The car originally featured a 307 cu.-in. engine and the Traegers first looked to install a Big-Block paired with a four-speed manual transmission. But after doing extensive research, they decided to take the LS route and take advantage of the power plant's more modern performance capabilities.

Eventually, someone traded an LS6-powered 2004 Cadillac CTS-V into the dealership and Andy Traeger bought the car. Soon, he and his father went to work installing the engine in the Nova. They added aftermarket long-tube headers, a cold-air intake and an oil pan, but much of the powertrain was a direct swap.

Dan Traeger is an old-school fan of carburetors, but the project converted him to many of the benefits of the LS platform.

"This thing's a fuel-injected car, you hit the key and it just fires up," he said. "The computer just makes the car run right … It's reliable."

The transmission is a T56 six-speed manual from the 2004 CTS-V and is paired with a new Tick Performance single-disc clutch. The Traegers added a new crossmember as well. Plus, since the donor Cadillac's rear end was in bad shape, they also installed a new Moser 12-bolt GM rear end with Wilwood brakes.

The car still sits on the original subframe, however, and the plan at first was to utilize a set of aftermarket subframe connectors to stiffen the frame. But when the Traegers didn't like the way they fit, Dan simply got out his welder and made better ones. That's just one example of many tricks he used in building the car after a lifetime spent in the automotive industry.

Among the others was building traction bars utilizing three-point hitch links from Tractor Supply Company designed for a farm tractor. They keep the car planted and prevent wheel hop upon acceleration. Multi-leaf springs along with air shocks in the back allow the ride height adjustments when necessary or wanted. 

"I wanted that car to look like you drove by a high school parking lot in 1975," Andy Traeger said. "I knew that [Dad] likes the old-school hot rod look, and I do too, and I knew we'd have fun building a car that way."

The wheels and tires are vintage-style as well. The Nova rides on 15-inch American Racing Torq Thrust wheels off a Camaro, along with white-letter Dean Stinger Radial GTS tires. The wheels and tires were given to Andy Traeger by a lifelong family friend, Tim Johnson.

"I don't know if that [tire style] is cool anymore or not," Dan Traeger joked.

(Editor's note: It is.)

But while the car utilizes a variety of original and classic components, the Traegers also incorporated elements like new brake and fuel lines, along with ACDelco replacement parts to bring the vehicle up to today's standards.

Perhaps most impressive, they spent untold man-hours fabricating sheet metal and fine-tuning every area of the car while also maintaining the true muscle car vibe.

"The decklid and the roof were vintage, but the quarters, floors, fenders, and hood are all fresh stuff," Dan Traeger said.

Andy Traeger gives a great deal of credit to his father for his ingenuity and work ethic on the build.

"I owe a lot to Dad here, he did a lot of wrench time on it," he said. "We are not body guys by any means, but we had that on a rotisserie, we had it on it for a long time doing bodywork. Shout out to Kurt's Autobody, they did the filler work and also the paintwork. But really everything else was [Dad] and I in the garage at home. It was a lot of fun."

Kurt's Autobody in Bloomington painted the car in the famed Hugger Orange from Chevrolet and nearby Central Image Wraps installed a black 1969 Yenko stripe kit. When Andy Traeger bought the car it had more chrome around the windows and doors, but he and his father instead decided to go with the more simple orange broken up with the black stripes.

The car also incorporates various pieces of history, including hood louvers Dan Traeger had saved for decades.

"When I was in high school I worked at a gas station and we had wreckers," he said. "A guy rolled a '69 Big-Block car. I remember sitting behind the gas station waiting for the insurance people and they totaled it. I went back and took those louvers off of the car and I had them over the garage for like 45 years."

The interior remains mostly stock, although making the modern transmission fit required some cutting of the transmission tunnel and a newly fabricated trans cover. However, that is all out of sight under the carpet. The rest of the black interior remains much as it would have appeared in 1970, save for updated seat covers, some new gauge lenses and Apple CarPlay. Dan Traeger was even able to repair the original cracked dash panel through a plastic welding process.

Even though the father-son team has built multiple cars together, the LS-powered build was a new adventure for them. Yet it is one they embraced.

"For as much as it was a fun project together, there was a lot that we learned on this car," Andy Traeger said. "Doing an LS swap for me was a very intimidating feat. I mean we're taking something that was made in 2004, even though that's kind of old technology now, but we're shoving it in something that was built in 1970. But the cool thing is, there are kits out there to help you with this."

For now though, the two are focused on the head-turning 1970 Nova, which features a three-inch exhaust along with electric exhaust cutouts. As a result, the cool look and killer sound each serve to alert passersby of the vehicle's presence.

It's been a labor of love, but one of which the Tragers are extremely proud.

"The goal at the end of the day, at least for me, was to say we built it," Andy Traeger said. "And when you're looking at that car, we built it."