While Chris was growing up his dad was involved in NASCAR Winston West drag racing and then hot rods. So it was only natural that Chris’s first car would be a father and son project.
They found an original 1971 Rally Nova for $350 in July of 1989. It was in pretty good shape. They had to replace the roof skin, trunk lid, hood, and fender. Took it down to bare shell and subframe and rebuilt it back up.
It was a budget build, his dad probably thought he would wreck it. Started with a basic 350/350 combo. It originally had a 6 with 3 sod on the column. They painted it in red lacquer and put on a new vinyl top.
They finished it in June of 1990 and Chris got to drive it the last few weeks of his senior year in high school. It was a daily driver for over 3 years. In 1995 they repainted it with DuPont single-stage lacquer and Enamel clear.
The 4 bolt main 350 it has now was built in 1995, balanced and weight-matched with Q-jet carb and 194 heads, Edelbrock performer intake.
This same engine was taken out and rebuilt recently after being beat on for over 20 years and never taken apart. Now it has 202 heads and a better Q-jet. Same TH 350 trans with a B&M 2600 converter. It has 3:08 gears in an open 8-1/2” 10 bolt. Cautiously it’s ran 13:10 @ 100mph.
He has also added ‘70-1/2 RS Camaro buckets done in the Nova material and a sport grip steering wheel and B&M Street Bandit floor shifter.
The greatest thing about this car is it’s an original 1971 Rally Nova. He has a Polaroid from when the original owner got it. Also the owner’s manual with dealer and destination info on it. Chris did some research on the 1971 Rally Nova and found it was sold locally at Gene Feidler West Seattle, Chevrolet.
Next on the to-do list is front disc brakes and a rear end with 3:42 gears, along with a new exhaust system with electric cutouts. Chris is thinking of 17” billet Chevy Rally-type wheels with grey powder coat centers and a polished rim. Maybe a 700R4 trans or something better. He also just got retractable seat belts from Ground Up to put in asap.
