Just wanted to share pictures of my Nova, had this car over 10 years and am finally able to do it the way I have always wanted!
Got the TCI front clip last weekend from Fed Ex, and am probably going to get the 4-link for the rear too! Ideally with a 9" posi unit. Really want those 8" wides in the back! I'm going to keep the non-factory 327 and T-10, add a vintage air kit to ward off the desert heat. I'm thinking gunmetal grey Americans to quasi-match my Chevelle.
I included a pic of the badge, I was able to decode that it is a real SS, but couldn't figure out the ACC line. I'm pretty sure it's a factory 4 speed. I followed the link in other posts, but did not see a "G" option... Interesting...
It's currently factory Goldwood yellow, but I plan on installing new door skins and quarters, and going with Tuxedo black! Kind of a resto mod theme! The pictures don't show it, but the car is full of mud in the doors quarters... Definitely want to get rid of the nasty vinyl top!
The previous owner raced the car alot, notice the fenderwell headers!
Hey Gary, your hood hinge brackets are where they are suppose to be. And, all you have to do is cut the top off your inner fender panels to use them with the CW braces… I'll see if I have some pics and send them to you, or I'll drop by when I get back to Vegas.
Hey Nick! Yeah not sure if I like the brackets that way or not...
I was hoping to have your down tubes done yesterday! I had the powder on them and was starting the cure process and everything, then I discovered that the powder in my semi flat can was actually gloss black... :doh::turn:
Anyways, I was able to wipe the powder off one and half off the other. I'll just blast off the part that cured... I should have them done when you come by again!
I powder coated my front end over the weekend. I ended up buying another lamp so I could hit it from both sides. I don't think coating something this size would work with only one lamp. I hit it from both sides and it turned out great! I also coated all the bolt heads and washers to make them blend in. Can't wait to get the front and rear suspension in to see how its going to sit!
Looks great! Keep it up! It's nice when you see a "money pit" in the ole ladies eyes come together. I remember when I started mine, the wife called it an ole lady car. Well now she loves it.!!!!! Not to high jack your forum, but check out my build in my signature.
I'LL BET THAT ROTISSERIE MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE ON GETTIN' IT DONE! :yes:
MAN THIS IS WHERE IT'S AT! SOLID BUILD BRO, I LOVE IT. IT'LL DEFINITELY BE SICK!!! :thumbsup:
The rotisserie is awesome! If you ever get a chance to use one, I highly recommend it! :yes:
I got a dummy motor hooked up to my tranny over the weekend. I also got a chance to try some plain 1 5/8 block huggers too. They are just a pair of center dump kind, and they will not work. The steering would have to go right through the center of the header! Good thing I didn't buy any before trying them out!
Now that the full motor weight is in the car, I can get the front and rear suspension in and some rollers to get it on the ground. I want to finish the body work with the weight on the wheels. I really an anxious to see it at ride height!
I'LL BET THAT ROTISSERIE MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE ON GETTIN' IT DONE! :yes:
MAN THIS IS WHERE IT'S AT! SOLID BUILD BRO, I LOVE IT. IT'LL DEFINITELY BE SICK!!! :thumbsup:
Thank you! It doesn't seem like work when your having fun! The body work is what kills my motivation...
I got the TCI four link in today! That kit is really slick! Once the cross member and shock cross member are in, everything else goes in really easy.
The only problem I ran into was the anti-roll bar. The heim joint that is supposed to connect to the 1/2" shock tower bolt won't fit. It's way too small. I think I'll have to get ahold of TCI to see if I'm missing something... There's a bracket that attaches to the splined shaft, then is supposed to connect to the shock tower bolt via a double heim.
After all the suspension was installed I had to see what it was going to look like with my wheels and tires!! :yes: The rear end looks awesome, but I hope the front end "settles" more! I know others have cut the TCI springs, but I think I'll put a few miles on it before I do that.
looking at one of your images above i notice the engine sitting in the frame rails... i've a suggestion for you, remove the bolt passing through the engine mount on the passenger side and turn it around. if you ever need to pull the engine the fuel pump will need to be removed with the bolt installed as it is. put the bolt in the other way, then when the nut is removed the bolt will pull out towards the rear and the fuel pump can stay installed
also... get rid of the orange oil filter... use a Wix or AC oil filter.
Thanks for the suggestions on the sway bar! I was wondering if it might be something like that. I posted in their section, so we'll see what they say...
Flyer, the engine in there now came with a car my brother bought and is a boat anchor. I'm just using it to put engine and tranny weight in the car so I can get my doors, fenders and hood lined up properly. I have some body work leftovers still so i didn't want to get the engine i just finished all dirty! I thought it would be a mistake to align everything without engine weight.
I also wanted to see if some generic block Huggers would work. I borrowed some from my dad to trial fit. No go on that!
looking at your build... front clip, 4 link, Hi-Perf engine... i think a set of full length headers would benefit the car better than a set of shorties...
looking at your build... front clip, 4 link, Hi-Perf engine... i think a set of full length headers would benefit the car better than a set of shorties...
I'm really concerned about ground clearance more than anything, I want this car to sit pretty low in front and I hate it when the headers scrape! Plus the shorties are about $200 cheaper!
I asked Heidt's directly to see what they recommended for block hugger type headers. I got a really short reply on using hooker super comp 2243 or Hedman 68160. Both full length headers... After asking again they said "Sanderson headers has the shorties".
