Even though the race season is already well under-way, there’s still a healthy amount of fresh builds just getting started. Nearing the finish-line on his ’65 Nova build, Ryan Jones is hoping to be out and ready to run some high 7’s soon in PSCA Wild Street and WCHRA’s Outlaw 8.5 class, building his car loosely enough that it’s legal for a few different venues.
If an out of this world ’65 Nova sounds like music to your ears, check out the running build thread that Jones has kept going for us, and doesn’t mind sharing a bit of in-depth info about his ride to fellow enthusiasts.
It’s looking to be another sizzlin’ summer in sunny So-Cal where Jones resides, but working through the heat, Fab-Tech in Chatsworth, CA has made some sweet headway on the 25.3 chassis and an AJE Chrome-moly front-end and suspension. Jones’ over-all performance goal is roughly 1700 horsepower, along with some 7.7xx time-slips to back it all up, with ideal trap speeds being in the 180-185 range. Helping him out on the raw horsepower end is a 406″ SBC with a killer set of 72mm turbos, and a Big Stuff 3 EFI giving Jones control of it all. With a Mike’s powerglide and a 9″ rear-end with 40 spline axles, there’s no doubt it’ll all stay together, whether it be a little bit of overkill or not.
Now that the chassis and suspension work is mostly marked off the checklist, Jones still has a few important tidbits left to go from the intercooler piping, to the front fascia as well as some fine paint for this fine Nova. With some luck and a good tune-up, this Nova just might slip into the Outlaw 8.5 ranks competitively. We know the car’s got the power, but it’ll be up to the wheel-man and tuner to squeeze every last bit of success, or in this case E/T out of her.