The Nova: History Prior Work
Work in Progress At The
Track Sounds
Our
Nova – a brief history
Actually; the Nova wasn't the first
attempt at a racecar for the ATO club. Back in the early 80's, the club acquired
a 1971 Chevelle and had plans to race it. When they started to work on it and
remove some rust, they found that there was nothing left of the car. So they
pulled the engine and transmission and sent it off to the junkyard. It wasn't
until the mid 80's that the club members found a Chevy II Nova stripped down to
the bare metal without an engine. They bought the car for $300 and started to
work on it. The previous owner had sandblasted the entire car and then just let
it sit and rust.
Everything
cleaned up well except for the front fenders, the grill and the rear bumper.
Mike Behrmann found a set of fenders. He had seen two Novas sitting in a
farmers field, one with a tree growing out where the engine used to be. Mike
talked the farmer out of the fenders for $5 dollars each as long as he took
them off. They cleaned up excellent. What a buy!
Both a rear bumper and a front
grill were bought, then the car was painted by expert body man and instructor,
Rod Collard. Jack Greer rebuilt the transmission using his own custom formula.
He designed it to shift at 6000 RPM, and it shifts HARD!
Since then the car has seen many
changes. The car continuously gets upgraded from people donating parts or the
club raising money. Through the years the car has received many parts from
generous donations including cylinder heads, an ignition system, fuel pumps, a
torque converter, axles, tires, a new cooling system, plus numerous internal
engine parts, and many man-hours of labor. Chris Micha, a graduate from the
Automotive Program, has personally donated thousands of dollars worth of parts
and money for supplies and track entry fees. If not for the generous donations
of sponsors, and the club member’s time and effort, the car wouldn't be as
successful as it is.
Our Nova – Prior Work
The
ATO racecar received some major attention over the summer and the first few
weeks of the fall 98 school year. A large list of needed repairs was made to
the car. The car acquired all new brakes, adjustable proportioning valves, and
a master cylinder. It also received a new 7-quart racing oil pan with a high
pressure/high volume oil pump, new slicks, and inner tubes. After viewing
multiple videotapes, members and faculty discovered that the Limited slip
differential was slipping, so a
new spool was also added.
If that was not enough, the
transmission received an overhaul with an added feature. The next thing was to
add a Trans Brake so that the car would lock itself at the line and would allow
the driver to not have to hold the brake pedal down while launching. This also
allows the Nova to be launched at a higher RPM so as to stall the torque
converter. Previously, club drivers were only capable of launching the car from
the line at 1300 RPM due to limitations of drum brakes, but with the new Trans
brake, they are now able to leave the line between 1800 and 2000-RPM.
All of this seems great, yet they
did not stop there. With the help of club sponsors, the car also received a new
shifter setup. Until recently, the Nova was automatically shifted by normal
transmission operations. The club did not feel the car was running as
consistent as it could have. With that in mind, the ATO club installed a
shifter operated by CO2. The shifter can be dialed in by 100-RPM increments
from 3200 RPM up to 7500 RPM. The club members and advisor, Jack Greer, choose
to shift the Nova in the upper 5000-rpm band. Also, generous donations made by
Chris Micha have allowed the club to install a new four-link rear suspension
tubbed out with fourteen-inch wide rear slicks, and a NHRA legal roll cage. The
club also installed new aluminum heads, new intake, new headers, a gear drive
timing set, and four-wheel disc brakes.
In the winter of the
2001-2002 School year the club, with the much appreciated, help of the Alumni, was
able to have the body of the Nova professionally restored and painted. At this
time the rear quarters, the driver side rocker panel, hood, and trunk were
replaced. Almost all of the chrome was replaced as well. The trunk was replaced
with a fiberglass lift off style. The hood was up graded to a steel cowl
induction style. The Nova was painted bright silver and looks great. While the
Car was in the body shop the club freshened up the engine with a re-ring kit.
Our Nova – work in progress
Although no major work was planed for this year fate intervened and
created some work for us. Due to an engine failure we are in the process of
many up-grades. These include refurbishing the engine compartment, rewiring the
car, painting the dash, and last but not least, building and installing a whole
new engine.
The fall 2002 racing season
proved to be the most successful thus far in the past 13 years of racing. The
car placed 1st in ET class at Benton winning $500. Then we got runner
up at the Mid-America Bracket Finals in Hardinsburg, KY winning $1000. Finally
we were runners up in ET class at Sikeston, MO winning $100. The Nova is
presently being drove by Chuck Walker and Chris Ritchie. We are looking forward
to a great spring season with the new engine.
Experience a run down the drag strip in our Nova.
These pages have been developed by, SIUC Automotive Students and ATO
Club members. If you have any questions or comments about these pages, you can
E-mail us at atoc@siu.edu. Please let us know
if something doesn't work or needs to be updated. Thank you.
Last Update 12/10/02 Amanda Dycus