How do you know if your 73 nova is a ss?

look at the dash and see if it has the oil gauge , amp gauge, and temperature gauge, if it doesn't it's not a real ss.

Only Chevelle had a custom dash for the SS. Not the Nova. Nova did, however, have an optional tach, that went where the clock is. Under the hood, on the drivers side firewall, there will be a square tag, by the master cylinder. It will have a bunch of single letters, followed by two numbers. These are all you build codes. This will break down how your car came, from where, what color, motor, ect.