Bjorgo then installed a Mustang front-end suspension, a ’68–’72 Chevy Nova 10-bolt posi rear end with 3.73:1 gears, a Chassis Engineering leaf spring kit, and front and rear sway bars. Finally, he dropped in an LT1 fuel-injected engine and a 700R4 transmission.
The tan interior was the final step of the yearlong project. Bjorgo had been searching for the perfect interior, and lucked out when a 1988 Chevy Nova was towed to his shop—Scott’s Auto Body & Sales in Strum, Wis. After removing the headrests, the top of the seats fell perfectly even with the top of the convertible’s doors so they wouldn’t stick up when the top was down.
‘Those seats were exactly what I was looking for,” Bjorgo says. They even recline because they were taken from a four-door car. “It’s such a pretty car. The whole thing turned out really nice.”
Bjorgo, 57, has driven hundreds of classic cars in his day. But he says the Chevy convertible is the most fun. He’s even got the mileage—and a bit of road rash in the PPG red paint—to prove it.
The car has been Bjorgo’s cross-country cruiser since completing the project in 2000. He’s put on more than 50,000 miles en route to dozens of car shows throughout the western half of the country.
“Out of all the cars I’ve built, I’ve had this one the longest and put the most miles on it,” Bjorgo says, adding that he would put even more miles on it if he lived more than a block away from his shop. “It’s a fat-fendered car so it’s a nice ride. It’s been a lot of fun for my wife and I.”
Although Bjorgo refers to the car as his baby, and even treats it like one—he talks to it in the garage—he laments that it’s time to part ways after 13 years of memories. He’s got 20 other cars inside his garage, and something has to go to make room for the next project.
