This 1967 Chevy II Nova SS Is A Shooting Star

These days, it’s getting hard to build the ”ultimate Nova,” especially when you’re talking about Chevrolet’s phenomenally popular 1966-1967 models, but everybody keeps trying. Lay an eyeball on Don Clark’s incredible two-tone burnt orange and gold metallic 1967 Chevy II Nova SS. It’s one incredible piece of street muscle.

You know we love our “box” Novas here at StreetMuscleMag.com. This particular example was purchased from the original owner in Southern California, this ’67 Chevy II Nova SS originally started out life as a Butternut Yellow six-cylinder car with black vinyl top, with the bucket seat SS console interior. 

“All the trim except the wheelwell moldings, headlight bezels and taillight bezels are original,” says car builder Wade Faustmann, owner of Wade’s Rod & Custom in Wylie, Texas, which built the car. “The bumpers and vent windows are factory originals although they have been re-chromed.”

Wade Faustmann and his crew at Wade’s Rod & Custom (Wylie, Texas) stripped the ’67 down to the bare metal prior to working their magic. We suppose the most logical place to start is with the ’67’s unit body suspension. First, Faustmann & Co. tunneled the ’67’s rear floor in order to provide the correct ride height for a Faustmann-fabricated four-bar rear suspension using RideTech four-bar brackets and a Carrera coilover-equipped 3.73:1 Currie Enterprises Nine + live rear axle.

The rearend was outfitted with a pair of 13-inch cross-drilled and slotted rotor Baer brakes. Also to be found in that general vicinity is Rock Valley 22-gallon stainless-steel gas tank, albeit with the filler neck relocated to the center of the back bumper. Tying everything together is a set of Faustmann-fabricated subframe connectors. 

Up front you will find a Heidts unequal length control arm front suspension using a set of Heidts two-inch-drop front spindles, ART suspension brackets, a set of Carrera coilover shocks, Flaming River Rack-and-pinion-steering, and 13-inch cross drilled and slotted rotor Baer brakes using SSBC master cylinder and a CPP power disc brake booster. The entire undercarriage is painted a Spies Hecker custom mix of burnt candy orange and gold, as well as being fully plumbed with polished stainless steel hard lines and braided stainless soft lines. 

Wheels and tires on the Nova consist of a set of 17×7-inch front, and 17×9.5-inch rear Billet Specialties “Legacy” wheels rolling on P215/45ZR17-inch BFGoodrich G-Force high performance radial rubber front, and P275/40ZR17-inch BFGoodrich G Force radials in the rear.

Drivetrain Excellence

Powering this beauty is a Street & Performance-sourced Ram Jet 350 Chevrolet crate engine. Internally, the cast-iron, two-bolt-main 350 Ram Jet block features a 4.00-inch bore and 3.48-inch stroke, a GM Performance Parts hydraulic roller cam, cast-iron crank, a set of 9.4:1 compression pistons swinging on a set of H.O. 350 powdered metal-steel connecting rods, capped off with a set of 64cc GM Performance Parts/Vortec cast-iron cylinder heads featuring 1.94-inch diameter intake, and 1.50-inch diameter exhaust valves with a set of 1.6:1 ratio rocker arms. 

Of course, the Ram Jet 350 fuel injection “doghouse” on these engines is reminiscent of earlier Rochester mechanical injection small-blocks from the 1950’s — in looks that is —  albeit with ultra modern EFI. The Ram Jet 350 also came with its own factory fuel injection harness, in this particular case setup by a Detail Zone Engine Management System.

Street & Performance snazzed the engine up by polishing or plating every removable component. Also part of this combination is a Billet Specialties Tru Trac serpentine accessory drive and Vintage Air “Sure Fit” climate control. Engine cooling is handled by a twin fan Griffin four-core-aluminum radiator. The exhaust is handled by a set of Street & Performance headers, which spin the spent gases back through a Faustmann-fabricated, mandrel-bent 2 1/2-inch diameter HPC-coated exhaust system using twin Bullet mufflers. 

Backing this up is a TREMEC TKO five-speed transmission using modified Hurst shifter and a McLeod clutch. The final link in the Nova’s power train is Coleman-fabricated custom driveshaft.

Inside, Outside

When it came to the Nova’s exterior sheetmetal, Faustmann installed a Goodmark Industries two-inch cowl induction hood. He also filled in the gas filler door on the side of the body, and de-chromed everything. 

Inside the engine compartment, you’ll find a Danny Day custom firewall. Then Wade sprayed on a custom blend of Spies Hecker burnt Candy Orange and gold. Alton Gillespie applied the slash graphics. Exterior upgrades also include a really trick Danny Day billet aluminum custom trunk bezel with lit “SS” emblem, along with a custom gas door. 

Inside, Shawn Cook lavished the Nova’s Procar front seats, and highly modified rear bench seat in Tan Ultra leather, with contrasting tan Wolton carpeting. Those sculpted door panels and custom headliner are more of Cook’s super stitchery. Interior upgrades also include a custom dash with Clayton Machine handles and So Cal switches, an array of Auto Meter gauges, a Clarion head unit, and trunk-mounted Clarion amp. In that boot, you will find even more of Cook’s handiwork, along with JBL speakers and JBL subwoofers, all contained in a custom enclosure. All the Nova’s chassis wiring is American Autowire. 

Over the years, Clark has owned a ton of special interest cars including a couple of Tri-Five Chevys, a pair of Olds Jetfires, a ’32 Ford, a ’69 and ’71 Camaro, a bunch of midyear Vettes, even a Z06, but he says that the Nova is his favorite car. 

“The first weekend he (Clark) came over to see the Nova, he jumped in, and said he would be back in a little while,” Wade recalls. “Eight hours later he was back with a huge smile on his face!”