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Concours restorations and high-end Pro Touring builds have their place and no one will discount their value, but there's another way to experience this hobby of muscle cars and hot rods. That other way is to build whatever you can get your hands on with the tools you've got and a reasonable budget. Craig Richey of Kansas City, Missouri took the second approach with his 1974 Chevy Nova.

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Craig's intentions were as follows: "I'm a combat vet, and firefighter who built my dream 'dirt rod' in my garage with hand tools and only a few thousand dollars. I had grown up helping and watching my dad as he restored high quality, rare muscle cars including numbers-matching 1969 RS Z/28 Camaros and high-dollar concourse-quality SS 454 Chevelles. I grew to respect that, but it wasn't as interesting or fun to me. I wanted something that I wouldn't be afraid to drive thousands of miles, fling gravel and beat on relentlessly. I wanted something that wouldn't ruffle any purists' feathers if I hacked it to pieces and crashed it into a guard rail. Plus, it had to be cheap to buy, cheap to make fast, and easy find parts for."

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The third gen Nova you see here was the fulfillment of that desire. When he bought the car over a decade ago it was, according to Craig, "a pile of crap," which just meant he picked it up for cheap. Over the years, he touched every inch of the 1974 Chevy Nova which all started with him pulling the 350 ci small-block and TH350 transmission and dropping in a 454 ci big-block Chevy backed by a Muncie M20 4-speed manual.

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As for that army green paint, Craig was working for the National Guard and they had literal tons of leftover OD Green paint just sitting on the shelves. Anything was better than boring grey primer, so Craig decided to just go for it. And the graphics? "Eventually it had to have a shark face because why the hell not."

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Now a over a decade has gone by and the Nova has racked up almost 10,000 miles after going on HOT ROD Power Tour twice as a long hauler, a couple trips to Mexico, and innumerable runs down the quarter mile. Craig even told us that, "It's been through more sets of rear tires than oil changes." Now the future of his wild third-gen Nova is wide open. "I have played with the idea of setting it up as an Aussie style burnout car or breaking out the welder and building an all steel widebody so I can fit some fat ass stock car style wheels and tires under it—who knows, just wait and see I guess."

Everything you want to know about Craig Richey's 1974 Chevy Nova:

454 big-block Chevy 4-bolt main, total displacement 468 ci

TSW LS6 18cc pistons

781 heads ported up to 2.19 and 1.88 valves

Weiand Action Plus dual plane intake

Comp Magnum hydraulic flat cam

Crower rods on the factory crank

All mechanical Holley 850 CFM carburetor

Holley electric pump and 25-gallon fuel cell

Summit HEI with Pertronix control module and MSD blaster coil

Painless Performance 21 circuit wiring harness

Muncie M20 4-speed transmission with a Super 611 billet mid-plate

KC Clutchmasters "stage 2" street/strip clutch

Factory 10-bolt rear with 31 spline Alloy Specialties axles, Eaton posi and Motive 3.08 gears

Right Stuff 4-wheel power disk brake conversion

Ridetech upper and lower front control arms

QA1 front coilovers with a 650lb/in spring

Hotchkiss G-Machine front sway bar

Energy Suspension urethane bushings

Hotchkis 2-inch drop G-Machine rear leaf springs

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