Quarantine Quest – Neil Siermachesky Used the Covid Lockdown to Transform his 1963 Nova SS
Imagine living in a secluded town out in the middle of Vancouver Island during the Covid pandemic. Yes, as in Vancouver, British Columbia, in the far west of the Great White North. For Neil Siermachesky, the time in seclusion provided the perfect opportunity to transform his stock 1963 Nova SS into a road-trip-worthy, modern street machine.
Neil had picked up the 1963 Nova SS a few years prior after placing a Want to Buy ad online. The best reply was from a fellow with an original Super Sport, six-cylinder-powered Nova. It had been repainted 20 years prior and still looked good. A deal was made, and Neil enjoyed putzing the stocker around while he gathered speed parts and suspension goodies to make it more fun to drive and ready for long hauls. Then, in 2020, he found himself locked down, so he got busy.
The first step was to install a Total Cost Involved front subframe, which is fairly straightforward, but Neil likes his cars low. Very low. He’d had cars with air suspension but was never 100-percent satisfied, so he planned to build the Nova really low, with a static stance. To achieve that, he raised the mounting points of the TCI subframe a couple inches before bolting it in place, kind of channeling the unibody assembly.
In the end, he achieved the stance he wanted, but it led to other modifications such as packaging the engine and accessories lower, not to mention raising the transmission tunnel. As far as the rear suspension, he also installed a TCI torque arm setup, which he also raised an inch in the car. With the adjustable coil-overs at all four corners, he got the car to sit right – and ride great. They stay stance is everything, and as you can see, the Nova does have a great stance, so all the extra work was worthwhile.
With the suspension worked out, Neil moved to the drivetrain. He had sourced a used 5.3-liter LS for $400, which is still churning with the stock lower end and heads. He did install a trunnion upgrade for the rockers, added heavier valve springs along with a cam spec’d for a turbo, popped in a new oil pump, and added fresh head gaskets. As for that turbo-spec cam, Neil wanted boost and installed a 76/65 turbocharger along with a water meth cooling kit, just to add a little more challenge to under-hood packaging.
As a welder by trade, Neil wasn’t concerned with dicing up intakes and turbo plumbing. In fact, he ended up building his own stainless headers as well as the custom 3-inch oval exhaust with Borla XS mufflers keeps the tone down. A low Flow EFI sheet metal intake directs the boosted air into the cylinders while a Holley Terminator X manages the fuel mixture and timing. A Tremec TKO 600 handles the power easily, though their newer TKX trans would have saved Neil a lot of fitment struggles!
The interior was basically all stock when Neil started on the project, but with the modern drivetrain combined with the raised tunnel, he planned some modifications. To address the tunnel, he fabricated an aluminum console, complete with cup holders and Apple Car Play for a bit of comfort on long drives. The front bench seat was replaced with a pair of TMI buckets with a matching cover for the rear. To monitor the boosted LS, he fit a Holley 7-inch digital dash into the factory bezel and retained the stock steering wheel, though it’s bolted to an Ididit tilt column, another nice feature for long trips.
One of the best things about the Nova’s transformation was that the paint, even though a couple decades old, was still plenty nice for Neil’s goals. Plus, the original sheet metal was complemented with all the right stainless and trim! After all, Neil always planned on the car being a driver and it still looks darn good, especially with the 17- and 18-inch Rushforth wheel combination and four-piston Wilwood discs brakes.
Neil spent a lot of hours in the garage that winter, summer, and fall and once the state of the world finally normalized, the ’63 was ready for the road. Neil and his family racked up miles on day trips and cruises around the big island and in late summer of 2024, they were ready to pack their bags for a couple weeks to wind down the coast with the Goodguys West Coast Nationals as their destination.
The trip to Pleasanton was the longest for the family and their 1963 Nova SS – we’re talking over 3,200 kilometers (2,200-plus miles for U.S. folks). The family didn’t do it all in one sitting, as they stopped here and there to enjoy the sights along the way and had friends Matt and Elizabeth Turner in their own home-built ’65 Nova traveling with them. That’s dedication and a testament to the Nova’s build quality, not to mention the support of his wife, Tyne, and 9-year-old son, Jack!
ROAD PROVEN
While chatting with Neil during our photo shoot, we asked about his road trip from Vancouver to Pleasanton and what his family had planned for the drive home. Neil’s wife Tyne and their son Jack were along for the ride and were joined by friends Matt and Elizabeth Turner in their home-built ’65 Nova.
The Turners’ Nova has a home-fabricated front end based on a C6 ’Vette spindle, while the rear features an IRS made from a Gen 5 Camaro center section. Matt built the control arms fore and aft, added C6 brakes, and sourced a used 6.0-liter LS and 4L60E. Just two home-built first-gen Novas out on a 2,000-plus mile road trip!
The cars rolled through serious rain, and one had a minor “brake down,” but nothing these two couldn’t fix in a couple hours. Otherwise, it was a trouble-free, amazing time on the road and a testament to the quality of builds on both cars.
Neil pointed out that driving a cool, vintage car on a trip is a lot different than rolling in a daily driver. “You meet a ton of people that want to look at your car or share a story, plus you get loads of waves and thumbs up along the way! I 100-percent would do it again and recommend other people to do the same!”
Feature Photos by Todd Ryden, Road Trip Pics courtesy the Siermachesky family