'73 Nova Hatchback, projekt we dont roll

[EuroTrash]

Damn this is awesome.

[Synical DSM]

Can't wait to see this at the track upsetting the Chevy guys.

[EuroTrash]

I just want to see this at a show, boomers are going to lose their s**t.

[Dagazenterprise]

[Dagazenterprise]

[Synical DSM]

I like this project a lot. From the ratty paint to the swap. It's perfect.

[Boosted Euro]

When are you bringing this down to the Target Cruise night?

[EuroTrash]

Damn, I love this build so much!

[Dagazenterprise]

[dnarby]

I joined this forum in order to find out more about this.

[Dagazenterprise]

Thanks! Anything specific u wish to know?

[dnarby]

Thanks! Anything specific u wish to know?

Yeah!

How did you match up the motor to the trans, did you fab the adapter plate, or order it (and if so, from where)? What other trans play nice with vovo blocks? (I'm looking for one to replace the AW70L, that has lockouts on 4th/5th for better MPGs).

How did you plan/fab the motor mounts?

Anything else that you had to custom fab to make this work?

I'm assuming you used a 16V motor, did you swap a 16V head onto a redblock, or did the donor car have one already?

Steel lines from the gas tank?

Did you check your MPGs?

Moar!

[Dagazenterprise]

Still a stock 8 valve head, dual valve springs, stage 2 RSI cam. I purchased the adaptor plate and torque converter adapter from two seperate people, i think there is a thread in the for sale section of turbobricks that one person is making them. I pirchased the converter plate from a guy in sweden but i think he has passed the specs to someone state side.
As for the trans it is a 4l60e out of a 98 (i think) v6 chevy 1500, it has a smaller converter than the v8. I had to clearance the plate for the crank snout bolts and also the rivets on the trigger wheel interfere. I also used allen head bolts and has to grind those down to fit inside the trigger wheel on the flex plate. I used stainless bolts to avoid false triggering. Not sure if thos factors have been adressed in the current pieces or not.
You will also need to cut a notch out of the adaptor plate and transmission bell housing to allow clearance for the crank position sensor.
I jave no idea how it will fit into a volvo but the bell housing is quite a bit bigger than the aw71.

As for mpgs, the 4l60e gearing is slightly better in 1st and 2nd gear, 3rd is identical and od is marginally better but not by much. In my 740 wagon with the stage 2 cam i was getting 18mpg, in the nova im getting 24. The nova also weighs significantly less and has 2.63 rear gears where the wagon had 3.73 i think

[Dagazenterprise]

I fabbed up some steel mounts to bolt to the stock style eurathane sbc motor mounts, i used a 960 e fan and had to trim the radiator support, i used the stock lh2.4 fuel and ignition, it runs as a stand alone setup, the only input it doesnt have is a speedometer input, the setup uses the dash gage to send a signal to the computer. It affects the idle from time to time but thats the only trouble. I ran rubber lines from the tank, welded in a return line through the sending unit, -6 feed, -4 retun. Used the stock under car fuel pump and basket, the lift pump from the tank is not used. The stock bosch pump supports 300 at the wheels.
Injectors are from a pontiac GTP, if you run those, bypass the ballast as the whites are high impedence injectors. A bosch adjustable fuel pressure regulator for a grand national works on the stock fuel rail.

[dnarby]

Holy crap that's cool. I really hope at first startup you yelled "It's alive. IT'S... ALIVE!!! BLU-HU-HU-HA-HA-HAAA!"

The amount of work and engineering you did for this build is impressive. I would love to crawl under and around it so I can see all the work you did on it. Some of the things you did I didn't even know were possible. I freakin' love it when someone does something that seems like it can't/won't/shouldn't be done.

On the idle - I was under the impression that the idle is maintained by the computer reading the throttle position switch and using the idle air control. Most of the time the problem is the switch. I simply disconnected the IAC in one brick and adjusted the idle to 600. You had to warm it up before it would idle normally but other than that it was livable.

You may want to keep your eyes peeled for a 16V donor car (or see what the boneyards will do), as the head swap is super easy, and the performance increase is substantial

[YT]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Wek0wLzyL0[/YT]

I imagine that HP and MPGs will both improve if you go for it. Before I go all V8 Volvo RAWRRR I will probably do that first myself with a turbo & appropriate cam, as it would be a lot quicker/easier and less expensive, and if I'm being realistic I need a lot more practical experience before I tackle something like that.

I need to find the A/T equivalent of a T5 manual first though (wife needs to be able to drive everything and she can't drive stick) - using a non-lockout Volvo A/T I'll be lucky to get 16MPG, I have managed 27 with a mild lift cam and some acetone in the gas at 70MPH. With 16 valves, a turbo, and a transmission that can handle it reliably (with lockout), I expect I can get it north of 30MPG, with a lot more grunt & grins.

I'm working towards a proper garage (got one now, but no lift - I have access to another garage with a lift, but it's not mine and he uses it a lot) so I can do some experimenting - I have this crazy idea of rolling my own engine control unit using Arduino mini-computers and off the shelf pressure & timing sensors. At least now I can work on my rides out of the rain, so I'm not bitchin', just dreamin' (...of setting the land speed record for running on woodgas with a 550 big-block twin turbo, because I think I figured out how to make it work...).

If anybody knows the A/T equivalent of a T5 M/T, I would appreciate it as I'm thinking that's the one for my bricks (wife needs to be able drive everything). The T5 is good for 400hp, adapter plates are available, and it fits (with some hammering) in a brick.

I really need to locate a garage where I can do some experimental stuff, the garages I have now are inadequate for that, any help is appreciated.