Tye and his friend Don were swimming when a guy ran a stop sign and totaled his existing car, so he started looking for a new car and ended up with this 1972 Nova.
He went to the local Chevrolet dealership, and they guided him to a new car that had just debuted, a 1973 Honda Civic. So he went to an out-of-town Chevrolet dealership, where they showed him the 1972 Nova.
He believes the price of the 1972 Nova, and the Civic was about the same, but his friend, Don, said he wouldn’t go anyplace with him if he bought the Civic. So he purchased the 1972 Nova.
The clutch went in 1988, and he didn’t have enough money at the time to fix it. So he parked it at his brother’s place until he could get it fixed. Things got even worse because, in the spring of 1997, the Snake River flooded at his brother’s home. The car sat in water up to the top of the tires for weeks. You could even see the water line in the glovebox door.
In November of 2005, he pulled the Nova into his garage and started to disassemble it. In January of 2006, disassembly was complete, and he took the body to have it sandblasted to find out the true condition of the body.
Every panel from the rear window back needed replacing. His first sheet metal order from NNN was nearly as much as he paid for the car. He was very lucky that his stepson, Ryan, was a body man at the local auto body shop.
For the next 4 winters, he would come over 2 weekends a month to do the bodywork and accept home-cooked dinners as payment. All of the restoration was done in his garage, except for the paint and upholstery.
He took the Nova to the 2011 Nova Nationals at Bowling Green, Kentucky to have her judged. To his amazement, the Nova was judged a Gold Class car. She received 924 points out of a perfect 1000 points. That is the award he will cherish forever, even the head judge told him first-time cars don’t usually get Gold.
She now has over 7,500 miles on her since the restoration, which he knows isn’t much, but he hopes to drive her more.
He used seats out of a 1993 Cutlass that were very comfortable. He installed a Vintage Air AC kit, a ZZ4 crate engine with a Demon Carburetor, along with a Tremec 5-speed so it would be fun to drive.
The best part is, it’s a one-owner car! HE HAS OWNED THE 1972 NOVA FOR 50 YEARS!!!! It very well could be the only Gold Class Nova in Idaho.
He plans to go to several Top Class car shows this year for her Golden Anniversary. He is going to keep her as he restored her…it can not get any better than Gold Class.
