Jack- read somewhere that it's all about suspension geometry with the earlier Nova and Camaro and Chevelle clips. Apparently, the roll center made by taking a line through the pivots of upper balljoints and A arm pivots and then the line through lower ball joints and A arm pivots ruts the intersection of these two lines WAY outside of the chassis! This apparently makes them less stable in a corner. You are right, the early Nova, Camaro etc. were available with disc brakes...it's just less common. As for the steering box location, I read an article in an older issue of Custom Classic Trucks-they swapped early Nova clip into a Task Force (1957) Chevy truck. With the front axle centered in the wheelwells, the input shaft of the steering box came up UNDER THE TOEBOARD!! It was about two inches away from where the steering column came down through the firewall. The first column they had installed went through the firewall and out past the box.... They had to switch to a shorter FWD Pontiac Grand Prix column for clearance.
This info is not from personal experience, as I'm not old enough to have driven one of the first generation Camaros or Novas (although we had one of each in the family). I have driven the newer style Camaros and they drive pretty darn good, when they aren't worn out.
Just my $.02-No criticism intended. I'm sure many folks have successfully used the early Camaro or Nova.
Wannabe
