[oldelpasso]

oldelpasso - 1972 Nova Father Son Project

Year: 1972

Model: Nova

Engine: 383 Stroker (Built by Burbank Speed & Machine)

Body/Exterior: DSE Mini-tubs

Paint: Palladium Silver by South County Auto Body

Suspension: Ride Tech 4 link, 2" Drop spindles, Lower Strongarms, SC&C Street-Comp Stage 2 Uppers

Transmission: Legends LGT-700 5 Speed

Rear End: Stock 10 Bolt 3.73 w/Posi

Exhaust: Custom Built Stainless

Wheels/Tires: Budnik Pivot 18x8 Front / 18x10 Rear

Interior: Recaro Bucket Seats

Electrical: American Auto Wire

Accessories/Options: Vintage Air, Power Windows & Locks

Sound system: Tunes by RetroSound and Rockford Fosgate

Additional Comments:

Welcome to my build guys! I've been a member of SNS for a while now, quietly perusing the forums, enjoying seeing everyone's work and craftsmanship, and doing a whole lot of admiring. I would first like to say thanks to everyone here that has helped me with my build. There is so much information here, and so many guys and gals willing to help I feel really lucky to be a part of the SNS family. I thought it was finally time to share some of the progress I've made on my car, and if nothing else maybe provide some motivation to some of the other Father Son teams that are ready to get started on their projects.

So, a little background - my Nova was handed down to me from my Dad. He bought it used in 73, and it was his daily driver for about 10 years. Some of my very best childhood memories were with my Dad and that car. We've talked about restoring it since I was 5 years old (I'm 38 now). The Nova really is a member of our family.

My Dad garaged the car after some mechanical issues around 85-86, with 189,000 miles on the OD. It sat in the same spot for 25+ years.

About a year and half ago we were sitting around watching one of those car restoration shows, and I mentioned we should try to get the Nova running. The following weekend we put a tune up on it, and after all those years the car fired after the first turn of the key. My Dad had a smile from ear-to-ear. It was a really amazing moment. Right up until it started spewing water from the radiator, water pump, and freeze plugs. That killed any hopes of driving it that day, but it gave us just the motivation we needed to start our project. We looked at each other and my Dad said to me "Let's go, let's restore it".

We spent about a month taking the car apart, documenting and bagging all of the parts, and towed it down to San Diego for mini-tubbing and some other cool stuff. What follows is our build in progress. Hope you guys enjoy...

 

[oldelpasso]

Day 1 - Engine pull day. I borrowed a cherry picker and had a couple buddies come over to help out. They worked for Pizza and beer that day. Notice my Dad is the only one without greasy hands. Smart guy!

 

[oldelpasso]

Day 2 - Getting the front end pulled apart. Lots of grease and crud, but for the most part things were in really nice shape. The passenger door and driver side fender were pretty trashed. Evidently my Dad was a fan of road side bondo work. You can see where they very nicely drilled into the door several times directly on the lower body line. Ugh!

At the advice of my body guy, and knowing that the driver door was already replaced at some point early on, I ended up replacing both with salvaged parts from a scrap yard in AZ. The fender was a little harder to find than I expected, but I eventually found a good one.

 

[oldelpasso]

Day 3 - Pulling out the interior. We found the first bit of rust on the passenger side floor board. My Dad recalled a heater core leak which probably explains it. The rest looked really good. Keeping it in the garage all these years made things a lot easier.

 

[1quik69]

Those pictures bring back lots of memories to me. All 3 of my Novas were stripped down to nothing at one time. Keep us posted on your progress and have a good time working on it with your dad.

 

[oldelpasso]

1quik69 - It's amazing how much our cars become a part of our families, and what time capsules they become. I feel really fortunate and honored to be doing this with my Dad. I'm glad my pics brought back some good memories for you too!

 

[oldelpasso]

This was around a month into the project. I found some bucket seats online from a 72 Camaro. I really went back and forth on newer style vs. older style seats. I like the look of the originals in an older car, but I think I'll regret not having bolsters and better adjustments at some point.

I started playing around with test fitting, and how to get the brackets to work. I realized pretty quickly my engineering and welding skills weren't up to par on this job, so I decided to leave it to the pros.

 

[oldelpasso]

These were taken the day we loaded up and went down to San Diego for mini-tubbing.

 

[oldelpasso]

Getting tubbed, rusty floor repaired, subframe connectors, and seats mounted. A huge thanks to the guys (and Emily) over at Best of Show for their amazing work. They could not be a nicer group of people.

 

[arcmark]

Nice work so far. You really should move this thread over to the 3rd Gen. section where we can watch the build as it happens? Keep us posted!

 

[EdyJun]

Getting tubbed, rusty floor repaired, subframe connectors, and seats mounted. A huge thanks to the guys (and Emily) over at Best of Show for their amazing work. They could not be a nicer group of people.

Is this Center g-Connector Support from Chassisworks? How was the install?

 

[oldelpasso]

EdyJun - Yes it's ChassisWorks. I don't have a lift at home, so I had BOS do the install while it was getting mini-tubbed. They didn't have any trouble with it all though. It's well built stuff, and straight forward on the install. ChassisWorks really takes care of their customers. I had to do a return of some other parts and they were really responsive and helpful. Be warned though, there can be a wait if they are out of stock. If I recall, the G-connectors were built-to-order, and about a month or so out (a year ago when I bought them).

 

[11sec72]

Great build so far keep us posted!

 

[EdyJun]

EdyJun - Yes it's ChassisWorks. I don't have a lift at home, so I had BOS do the install while it was getting mini-tubbed. They didn't have any trouble with it all though. It's well built stuff, and straight forward on the install. ChassisWorks really takes care of their customers. I had to do a return of some other parts and they were really responsive and helpful. Be warned though, there can be a wait if they are out of stock. If I recall, the G-connectors were built-to-order, and about a month or so out (a year ago when I bought them).

Got it, thanks for info and keep it up!

 

[oldelpasso]

Will do. Thanks guys!

 

[oldelpasso]

The first body shop was a friend's place. He had the car for a few months, but didn't end up having the time or resources for such a big job. In April I found another shop and they've been working on it ever since. It's taken a while, but well worth the wait. Here are some pics when they were stripping the original paint.

Doors and trunk lid went out for acid dipping. The driver side door came back with a few more holes than I expected. More roadside bondo I guess.

 

[oldelpasso]

Getting some of the panels primed, side markers deleted, and the firewall cleaned up. We used DSE's filler panel to smooth the firewall since we're going with a Vintage Air setup.

 

[oldelpasso]

About 3 weeks ago - final panel fitting and last blocking before paint.

 

[Justjim]

You are doing great!

I truly wish my son lived closer, we will be starting on a father son 71 ventura prodject soon, but betting its gonna be mostly father..(LOL) Still looking forwardto it..keep up the great work
Jim

Will do. Thanks guys!

 

[oldelpasso]

Jim - Good luck with your project. Keep us all posted with your progress!