Air Ride Tech Street Challenge - Chevy Nova

To the delight of everyone in attendance, Billet Specialties' head honcho, Glenn Grozich, brought out Chicayne, his famous twin turbocharged '62 Biscayne. Proving that he's a hands-on car guy, Glenn even took a ride off the course in the high-end project. The car survived the off-road adventure with little damage but was done for the day. Nothing a good hosing off wouldn't fix, I bet.
To the delight of everyone in attendance, Billet Specialties' head honcho, Glenn Grozich,

The Nova snaked the cones pretty well for a nearly 40-year-old-classic.
As mentioned earlier, the Camaro was the star. With the right amount of air in each corner, it set the pace through the cones.
As mentioned earlier, the Camaro was the star. With the right amount of air in each corner
While real race cars have tires with little or no treads, I can honestly say that real performance cars do have Air Ride suspensions.
While real race cars have tires with little or no treads, I can honestly say that real per

Mad Thrash!
I love doing tech stories. It's in my blood. But even after 30 years of working on cars, watching the Air Ride crew swap out the suspension under the little Nova was a new one for me. While it wasn't my intention to show a blow-by-blow install story, here are a few of the highlights of the changeover. I didn't get to eat much because of the work going on, but I did enjoy the fruits of our sacrifice when I experienced what a difference a little air can make.

Simple in design, excellent in function. That's Air Ride's Air Bar setup. The system's bottom bar of the four-link replaces the leaf spring and an upper bar is attached to a crossmember that bolts in place between the factory unibody framerails. The crossmember also acts as the upper mount for the fully adjustable Shockwave air bag/shock combination.
Simple in design, excellent in function. That's Air Ride's Air Bar setup. The system's bot
During lunch, members of Air Ride Technologies tore into the little Chevy II, and in less than an hour had all four corners suspended on air.
During lunch, members of Air Ride Technologies tore into the little Chevy II, and in less
Of course, safety was the prime concern for the guys working without the help of a lift. A floor jack and heavy-duty jackstands allowed the team to work on it and feel safe while doing so.
Of course, safety was the prime concern for the guys working without the help of a lift. A

Removing parts on the Nova was simple and basic. Here is the factory lower shock mount and leaf spring retaining plate. The Air Ride system replaces this with a nicely engineered plate that acts as the rear mount for the lower four-bar and an adjustable shock mount.
Removing parts on the Nova was simple and basic. Here is the factory lower shock mount and
The tubular lower bar simply bolts in place.

After the upper crossmember is in place, mounted between the stock rear framerails, the upper four-bar is bolted in. The only welding that needs to be done is attaching the rearend brackets for the upper bars. This rearend already had them welded in place. Finally, the Shockwave fully adjustable shock is a bolt-in part.
After the upper crossmember is in place, mounted between the stock rear framerails, the up
Up front, the factory coils are discarded for a Shockwave airbag/shock combo. Of course, care was paramount when it came to taking out the factory coils. There's a lot of energy stored in a compressed coil spring an it's important to make sure you use the correct tools when disassembling the frontend.
Up front, the factory coils are discarded for a Shockwave airbag/shock combo. Of course, c

Here are the upper plates that go in place of the stock upper shock tower mount. Simple installation here. But it fits and works superbly.
Here are the upper plates that go in place of the stock upper shock tower mount. Simple in
Here's the rear of the Deuce with no air in the rear bags. Of course, the car wouldn't go around the track like this. But just think how cool it will look at the car show sitting still.
Here's the rear of the Deuce with no air in the rear bags. Of course, the car wouldn't go