[sudden_impulse]

Hey guys. Just took delivery of a 72 Nova this week, although I won't get to mess with it for another 2 weeks. It's in rough shape exterior wise, but pretty nice inside and underneath. It seems to have a pretty decent list of stuff stock, some which seem somewhat uncommon. Here's the basic rundown of what it has:
Both bright trim packages
Multi-leaf rear (5 leaf)
A/C
PS
2 bbl 350, TH350
Vinyl top (going away for good)
Side trim (the black line down the side)
Blue exterior with white top, blue bench interior
OEM tinted glass (other than driver's door, must've been replaced)
Remote mirror

I do need to do some work to it, but that was a given. It needs quarters, door skins or door replacements, and some rust repair on one fender. The trunk has one or two small holes where the floor rises for the axle, and there's a hole in the driver's floor board. I'm planning to replace the metal and get it somewhat smooth, then just do flat black paint (not primer, I don't like creating rust) and drive it until I can afford the time and cost of a full paint job. I plan to get the motor running (the Craigslist ad said it did run, we didn't try without putting new gas in it) and throw a set of headers and a 4 barrel intake with a 600cfm Holley on it, then just start accumulating parts.

Here are the pictures I had sent, it looks pretty good I think.

I also found out there's an AMD distributor in the town next to my parent's town :hurray:

Our family now has a ton of old cars, which I love. My dad has a '66 Impala SS, a '66 Chevelle SS, and a '67 Chevelle SS (his first car), my mom has a '67 Chevelle SS, and my brother has a '71 Monte Carlo.

 

[RumpRat]

Welcome :salute: from another '72 owner. Is that a block heater cord in the pic for the cold MN. winters?

 

[sudden_impulse]

As far as I know it is, not sure if it's an aftermarket addition or a stock option (no build sheet that I know of).

 

[carcrazy615]

Welcome to the site. Looks like a desent nova to build. Needs some work but that is part of the fun. Good luck with it.

 

[shinyside]

Cool buy, kinda partial to 72's . I know all about rust :yes:...have fun lolol.

 

[NIGHTSHADE]

I also found out there's an AMD distributor in the town next to my parent's town .

Which town would that be?

I saw this car on CL, nice find!

 

[Novaman Oscar]

Cool buy, kinda partial to 72's . I know all about rust :yes:...have fun lolol.

72's
good luck with everything!

 

[sudden_impulse]

Which town would that be?

I saw this car on CL, nice find!

Ogilvie, it's on Highway 23. Where in Central MN are you?

Yeah, the underbody is so clean it's unbelievable! We also got the guy to throw in a near perfect fender for cheap, and got the price down a little bit

 

[shinyside]

At least yours was bought with the rust in plain view...mine was under many layers of well placed bondo and horribly laid fiberglass!

It seems you'll have a nice starting point especially KNOWING what you're getting yourself into :yes:

Sweet find..especially with the replacement pieces included

 

[NIGHTSHADE]

Ogilvie, it's on Highway 23. Where in Central MN are you?

Yeah, the underbody is so clean it's unbelievable! We also got the guy to throw in a near perfect fender for cheap, and got the price down a little bit

I think it might be me. I am in St. Joseph near to where 23, 10 and 94 all meet up.

 

[sudden_impulse]

At least yours was bought with the rust in plain view...mine was under many layers of well placed bondo and horribly laid fiberglass!

It seems you'll have a nice starting point especially KNOWING what you're getting yourself into :yes:

Sweet find..especially with the replacement pieces included

Yeah, it seems the whole car is completely original (maybe the driver's door was replaced, or just the window), so I'm very happy with that

I think it might be me. I am in St. Joseph near to where 23, 10 and 94 all meet up.

It's actually Ogilvie Collision, it's out past Foley and Milaca, just before Highway 23 meets Highway 65. AMD doesn't have you listed, but I might have to stop by the shop sometime when I'm driving home if you guys are open when I pass (I drive through St. Joseph whenever I drive home from school).

 

[NIGHTSHADE]

Yeah, it seems the whole car is completely original (maybe the driver's door was replaced, or just the window), so I'm very happy with that


It's actually Ogilvie Collision, it's out past Foley and Milaca, just before Highway 23 meets Highway 65. AMD doesn't have you listed, but I might have to stop by the shop sometime when I'm driving home if you guys are open when I pass (I drive through St. Joseph whenever I drive home from school).

After i replied I went and looked and noticed that. Sent them an email to remedy the situation.

I'm around most evenings and weekends if you want to stop by.

