While a Front-Clip May Make Sense, This CPP Nova Suspension Rebuild Includes Lowering and Disc Brakes

Sometimes reality can be a hard thing to face and difficult choices have to be made. The owner of this ’64 Chevy Nova wagon wanted to upgrade the suspension of his new ride. He went on the Internet, looking at very cool IFS suspension clips for the little Nova shoeboxes. These clips bolt in place of the somewhat limited, stock, front Nova suspension to provide all of the benefits that rack-and-pinion steering, coilover shocks and a purpose-built suspension system offer. However, an IFS front clip is not exactly inexpensive.

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Since the owner was trying to do a lot of things to the car all at once and money was going out in all directions, he decided to wait on the clip a few years, when he could better afford it. In the meantime, he would rebuild the stock components. As he is planning to own the car for a long time, he figured that he would plan his mods and install the clip within the next three or four years.

The last time this Chevy saw new components was in 1964. The time has come to not only take the look into the new millennium brake-wise, but also to improve the handling characteristics, thanks to the latest in technological advances in composites and slamming the car to a more appropriate ride height.

But what would he do with the stock suspension? It was in sad shape, and had to be fixed quickly to make the car safe to drive.

Although it’s an early design, the Nova uses an IFS system that was considered not bad for its time. One of the downsides is the brake system. As a drum design, it wasn’t even the hot setup in its day, and this one was engineered only adequately, due to the size and overall weight of the Nova. Therefore, one of the main objectives was to upgrade to a disc-brake system that included a power-assisted master cylinder.

The drum brakes are one of the biggest drawbacks of any vintage vehicle. Luckily, CPP has made upgrading as easy as changing out the spindles.

Classic Performance Products (CPP) has long been recognized as a one-call parts source when it comes to acquiring hard-to-find parts for vintage Chevrolets. As expected, CPP had all of the bushings and bearings to rebuild the stock suspension, and it offered a perfect solution to the brake dilemma. Not only does CPP offer disk-brake kits for the Nova, it also offers them in conjunction with a dropped spindle. Simply bolting on the pre-assembled, 2-inch dropped spindles will provide any Nova a case of the low and whoa.

One surprising aspect of the stock Nova was that it came equipped with an anti-sway bar, although it was slightly on the soft side. Of course, CPP offers a new anti-roll bar designed to work with a lowered stance and the additional weight of a small-block engine.

We were on hand as the crew at Street Rod Factory in San Marcos, California, brought this Chevy back to life. The crew was also of the opinion that, while a new IFS clip would be nice, it is a lot more work to install. By comparison, the shop would have normally had this job done in a single day, if the crew didn’t have to slow down and wait for us to capture this rebuild.