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My Free 73 Nova

3K views 21 replies 10 participants last post by  kkattfish 
#1 ·
I got this car from a guy who had been renting a storage yard and couldn't afford the rent anymore. he had the car and had to get it off the lot so he just gave it to me. It is an original Arizona car with minor surface rust since it hadn't been registered since 1989. It had everything except the motor. I filed for an abandon title, got that and then started work.
First thing i did was go through the 350 transmission and cleaned it all out. Looks good and the car only has 80,000 original miles so i'm just going to run that trans.
I then got a 305 V8 from a buddy at work that is supposedly rebuilt and been sitting for 5 years. i got that all cleaned up and painted.
Today I am picking up my torque converter and should install the trans and motor together tomorrow.

I will continue this build as it comes together.

Hopefully all the pics are ok, if not sorry and I will remove them just let me know















 
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#4 ·
yes, the entire front clip is in my mini "junk yard" also.
i need to bead blast the inner fenders and core support. the original owner originally did this at some point and since they just sat outside they have surface rust on them but not anything bad. the front fenders are in great shape just like the rest of the car (minus the passenger rear quarter).

my plan is to just make it a cruiser for now. its fun and gives me something to do. this is also my first car i've built or will be building
 
#8 ·
Man, can't beat the price and the car looks pretty good. Just needs some work on the quarter panel. It is an AC car too!

Curiosity question. Is that a 73 frame or is it a 69 - 72 frame? I thought the bumper mounts were different on the 73 frames.
 
#9 ·
thanks guys, i appreciate the comments.
i got the trans mounted to the motor today but forgot to get the trans mount when i was at the parts tore so i will get that tomorrow then put the trans and motor in the car. i was able to get the new motor mounts in the car today and put the torque converter on the trans. put about 3/4 quart of fluid in the tc so it should be good to go.
we just had a hell of a lot of rain yesterday and since i'm working on this in my back yard it was a challenge to get the random pieces of plywood/particle board aligned so i could rotate the engine hoist... lol
the day ended with me and my neighbor using a floor jack minus the jack pad, a come-a-long and a pry bar to get the hoist rotated 180 degrees so its facing the car correctly. we then mounted the trans to the motor. by this time it was getting rather cold so we lit the fire pit (thanks to gas and lighter fluid and wet wood) and cracked the beers open.
ended the night drinking beers by the fire and talking about tomorrow's plans for the car.

it was a good day :)



yes it is an ac car, and i do plan to have ac since i live in arizona. i will complete that down the road though.
as for the frame, i'm not sure really. all i know is the guy i got it from did some welding and reinforcing on the front crossmember for a bigger motor. he was going to drag this car.

is it a different frame can anybody tell? let me know what i need to look for and maybe i can post some pics??
 
#13 ·
74 is the only other year Nova with these bumpers. Because the 74 frame is the same as the 68 thru 73 Novas, a special bracket is bolted to the outside of the frame rails. The shocks then mount inside those brackets.
Here's the quote from novaresource.
 
#14 ·
Glad to see the nova getting back on the road, Just an FYI you can get the intake and valve covers looking new by painting them with testors metallic silver model paint, it stays nice forever, i painted my performer and it looks like new, i also used that paint on my nova rallies.
 
#16 ·
so this morning i woke up and hit the parts store after breakfast. got the trans mount and a new fuel pump.
once i was back home i started on the car and was able to get the motor and trans in the car. i ended up having to remove the headers and had to do a little clearancing even after to make them. everything is good now and the motor and trans are in the car. crossmember is back in too as well as the trans shift linkage.
i will post the pics from yesterday while i wait for the pics from today to come into my email. i'm done for today, time to drink some brews


 
#21 ·
got the intake manifold bolted down today, spark plugs put in, dampner bolt put in with the pulley, painted and installed water pump also.
spent another $2 on bolts today and just spent the day cleaning and painting parts.

this is a great stress reliever for me with as hectic as work has been lately.

 
#22 ·
bought my valve cover gaskets today, installed my thermostat and thermostat housing. also did some painting on parts.

this is my 2nd project i have going right now. i also have an 82 K5 blazer that i'm building into a crawler. i will post pics if anybody's is interested in that. between the 2 i stay busy but the k5 is off getting a cage right now. when i get it back it will be a full vert 82 :yes:
 
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