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It’s been a long time coming, but after all the performance parts mock ups, we finally stripped our Project Swinger Nova down bare and dropped it off at the paint booth at ZBest Paint & Body to get a shiny new coat of Sherwin-Williams paint.
It’s pretty obvious “Swinger” is heading out as a heavy hitter. It’s been a long time coming, and finally with the paint smoothed and finished, Sean Goude, our resident tech-genius could begin the laborious task of fitting Swinger with the entire powertrain setup, exhaust, and driveshaft.
Project Swinger is nearly up and running. This month we update you on its interior, more specifically, it’s all digital hardware from Dakota Digital. This all-in-one unit supplies the driver with every running feature via included sensors and easy-to-read display. We’ve got the update here, check it out!
Before we can revel in the beauty of freshly repainted and dutifully re-straightened classic muscle car sheet metal, we need to assemble and trial fit most everything. Today’s mission was simple enough: install Aeromotive’s Stealth Fuel Cell, Performance EFI regulator, 100-micron fuel filter.
Before we can revel in the beauty of freshly repainted and dutifully re-straightened classic muscle car sheet metal, we need to assemble and trial fit most everything. Today’s mission was simple enough: install Aeromotive’s Stealth Fuel Cell, Performance EFI regulator, 100-micron fuel filter.
Behind every great engine is a great cooling system. Swapping an LSA engine into our ’71 Nova, Project Swinger, meant upgraded its cooling system. We turned to AFCO and their bolt-in LS radiator and fan conversion kits for muscle cars.
Reassembled – although loosely – Swinger looks good on its own feet. It’s been a long time since this fair-weather project has been back together and it makes us want to turn up the heat and git ‘er done. We’ve been tinkering with the ride height, raising it an inch here, lowering it an inch there.
Right now, with her supercharged 6.2-liter CTS-V LSA plant resting between the fenderwells, we’ve had Swinger all but totally plumbed for the big ol’ Aeromotive fuel cell, electric fuel pump, and a whole lot of steel braided line.
Hey kiddies! It’s been a while since we’ve last heard a peep out of our Pro Street/g-Machine ’71 Nova nicknamed “Swinger,” we know. But be not dismayed! There’s all sorts of cool stuff coming down the line for our venerable classic conversion Bowtie.
In this installment of updates on our Project “Swinger,” we’ll reveal our sinister plan to update our Nova with a thoroughly modern small block Chevy – the supercharged LSA, with a little help in the oil pan department from RetroLSX.
In the recent past, updating a classic car with a modern overdrive transmission could be an exercise in frustration. Fortunately, that’s no longer the case, and to prove it we installed a brand-new TKO behind the fresh GM LS crate motor in our Project Swinger ’71 Nova using the Keisler Engineering Perfect Fit Kit.
With the underpinnings of “Swinger” coming along, it was time to attack the sheetmetal, starting with a Detroit Speed wheel tub kit to accommodate wider tires in back, a pair of their subframe connectors to stiffen the chassis, and a firewall cover plate. Follow along as the sparks fly on our ’71 Nova.
Bringing Project Swinger, a ’71 Chevy Nova Coupe, into the new millennium as a retro street racer with a hi-tech edginess to it has led to some real challenges in the build.
Our project car, the Swinger Nova, recently received an upgrade to a Ford 9 inch rear end from Currie Enterprises. While the nine has been around forever in both stock and high-performance flavors, Currie’s recipes bring a fresh approach to this venerable axle.
We’ve been hearing a lot of buzz on the forums about air suspension systems in recent months due in no small part to suspension pioneers like Air Ride. But like many people, we had always thought air suspension was for semi-trucks or super slammed low riders.
We’ve been finishing up the full Air Ride suspension, we mounted up the Currie 9-inch rear end, and the SSBC brakes, and now we’re waiting for a full LS3 engine mount/swap conversion kit from BRP Hot Rods. Shawn is really dialing us in with everything we need for the Nova swap.
When it comes to enhancing the handling of a classic muscle car, the first thing you think is a quality suspension. While that is true, it is far from everything you need to upgrade. Most people forget the important part of a car that is actually turning the front wheels – the steering rack.
The difference between stick and ball sports and the automotive sports is that we here in the car world love performance enhancing products. Oh yeah baby I’m talking about Steeroids, and we decided to jack our Nova up with a new rack and pinion steering conversion kit from Steeroids.
Moving boxes of parts around the garage today, and I came across the next project we will be working on in earnest. Air Ride Suspension for our Project Swinger Nova. We decided to take a closer look at the parts as we moved the boxes. Let me give you a little preview of this project without spilling too much.
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Our really sweet Air Ride Street Challenge suspension system is finally going in and shaping up nicely. We are finally able to see light at the end of the tunnel, and it is looking good. We’ve got the Currie 9+ rear end with Stainless Steel (SSBC) disk brakes going in all the way around.
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