Hotchkis Sport Suspension Project 1972 Nova “Scorcher”
The Car:
The classic two door Muscle Car- Camaro alternative. The car had been in street/ drag racing spec. for over a decade. The handling was horrific. The once proud owner had moved on from competing in ammeter drag races and was dejected at the thought of driving the Nova. He wanted to enjoy cruising his favorite mountain roads and feeling in control on the freeway. Fortunately, he called us.
The Goal:
To create a comfortable riding “road warrior” with the handling capacities superior to a late model Camaro. The car must negotiate the Super Chevy, Chevy High Performance 420’ slalom, 200’ skid pad and 60-0 MPH braking tests at near record speed. No problem, get out the saw, bring in the tubing and start welding. Not so fast! The owner had a few stipulations that we had to follow.
- No chassis modifications
- The original sub-frame must remain
- The spring layout of front coils and rear leaf spring must remain
- The original/stock suspension must be able to be re-installed easily
- The steering must remain the traditional steering box. Though, a power steering conversion was enthusiastically encouraged.
Basically the owner wanted to keep the soul of the Nova, which he felt would be lost with “hot rod” style sub-frames and coil over suspension. We were confident that we could build a “world beater” with our premium bolt-on suspension package.
The Process:
First we removed the original suspension and cleaned and packaged it for the customer to save. Next we installed our complete Hotchkis Total Vehicle System (TVS) package, steering component kit, brake rotors and pads. We then added the best from Flaming River, MSD, Grant, Hedman, Flowmaster, Foose and Hoosier. Finally, we aligned the Nova to our special performance alignment specifications.
We were well on our way to creating the ultimate street handling and track ready 1972 Nova.
The Improvements:
Better handling
Comfortable Sport ride
Quicker, crisper steering and chassis response
Aggressive looking lowered ride height
Better, more efficient brakes for vastly improved stopping capabilities
Larger and lighter wheels shod with extreme tires for increased grip and less unsprung weight
Improved engine performance
Evaluation Testing:
Chevy High Performance and Super Chevy benchmarked the “drag race” style Nova in their rigorous handling and ride quality tests. (400 ft. slalom, 200 ft. skid pad, 60-0 mph braking and street driving evaluation)
The Final Results:
Slalom Test: 50.1 MPH – A new record!
We did it! Our Nova negotiated the Chevy High Performance and Super Chevy slalom course faster than any previous Nova or Camaro. Our Nova was quicker than cars with build costs four and five times as much.
Skid Pad: 0.97g – Super car territory!
2008 Corvette - 0.95g.
2002 Camaro Z-28 - 0.87g
Our Nova had so much grip on the skid pad the carburetor was sucking all air, no fuel. The 1.0 g goal eluded us, but we will install a new Bary Grant road race type carburetor and test again.
The Baseline Test: Before the modifications
Slalom: 39.2 MPH
Skid Pad: 0.71g
2007 Chevy Tahoe LT 0.70g
Hotchkis Sport Suspension
The Hotchkis Sport Suspension TVS package including:
Sport Sway Bar Package
Sport Coil and Leaf Springs
Machined Tie Rod Sleeves
Hotchkis Sport Suspension components including:
Tubular Upper and Lower a-Arms
Fabricated Sub-Frame Connectors
Hotchkis/Bilstein Sport Shocks
Hotchkis Premium Steering Package including:
Inner Tie Rod Ends
Outer Tie Rod Ends
Idler Arm
Pitman Arm
Our Supporting Companies
Bary Grant Demon Carburetor
Flaming River Steering Box, Power Steering Pump,
Flowmaster Exhaust
Foose Wheels
Grant Steering Wheel
Hedman Headers
Hoosier and Kumho Tires- The Tire Rack
MSD Distributor and Wires
Red Line Oil
The Final Word:
Our NOVA is reborn! The car is comfortable to cruse and has the handling capabilities of a new Corvette. The owner is again excited to twist the key, hammer the throttle and get out and really drive his favorite car.
Isn’t that why are so passionate about our car hobby?
