Thanks to Mark Brewton of Winnfield, Louisiana, the job of choosing his car as Editor's Choice this past October at the Memphis True Street event was a no-brainer. Mark's Chevy was just finished a month before and here he was already flogging it on our 30-mile drive and launching it down the track, but Mark's journey to build his Nova and make it to Memphis is almost as cool as his silver street fighter-almost.
It all started out one night when Mark was watching an episode of "Overhaulin'." Between the gags and pranks, he actually caught them working on a car and he thought back to the '72 Nova he had built in high school. Back then, he didn't have a big bankroll, so his car was built on a student's budget, but he always had big dreams. Once out of high school, Mark joined the Marine Corps, and he and the Nova parted ways. With his mind now racing with thoughts of getting another Nova, he went to pitch the idea to his wife, Michelle. She quickly gave her seal of approval with only two conditions: first, it had to have air conditioning, and second, it had to be silver. With this out of the way, it was time to find a car.
Anxious to get started, Mark located a car within two weeks. The '72 was found in Houston, Texas, and only had 42,000 original miles. Thinking this was his lucky day, he scooped up the Nova and brought it home. After spending about five months coming up with a plan, Mark started work on his cherry Nova. His hopes for a quick turnaround were dashed two weeks into the build when he found major rust in the quarters, floor, and trunk pans. To top it off, the front fenders were layered in Bondo. Mark knew the car was not beyond saving but he started to worry that he had bitten off more than he could chew and thought about putting the project on hiatus. After looking around in vain for a competent body shop, his brother found "the guy" to fix his vintage Nova. When Mark finally met Mike Marrable, he knew this guy had the skills to tackle his rusty Nova. After the subframe was soda-blasted, painted, and reinstalled, the car was put on a trailer and sent off to Mike's shop, M&M Motorsports in Calhoun, Louisiana. It was here that the Nova had its cancer-riddled sheetmetal replaced and was shot in '00 Dodge Silver-Ice Metallic paint. The finishing touch on the exterior was when Mark installed the new bow-tie hood emblem that he bought for his high school Nova over 14 years ago.
Mark's plan called for a ride that could run on pump gas, be easy to cruise around in with the comfort of AC, and knock down 10- or 11-second quarter-mile times. Being that his ride was going to be a street driver and not just a straight-line warrior, he went to work on the chassis and suspension. The suspension was freshened up with polygraphite bushings and a set of Koni shocks. Mark's bodyman also welded in a set of subframe connectors to help keep things from twisting out of shape. Detroit Speed and Engineering provided the springs and Competition Engineering helped keep Mark's 3.55-geared Dana 60 (from Chassis Engineering) planted firmly with a set of slide-a-links. A Detroit Locker True-Trac keeps both rear wheels spinning in the burnout box. New CCP stock-height front spindles are mated to matching front disc brakes while out back a Wilwood Drag-Lite disc brake system works to slow the Nova once the finish lines goes by. To keep rotating weight to a minimum, Mark's '72 rolls on Weld Rod-lite 15x7 front and 15x8 rear wheels. The BFG 215/60R15 front tires catch air when the 275/50-15 Mickey Thompsons manage to hook up.
While the bodyshop was hard at work, Mark was hunting down the right motor for his silver '72. Mark ended picking up a 415 cubic-inch small-block that a guy was running in his rock-crawler Jeep. Mark bought a new camshaft, intake, and Moroso oil pan, then sent the parts, along with the motor, to Holder Racing Engines of Ruston, Louisiana. The guys at Holder installed the 242/248-duration .540/.562-inch lift Comp cam and checked the 10.8:1 Ross pistons and GM 5.7 con-rods to make sure everything was good to go. The small-block came equipped with a set of Brodix Track 1 aluminum heads with 2.08 intake and 1.60 exhaust valves, Comp beehive springs, and hardened pushrods. The World Products intake that Mark picked up was installed and topped off with a Holley 750 double-pumper carb. Turning fuel into fire is left to the MSD Digital-6 ignition system and the total timing was set to 38 degrees. The spent exhaust is vented through a set of Hedman headers and a Flowmaster exhaust system. On the engine dyno, the small-block put out 515 horsepower at 5,400 rpm and a very healthy 537 lb-ft of twist at 4,200 rpm. For a little extra get-up-and-go, Mark also installed a 75hp Nitrous Works system. Being that the Memphis True Street drags were only a month away, Mark had his Nova strapped to the dyno at Fast Forward Motorsports to help get his system dialed in. To hold this power, Mark runs a reverse manual valve body TH350 with transbrake, trans cooler, and a 10-inch converter, also from BTE. The trans is connected to the Dana 60 by way of a driveshaft from Denny's.
The interior was kept comfortable enough for cruising, but simple enough to work well at the track. Summit Racing seats up front work well with the four-point harness system anchored to the six-point roll bar (welded in by Mark's bodyman, Mike). Mark opted for removable swing-out sidebars to make driving on the street easier. To keep track of how everything is running, there's a Covans dash loaded up with Autometer gauges. Driver input is applied through a Grant Steering wheel and a Hurst Quarter-Stick shifter. All the rest of the interior was stitched and installed by Stitch Art Custom in Winnfield, Lousiana. A Classic Auto AC system makes both Mark and his wife happy while tunes are courtesy of the lopey small-block under the hood.
Mark made it his goal to run his fresh Nova at the Memphis True Street competition. In his first outing, he knocked down a best time of 11.13 at 118 mph. With some tweaking of the suspension and a little work, 10s are definitely in this car's future. Besides getting his 3,400-pound silver bullet into the 10s, Mark also plans on lots of street time for his Nova. With Memphis behind him, Mark told PHR: "My next two goals are the Pump Gas Drags in May of '06 and then a long drive on the Power Tour in June." Mark hasn't missed a goal yet, so expect to see him at both those events. But most importantly, look for Mark on the street. After all, isn't that what it's all about?