Readers may recall seeing this beauty on the cover of Nova Times Magazine, the May/June 2015 Volume 34 edition. It wasn’t until I became the 4th owner of this all original ’67 Nova SS that I realized it’s pedigree.

What attracted me to this classic vehicle was my love for vintage cars. After I figured out that either a ’66 or ’67 Nova SS would fulfill my dreams, my search began. I spent the better part of a year looking at the usual outlets in search of an authentic, numbers matching original car which turned out to be more difficult than I expected. Being a total neat freak, I was after as close to perfection as possible.

As they say, “things happen for a reason” and like its former owner I too was looking for the holy grail of this model being a 327 4-speed 12 bolt rear end car and essentially any color would have fit the bill for me. Then I came across this 1967 Nova SS wrapped in Granada Gold. The car was beautiful but darn it, it was a 283 3-speed Powerglide car.

After digging into its pedigree, it became clear that this was a special find. It had all sorts of documentation including the original built sheets (2) found under the front and rear bench seat upholstery, a stamped certification by GM Vintage Verification Services of Canada where she was originally built, a written biography detailing the entire ownership of the car and most importantly to me the contact information from the second owner who did most of its restoration. He owned the car for some 20 years driving it only 500 miles in that time frame.

Fast forward, I flew out to Boise Idaho put my eyes on the car and struck a deal. A few weeks later she arrived by covered transport to my home in San Diego California. This is where my addiction began! As I already mentioned, I like things neat and clean and my motto has always been “buy once, cry once”. Initially I went through and changed all the normal wear items including all fluids, belts, hoses, tune up parts, air cleaner, etc. I drove it a bit for the first few months and entered her into a few local cars shows including the La Jolla Concours d’Elegance where she was very well received.

Now to peel back the layers of the preverbal onion. I spent the next 6 months with the car on the scissor lift in my garage where I proceed to completely go through the engine bay, front and rear end of the car. I started by removing the entire rear end, driveline, brake lines, e-brake cables and literally every nut and bolt. No stone was left unturned as I personally restored every component with meticulous attention to detail. The goal was to never look back and wish I had done “one more thing” in the process. I’ve always loved fabrication and my background as a Factory Porsche mechanic served me well in this process.

For the rear end I had most everything powder coated, the rear end completely rebuilt and every component of the rear end either restored or replaced in better than new condition. The driveline too was professionally balanced, powder coated and restriped. It was utter perfection and even my wife commented that it would be a shame to every drive it.

Then on to the front end where I did the same level of restoration. Again, I removed every component including the front bumper and supports. If it could be unbolted it was and replaced with all new matching hardware and fasteners. I removed and replaced every steering component, including period correct shock and springs, powder coated the upper and lower control arms, struts, and brackets. I did opt to install a period correct front disk brake system which I believe was a factory option on the ‘67 Nova SS. Of course, a new master cylinder and all brake lines and hardware were also installed.

Then came Wayne Bushy of the NNNA who was on holiday in my area and asked if he could stop by and see the project as he has been a valued advisor, accommodating all my calls and emails throughout the project. Wayne looked over my work, liked what he had seen and said, “you aren’t going to do all this great work and not touch the steering box are you”. This hit me hard as I knew this would prove to be a ton more work. Of course, I did it anyway, pulled the steering box and column, replacing it with an OEM rebuilt steering box and changed out all the bearing in the column for good measure. It too was utter perfection! The front end now complimented the rear end restoration again questioning one’s desire to ever put the rubber to the road.

After 5 months I moved on to the engine bay. While it already looked terrific, I wanted to be able to pop the hood and make this a cornerstone piece of the vehicle. Afterall, that suspension stuff is great but what muscle car fanatics like me love to see is a pristine engine bay. I realize this matching numbers, stock little 283 car was optioned with a Chevy orange motor and black air cleaner but I was after a bit more bling. So, I went to town removing and installing a factory cast steel manifold I got from NAAA, completely refurbishing it and finishing off in an aluminum color. I sent the 2-barrel carb to custom Carburetors in New Jersey who knocked it out of the park delivering absolutely show quality perfection. The distributor was also completely rebuilt and every line, linkage, nut & bolt were either restored or replaced.

Essentially now being done I couldn’t help myself, so I removed and installed a new 4 row OEM style radiator, all associated hoses and period correct clamps. I removed and completely refurbished the interior heater box and installed a new heater core. Topping it all off I installed a set of chrome Chevrolet embossed value covers and a chrome dual snorkel air cleaner housing.

As of June 2019, the project is now officially completed (although my wife begs to differ) and I absolutely love the finished product! All original parts that were replaced were of course retained, cataloged and are properly stored to accompany to car in the future.

On a side note I always like to see the faces, reactions and comments of vintage car fans as they look over the car in awe with stories of their personal interaction with ’66 and ’67 Nova’s.