"the project"...

Started on the black 70 L78 Th400 car today...gonna clean her up and make her road worthy for summer driving. You can follow the story on the SYC site www.yenko.net I will be posting photos and info as it develops..comments and/or questions are welcome. Day 2 street monster is the goal..so keep your pets and kids in the house!:eek:

wilma:shh:

Nice pics you posted over there Tom, I like the day 2 look. Your trunk is just too cool. are you going to doll up the quarter windows with some period stickers??:cool: How about A real cool finned diff cover and some old school slapper bars??

Tommy:)

Thanks for reminding me about the differential cover...I got one of those finned units in the parts bin. They certainly do make a car go faster;) ;)

wilma:shh:

Tom,I have one of those finned aluminum rear covers on my white 68 Nova SS 396 4spd car ,been on the car for over 25 years!! Love the day2 look!! Hey how about a fiberglass l-88 hood or Stinger hood?? Do you have any Sun 2 5/8 guages that your gonna use? Good luck,hope to see ya down at the Atlantic City Nova Show this year! Dan

Hey Tommy,Do you have a aluminum finn 12 bolt rear cover and lakewood traction bars with the J Bolts that you wanna sell,call me! Dan

Started on the black 70 L78 Th400 car today...gonna clean her up and make her road worthy for summer driving. You can follow the story on the SYC site www.yenko.net I will be posting photos and info as it develops..comments and/or questions are welcome. Day 2 street monster is the goal..so keep your pets and kids in the house!:eek:

wilma:shh:



could you link us to the thread so we can follow yer progress ???

Thanks ;)

Hey Tommy,Do you have a aluminum finn 12 bolt rear cover and lakewood traction bars with the J Bolts that you wanna sell,call me! Dan

No finned diff covers Dan, only an extra chrome one :eek: . I don't have the lakewoods like you asked about but I am cleaning up an old pair of bars that I believe are the old Carrera bars. I saw A set just like them on an old Bill Thomas/Nickey article. I think they will look real cool on the Nova (I took them off of A 68 Nova I parted out).

Tommy

Here's the link to the thread on the Yenko site.

http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/195999/an/0/page/0/gonew/1#UNREAD

Tommy:)

Added a few updates and some poor photos...I am going to get it together on taking digital shots..these cheap cameras are n/g!!!!! visit the link on SYC..

sorry, wilma

I'll be happy to give you a high end Nikon digital cam for that old car,just think of all the free time you'll have to use it.LOL!!!!

Try this boys, your gona love it.

http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/195999/an/0/page/0#195999

update 3/26/06:

See SYC site for details...

wima:shh:

Tom,
I have to say I really like your Nova Collection.
Is this the Finned Covers you are talking about?This Car was done Racing in about 1980 and sat in a Barn ever since.

That's what I'm talking about......found mine today in the shop...will clean it up and get ready for install. Did some homework on the motor tonite. Pulled timing cover to check gears and chain...boy are they loose!!! Stock GM plastic gear # 3856356` balancer was # 3870325... OEM valves have a white vertical paint mark. This thing is gonna really go when we get her done. More to follow....and thanks for watching the L78 channel.:D


wilma:shh:

I Enjoy the L78 Channel,Thanks for Sharing those Cars with Us.What do Carrera Bars look like?I have a 69 that was Raced from the Early days of its life and it has a set of bars that the Tubing is Wider than Lakewood bars.Trying to find out what they are.In other words a Square tube not Rectangle like Lakewood.
Joe

Not familiar with those bars....but I do know something about bars in general...:beer:

wilma:shh:

Wilma,
Is that one of them newfangled CD players in the background?
Chow.

That's what a play Sinatra records on....baby!!

wilma:shh:

that's an antique CD player that's what I told my kids HEHEHE!!!!

Making some more progress on "the project"..short blurb on SYC.

wilma:shh:

Okay, you said to give you our opinions so I want to throw in my .02
1. I can not believe you call that car ugly, that is a very nice car, it may need lots of detail work, but is still a great looking car.
2. I like that car alot, I have a thing for bench seat big block cars :D
3. What wheels are you going to run? If you are going day two, I say go for aluminum slots, they were the rage back then, along with tourqe thrust D's (another great choice for a black car) and the slots are being reproduced so no need to try and find another set that are in great shape, american racing makes them now.
3. Since you are "preserving" the original motor, why not throw a LS6, LS7, or a L88! if you want to go nastolgic, or a 496/540/555 (take your pick) big block and have it dressed up as an L78?
What ever you do, it should be a nice fun car.

bill (you did what to a 32,000 mile L78! :eek: )

Bill, stay calm we haven't thrown a rod yet! The paint on the car is rough..lots of lacquer crack and scratches, dings and stuff. Bumpers are starting to scale..but overall it is very solid with only a small rust spot on the bottom of the pass frt fender. Interior needs a good cleaning and the front seat recovered. I will eventually build a replacement 396 and put the VIN L78 on layaway..but for now we are gonna run it. Should be fine with a fresh timing chain and new valve springs..the bottom end of these motors are tough, only weak link is the valve springs. I'm not worried about breaking the th400 or 12 bolt... Working on the front end now and brakes..hope to have that stuff wrapped up by the weekend. As for wheels, I have a set of 15x7 rallys with radial tires that will go on to start..may change to something else as we progress...trying to utilize parts I have in the shed and save some dough for other things. Lots of day 2 stuff will also find it's way in to this project.

thanks for the feedback..tom:shh:

Forgot to mention the vintage 8 track player that I will try to get working.....Beach Boys.."endless summer"

wilma:cool:

as Radar on M*A*S*H use to say, "just let me throw another fang in the old Viper tonearm" Let's see who remebers that.!

as Radar on M*A*S*H use to say, "just let me throw another fang in the old Viper tonearm" Let's see who remebers that.!
When Radar was being the DeJay for the Mash unit....very funny...love that show...:)

Forgot to mention the vintage 8 track player that I will try to get working.....Beach Boys.."endless summer"

wilma:cool:

Um, not that I dislike the beach boys, but I think this one would be a little more suited to that situation:
http://cgi.ebay.com/AC-DC-Back-in-Black-8-Track-1980_W0QQitemZ4857886725QQcategoryZ618QQrdZ1QQcmdZ ViewItem

:D :D :D

Made some good progress this weekend...got all the control arms and old springs out. What a grimey old mess..took the whole pile of 35 year old stuff to a local shop to be hot tanked and media blasted. They will install all new bushings and lower ball joints. Removed the old engine harness..installing new one this week. Got a lot of small parts to clean up and detail..I amazed how nice the underside of the car really is...subframe would look awesome if it was blasted and refinished. BB coil springs still had their HH tags on them...steering box has proper 70 date code B 0130...13th day of 1970..don't know what the B stands for. Cleaned a lot of grime off the undercarriage and will spend a few more hours more..not looking to restore, just clean and preserve at this point. Radiator has been cleaned, pressure tested and painted. New valve springs, seals and timing set are next..then install the 163 and start bolting things back together. Sorry I have been "bad" with taking photos....stayed tuned. thanks...


wilma:shh:

Spent the Bunny Day in the garage.....painted all the front end pieces and hardware. What a job!! There are a lot of nuts, bolts and brackets, in a Nova. :eek: Organized all the parts and I am ready for assembly. That will have to wait until after Carlisle....looking forward to the annual "rite of spring" in PA. Hope to see some of you Nova Nuts at the fair...

wilma:cool: