1970 Chevy Nova Chevrolet Performance zz454

It was a long journey to get here, but it is done!!!
GM Performance zz454 470 HP 520LB/FT
Holley 770 Street Avenger Carb
Dougs Headers (These are the only ones that will fit the head bolts for the zz454 Aluminum heads)
700r4 Trans
ColdCase 2 Row 1-1/4" tube radiator with dual puller fans and shroud
I needed so much help trying to get this put together and it was tough, so if anyone has questions and doing a similar build, I would be happy to help.

[@jacksonmarshallkramer5087]

When l graduated from HS in 87, this was what was in the parking lot. Camaros, Mustangs, Darts, Challengers, Chevelles. It was beautiful. Now, you never see em on the road.

[@MHTownsend57]

Well, I'm trying to keep that alive.

[@theariesexperiment4642]

Just wreaks of "80s Hair metal" and Saturday night hangs at the local shopping center. Love this car. Brings back so many memories. Thanks for showing her to us.

[@MHTownsend57]

Thanks man I am brought back in time every time I drive it. I have several other videos on my channel. I had to baby it here since the motor was a few days old.

[@RestorationObsession]

Holy balls. This is one of my favorite cars of all time.

[@MHTownsend57]

Really? Wow thank man. 👍

[@RestorationObsession]

@@MHTownsend57 lol I was not kidding. I just love this car! I'd like to build a C3 vette version of it some day. =)

[@MHTownsend57]

@@RestorationObsession You totally should do it.

[@aestheticswim3397]

I want them to bring it back

[@randymoore3057]

Me to man nothing like the novas

[@derekthegreat1114]

That’s a perfect car right there. I wouldn’t change anything.

[@carlwren3152]

Well done sir; Me and my boys are actually starting on one. Do you have a complete list somewhere of everything you’ve done to it?

[@MHTownsend57]

I do and would be happy to help. Is there a better way to be in touch? If you have facebook/messenger you can look me up under Mark Townsend. You can type in the city From Visalia, California and that might help you narrow the search. Let me know. I look forward to helping. One thing I have learned is you get what you pay for, so I will let you know the hard lessons I learned along the path too.

[@novaguy509]

A gas guzzling beast like that in California must make liberal heads explode. I approve this car. Nicely done.

[@MHTownsend57]

Haha yep! That's funny. A guy on a bike rode by shaking his head at me a while back, while hundreds of other give thumbs up. So I'm cool with it either way. I'm just having a blast either way. Lol.

[@lannystout2769]

Local kid had one set up exactly like that in the late 70s. It was maroon with black stripes.

[@sdime9858]

That was my dream car in high school and still is , love the air shocks , traction bars and cragers

[@MHTownsend57]

Thank you thank you.

[@buzzsaw5475]

I had a 71 ss in high school..yes, had traction bars.and the crager ss on L 60 15s.Am currently doing a frame off on a 71 , it wasnt an SS so I backhalfed it, its a big tire car now...just installed a new front subframe, all new front end parts, and welded the frame connecters to the 4- link.. interior next maybe someday you will get your dream car. I was fortunate , never thought I would be able to afford it. but its amazing how much money i had after that anchor I called a wife left!! good luck!! this is a beautiful nova you have there Mark!!

[@badgerbait8351]

Quick...get that thing out of California before they try to emasculate it!!!

[@TheChevyGuy]

I love it. Who needs a radio in the car when you can listen to her play her own music.

[@MHTownsend57]

Exactly. I often find myself listening to the radio and then at stop light I mute it to listen to the cam. Haha.

[@TheChevyGuy]

@@MHTownsend57 my dad has a 1970 Chevy nova ss 355 4 speed manual and “city gears” 4:56 I have some videos on my channel of the car

[@MHTownsend57]

@@TheChevyGuy Wow beautiful. Love yours. I am slightly wishing I had a 4 speed manual now. I do have the 700r4, but 3/4 gears are useless for racing and can't handle the torque.

[@gmcalltheway]

My thoughts exactly 😊

[@venomhemi3914]

PERFECT

[@johnheffington985]

I wanted this engine for the '87 Chevy Silverado I had a few years back. Sadly, I no longer have that truck.

[@Mubarak_z71]

MAN we need 1 hour of this 3:53 or maybe 10 hours

[@tonybeef1142]

That the sweetest sound ever !!

[@johnheffington985]

Sounded like the intro for Hot for Teacher, lol!

[@tonypulido4224]

Bad freakin ass

[@113stumpy]

Nice! Can’t add a picture of mine!

[@ZingsVideos]

The best music on youtube.

