1969 Nova

[dakota tom]

I bought this in 1978 with 36k miles. Squandered 6 weeks wages back then on it. Got it back on the road a couple of months ago after sitting 13 years. 52k miles now. Selling dealer made a partial copy of the invoice in 1979. Original paint and interior.

 

[IMBVSUR?]

I would not say you squandered anything, except maybe the time you let it sit, however sometimes life happens.

 

[Phil Reed]

Looks awesome Tom!!!! You have something to be really proud of!!! Congrats!!!!!

 

[MRHP]

Tom, that car is fantastic!! Post as many pictures as you can of it.

 

[dakota tom]

One picture is of me with the car in 1979 at Thunder Valley Dragways. Picture of key ring that came with the car. Holes welded up in trunk where I removed an electric fuel pump. One of the original redlines survived as the spare.

 

[dakota tom]

This photo is of the car in 1977 before I owned it. It is just left of center. At this time the car was with its third owner. He had put in a TH400 with a stock 6 lug converter and when I bought the car it had a couple of flat cam lobes so it wasn't running like it should. In the lower left of the photo I am standing front passenger side of my W-31 Cutlass.

 

[blkblk63ss]

Was this a used car lot or auction of some sort???

 

[dakota tom]

Staging lanes at Thunder Valley Dragways Marion South Dakota.

 

[dakota tom]

This car has been local for most of it's life.
The original owner of the car, Delwin Meyer, had the car for only 4 months before he was called to military service. He brought the car back to Rapp Chevrolet to sell.
The next owner, Dave Patton, still lives about six miles from my parents farm. The car was known to be one of the fastest in the area. He sold the car in 1974?
The third owner was Ron Boge. He was a college student here, home town of Boise Idaho. I bought the car from him in late 1978.
I did not know how long of a history I had with the car until a couple of months ago. I was at an auction and was talking with Leland Papik. He was a mechanic at Rapp Chevrolet back then and told me he remembers the car when it came in on the transporter and he serviced it for delivery. He is friends with Dave Patton and when the car came back to be resold he let Dave know about it. There is a county asphalt road that was just widened and repaved in the late 60s a mile north of the farm. Leland was telling about him and Dave and a few others that would meet there and race. So one the cars I would hear some nights racing with open headers when I was 12 years old would someday become mine.

 

[benchseat4speed]

How’s it run? Never driven a rectangle port bbc, always wanted to. Just oval port stuff. Bitchin car, dude. I love it. I always like to hear when those high end Chevys end up in hands like yours, instead of the Barrett Jackson rich guy types, know what I mean? Cuz a car like that is unobtainium for me.

 

[61belairbubbletop]

Very cool car and history !

 

[dakota tom]

How’s it run? Never driven a rectangle port bbc, always wanted to. Just oval port stuff. Bitchin car, dude. I love it. I always like to hear when those high end Chevys end up in hands like yours, instead of the Barrett Jackson rich guy types, know what I mean? Cuz a car like that is unobtainium for me.

This car is one that I could not afford to buy at todays prices. In 1978 everyone asked "why do you want that!" and told me I was nuts to pay $1800 for it. Maybe was. Power output is civil. Gradual increase up to 3000rpm. Starts getting with it at 4500 and runs up to about 7200 and noses over. This car has Mickey Thompson headers and a set of L88 valve springs. The springs GM put on these would float out and dropped valves were common.
Dave Patton did have 4.56 gears in it and I have been told that the car would break into the 11s.
It had the 3.55s back in it when I bought it and since I had other cars to race I never geared it down. With some very bad tires it ran 13.40s at 110mph. Idle of the line and back completely out to upshift to second. Through the traps in third. Tires were leaving visible black marks past the 1/8th mile.
I liked driving the car. Quiet with the stock type crossflow muffler. 18MPG at 65 mph.
I have seen 7800RPM in high gear, Mid 150s. took less than a mile to get there.

 

[dakota tom]

Very cool car and history !

Thanks. The stories and history are more important than the dollars its worth now.

 

[Tom Kochtanek]

Hey Tom, that should go good with that '62 you brought to Great Bend .

Cheers! TomK

 

[La Hot Rods]

I built a 68 Camaro with a 375 H/P 396 for a buddy back in the early 90s.
Car ran real good.

 

[benchseat4speed]

Tom it’s funny you posted this when you did, there’s a ‘69 396/375 for sale near me right now. JH block, 223 crank, 291 heads. Dude wants 5k for it, it’s in pieces, and it’s already .060 over...may be the next engine for my 56...

 

[La Hot Rods]

The funny thing about the square port big block was the people that said you couldn't run them on the street because a oval port would out run them on the street.

 

[dakota tom]

The funny thing about the square port big block was the people that said you couldn't run them on the street because a oval port would out run them on the street.

The oval ports are usually better below 6000 rpm. Big ports need aggressive driver and good tune.

 

[dakota tom]

The Camaro pic reminds me of on night in town. I was cruising around in the Nova and it was starting to load up a bit. I got on it some to clear things out. Might have gotten into the secondaries a bit. I don't remember the tires breaking loose at all but a moment later a highway patrol was on my ass with the lights on. The patrolman was telling me." you kids think you have hot car if you can squeal the tires some, when I was younger I had a Camaro with a 375HP 396 and that car was really fast, you would know what power was if you could see it" after the third time I told him that the Nova was a 375/396 it finally registered with him and we got out of his patrol car and I opened the hood of the Nova. He looked a moment and said "I guess you weren't on it very hard. Take care of the car." and he left.

 

[La Hot Rods]

You said it..... the driver is it.... and those 396 big port are rap happy.