Theres this guy who wants to race my stock wrx. we were thinkin bout going to infineon and the loser pays for the other persons entry costs.

he drives a 4 door chevy nova that looks like this but obviously with 4 doors: http://www.musclecarclub.com/musclec...nova-1972a.jpg

the nova has some old corvette engine in it and he said hes going to put in a 4spd tranny (3spd now) and a new cam shaft. ive raced the thing before and it was dead slow... id say hes about as fast as a slow 240sx or very slow stock integra.

what will a 4spd and cams actually do for that 5,000 pound car? jus wanna know before i put 20$ down.

 

well. nova's are slow cars.

But they can be made quick.

Depending on what old vette engine it is, it could mean a lot or a little.

With better gearing and a better cam he will be faster..but it's a big heavy car. Unless he's pushing over 300 hp you'll kick his ***. And I doubt he's pushing over 300hp with an old vette motor....depending on the motor.

Ask him what motor it is....but for $20 it might be worth finding out.

 

I'd say, if you are driving an STI, you shouldn't have any problems beating him.....I doubt that JUST a Cam, and 4 spd will make enough of a difference to beat an STI.

I say Race him! even IF you did lose....$20 bucks isn't too bad, I'd do it.

-Ted

 

Nova with a stock 350 = 17 second 1/4
Nova with a pumped 350 = 13-14 second 1/4

 

ummm, the nova is lighter than a camero wich is like 3500 more or less and with a properally tuned vette motor will kick your *** all over the place. unless it's between 1974 and 1985.
I have a wrx and a pretty much stock 68 firebird and I can smoke an sti or evo (from a roll) so be careful. Novas are not slow (although most came with a 2barrel and a crappy rear end ratio)

 

Here is the problem - just looking at the motor you are not going to be able to tell if he is making 275 or 500 Horsepower.
One of the bonus of the chevy small block is that they are very stealthy.
I built a 95 Vette that looked dead stock and would do 0-100-0 in 11 seconds flat

 

this one has to be one of the slow novas. his car doesnt even pull. he's taken off on me with a 1sec head start leaving me 3 cars behind and i just cruise by him easily. but i just wanted to know if a cam and 4spd could make that much of a difference. i doubt it

 

[QUOTE=WRXakaBooSTi]the nova has some old corvette engine in itQUOTE]

you mean a 350? because every lousy POS chevy has a 350 unless he actually grabbed a 327 vette motor ::shrugs:: god i hate chevy so much, theyre the most arrogant jerka$$ car owners u can meet just about...my friend has a 68 nova and i have an 01 RS and he says he can beat me....he has a stupid I6 w\an automatic column shifter and the car hardly runs lol....overall...chevy people are as lame as FDR's legs!

 

didnt some "old corvettes" also come with 454's? not too sure, but if you've raced him before, you should be able to tell the tune of his engine by the way it sounds. no one wants to build up a car, not even with just bolt-ons, and not mod the exhaust....... especially on a V8. ( i used to hang out with a diverse crew of muscleheads when i lived in Napa )

 

well yea, but that was fairly rare to see a 454....to be honest im a muscle head first (ford only)

 

Camaro

 

Yeah...good luck finding a corvette with a 454 in it....or the motor from one. They didn't make many...It's the LS-5 and came out in 1970. Put out 390 horses that year.

After that we had the downpower trend going and the 454's from that era..unless pumped up are worthess. Be better off to save money and buy a 396. In 72 the 454 produced a wonderful 270hp. And 74 was the last year for it. So basically the only 454's you're gonna see are from 1970-1974. Not sure on the build number but I'm pretty sure it was less than 1500 combined for all 4 years. Nearly possitive. For some reason I think it was less than a 1000. but I could be wrong.

More than likely the motor he's got is a 350 from the late 70's early 80's and they suck unless it's a ZR-1 which I doubt. If I had to put my money down I'd say It's an L82 or 83 and puts down less than 250hp. With a decent exhaust including headers, decent carb and decent cam..which is probably more than this guy has..it would clear 300.

my guess...he's putting down somewhere between 230-275hp and you'll woop his *** if you get any sort of decent launch.

 

gotta love how some people actually believe that the kind of car you drive dictates your personality.....

I own a chevy....I never was a ford guy.....but I can appreciate ANY nice car.....and if you think that because I drive a Chevy(when I'm not in the scoob), that I am "the most arrogant jerka$$ car owners u can meet just about", and "overall...chevy people are as lame as FDR's legs!." but I suppose according to your thought process, when I am driving my Scoob, I must be a nice guy. Well, I guess Ignorance is bliss.

I hate to break it to ya, but if someone is an Azzhole....then they will be an azzhole reguardless of if they drive a Ford, Chevy, SRT4, or a Honda.

-Ted

 

Everything he said pretty much hit the nail on the head. They did put 454s in the truck chevy made in the early 90s (i.e. the one with huge 454 decals) and also in the SS El Camino. There is a slim chance he could have a 502 which I have seen in several Nova's but I highly doubt it(if he doesn't have a vette motor). If he is running a 350 which he most likely is I would def. race him. He would have to have some pretty decent mods done to beat you like the aforementioned header, exhaust, cams, etc... You did say he had a Vette motor in it and the only Vettes I fear are the Z06s (especially the new one coming out) They do have some awesome old school vettes and even some newer modded ones that would put shame on a stock STi but they are few and far between. I say go for it and watch out for El Camino's because in Spanish that is "the camino".

 

ummmmmmm...... I know you build some badass cars. I've seen them.

But 0-100-0 times are pretty much benchmarks for cars.

You're telling me you built a vette that is more capable than pretty much every car in the world and right up there with the record holders? Faster than cars like the mclaren F1 that clocks 11.5. The current record I think is the Mosler Photon at 10.98.

I seem to remember some chevy powered car doing a 10.3 but I don't think that was certified.

basically you're telling me you probably had the fastest corvette in the country?


but yes...you are definately right about the 350. Hard to tell by looking. But unless you're a retard it's not to hard to tell my listening. And generally speaking you can get a good idea by looking at the size of the carb, what kind of maniford they're running, etc.