[@jimmygarlandsr8569]

Ok see what it will do

[@lolofurax5036]

The car of my dream, very nice work. big thumb up from France!!!

[@warriordefender4906]

Nice car. Don't make 'em like that anymore

[@moparpower440]

Sounds so good

[@JT-SE-OHIO]

Very nice. It would be hard to keep this between the ditches and the rubber side down. I have experienced a stock 69 with the 375 hp 396 ci and it was fast but a handful to keep control of. You have an awesome ride, I just hope it doesn't hurt you and you can enjoy it for many years to come.

[@55555711]

i like the stance of it jacked up in rear and big traction bars showing thats how the set these cars up back in the 70's so cool

[@MHTownsend57]

Thanks. I do have it more level now, but yes I do like the jacked up look.

[@billcruze7991]

Perfect stance & wheel combo. Nice ride

[@jeremymiddleton7551]

I want to buy your car

[@MHTownsend57]

1 million dollars haha 😅

[@joesamabinbiden6663]

Pure badassery 😎🔥🔥🔥

[@MHTownsend57]

Thanks man. 👍

[@peterjordan6757]

I had same but 71 sounds good brake it in the way your going to run it it's just loading up sitting there clean it out that's what it's saying

[@1956fink]

If I had this car back in the 70's I'd have been the shit. Bad ass.

[@MHTownsend57]

If I had this back in high school... Well I wouldn't have been able to afford it for one, but gosh it would have been fun.

[@joshuaemery6246]

Sweet ride!

[@davidkeeton6716]

This is how this body style Nova should be done. Exactly.

[@kentstephens4770]

Nice man, really nice. Sounds good to.

[@LuisMorales-te3qz]

PERFECTION!!!

[@ohjamezy8017]

I have a 79 chevy nova and I would like to jack the rear up just like yours for that 70s raked look. What parts exactly did you install into the rear suspension that gave you that look?

[@MHTownsend57]

I got multileaf 2 inch raise leaf springs. I also got shackles and put it on the very last/end hole. That will definitely do it for you which is about a 4" lift which translates to a lot on these Novas. With shackles you can lower it down to the desired look. I currently have it lowered a bit with the shackles at the lowest setting and 1" drop blocks. So now its about 1" raise and the front is higher too. So it had the 70s high lifted look. I love it.

[@spankymcnugget3166]

bbbbbbbad asssssss!

[@jeremymiddleton7551]

I don't care how much

[@jaymemccall1665]

That's a Chevrolet not gm

[@showsomesignsoflife]

It's my dream to own a car like this some day, welp i should get my drivers license first

[@MHTownsend57]

If you want that dream bad enough, you can make it happen.

[@papaclod-hopper1976]

what are the specs on the rear wheel and tire setup. I love it!!

[@MHTownsend57]

I don't know the back spacing, but the tires are 275/60r15 on this video. I now have 295s.

[@papaclod-hopper1976]

@@MHTownsend57 that’s awesome! I literally just ordered a set of M/T 295’s for my nova. Did you lower the front of yours at all?

[@MHTownsend57]

@@papaclod-hopper1976 Oh awrsome. They are a good looking tire on the Nova. No I actually lowered the back a little and the front up. So it has a nice higher 70s more straight look now with the back up just a little. Check out my more recent videos to see it.

[@papaclod-hopper1976]

@@MHTownsend57 do you have the 295's on a 10" wheel or a 12" wheel?

[@MHTownsend57]

@@papaclod-hopper1976 Great question, I really don't know any of the dimensions of the wheel, but the wheel fits easily with that tire as if it was made for it.

[@superfuntime3107]

Now the tuning begins. Should be able to get close to 500 H.P. Put roller rockers on it with stud girdle.

[@MHTownsend57]

I don't want to break the seal and lose the 3 year warranty parts and labor, so maybe after that yeah. Good tips though.

[@miketiritilli3079]

No action? Bummer dude.

[@christopherpatten9388]

That's just beautiful

[@cecilpotter1229]

Outstanding 😁😇🇺🇸

[@sapphirethehusky873]

Doug's Headers, any mufflers or cats at all? If so, what?

[@MHTownsend57]

This is open headers, but I have the exhaust cutouts near the rear tires so the long pipes do give it a cool sound.

[@kkoch666]

Pin that sucker!

[@dereklacey1]

That cam!!! Awesome!!

[@sum12see]

Nice Nova!!

[@LSXGh0St98]

Man this is a true beauty 🔥

[@XxXNyMpHoXxX]

What hood is that??

