The ARTISAN: A Pro Touring Nova Project By High School Students With Zero Budget


The ARTISAN: A Pro Touring Nova Project By High School Students With Zero Budget

Perfect! Where do we sign up! We’re so impressed with Paul Estrella and his students for taking on this project of building Paul’s old Nova into a project that the kids can learn from, be proud of, and participate with in the car community. It’s the perfect kind of project for a group of students who, quite frankly, wouldn’t otherwise be exposed to this world. And I for one am proud of Paul for stepping up. And he’s not just teaching these kids about cars. There is plenty more to come, and in just a matter of days they have already gotten plenty of lessons and are moving forward.

We’ll have lots more on this project as it progresses, but this first update is actually coming to us via the gang at Ridetech who let us in on what was going on. After finding out about the project, Ridetech stepped up and supplied suspension for this bad boy, and we’re going to do our best to get other BangShift sponsors on board as well. So get ready for some email sponsors!

Here’s the write up from Ridetech.com.

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With the speed at which the economy, the environment, the government, and the world have been changing lately, we hear a lot of people wondering what will become of the hot rodding community.  The vehicles of today are becoming harder to work on, and many schools have removed automotive and technical classes from their curriculum.  Here at RideTech, we really get behind projects that help the youth of today become the hotrodders of tomorrow, whether they’re local or halfway across the country.  So when we heard about this awesome project, we couldn’t wait to get on board!!

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Paul Estrella is an Automotive Instructor at the Greater New Bedford Vocational Technical High School in Massachusetts, one of the only schools in the state to still offer an automotive learning program.  This school currently has about 160 students in the rotational application of their automotive program, although specific projects like this one are NOT funded by the school due to lack of funding.  Located 40 minutes south of Boston, the school is home to a demographic where many of the students have never even seen a car like this…much less been in one, or had a hand in building one!  Paul is leading the kids in building this project to raise awareness for their shop and the kids who need a positive force in their lives.  They are learning a trade, and just as importantly, they’re learning life lessons like responsibility, accountability, and productivity.

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Building a high-end pro-touring ride isn’t easy, and doing it on a high-school teacher’s budget is even more tricky…but this is also teaching the students more skills like budgeting, buying and selling, and internet marketing as they work towards getting the necessary parts.  Plans for the build include a 6.0 engine with manual trans, lots of tricky sheet metal and body work, coilover suspension, disc brakes, mini-tubs, interior work, and more.  The work is being planned in a manner that will show off the talent and skills of the kids not just in the collision and metal fabrication divisions, but also the visual design, IT, media departments, and more!  These kids and their teacher will really have something to be proud of when they’re finished, and we can’t wait to see the next updates on the project!

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We encourage you to follow the build, and let these kids & their awesome teacher know they’re doing a fantastic job!

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3 thoughts on “The ARTISAN: A Pro Touring Nova Project By High School Students With Zero Budget

  1. Ross Smith

    Awesome!! I do have to say that this car looks very familiar. My cousin owned a 69 and it sat at my shop in Douglas for a while. These pictures really caught my eye.
    I own In-Gear Transmissions in Douglas, Ma. We work closely with the high school here with their work study program and love to see kids involved with this stuff. If there is anything we can help with please feel free to give us a call and let us know. Check us out on the web…Keep up the great work!!
    Ross

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