slik
12th-September-2008, 10:20 AM
Now that were coming to the time of year when Old Man Winter will be making his appearance, it’s time to start the bodywork and repaint on my 73 Nova. I’ve had the car for about 3 years now and did a little bodywork when it got the car but that was just a quickie to get the ball rolling but now it’s time to get serious.
The plan:
• Bodywork
• Paint
• Interior work
• Some suspension work
• Motor work
• New Rims and Tires
This is what my Nova looked like when I first got her 10/2/2005. I only paid $3500 for it, which I thought was a steal, being how strong the 305 is and the shape that the body is in. I didn’t know which way I was gonna go with this project when I first got it, weather to use it as a regular street car or go all they way with a Pro-Street. Well after a little thought I’ve decided to go with the Pro-Street look.
http://i488.photobucket.com/albums/rr241/slikvtx/nova1.jpg
This side shot shows the only problem I have with my ride. It sits up to high, a problem that will be corrected in a few weeks. In fact a complete suspension overhaul is the first order of business.
http://i488.photobucket.com/albums/rr241/slikvtx/nova2.jpg
I plan on installing some 2” Drop Spindles and shocks in the front along with a new front-end kit, out back, maybe shorter shackles new leafs and air shocks.
http://i488.photobucket.com/albums/rr241/slikvtx/nova3.jpg
The next order of business is a new set of rims. I plan on putting on a set of Weld Draglites on her. I’ve always liked this rim and have seen them on a number of Novas and man they look nice. I know a lot of guys are running them, so I’ll just have to add myself to the list. I’m going 15x5 with a 195/75/15 up front and a 15x7 with a 275/60/15 outback. I wanted to go 15x8 out back, but didn’t want to run into any problems, but now that I’ve decided to go with a Pro-Street car I’ll tub it next year and get the look that I’m really going after.
http://i488.photobucket.com/albums/rr241/slikvtx/novarim1.jpg
Another priority when I got this car home was to move the front bumper in closer to the body, as you can see I’ve made a successful attempt at this. Now as far as the rear bumper goes, there seems to be more involved in moving the rear bumper closer then I thought so I'll leave it as is for now.
http://i488.photobucket.com/albums/rr241/slikvtx/nova4.jpg
These are some shots of the drivers and passenger side body work that I had to do. Most all Novas seem to rust in about the same spots, so most of us have either done this work or had someone do it for us.
http://i488.photobucket.com/albums/rr241/slikvtx/nova5.jpg
http://i488.photobucket.com/albums/rr241/slikvtx/nova6.jpg
Here are some shots that I took of the rear quarter. This is where most of the rust was on the car, so I had to cut and patch here. Here is also my first attempt at welding a patch panel that I made out of sheet metal, not bad for a rookie. I got a Mig Welder for Christmas and this is how I broke it in.
http://i488.photobucket.com/albums/rr241/slikvtx/nova7.jpg
http://i488.photobucket.com/albums/rr241/slikvtx/nova8.jpg
Now to the rear panel, I didn’t know weather to replace this or just redo it and save some cash. As you can see I saved some cash and redid it, to my surprise it came out pretty good.
http://i488.photobucket.com/albums/rr241/slikvtx/nova9.jpg
http://i488.photobucket.com/albums/rr241/slikvtx/nova10.jpg
My next attempt at customizing is to replace the original grille, by using an old billet grille that a friend of mine had laying around in his garage.
http://i488.photobucket.com/albums/rr241/slikvtx/novagrill.jpg
Here are some shots of the car without the interior in. Out with the old and in with some fresh interior soon.
http://i488.photobucket.com/albums/rr241/slikvtx/b4driverint.jpg
http://i488.photobucket.com/albums/rr241/slikvtx/b4passint.jpg
http://i488.photobucket.com/albums/rr241/slikvtx/b4viewrear.jpg
Here’s the only shot that shows the re-chromed front and rear bumpers and the custom grill that I installed.
http://i488.photobucket.com/albums/rr241/slikvtx/myride.jpg
Here we are in 2008 and tear down begins again. This time the where going to stick with the plan I had before, except instead of a Pro-Street we’ll be building a Pro-Touring Nova. I like the aggressive look and the way they sit.
