Chevy II Renovation, Part I - 1966 Chevy Nova Front Suspension

You'll find another pair of bolts on the opposite side of this juncture, outside the engine bay. Remove these, as well.

And just like that, the factory subframe pops off. Well, not just like that . . . between the ancient factory coating and decades of road grime, it took a bit of prying. This thing is no lightweight, so be sure to support it with a floor jack.

This is an ideal time to clean and detail the firewall, and as you can see, Johns Customz did just that before installing the Heidt's subframe assembly. John and Paul had a third person help support the subframe until they got the bolts started. The Heidt's holes lined right up with those in the old Nova's firewall.

The brackets for the adjustable firewall-support tubes mount on the upper firewall, again in the stock location. Since the tubes themselves are adjustable, shims aren't needed at this location.

The support tubes were then bolted into place. Be sure to follow the directions here, or you won't be able to get these bolts back out once the engine is in place. Later on, when the body panels are installed, these tubes allow gaps in the sheetmetal to be adjusted. But at this point, Paul placed a jack under the crossmember until the unit just began to lift, and then turned the tubes until both were centered and there was no slack.

Paul then bolted up the Heidt's narrowed control arms. The top arm is adjustable for alignment purposes. Paul then assembled the Aldan coilovers. The top shock mount simply bolts into the control-arm mount.

The lower shock mount, however, doubles as the mounting point for the optional swaybar we ordered. Heidt's provides the correct long bolt for this purpose.

Opting for the swaybar means drilling and tapping mounting holes. The mounting points are 23 3/4 inches apart, centered on the crossmember, the top hole is 1 3/8 inch from the top of the crosspiece, and the holes are 1 1/2 inches apart. Paul measured and marked out the first two dimensions, then used the swaybar-mounting brackets (with the bushings installed) as a template for the last hole.

Swaybar installed, Paul installed the 2-inch drop spindles, which will help give our '67 an in-the-weeds stance. Ball joints are preinstalled in the control arms; castle nuts and cotter pins are provided.

At this point, we stopped to survey our progress. All agreed that the installation was going smoothly and that things looked good.

Next up was the power rack-and-pinion. For this application, using Heidt's narrowed control arms, the rack ends must be shortened 5/8 inch on each end. Paul cut the necessary length off with the rack bolted in place, then measured to make sure that each side was adjusted evenly-in this case, 13 inches from framerail to spindle end.

Now for a slight diversion . . . with the stock steering column out of the picture, we linked our Flaming River tilt column and Waterfall steering wheel to the rack-and-pinion with an FR steering shaft and U-joints.