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Question: Is a 77 chevy nova v8 a good muscle car?

(Posted by: on 2012-01-25 05:57:12)

Seen one for sale for 1500. Just needs paint. Has 400 motor and 400 turbo trans.

Posted by: chevyraceman_383 on 2012-01-25, 14:09:01

The later 70's nova's was the 'redhead step kids' of the nova line. Not alot of people really likes the looks of them, they also came out with LOW HP engines. If you like the car then thats cool. It's getting to where the those novas are the only 'cheap' ones left to buy The 400/ 400 combo was not factory stock, so chek the engine codes just to make sure he's not trying to pull a fast one on you. The only factoy installed V8's was the LG3 145 HP 305 and the LM1 170 HP 350 Stock rear gear ratios sucked. 2.56, 2.73 or 3.08 Stock auto transmissions was a th-250 or th-350 These cars are NOT as light weight as the older novas. For a V8, auto car the weight is in the 3300-3500 lbs range

Posted by: purloincloth on 2012-01-25, 05:58:19

You could get it but a v6 corolla will cost less, last longer and go faster, for less

Posted by: Dave87gn on 2012-01-25, 06:00:27

Its a pretty good platform..but it depends on the setup to see if its actually fast..the late 70s trans ams had 400 engines but they were SLOW

Posted by: Old Man Dirt on 2012-01-25, 06:45:21

Dave is right, the platforms were good. But due to emission laws the cars were dogs! But even in many states with smog laws this old of a car is exempt, and can make for a good build. So it has potential to be as fast as any thing from the late 60's and early 70's. Emission laws pretty much killed off the Muscle cars till about 1985 when port injection and electronics took over. If you decide to restore it (if you don't mine the low performance figures), it should be worth the effort too. Acid rain, poor paint and cheap sheet metal has taken its toll on all car brands of this vintage. There just are not too many survivors between that and clunkers for cash programs. I don't do Bow Ties, and that is as nice as I can be on the subject.

Posted by: KAM on 2012-01-25, 10:40:31

A 68 is more of a muscle car than the compact 77 nova.