The plan:
• Bodywork
• Paint
• Interior work
• Some suspension work
• Motor work
• New Rims and Tires
This is what my Nova looked like when I first got her 10/2/2005. I only paid $3500 for it, which I thought was a steal, being how strong the 305 is and the shape that the body is in. I didn’t know which way I was gonna go with this project when I first got it, weather to use it as a regular street car or go all they way with a Pro-Street. Well after a little thought I’ve decided to go with the Pro-Street look.
http://i488.photobucket.com/albums/rr241/slikvtx/nova1.jpg
This side shot shows the only problem I have with my ride. It sits up to high, a problem that will be corrected in a few weeks. In fact a complete suspension overhaul is the first order of business.
http://i488.photobucket.com/albums/rr241/slikvtx/nova2.jpg
I plan on installing some 2” Drop Spindles and shocks in the front along with a new front-end kit, out back, maybe shorter shackles new leafs and air shocks.
http://i488.photobucket.com/albums/rr241/slikvtx/nova3.jpg
The next order of business is a new set of rims. I plan on putting on a set of Weld Draglites on her. I’ve always liked this rim and have seen them on a number of Novas and man they look nice. I know a lot of guys are running them, so I’ll just have to add myself to the list. I’m going 15x5 with a 195/75/15 up front and a 15x7 with a 275/60/15 outback. I wanted to go 15x8 out back, but didn’t want to run into any problems, but now that I’ve decided to go with a Pro-Street car I’ll tub it next year and get the look that I’m really going after.
http://i488.photobucket.com/albums/rr241/slikvtx/novarim1.jpg
Another priority when I got this car home was to move the front bumper in closer to the body, as you can see I’ve made a successful attempt at this. Now as far as the rear bumper goes, there seems to be more involved in moving the rear bumper closer then I thought so I'll leave it as is for now.
http://i488.photobucket.com/albums/rr241/slikvtx/nova4.jpg
These are some shots of the drivers and passenger side body work that I had to do. Most all Novas seem to rust in about the same spots, so most of us have either done this work or had someone do it for us.
http://i488.photobucket.com/albums/rr241/slikvtx/nova5.jpg
http://i488.photobucket.com/albums/rr241/slikvtx/nova6.jpg
Here are some shots that I took of the rear quarter. This is where most of the rust was on the car, so I had to cut and patch here. Here is also my first attempt at welding a patch panel that I made out of sheet metal, not bad for a rookie. I got a Mig Welder for Christmas and this is how I broke it in.
http://i488.photobucket.com/albums/rr241/slikvtx/nova7.jpg
http://i488.photobucket.com/albums/rr241/slikvtx/nova8.jpg
Now to the rear panel, I didn’t know weather to replace this or just redo it and save some cash. As you can see I saved some cash and redid it, to my surprise it came out pretty good.
http://i488.photobucket.com/albums/rr241/slikvtx/nova9.jpg
http://i488.photobucket.com/albums/rr241/slikvtx/nova10.jpg
My next attempt at customizing is to replace the original grille, by using an old billet grille that a friend of mine had laying around in his garage.
http://i488.photobucket.com/albums/rr241/slikvtx/novagrill.jpg
Here are some shots of the car without the interior in. Out with the old and in with some fresh interior soon.
http://i488.photobucket.com/albums/rr241/slikvtx/b4driverint.jpg
http://i488.photobucket.com/albums/rr241/slikvtx/b4passint.jpg
http://i488.photobucket.com/albums/rr241/slikvtx/b4viewrear.jpg
Here’s the only shot that shows the re-chromed front and rear bumpers and the custom grill that I installed.
http://i488.photobucket.com/albums/rr241/slikvtx/myride.jpg
Here we are in 2008 and tear down begins again. This time the where going to stick with the plan I had before, except instead of a Pro-Street we’ll be building a Pro-Touring Nova. I like the aggressive look and the way they sit.