[amatojm]

Hey guys and gals!

It's been a LONG time since I have posted here on Steve's.
Life has happened, marriage, 3 moves, 2 houses. Lots of stuff that just seemed to take priority.

But now, I'm off and running again.
Backstory:
I purchased this car for about $950 or so when I was 15. It was my first car and the first car I ever wrenched on.

I had swapped a big block into it and had aspirations of possibly boosting it and running into the 10's on the 1/4.

But now, married and with a baby on the way, I think I will enjoy it more as a mild cruiser.

So I pulled the big block and started working on the original 350 that had sat outside for a few years.
This engine is kind of sentimental to me, so I admit that I spent WAY too much on machine work to get it right.
It had 2 sleeves put in, bored .030 and plate honed, and align honed. Crank was ground .010/.010 and polished.

I kept the cast rods and fitted them with +6.9cc Hypereutectics flat tops from Speed Pro and a set of moly rings.

For heads, I had to ditch the stock 882s for having 11 out of 16 seats with cracks, not worth keeping.
I found a set of 186 double hums on the classifieds for $120 and took a gamble. $450 to completely rebuild them with hardened seats, valves, guides, and springs. I'm less than $600 into heads that give a "day 2 mod" look. I know I could get a lot more out of even a set of Chinese heads, but I like the vibe.

For a cam I chose a Voodoo 262/268. Gives good vacuum and isn't too obnoxious. (I swear I'm not that old)

I just fired up the engine and broke in the cam this weekend.

Body is at the shop getting the works, should be done here is about a month I believe. I can't see this car being any other color that the factory yellow I purchased it with. Although maybe not so dull and faded.

Here are a few pictures for the thread.
Having trouble uploading my video for some reason.

 

[onecarnut]

Good work

Looks like you are well into the project and making it roadworthy.

Keep up the good work.

Lou, central Arkansas

 

[RifRaf]

I also bought my 74 Nova while I was still in high school and still own it today.
It's great to see that you are taking photos of your progress. When your done, it is always gratifying to look back at all of the work you have done... plus you never know when one of your photos might be able to help out another forum member.
Keep up the good work!

 

[amatojm]

I also bought my 74 Nova while I was still in high school and still own it today.
It's great to see that you are taking photos of your progress. When your done, it is always gratifying to look back at all of the work you have done... plus you never know when one of your photos might be able to help out another forum member.
Keep up the good work!

Thanks! Sadly, I attempted to start the body work a few years back and was way over my head. I slid the car into a van and poked a hole in the passenger quarter just above where all the repop skins stopped. Had my neighbor weld in a quarter I found on CL. He kinda butchered it, but he had the best intentions. It is now in a very talented pair of hands that are in between careers. So I got lucky on being his full time side gig for a pretty good bargain.

He will likely throw the rear end and subframe back on to trailer it to my place, about a 5 hour haul.

And before anyone nags on the floor pans, I told him he can down and dirty it since it's covered with fatmat and carpet and we are undercoating to seal it all anyway.

Getting these pictures is like finding your christmas present a month before. You know what it is, but you haven't held it yet, only seen the box. :turn::turn:

 

[Rush]

Great to see your still motivated after all this time. Yellow just looks right on a nova.

 

[rquad]

A lot of similarities between you and me. My '74 was my first car, which I bought in high school for $1200. It's good to see another restoration for my favorite year Nova.

 

[amatojm]

I got back over the mountains this last weekend and was able to get eyes on the car for the first time since watching it leave on a trailer.

I'm more that happy with what thos guy has done.
It looks like he should have it sprayed in about two weeks. Hes working on it "full time" but has some other personal things going on.

He's kind of hammering me about choosing a paint color.
Part of me wants to stick with the yellow I baught it with, some says to go with a dark grey metallic, and some of me isn't sure at all.

Any visuals of fresh paint that anyone has would be a welcome help. I'm just so torn and dont want to choose "wrong".

Anyways, here's a couple photos I was able to grab while I was there.

PS: that's my boogered up trans tunnel patch from my TKO install.

 

[InNOVAtionSS]

awesome job, Its your car, your choice of color. Go with what makes you happy

 

[acd65post]

Sorry to hear... that you got the Nova addiction so early in life.
Your project looks great. Keep the pictures coming.

 

[rquad]

I think the car would look awesome in either yellow or gray. What if you did something different to stand out - like making it a two-tone with those two colors, or choosing one color as the primary and doing stripes with the other?

 

[Nova Thug]

Nice progress.. I understand sentimental investments. I’ve got a 350 that belonged to my cousin who passed away way too early.. The engine is from
a 70 Camaro that was just below an LT1 in factory hp ratings around 300 as I recall. I intend to rebuild that one at some point and run it in one of my Nova’s.

Keep at it and it will get done..

 

[Tom1491]

I think a dark grey metallic with a yellow stripe would look pretty sweet.

 

[amatojm]

I think a dark grey metallic with a yellow stripe would look pretty sweet.

I thought about this. The SS striping for '74s has a gold outline that might look pretty sweet on the right grey.

My wife helped me kind of make up my mind.
She asked me if I had the same amount of money its taking to build this car to just buy an already restored car, what color would it be.
My first reaction was "not yellow".

So I'm looking at Grey's. I saw a 2016 ford f150 that had just about,the right shade of grey, but not quite enough metallic. Im sharing that paint code with my guy to see what he says.

 

[J Mark]

I'm looking at a metallic pewter.

 

[amatojm]

Today was kind of like Christmas, in May. And with all the gifts I can only get myself because of how much they cost.

FedEx man brought in my Global West upper control arms, the American Autowire Classic Update Kit, american Powertrain hydraulic throwout bearking setup, a couple brake hoses and the sound deadening.

Way more coming from Classic Industries next week.

Im really looking forward to the control arms and the throw out bearing.
I got stuck in traffic on Memorial Day weekend my first long trip out after the Tremec install with the mechanical linkage. Never again!!

 

[amatojm]

Only a small update now. Got a load of parts from Summit, Amazon and Classic Industries includong this way too nice for me grill.

Body progress is at its slowest percieved stage. Blocking amd blocking and more blocking. It seemed like so much was getting done so fast before. Between tear down, blasting, metal fab and mud. Now its just.....blocking.
I know it just takes time, but darn it, I want it yesterday!!

 

[amatojm]

More updates from the body guy. A little rougher than we had hoped for. But it's all solid not and a clean slate to work on. I can't say I'm surprised.
I owned this car as a 15 year old, and the guy before me bought it as a teen and sold it to me in his 20's. There's many good times that resulted in the shape of this body.

 

[amatojm]

Been a long wait. My body guy got accepted into the local police department so he has been going through the academy while trying to complete my car. He is doing a really fine job though. Got most everything blocked to where he wants it and shot another coat of primer. Found a few small areas he still wants to massage a little. Probably looking at end of August, first part of September before I have it back. I'm really not upset at this. He isn't charging me any more money for labor and has decided this will be his last car, so he wants to make it his best. Feels bad that it has been in his shop this long.

Here's a couple photos of progress and a video of the engine running.
Is it normal for a fresh rebuild to run such high oil pressure while cold? After it warms up to about 180* idle pressure settles to about 45psi.
Using a high zinc 10w30 from Lucas. Bearing clearances were just under .0025 on the mains and just under .002 on the rods.

https://youtu.be/bVioEFAh9gs

 

[Nova Thug]

Looking good..!:yes:

 

[CEW]

Nice work! The engine sounds good also.

I'm not too sure about that engine test stand but you have video proof that it worked!