Baller Blue Nova Began As Bargain Build

Sometimes the best builds start as someone else’s. Such is the case with the spectacular 1967 Chevy II Nova sport coupe you see here. It began as a high-end project. Visions of modern suspensions, fuel injection and high-speed cruising must have danced in the previous owner’s head. 

Alas, it was not to be. Brett Milligan, the current owner of the deuce, heard about the stalled project while on business in California. He picked it up with much of the good stuff already installed, more on the shelf, and all of it for a price that was quite discounted.

It all started when he purchased it in 2015 out of Los Angeles.

“A guy, a fireman, had started the project and got way in over his head. He had pre-paid for a lot of stuff and I just took it over from there.” — Owner Brett Milligan

The body was perfect when Brett got it, though there was nothing in it. 

“To my knowledge and based on the tracking I did on the VIN, the car had never left the state of California until I shipped it east,” according to Brett.

The color is a stock 1993 Chevrolet blue, though the painter added extra metallic for effect, as well as a pair of black stereo stripes across the hood and trunk. Brett had all new American-made tinted glass installed. The chrome and stainless is all-new as well. 

A Total Cost Involved (TCI) front clip with QA1 coilovers was already installed, as was the TCI rear suspension with minitubs. 

The Chevrolet Performance Ram Jet 502 under the cowl hood is quite a desirable piece. The fuel-injected crate engine makes one horsepower for each of its 502 cubes (at a street-usable 5,100 rpm) and a thundering 565 lb-ft of torque at 3,200. That’s more than enough for this lightweight Bowtie. 

Specs include a dual-pattern hydraulic roller cam with .527/.544 lift, 224/234-degree duration opening 2.25- / 1.88-inch stainless steel valves in aluminum oval-port heads. Compression is a pump-gas friendly 9.6:1.

Two years ago, the 502 developed a leaky rear main seal, so while the engine was out he went through and freshened it with new rings, lifters, springs, and pushrods.

Backing the modern Rat is a TREMEC Magnum T-56 gear jammer, sending power to a Fab 9 rear with 3.73 gears. 

The wheels are unique to this Chevy II. They are from SP2 Forged Wheels out of West Palm Beach, Florida, and they are truly one of a kind. Brett worked with Joe, the owner, who sent him pictures of other wheels SP had done.

“I was able to take aspects of each wheel and request some changes on the design,” Brett explained. “He kept sending me designs, which was awesome. I’ve never done this before with all the cars I’ve owned. I’ve never created my own wheels.”

The wheels measure a healthy 18×8 in front and 19×11 out back. They are wrapped in Nitto 555 high-performance tires (225/40/ZR18s fore, 305/30/ZR19s aft). They hide Wilwood calipers and rotors all around.

All the lighting is LED, including the blue around the headlights.

Brett is really proud of the interior, which was done by a shop in California, though he can no longer recall its name or the woman who stitched it up. 

She did an amazing job on the leather interior, though, with details everywhere. For instance, the sunvisors are Alcantara, but she added little leather sections to the front of them so they could be raised and lowered without the oils from your fingers ruining the suede-like material.

The rear seat has the Marine Corps logo sewn into it, added by the seamstress who lost her son, a Marine. She asked the previous owner if she could add it and he said yes, which makes Brett sheepish since he never served. He considered removing it, but his friend and neighbor, retired Lieutenant Colonel, threatened him with bodily harm if he did, so the logo remains as an homage to those who have served.

The same shop did the custom work in the trunk, not to mention it installed the Auto Meter gauges. There is quite a lot of stereo gear as well, with speakers under the seats, tweeters in the dash, and a bass under the seat and in the trunk. The seats are heated and cooled and buttons look factory (well, if such a thing was offered during the waning days of the Johnson administration).

He puts about 3,000 miles a year on the car now that he’s retired, around 10,000 total. Brett’s favorite part of the car is its incredible driveability. 

“With the two overdrive gears, I can cruise at 80 mph with the A/C and stereo cranking and do 2,700 rpm, which is good compared to cars I’ve had in the past. 

“Part of the problem with the car when I bought it, quite honestly, was it had sat around so much, so long, because it was a slow build as he could afford it,” Brett said. “When I got the car, it had a bunch of leaks, even though it didn’t have miles on it.” 

There were some parts he had to replace and tighten everything up. But at the end of the day, he was able to pick up a rust-free Chevy II with an expensive big-block, six-speed and cutting end suspension and upholstery for about 50 cents on the dollar.