I have owned 3 of these cars… The first one I purchased in 1981 and was my first car.  It was love at first sight.  The hatchback was the main appeal along with the bucket seats and automatic shifter on the floor.

This was my daily driver while in college.  I slowly started to improve the car by changing the exhaust with headers, the intake and carb from a 2 barrel to a 4 barrel. Surprisingly the gas mileage improved from 14 mpg to 20mpg highway.  After graduating, getting a job and buying a new car, I parked the Nova in my parents garage sometime in 1985.  There it sat with little work being done to it.  Except driving it every so often.  Fast forward to 2012.  Married, 3 kids, and turning 50.   My wife asked what I wanted for my 50^th… Easy answer…to restore my Nova.

With the help of my two sons, we took the car totally apart.

• Frame off restoration and all parts cleaned, media blasted, and/or powder coated or painted.
• Numbers matching – original 350 engine rebuilt by Marcovich’s in Hatboro. Motor was bored .030 over and is basically stock.

• 350 Turbo rebuilt by Meenans in Willow Grove.  They also converted the original 273 open rear to a 323 posi.
• New BF Goodrich Radial TA’s
• Original AM radio was restored and a new center dash speaker.
• Seats have new foam and PUI covers.
• New carpet.
• Custom made red carpet for hatch area.
• New headliner.
• Original door panels and other interior panels have been restored.
• New windshield – all other glass is original.
• New dual exhaust using original manifolds.
• All new front-end suspension parts.  All new brakes and lines.
• Air pump and EGR reinstalled.
• 2-barrel carb was professionally rebuilt
• Roof top is painted and not a vinyl roof.  Putting vinyl roof was always on the list but never got to it.  So, when it was in the body shop I opted to have it painted black as an interim step.
• Passenger side rear quarter was replaced with an original NOS full quarter panel along with inner and outer wheel wells – back in 1986
• Drivers side quarter panel was replaced with a cheater (half panel) along with inner and outer wheel wells.
• Subframe was replaced with a 1970 Camaro subframe.
• New rear leaf springs were installed.
• All new weather stripping
• All new Spirit of America decal kit
• AC has new AC condenser and hoses/tubes were custom made back to the original specifications.  The compressor is not the original – it is a sanden and is using R134 refrigerant
• Original LAFFERTY Chevrolet emblem on the rear hatch was made from stainless steel and laser cut.  Car was originally sold at Lafferty Chevy in Warminster, PA.

A lot of time was care was put in by me and my family to get this car back to the way it was from the factory.  While restoring my first SOA Nova, I found two others for sale.

• One was listed on eBay from Newport News, VA.  That was an unmolested car and a great reference point for me when I was restoring my first SOA.  I used many parts from this car.  But unfortunately, the body was very rusty and was not salvageable.
• The 3^rd one was on Craigslist near Rochester, NY.  This was literally a barn find.  The car was in a barn under plywood and painter’s tarps.   The car was in great shape.  While taking this one apart and having it media blasted, I realized that the body, etc. was in pristine condition with only two small rust holes.  The car was not driven much in the winter time and was store for some time.  Soon after I finished the first SOA, I then began to restore the 3^rd SOA.  The only difference between this SOA and my first are the seat belt colors; red vs black and that the AC compressor unit in the 3^rd is original.

One of the best parts of restoring a car is the journey. As a restored car is never really done in that something is always needed.  For the past 7 years I have met so many people buying, trading and selling Nova parts.  Many have similar stories about their first car and how they wished they still had it.  I am a fortunate one to have held onto my first car and another exactly like it… My twins.