hi i've got a 1978 chevy nova, lookin to make it into a street/strip car im pretty new to the car scene, so id just like a few ideas on how to make this car run im on a slight budget so what would be the best engine to put in this beast?

 

Many things you can do,, you can't just jump into the engine scene. If it had a 350 in it,, go Edelbrock 1406 carb, Edelbrock RPM intake and an XE268 cam with the lifters and springs. If you have good compression it will make good power. If you get some headers and free flowing exhaust it will make even more power. Tho headers in a daily driver come with ther price,, burnt plug wires, under hood heat and started over heating.
I like the 268 Voodoo cam also, but the lift is a little more. More isn't always better,, you just need to match everything up.

good luck

 

Use 400 heads with 1.94s milled a little, get a decent cam n lifters. Find a corvette intake manifold or go cheap with a *torquer intake from Edelbrock thats about 95 bucks. As for a carb buy a Street Avenger Holley and run thinner head gaskets.