new to the nova...looking

hey guys im new to the sight, looks to be pretty informative. tomorrow im going to look at a 74 nova. the guy claims the car has a 350 and is selling for his father in law, the original owner. just wondering what i should look for, and if this is a good year car. some i talk to say it is a the last good year, others say its not a very good muscle car. thanks for all the help!

350s were available in standard Novas. As to what the last good year was... well that is a matter of personal taste.

Any stock Nova after 1970 will have a low compression engine, so in that respect they aren't true muscle cars. But that is what they make crate engines for. :)

Personally, I think the only "good year" Nova's were the ones made from 1962-1979. What is a "muscle" car, by definition? - a light weight body/chassis with a high horsepower engine ... so any of our Nova's could qualify for that - since they will accept most V8 engines.

Jeff

Greetings,

The main thing about it is to buy exactly what you want and like. As far as problem areas...Just like any old Chevy look for rust on the frame rails, rust around the tail lights, quarter panels and such.

If you like it and want it, go for it! I love my '73.

Jason

It's a muscle car, but a muscle car with BIG BIG BIG bumpers!

Kev

thanks guys, i just talked to the guy again, im going to look at it at 2:30. its emerald green, and he says the motor and trans are good, the body is decent with a little quarter panel rust, hopefuly its just surface, nothing thats not fixable.

Its all fixable if the price is right.

Seriously, the rear rail, bumper mounts and floors are trouble spots on those cars........as well as the front subframe mounts. Mostly in RUSTBELT cars.

Hopefully the cars been down there all its years.....so those shouldn't be an issue.


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Assuming this is a 2 door car.

A Hatchback model should have all its special pieces...they are a pain to find. Look to make sure the hatch is RUST FREE.

Outer quarter panel rust is fixable and replacement panels can be purchased....so thats not the end of the world.

Inside door panels and trim are a little pricey to replace......as is the headliner if missing or damaged badly.

Floors pans may or may not have issue......look for undercoating or other signs floor pans have been patched or replaced. Not a sign to write off the car by any means ....but to know what you are buying.


As has been said......all 74s came with 350s and Turbo hydros if they were V8 cars.......

Any Nova 62-79 can be beefed up to musclecar status.

Good Luck.
Jim

I was on a differnt car website awile back and i kept refering to Novas as Muscle cars and they kept shooting me down calling it a "pony car". ast time i checked the camero and the mustang were pony cars. If im correct anyways. Yes the floors are a big trouble area. In my 73 i accually have a gaping hole in the floor only covered by the carpet. Its good for the winter when the heat from the exhaust goes up through it and keeps my feet warm :) .

i checked it out, needs too much work for me, but if anyone else in the area want to check it out PM me. hes asking $1800. it was a light green that ive seen on these novas but was maaco painted a darker green, which is looking like crap. then they must have tried to patch the bad spots with some type of tape-patcher which is showing through. the interior is all ripped up and the dash has cracks. the motor sounds alright, def. needs a good tuneup and maybe a nice exhaust and intake manifold to open her up a bit. looks like some oil pooling on the intake manifold so may have some leaky valve gaskets. overall it was alot more work then im looking for, but for the righ person may be good. frame rails werent bad and floor was solid. needs some new suspension and lines underneath. i was hopeing to find something that i could put some nice wheel/tires on, dual exhaust, couple other little things and cruise. this is not the car for that. i rather spend a little more and get a car thats ready to go.

look here....maybe you can have a norcal member look at it for ya
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/car/184731240.html

I hear ya TC,,,

Typical washout hot rod......needing lots or a full resto. You'll find an abundance of em under 2-3k. If it does have good floors and rails,it'll sell.

for the right person, the car wasnt bad. i wouldnt mind spending 4-5k on a nicer "driver" doesnt have to be perfect but nice enough to not have to put a whole lot into and just cruise around.

tc29,

Welcome, you can learn a lot of useful things on this site and some not so useful, but enlightening. hpg:D

thanks alot guys, one question i had is what sites to go to, i cant really find any to look for cars for sale.

what about the one I posted here already on craigslist?$2500
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/car/184731240.html
Look here
http://classychevy.com/v/Chevy+nova/make=5&model=91
and here
http://www.collectorcarads.com/models.asp?Model=Nova

that car is a great deal but no way of getting it back east.

ship it open trailer $600 bucks

Doesnt it seem ODD, that the Craigs list Nova, he does not have pictures of the car that is for sale. But instead substitutes pictures of different Novas he thinks look cool :eek:

Definetly a First for me to see. A cheap digital camera can be bought for less than $30. why no pictures of the car that is for sale .