It’s not every day that you see a small, classic car such as this 1963 Chevy Nova with such a sizable engine as the 454 cubic-incher that’s powering it. This car belongs to Roy Watson of Hoodsport, Washington, and he’s had it for about four and a half years. In that time, as you can see in the pictures, it’s changed just a tad.

Roy put in a Heidts frontend with rack-and-pinion steering. “If you didn’t have this front end with the big-block you’d twist the frame,” explained Roy. The engine is built with roller rockers and has 10:1 compression pistons, so it’s built for more than just looks. Even with the tall highway gears, this Nova dynos at 487 horsepower — just think about the power-to-weight ratio on this one!

Along with the new engine, Roy also added custom upholstery and a set of VDO whiteface gauges to the interior, an Edelbrock 750 cfm carburetor, and an awesome Holley air cleaner. You’ll notice that space was such a limiting factor under the hood that Roy actually had to modify the bracing to gain enough clearance for his air cleaner.

We love Roy’s car, and we’d love to see what you guys are driving out there. If you love it, odds are good that we will too, so shoot us an email with a couple pictures and a little information about your ride, you might just see it here as one of our Street Features. Still a work in progress? No worries, we’d always like to see a project for our What Are You Working On series.