 

[asteeler4life]

TO SNS , :waving:

LOOKS LIKE YA GOT SOME GOOD :chev: STUFF OVER THERE
:cool pics: GLAD TO HAVE YOU WITH US,
ENJOY THE SITE!
:thumbsup:

 

[sudden_impulse]

Wow, haven't updated this in 4 years! I still have this, and do some work on it once in a while even Got it running and driving again today, and it's even using the real gas tank now. List of stuff done so far:
Quarters cut out and replaced
Inner and outer wheel wells cut out and replaced
Doors replaced
One fender replaced
Floor and trunk plan repaired
Underbody cleaned, primed and painted
Interior cleaned, primed and painted
Bucket seats modified to fit but not installed
Original gas lines from parts car cleaned and painted, then installed
Gas tank cleaned, painted, and installed
Wheel cylinder replaced (brakes work now)
Inner fenders and fenders cleaned and ready for paint
New rear u-joint in painted driveshaft
Rear transmission output seal replaced
New spark plugs with used "new" wires

Pictures taken today:

I have a ton more pictures here (along with a ton of other crap):
http://s111.photobucket.com/user/sudden_impulse/library/Dereks%20Nova

 

['71 Nova SS]

:waving:Welcome from Wisconsin! Glad you're back and still working on your Nova.

 

[sudden_impulse]

Yearly update time :turn: Since I last posted, I have sanded the car down to metal with 80 grit (other than the hood, which was in good shape and got scuffed with 180), then painted with SPI satin black primer. Still undecided on final paint color.

I found some headers on Craigslist for $60 that came out of a truck with a Nova subframe, and they actually fit really well on the driver's side with PS. The passenger side didn't fit because of the huge AC suitcase, but we took the inner side of the case off for now. This thing sounds mean with open headers :devil: Only problem we had was that the idle was way too fast at first, but once we turned that down the car stumbles and dies as soon as I touch the gas (pulling it out of choke maybe?). I just want it running for now, as I have an old Holley 630 4-barrel that I need to rebuild (my research shows that it's a stock part from a Dodge). I think my engine plans when I do a rebuild (and pull the engine to finish the engine bay) are:
Vortec heads
Comp XE268
Compatible intake manifold
New pistons to raise CR
New bearings and any necessary machining

Any suggestions on why these parts won't be good for a street car, or better recommendations? I don't want to cheap out, but I also don't want to throw $5k into the engine if I can get the same outcome spending much less. I know a lot of people are doing LS swaps (including my brother), but I don't mind having old technology in an old car (plus if I want to drive a 5.3 I can drive my truck).

I have a Summit header-back exhaust showing up tomorrow, and will hopefully get it on this weekend. I will also be pressure washing the engine bay and putting on the front end with my fastener kit from Chevy2Only.

 

[sudden_impulse]

Well, got the exhaust tonight. It seems very well built, so we'll see how it fits. Noticed the mufflers are Heartthrob, which I think I read somewhere was the better sounding turbo muffler until Summit changed suppliers. Nice that they're made in MN too.

 

[bigdaddykane]

what diameter is that exhaust? what brand are those quarter panels? and were they full quarters? and did you replace that outer cowl on the drivers side that was smashed in?

you should put on that 4 barrel intake that you have on the floor with a quadrajet carb on it...

How about painting it the original blue since that's a nice looking blue. and those snow tires look kinda good on it too.

 

[sudden_impulse]

Headers are 1 5/8" primary with a 3" collector, exhaust is 2.5" all the way back.

The quarter panels were AMD I believe, but we ordered them off eBay, and I believe they were marketed as Goodmark (I was ok with getting AMD). They were full up to the sail panel and also came with separate sail panels. Where I welded is where they ended; I cut the car to match the quarter.

I did not replace the driver cowl that was smashed, but we have pushed a good chunk of it out and will continue to try pushing it out (it's hidden behind the fender, so it's not really seen).

If I had a quadrajet 4 barrel sitting around I might for mileage, but I don't. The 630 carb that I have was sitting around my dad's shop, so it just needs $25 in rebuild parts and my time.

I like the stock blue, but I'm not much of a light blue guy. We'll see what I decide after show season this year. I wanted to wait to paint the whole car until I had the engine pulled and the bay painted, as well as rebuilding and swapping a front subframe with stock disc that I got with my '73 parts car. Those tires came on it (for the front with Rally 2's), and the rear were sitting around the shop again. I don't mind them for now, but the other rear tire goes flat in a matter of an hour.

 

[sudden_impulse]

Got the exhaust installed. Everything is just tack welded up to the mufflers, and the tail pipes are just fit in the mufflers with temporary hangers. I like it