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kirk69nova - 1969 Nova

18K views 24 replies 15 participants last post by  Stuper01 
#1 · (Edited)
kirk69nova - 1969




Year: 1969

Model: base

Engine: Currently a 250 L6. Soon to be a 2006 5.3 L33 truck engine/4l60e tranny

Body/Exterior: replaced fenders, 1/2 quarters. PPG Deltron 4300 Dark Teal Poly. It is a 1992 GM color used on Vettes, Camaros, and Firebirds.

Front End: new stock rebuild with stock type power disk brake conversion.

Transmission: Currently a powerglide. Soon to be a 4l60e

Rear End: Currently a stock 8.2" 10 bolt with 2.73 gears. Soon to be a 8.5" 10 bolt with 3.73.

Exhaust: Currently stock single exhaust. Will be Summit 2.5" duel exhaust.

Wheels/Tires: 15X7 rallys

Interior: black bench seat, looking for a black back seat. Originally had a rubber mat, now has black carpet

Electrical: stock

Accessories/Options: none

Sound system: original style AM radio in stock location. Updated CD player mounted in glove box. 6X9 in the rear deck, one 6 inch in dash

Additional Comments: My dad bought this car in 1989 when I was 16. He drove it that winter and then went into the body shop for a "cosmetic restoration" in spring of 1990. After a 2 year stay at the body shop the car came out with new rear outer wheelhouses, new 1/2 quarters, new fenders, new paint, repaired trunk floor, rebuilt 250. We dyed the interior black as well. I drove the car in the spring, summer and winter of 1992. While I was in college from 1992-1997 at Penn State the car was only driven during summers. After graduation I moved to Philadelphia and the car sat in in my parent's garage from 1997-2007. I moved back to Pittsburgh in 2007 and began driving it again. Since then I have replaced the drivers side floor and replaced body bushings with aluminum ones.

Here is a link the LS swap on the LS specific part of this site
http://www.stevesnovasite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=187612

Here is my photobucket album with some additional pics
http://s270.photobucket.com/albums/jj84/kirkryan6/

Some pics of updates on the car.
Soon to be powerplant


Old brakes

New disk brakes with cleaned and painted suspension parts, new bushings and added 1.25" sway bar.
 
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#4 ·
Thanks for the compliments guys. This is a car that I have had fun with for the last 20 years. I just learned how to weld by putting new a new drivers side floor in it this past winter. The passenger side gets put in this coming winter. It is not a show car by any means. It drives like a 40 year old car, doesn't stop or handle well. Smells like gas and oil. I love it!:yes:

I have a four year old son that I hope someday will want to join me in working on this car. I graduate from nursing school next June so the plan is to put disk brakes and a mild SBC in it after I start working again. After that maybe update the suspension. Who knows. Thanks again for the kind words.

Kirk
 
#7 ·
Yah I put those blue dots in my taillights back in high school. I have always been a big fan of street rods and I guess this is my way of showing my street rod love!

Its a nice car. Keep the six and get some upgrades for it. Everybody and their brother is running a SBC in a 3rd gen Nova. My 2 cents.

EDIT: OMG! Tricked into replying to a 3 year old thread!! The six is probably long gone...

Andy
No, Andy, the six is still in there but a LS 5.3 is waiting to find it way between the fenders. See this thread.
http://www.stevesnovasite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=187612&highlight=kirk69nova
 
#16 ·
Kirk , you doing good and keep working on it and in no time your son will be wanting to borrow that car........

i'm liking 69's tooo---- I just don't work on mine very much , cause I like driving it to much (it's my DD , and for some reason right now the car is running realllly good). mine is all stock ( for now) and I also have plans for up-dates------- however I'm "KEEPING THE SIX" w/4spd.

Like your color and know how much work u have ahead of you , but some day you'll get R done.......... good luck.......

jim
 
#17 ·
This Christmas my wife agreed to let me buy a welder so I bought a Hobart 140. It has been too cold this winter to get out there too much and my garage is attached so I have to be careful about the smells produced while I am working. We got a few days of 40-50 degree weather so I could open the garage doors and got some garage time last week. My subframe mount pads are rusted and I was eager to use my welder for the first time so I decided to pull the subframe off and get this repaired. While taking the subframe off I forgot to unbolt the ragjoint from the steering column and I ripped it. So now I have a reason to buy a new ragjoint, which means I have a reason to buy an updated quick ration steering box! The plan while the subframe is off is to get the subframe, firewall and floor cleaned up and painted. The passenger side floor needs to be replaced too so I get to use my welder on this. I will weld up the subframe seams as these are notorious for having the welds spaced too far apart. So another few steps back but the way I see it this work needs to be done to get the car the way I want it. Here are a few pics.
Obviously a before pic. This is the passenger side.

The drivers side looked the same as the above pic but this pic shows the result after welding in the new plate.

Here is a pic looking up at the subframe mount. It shows the plate bolted in. I drove it around for about a year like this but never felt very comfortable with it so with the car apart it was time to weld it.
 
#20 ·
Welder Love

Kirk, those Hobarts are great machines! I have wanted a welder forever, but couldn't shell out the $$ for a new one. So I watched Craigslist like a hawk for 6 months before I found a Hobart 135 for $200. Practically new! The guy had only put 1.5 small spools through it. Now that I have one I do not know how I ever got along without it! I use it at least twice a week. I used it last night to build the support for my trans cooler. Filling fender holes, reinforcing plates, small rust holes, my welding cart and the list goes on and on! congrats on the welder!

Also, I like your logic: ripped old rag joint, replace with quick ratio box! :devil:

Keep the updates coming.
 
#22 ·
I will be there a time or two I am sure. But unless I hit the lottery, the car will not be done this summer. I still have to buy the harness, the fuel setup, gauges, and I am sure many other things. Also, I don't get out the garage to work on it very much at all so I am into this thing for a while into the future. I do have a few updates that I'll be posting up here soon.
 
#23 ·
My harness started cooking in my Pontiac last year, so I made a new one over the winter, it was fairly easy, I soldered all the connections which makes it better then the stock set up..

If you make it out to Wexford, I'm there every week in a blue 64 Bonneville with chrome reverse wheels, please stop by and say hi...
 
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