Hurricane Ian caused billions of dollars’ worth of damage and killed many people in Florida and the Carolinas. Along with many other historic cars, the storm also destroyed a very rare 1970 Plymouth Superbird. This 1963 Chevrolet Nova is just another victim on four wheels.
This Nova SS was improved and rebuilt shortly before the storm made landfall in the United States in September 2022, however it is not as expensive as a Superbird. Although it was fortunate enough not to crash, the engine and electrical system suffered damage from flooding.
Fortunately enough, though, the current owner wants to take it apart and rebuild everything so that the Nova will be able to run and drive again. But before he did that, he took it to the folks over at “WD Detailing” for deep cleaning inside and out. And the result is downright fabulous.
Cleaning a flooded vehicle is quite the challenge because they usually end up with a thick layer of mud inside the cabin. In this case, the mud got really solid and stuck to the carpet. This left the cleaner with no option but to take the carpets out and pressure wash them, which turned out to be a pretty satisfying process to watch.
But the metal floor and the trunk also received a pressure washer treatment because muck had seeped under the carpets. After that, our host took great care to remove all of the extra water, leaving the floor exactly as it was when the Nova was last restored.
Scrubbing the once-gorgeous crimson vinyl—which had a heavy layer of mud attached to it—was also a difficult task. Fortunately, pressure washing, fabric cleaning, and vacuuming worked together to restore the seats’ shine. In addition, our host performed a fantastic job polishing the sill plates and steering wheel.
With the interior sparkling clean, he went on to clean the body. Unlike the cabin, the exterior wasn’t in bad shape, at least not dirtier than a car that’s been kept outside for a long time. The red paint and the chrome trim turned out great, but the car will be repainted during the restoration because it got some scratches and dents during the storm.
Two surprises are finally revealed when the hood is lifted. One is that the engine is not a first-generation Nova mill out of the box. During restoration, a contemporary LS3 was installed in this Chevy. The bad news is that it will require a rebuild in order to start again because there are indications that the engine was nearly completely buried underwater during the flood. Still, it’s good to see it gleam once more. It may not be able to start and drive right now, but this attractive Nova weathered the hurricane rather well.