I'm going to assume that they are referring to these. The seller claims they will work in a Nova with mustang II front suspension. I'll ask him to see if he means a Heidt's/TCI. http://www.ebay.com/itm/260932942095?redirect=mobile
I can't say I'm thrilled with the way the collector flange is on the Sanderson headers. I think I would prefer the hooker style that has the flange parallel to the ground. I think it would be a lot easier for exhaust installation.
Good thing I don't have to make a decision quite yet! Does anyone have any suggestions?
Thank you for your kind words! I'm really getting excited to start putting it all back together! I just need to power through the rest of the body work and get some paint on it!
The wheels are American Racing CL205 (classic) Torque Thrust's. They are all 17's, and have 4.5" backspace. The fronts are 7" wide and the rears are 8" wide. All the web pictures of the wheels show them to be darker in color than they actually are. They do a good job of appearing to be nostalgic old Americans in color.
Here's a picture pulled off the web:
The tires are BF Goodwrench G-force sport's. The fronts are 215/45ZR17 and the rears are 245/45ZR17.
Very inspiring build! I started over from the beginning and read the whole thing. I have too many projects but your build has inspired me to narrow it down to just the Nova. Your engine is almost exactly what I had in mind as far as looks. Since we live in the same town I might have to change it up a little. I broke a bone in my foot and I'm off until the 16th if you need a hand with anything or just some positive encouragement:yes:. I get around fine, it's just that I walk 10+ miles a day at work so the doc told me to take it off so it can heal properly.
Tommy, good to hear from you! I had a Chevelle and the Nova at one time, but this car is where my heart really was. It was the first car that was really mine! I remember looking at it with my dad and paying in $100 bills for it, I'll never forget that! I just decided I didn't really need two and in order to build this car how I wanted to, I needed funds I guess. Wish I could have kept both!
I think you should build your engine exactly how you want it. Even if it's an exact copy, who cares! Plus, I know someone that could give some input on the parts!
I'm sorry to hear about your foot, I hope it's getting better. You'll have to come by and check out the car while your recuperating!
Yeah I like the flange being parallel to the ground better on the Hookers. I think I'm going to give them a shot! I'll keep everyone updated.
So I haven't posted much lately... I've been working on body work still. :bored: I guess its just not that exciting to me and a little hard to take pics. I am spending a lot of time getting all the gaps to look right and blocking across them. I want the car to be straight, so when I get sick of it I just walk away!
I ended up masking off the whole underside of the car with plastic so I don't ruin my nicely painted underside. While I was doing that, I found one of the secret vin numbers on the flange behind the front fender. It seems to match the vin number on the plate in the door jamb. Kind of cool.
I also got my SS badges located to their proper position on the front fenders!
Here are a couple pics of the passenger door gap. The gap at the fender was good, so it seemed easier to build up the gap in the door jamb instead of moving the door and building up the edge of the door or fender.
Here are a couple pics of the passenger side. Still a lot more work to go, but it's getting there... Lot more blocking with guide coat in the future!
No doubt! I have a floor swamp cooler, which helps but isn't a/c!
Dug out the lasers!
Got the side view mirror holes drilled. The pics don't show it, but I had the reveal moldings and mirrors dug out of storage for fitment. I also got some measurements from my brother's '63 too.
Spent hours with the headlight buckets, headlight bezels and grille trying to get them to fit properly. The bezel was about 1/2" off from the top of the fender when I first started. Had to work the holes in the fenders to get them pretty close.
More pictures of body work... Trying to show all the work I'm doing across the gaps.
Wow, you are spending alot of time in areas that most just gloss over and some dont even do that. Its really gonna pay off once its done. Nice work:yes:
Thanks Ryan, this is the first car I've done to this level so I hope it turns out nice. I figure the more fitting I can do while it's in primer, the chances of scratching the paint later will be a lot less!
I had been dreading having to work along the body line because I was afraid that I would end up with a squiggly line instead of a nice straight body line...
Well, after reading a bunch of threads on the forum about using masking tape to keep the line, I decided to try it. I put tape on one side of the line by stretching it along the whole length of the panels, then laying it down. Then I put putty along the whole line and peeled it off before it was set up all the way. Then I long boarded up to the new "edge". Then I repeated on the other side of the line. Wow, that really works slick! I can't believe how the lines turned out! There is still a bit of fine tuning to do with a bit more putty, but it's looking pretty good!
I put all of the SS peak moldings on the car over the weekend. They turned out pretty nice. Maybe I'm being too critical, but I was hoping for better. It was definitely stressfull drilling holes in the doors and quarter panels! I'm glad I did it before the car was painted. I'm still waiting on my wheel well moldings to come back from restoration, then I will trial fit those too.
I'm getting really close to spraying the car. The whole thing has been blocked with 180, re-primed then blocked with 320 dry. I'm going to shoot the whole thing one more time with primer, then block it again with 400 wet. After that I will drill some locator holes and take off the hood and fenders. Then I will jamb the car and put it back together to shoot the outside all at once.
Yeah I can't wait too! I'm trying to keep patient and not overlook anything. It's going to be like having a completely different car than the yellow one on the first page. Good luck with your project, a post up some pics!
Thank you! It's been a long road so far, and I can't wait to get behind the wheel! I'm hoping to "debut" it at the Goodguys show in Scottsdale at the end of the year. We'll see...
So the engine and tranny were dropped in for the final time this morning.
Also got the car jambbed, dash, and the underside of the hood painted!
Sealer
Base coat
Clear coat
I'm beat! :beer: time!!!
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