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71 Nova build (The whole story)

38K views 42 replies 4 participants last post by  tx71nova 
#1 · (Edited)
i might as well tell you the whole story.

i got the car off ebay and bought the car sight unseen except for some pics.
so after a 10 hour drive each way to northern Michigan and 4800 bucks later i got her home.





she was in no shape to drive home so i had to trailer her home. it after i got her home i went to work getting her road worthy. that included a new carb, intake, headers, hei and exhaust.



the original 307 and 3 speed saginaw trans kept me out of trouble (for the most part :devil:)
 
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#2 · (Edited)
Since winter is about 6 months out of the year here in Minnesota, that give me an excuse to do big projects.

for the first winter

replaced the trunk pan and rear seat pan (rusted out) with absolutely no welding or metal working skills, but the magazine says its easy :no:

after marking out the rusted area in chalk i cut it out (and through a gas line :eek:)


and the rear seat pan


my dad just bought a hobart 110 welder so after a week of practicing on scrap metal i welded the new one in i got from classic industries





 
#4 · (Edited)
and i ordered a front end rebuild kit from PST and body bushings, since my upper control arm bushings were gone :eek:, it felt like an earthquake if i went over 40 and since i had the whole front end taken apart i might as well POR 15 the control arms and the whole under side and the floor.







along with new cpp front springs and air shocks in the back



 
#5 · (Edited)
my gas tank was also in really rough shape, so a new one from classic industries, also POR 15 for protection and a new sending unit



the gas tank supports were rusted out with the trunk so i welded in a new pair of those (man those things are expensive :eek: )



and got her all put back together just in time for spring 2009



and after a week i noticed the gas gauge wasnt working, so i dropped the tank with about 5 gal gas in it and sent it back to them and they sent me back a brand new one for free

 
#6 · (Edited)
i havent done anything big to her that year and winter, just some upgrades like gauges



This past winter was my biggest project yet.

i started by pulling the tired 307 ran 16.9 @ 84 mph and worn out 3 speed saginaw

i rebuilt the saginaw 3 speed a hurst 3 speed mastershift shifter and linkage



Built my 355 torque monster :devil:


heres a list of all my somewhat go fast parts

350 1 piece block bored 30 over
reconditioned stock rods
clevite bearings
k/b 4 valve relief flat top cast pistons
stock crank turned 010 rods and mains
fel pro gasket set
clevite head gaskets .026
mild ported tbi 193 heads
comp 12-234-2 cam
double roller timing set
edelbrock aluminum intake
holley 750 vac sec carb
crane cam xr i points conversion
proform aluminum water pump
9.6 to 1 CR

heres a vid of it running


also got a new AMD trunk lid and pass. fender (fits pretty well)


She has always dog tracked bad!. my friends say when they drive behind me it looks like im drifting going straight down the highway.:eek:

i noticed my diff was in the car crooked, like 3 inches crooked!! so i decided to fix that, i pulled all the t bolts out and replaced them with u bolts. i aligned the diff with the pins on the mono leaf springs and i went to put the drive shaft in but with the drive shaft all the way in the back of the trans it still wont fit in the diff.

i figure the drive shaft is to long, the car originally came with a 8.2 10 bolt diff and when they swapped in a 8.5 in they used the same drive shaft and it wouldnt fit right so they just angled the diff so it would fit.

i drove with it for 2 YEARS!! like that. no wonder there was a vibration :mad:

Got my driveshaft shortened a whole inch and now it fits great

 
#7 · (Edited)
Now for the part of the project iv been dreading the most... bodywork and paint

i patched both bottom corners on my pass door and driver side fender (wasn't actually that bad)



and after sanding off the old paint i found a dirty little secret my car has been keeping:devil:...both of the rear quarters have been patched at the body molding line :eek: and it was just riveted on and over the old one :mad::mad:

the bare metal is the patch seam


i usually would cut out the patch and the original one behind it and replace the whole thing but i don't have the time, skill, or money at this point.

