12th Jan 2006, 22:55
I bought my 88 chevy nova twin cam in July for only $600. I love it! I had to replace my alternator, but that was it. I am proud to be one of three hundred owners of this car.
23rd Jan 2007, 09:13
I also have a 88 nova twin cam. I was told by the parts guy that I had to have the intermediary exhaust pipe custom made. Does the pipe for the fx16 work?
19th Feb 2007, 15:36
I bought a 1988 Chevy Nova for 750$, I thought it was a good car with plenty of speed and get up and go. When I got it home I took my little brother with me to show him my 'new' car, and he liked it a lot and tried to buy it from me. Long story short my 88 Nova broke down due to timing issues two days after I bought it. I've replaced the belt, but it still jumps time, and is one of the worst cars I've ever owned.
17th Jun 2007, 08:00
I have a 1988 Nova Twin-Cam that I purchased new on New Year's Day 1988. It has been the best car I have ever owned. I am now looking for a passenger side front axle, new or rebuilt. Does anyone have any suggestions on where to look? My email address is jrmoore@onecliq.net.
17th Jun 2007, 21:05
Am the original owner of a 1988 Chevy Nova Twin Cam and need a new gas tank - interestingly, the Canadian steel gas tank that is advertised as fitting the twin cam, T01B, does not even come close to fitting. The neck on the twin cam gas tank is detached from the tank and curved. It looks very much like the gas tank that is advertised for the carburetor Nova although the Twin Cam is fuel injected. Any suggestions?
As for the intermediate pipe referenced above, I've replaced that several times over the years, and the last time I had to have it fabricated. Try to find someone who will guarantee his work for the life of the car.
1st Sep 2007, 19:59
As for the comment 19th Feb 2007, 15:36.
1) You are purchased an economy car capable of achieving 30 MPG around town and 44 MPG on the freeway. "My statistics: 89 octane"
2) You bought it for $750 and it ran. All 88 Nova Twin-Cams are coming on 22 years old. I say 22 because they used 1986 Toyota technology.
3) Come on 22 years old, it's not a rock that lasts forever!
26th Oct 2007, 14:00
I found the right front axle for my Nova Twin Cam at a Toyota dealership. It is the axle for a 1988 Toyota Corolla FX-16 GTS. AND, it only cost $655.00. I am now looking for the correct front struts, I need the entire units. Can anyone help me? Thanks, jrmoore@onecliq.net.
22nd Aug 2008, 13:01
Just want to add a few things. You can find all of the parts for the Novas at Toyota. This was not a joint venture between Toyota and GM. GM purchased Corollas from Toyota and had them re-badged, well I guess you can call that a joint venture but GM was not involved in any of the engineering or building. Depending on the Nova model it can be transferred to one of the Toyota Chassis names AE-82, 84, or 86. Most of the parts are cheaper if you tell them it is for a Toyota Corolla, as Toyota sold more of them. Also this same car has been sold as Holden Nova, Geo Prism, and Sprinter Trueno, so you can also find parts from the junk yard off of these cars.
Does anyone know if the 130hp engine was used in the Novas?
30th Aug 2008, 13:01
I bought a 1988 Chevy Nova Twin-Cam in 2006 for $250.00. It was in good running condition but with some body rust. This year I put Collector plates on it. So far all I have done to it was free up a sticky rear brake caliper and replace a melted brake line. Recently the "Check Engine" light started to come on so I ran the codes yesterday and O2 sensor came up. Will have to replace that very soon. Also oiled part of the undercarriage to keep the rust at bay. Radiator is rotted out at the bottom fins but does not leak. I get about 38 mpg on the highway. Nice peppy car with stick shift. Good information here about what Toyota parts fit this car.
Herb from Wisconsin
9th Sep 2009, 17:17
Just got one that's in great condition. The 1988 Nova twin cam is great. It's the same age as me, and I am trying to find out what cool things I could do to it to make it more of a classic. Any suggestions, email me @ nathanson60@gmail.com
12th Aug 2014, 10:57
They made about 3000 of the twin cam. All were black though. Only in 1988. So it is the only EFI Nova ever made. I've been looking for one for more than a couple of years. Had a line on a trashed one a year ago, but timing and distance didn't let it work out (I was out of the country). The search goes on though...
18th Oct 2014, 08:00
I was at a farm auction in South West Missouri last week and got one for $675.00. I thought my wife was going to kill me. She just snickered at me as she followed me home in her 2010 Cadillac STS4 LOL. This little Nova Twin Cam may look rough, but wow it runs great. This will be a fun restoration.
21st Mar 2015, 20:12
I got my Nova Twin Cam in 2000 for free from my brother in law. When I got the car, I was hoping to get 20 or 30 thousand miles out of it. The car had 177,000 on it at the time. I have been driving it ever since. I now have 402,500 miles on the car.
I tried to get it inspected in October and it would not pass emissions. Damn it! The car was still getting around 38 to 40 MPG at that time. I ended up doing a valve job myself with some help from the Internet, also honed the cylinders and installed new rings, along with misc gaskets and parts I purchased from rockauto.com, which have a lot of parts for that car.
Anyway, I took it back in to have the emissions tested again "with a lot of anxiety" and it passed with flying colors. I don't know how many more miles I will be able to put on this car, but it has been one of the best cars I have ever had. For a no frills car that gets me from here to there, I can't beat this one.
13th Jul 2004, 10:40
The Chevy Nova Twin Cam has been an excellent car for me. My car has 152k on the odometer. The 110 horsepower motor is reliable and powerful enough, especially when the tranny button is pressed into 'power' mode.
Parts are easier to get from a Toyota dealer or junkyard. I did get a muffler for only $25 - off the shelf - from a parts store because I said it was for an FX16. The Nova muffler was $94 and had to be ordered.
Total production numbers are around 3300 and not 300 as previously mentioned. Not many exist, but if you find one they come highly recommended.