrain
Transmission: TREMEC TKX TR3551
Clutch: McLeod RST twin-disc kit with McLeod steel flywheel, McLeod Hydraulic Clutch release bearing assembly with EMS billet aluminum fluid reservoir
Assembly: Silver Sport Transmissions
Driveshaft: Inland Empire Driveline
Rear Axle: Currie 9-inch Ford with 3.70 ratio and Currie 31-spline performance axle shaft kit
Chassis
Chassis: Three-piece frame
Front Suspension: Heidts front subframe, 2-inch drop spindles, tubular control arms, 1 1/8-inch rollbar; and QA1 coilovers with 500-pound springs
Rear Suspension: Heidts four-link and 1-inch rollbar, QA1 coilovers, Detroit Speed & Engineering mini-tubs
Brakes: Wilwood master cylinder and proportioning valve, three-pedal Clayton Machine Works by Lokar pedals, Wilwood 13-inch rotors front and rear with six-piston calipers front and four-piston calipers rear
Wheels & Tires
Wheels: 18×13 American Racing VF545
Tires: Nankang CR5 Sportnex, 315/30R18
Interior
Upholstery: Gray suede and black leather by Gamiño’s Upholstery (Wildomar, CA)
Seats: Halo bucket seats with reshaped foam bolstering
Steering: Ididit aluminum column, EMS 13½-inch Racer Sport half-wrap steering wheel
Instrumentation: Dakota Digital VHX
Stereo: Custom Autosound head unit, RetroSound front speakers
Wiring: Painless Performance Products complete kit
Shifter: EMS Billet Aluminum TREMEC Lightning II
Door Handles: EMS billet aluminum Kinetic: door, window, rear-side window handles, universal fitment, Cerakote finish
Exterior
Bodywork & Paint: Stock GM Sequoia Green paint, Cerakote bronze coating on all painted parts by Casey Scranton (Norco, CA)
Hood: Auto Metal Direct (AMD) steel 2-inch cowl hood
Grille: Stock, blacked out
Mirrors: EMS Kinetic billet aluminum round mirrors in matte black
Headlights: PSI 7-inch LED with black finish
Door Handles: EMS billet lightning style in matte black
Bumpers: Stock front and rear