After filling and sanding for a couple months i was ready to paint the jambs

the color i went with it called Spice Red Metallic, its on the newer GTOs.







it turned out amazing for doing it in my garage, i will keep you guys updated with my progress
 
#12 · (Edited)
small update:
got most of the panels back back on the car and gaped, its starting to look like a car again :cool:


took the rear window out to make sure the channel wasnt rusted, so now there no glass in the car.
there was some rust in the upper corners of the channel but nothing a wire wheel couldnt take care of


and since i was in a "take it apart mood" the rear package shelf came out with the 20 year old jenson speakers and the hack job the previous owner did to get the speakers to fit :mad::mad:


now im down to doing skim coats in the rear quarters then final sanding then PRIMER
 
#19 · (Edited)
i also got my headliner installed, this was my first upholstery job and i dont think it turned out to bad.

First i put down a layer of reflective insulation i got at menards. i hope it reflects some of the heat, so it stays out of the car.



i sandblasted and primed the metal stripes




i found a thread on the team chevelle site and followed it. the most important thing i found was make sure the listings are all the same length or you will get wrinkles.

started by clipping the front and the back



and then glued the front and back in



and then did the same thing on the sides

there are still some little wrinkles in it, they should go away on a hot day when the windows get put back in.....hopefully haha




 
#20 · (Edited)
Got a bunch of stuff done. got the front end and back pretty to much all together.





got some infinity 6x9 speakers from a coworker with boxes. also made a rear speaker cover for them. they are nothing crazy but a lot better then what i had.





the hood and trunk lid actually lines back up where i had it earlier



got new weatherstripping from metro soft seal in **** rapids, its good stuff. it actually formed to the door frame!


i also got all the windows and a new windshield and a smoked rear glass

 
#21 · (Edited)
Well i finally got the last of the stuff done!!:D

I sound deadened the whole floor along with the inside of the doors. When you shut them there is no rattling noise. I used a product from the home depot called quick roof, yes its an asphalt base material but it has an aluminum backing, so i just got a roll of aluminum tape and tapped all the seems and edges, so the smell cant escape. iv let it sit out in the hot sun on a 89 degree day with the windows rolled up all day and i didnt smell a thing.







i also got the rear seat and the front seat in and the whole dash put back together and i also tested my new speakers out and they ROCK, way better then the lame jensens that came with the car.



 
#22 · (Edited)
FINALLY IT'S DONE!! (for the most part)

I will let the pics speak for them self










yes i know its sits high in the back, i have to lower my leaf springs and take the 2 inch shock extension out.

here are some pics in direct sunlight (my camera dosen't handle glare the best )









 
#23 · (Edited)
Since i did a major project the past 2 years i did a smaller one this year, I will put a posi in along with some multi leaf springs and bushings.

I ordered a yukon master rebuild kit from randys ring and pinion


it came with all the goodies. timken bearings, races, pinion nut, 2 crush sleeves, ring gear bolts, loctight, pinion shims, carrier shims and marking compound


i bought a housing from a guy at work that was painted black and ready to go


i installed the races using a race and seal driver set from oreillys (free rental tool) and it actually worked like it was suppose to.




 
#24 · (Edited)
Next was to pull the old housing out of the car and i decided to reuse the 3.08 gears with the posi since it gets driven on the freeway a lot and i have no overdrive.





Bad pic but the carrier, pinion and yoke are in there somewhere


I got a used GM clutch style posi for cheap and decided to rebuild it and tune like in this youtube vid


it only needed a .005 shim on each side to be tight


i decided to reuse my stock axles for now since i dont plan on putting slicks on anytime soon
 
#26 · (Edited)
Its been awhile since i updated my build thread, better late then never

i installed the carrier into the housing and with a ton of help from Miles (JBimmolate) got the ring and pinion set up.


i think this one was the final pattern



since i got new (to me anyways) leaf springs i got poly bushings and pads


For some reason the front leaf spring bushings were a hair to small, all the bushings were the same diameter, so i cut up a pice of sheet metal and made a filler
 
#28 · (Edited)
i didnt get a chance to put the side trim back on the car before and it didnt look the best so i stripped the black middle part off using heat and used 0000 steel wool and it shined right up




i used 3m double sided sticky tape and folded it over a bunch to take up the gap

 
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