Chevy Nova Forum banner

Resto finally complete! 1978 cruiser

16K views 44 replies 26 participants last post by  Zeppelini70 
#1 ·



1978 Chevy Nova - intended as a cruiser. Still features the original inline 6 (79.000 miles). Restoration finished a few days ago and now street ready.

Found in the northern part of Iceland over a decade ago. Originally blue, exterior and interior. The car was rust free for most part as the roads were not salted over there like they do here in Reykjavik during the winters. However the bottom part of the rear wheel whells had to be rebuilt since the previous owner had used snow chains during the harsh winters and it had managed to rip off chunks of the body. I started on the body work soon after the purchase (approx. $700) but postponed the project when starting a family became priority.
One year ago I began fully working on it again – with the help of my dad whenever he could. Surfing this site and getting som advice from various members here also was a great help in the process - so many thanks to the members here!

Some welding had to be done on the rear wheel well as described before and additionally on some part of the roof. Otherwise the car was in incredibly good shape given the weather circumstances over here. Spent a few months sanding and straightening the body and then it was painted in November last year.

The interior was a bit challenging as there is little or no reproductions available for a 4 door 4th gen. The front door panels were in very bad shape at the bottom so I eventually built a cover over the torn vinyl part. The whole interior was also painted since I was changing the color of the car anyway. I was a little bit worried about the transition from blue to light grey, especially at the top of the dash board right under the front windshield where space is limited so I decided to have the interior color in two tones; dash, front door arm rests and the handles in the back were painted in SEM´s Thomas Bus Grey color which is a slight blue-ish grey color. The dash came out great as it blended perfectly with the old color. The rest is all painted in a grey GM code interior color.

The ceiling was covered in faux suede material. Indeed not my favourite but it was the easiest application method (slight adhesive and material stretches if needed) and in the closest color tone I could find.

The carpet was replaced by a new, silver grey one. The front bench was replaced by bucket seats found in a Dodge Caravan if I recall correctly. Had to customise the installation a bit but is was well worth it as the seats are incredibly comfortable (removed the seats middle arm rests though :) ).

All the door window felts, rubber seals and most of the window channels had to be replaced by new ones.

As my plan was not to build a muscle car but a nice cruiser I always intended the car to be as family safe as possible. Looking back to when I was growing up the rear seat belts in my dad´s car were hardly used – and times are definitely different now. The two point setup didn´t appeal to me either so I decided to change it to three point. Although not cheap I replaced all the seat belts. The originals were worn and in different color anyway so I eventually ordered the whole set from Wesco Performance. Installation was very easy as I kept the original bolts by slightly widening the holes on the new set. Using the new bolts would have been a greater task as they didn´t fit precisely. Definitely didn´t regret purchasing the whole set as the build quality is great (made by Seat Belt Solutions) and they just look awesome!

The rear end was raised a little under 4 inches by welding extra pieces of metal on the leaf spring bushing supports.

Wheels are 15x7 and 15x8 classic Cragar SS and tires 235/60´s and 255/60´s

Car stereo is a Pioneer DEH-X3600UI model. Front and rear speakers are from the JBL GTO series. The sound is phenomenal!


Featured here are recent photos after the restoration was completed (some are also in the Pictures and Story thread) but additionally there are also some photos from various stages of the resto. Unfortunately I don´t seem to have a photo of the car from the time of purchase.

All the best
Hrannar


















Various stages of the resto. First photo is from last summer:









 
See less See more
12
#33 ·
Hrannar:
I am finally getting aorund to reading the posts from the guys who contacted me to welcome me to the site. Wow...beautiful job on your "Moredoor"! I think the stance, paint, and wheel/tire combo is 100% perfect! Was your Nova originally equipped with bucket seats, or are they from a different Nova or Camaro? Was your car originally a US military car (maybe USAF)? Just wondering how it got to Iceland!
Best regards,
Alex
 
#35 · (Edited)
Thanks guys - appreciate it very much!
I´m afraid the background story of the car is not that interesting - as far as I know. There was indeed a company which imported cars from the States at the time but the presence of the US army base almost certainly added to the variety of models.
I believe my car was simply one of the regularly imported cars. Mine is just a standard base model but I know there were quite a bit of Concourse models also available – both 2 and 4 doors.

All I know is that my car was for most part owned by a bookkeeper who lived in the North part of Iceland – or town of Akureyri, to be precise.





When he passed, a relative of his inherited the car but he very rarely used it and kept it at a farm close by. This individual then sold it to me for a $700 along with another Nova (for parts - was beyond salvation). The fact that they don´t salt the streets over there but sand them instead during the winters simply saved the car. Had to do some body repairs as described before but it was unbelievably rust free for most part. Even now when I look at the undercarriage I can see the original blue color in places where the corrosion protection has peeled off. Looks like it was painted yesterday.

It originally had the typical bench seat but I had decided a long time ago that I wanted to replace it with bucket seats. I found them in a Dodge Caravan if I recall correctly. Didn´t really mind about finding a direct fit (bolt – wise) but just to seek out a comfortable pair without it taking too much space in the car. It is a "compact car" after all ;) Had to make some adjustments in the installation but it was very well worth it. It easily surpasses my Japanese daily driver with regards to comfort :yes:

Unfortunately I won´t be going for a cruise for another 5-6 months, but when I do - I´m sure there will be a small grin on my face :D



Hrannar
 
#42 · (Edited)
and the logistics of making it work in Iceland is incredible. Really, really nice!
Many thanks! Mechanically it was pretty good to begin with and I had a donor car. Some things were improvised and/or built - but indeed there were a lot of things I had to import.

That being said, it does of course prevent me from upgrading many things in the car. It is a cruiser and is great as such - but my dream was always to get a 327 or 350 in it, along with a TH200-4R. Maybe I´ll get to it some day but basically the rule of thumb is that the cost is easily doubled compared to what you are used to in the States, when I´m importing spare parts.
I´ll probably be upgrading the shocks next (e.g. KYB). I´ve also always liked the look of the SS grill. For a long time I thought about getting one - but I also have been tampering with the idea of building my own version of it - a sort of a tribute if you like.

Hrannar
 
#44 ·
Will do Kim - thanks for posting! I´ve haven´t done anything major recently - just a couple of details in the interior. I´m basically just enjoying it as it is and getting it ,,in shape" after the winter rest.
I regularly check the site, though - always nice to see the progress on your Phoenix and other cool cars here!

Hrannar
 
#45 ·
Tried light painting photography for the first time..

Just tried a couple of weeks ago experimenting with light painting technique. As an amateur photographer this was an excellent opportunity to combine two of my favorite hobbies. Basically you put the camera on a tripod, adjust the settings so it can shoot for 30 sec (or longer/bulb if possible) and meanwhile it´s taking the photo you "paint" the object with a light source of some sort. Just make sure you keep moving the light constantly while at it - and yourself if you are within the frame - so you won´t get "caught" in the photo.

The lights on the car itself have to be turned off while the shutter is open for so long. Then, from the exact same spot, you take a "normal" photo (fast shutter) of the car with the lights on. Finally, combine the best of both (or several, if you like) photos afterwards.

This was a bit primitive as I just had a small led work light and the beam was pretty narrow - but I was pleasantly surprised after the post production process on the PC.

It sort of looks almost eerie here :)






Hrannar
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top