[@MHTownsend57]

It's the 4" cowl induction hood I think from Classic Industries.

[@billstovall3813]

Just curious how it performs? Also, that sounds like it has a beefier cam than a stock zz 454. S

[@MHTownsend57]

Performs great. Lights up the tires in 1st into 2nd. Sounds amazing. With my setup, it almost sounds like a NASCAR while at higher RPMs on the freeway and I am flooring it passing traffic. But, to get it to sound the way it sounds in this video, I didn't fully have it tuned just right. I think the fuel mixture screws were a little off so you are hearing some possible miss-fires. It sounds cool, but it mellowed out just a tad once I got it really dialed in. I have it set at initial 13 advance timing as well. Now, I have a 2" carb spacer, new carb I believe, super dialed in and it sounds awesome and still like a nice lopy cam, but I achieve that sound with a low idle. I have the idle set to maybe 650-700 rpms so you are hearing every cylinder take turns firing. I like it, but some prefer a more faster idle sound. Check out my other videos and you can hear what it sounds like today. I will post some more recent ones now. Check out this link kzbin.info/www/bejne/r3fLonp9p9Oagc0 or this one kzbin.info/www/bejne/rIKlY4GnhLWXq6s or this one kzbin.info/www/bejne/rXzbaWWap69rfqc. These are all the most recent with it tuned how it should be. Its also straight pipes with headers and pipes running to the back. Let me know if you have any more questions or need anything else.

[@billstovall3813]

@@MHTownsend57 tx

[@johnbrumfield6317]

Which hood do you have on it

[@MHTownsend57]

It's the 4" cowl hood from KeyParts. Purchased from Summitracing.

[@josephperry8952]

Stock cam from chevrolet?

[@MHTownsend57]

Yeah this is the stock cam that comes in the zz454

[@theshark2804]

I wish I had a 2 door nova. I have a 4 door. Just drove it for the first time last week. Needs fine tuning but she a runner with a 454 and th400

[@chriswells1440]

Check out Midwest nova kings .. I bet they could change it into a 2 door. They install everything. They did my frame replacement.

[@theshark2804]

@@chriswells1440 I don’t have the car anymore. I have a 73 2 door now. Thanks

[@alexander_foster653]

What camara are you using ?

[@MHTownsend57]

That is the Canon T6i, but it's all about the right lens and knowing how to set the camera up. I'm shooting at 24fps, 1/50 shutter, and the lens is a 30mm 1.4 f-stop. I'm shooting it at wide open with a variable ND filter. You can make that camera look like a beautiful cinematic camera or like a cheap home video camera. See my other videos for examples of this.

[@donnieelliot9046]

you gona drive it. show how works

[@MHTownsend57]

That motor had only about 100 miles on it. I chose to break it in very nicely. Check out my other videos for more sights and sounds.

[@adamsadventures9919]

Sweet car!

[@MHTownsend57]

Thanks man.

[@neronine7320]

🎃❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@DP-jt5kz]

🤩

[@kgkg6649]

Dayyum! :)

[@kayyo1891]

Nice but rework the rear, unless it's just about looks

[@yasnkocoglu7923]

Huio bülbül p mı yar

[@firefighteruppy9121]

I'm looking into this engine... I've seen others complain about the head bolts too. Did you look into other head bolts... maybe from ARP? I'd like a bigger selection of headers, but not crazy about having to modify them.

[@MHTownsend57]

Yes I looked into every head bolt company I could find and they don't make anything for these heads. ARP is very aware of all the new Chevy heads that have the tall bolts. Your only option is to shave down the bolts or get headers that specifically work for this motor and your car. I used Doug's headers and found them to fit perfectly and made for these heads perfectly, but I did still have to ding the under side of the header for the power steering. It wasn't a major deal.

[@chriswells1440]

Sounds good.

[@funguy7979]

Is this for sale?

[@MHTownsend57]

Definitely not. Complimented though.

[@genehasenauer5020]

I was hoping to see you light them UP !

[@MHTownsend57]

Was a brand new motor still under 50 miles breaking it in. See my other video where I do a nice burnout from many different cool angles.

[@genehasenauer5020]

@@MHTownsend57 cool very nice RIDE !

[@ryan.c990]

Amazing car!

[@MHTownsend57]

Thanks man. 👍

[@harrywernsman9045]

Nothing says "this is a high end build" like cooper tires.

[@meryjaneturbo3043]

ls 5.3l with 100shot have more hp ( stock engine) less money nice nova

[@MHTownsend57]

🤦🏻‍♂️ You're missing the whole point. Hey a jet engine would be even faster too lol jk.