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    1. #1
      Join Date
      Apr 2013
      Location
      Granite Bay, CA NORCAL
      Posts
      40
      Country Flag: United States

      72 Nova "bout time"

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Size:  90.8 KBFigured I better start my project thread. My car is a 72 Nova. I recently bought the California car with a stock 350/350, 12 bolt rear with Eaton posi, Corvette drilled and slotted brakes, QA1 adjustable coil overs and Wilwood proportioning valve. The only real rust that I could find is around the trunk seal. I decided I would spend some money on a few areas to help the car perform and might do some body restoration during the winter or something. This way I can hopefully get the car back on the road and hit the track for a bit. I took the stock 350 out and I’m in the process of putting in a 512hp 350 I already had in my project S10. I ordered a complete automatic to Tremec 6 speed conversion kit from American Powertrain. I am also tearing out all of the wiring and have started putting in a Painless wiring kit. I got a set of Corbeau LG1 seats with 4 point harnesses to hold me in place during the racing I plan on doing. I should be getting my Rick’s stainless tank anytime now as well. I plan on documenting all the mods I do with a ton of pics but won’t bore you with pics of stuff you all already know how to do (like taking out a motor!)
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      Out with the old. I’m surprised the car didn’t overheat from lack of water flow when I drove it back home after buying it.
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      These are my Hedman headers (part 66003) I picked up for my Brodix angle plug heads. I had to put some dents still to get them to fit unfortunately. Got them bolted up and put in the motor.
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      Getting the front interior out of the way so I can cut up the trans tunnel for the new 6 speed. I’m pretty sure the car was originally had a bench seat because of the seat bolt holes and the seatbelts in the middle. One of the previous owners put the front buckets in but on the wrong sides so they were lop sided and the release was on the inside instead of the outside. Their fix was to add some spacers instead of just putting the seats on the correct sides. I will take a wire wheel to the floor to help clean it up a bit. I will probably just buy some new carpet atleast for the front.
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      I noticed the drive shaft was not on the pallet with my trans so I will call this week and see if I have to call them with the measurements or if it was a mistake. The kit comes with it and I figured they would already have the measurements for a Nova but maybe not. I also have not seen a rubber boot for the shifter so will check on that.
      I will take lots of pics of the assembly and install of the trans, wiring and fuel system. Let me know if someone needs clarification or more pics. I appreciate all feedback, good or bad.



    2. #2
      Join Date
      Apr 2013
      Location
      Granite Bay, CA NORCAL
      Posts
      40
      Country Flag: United States
      The temperature finally cooled down some today so I got some work done on the Nova. I got the trans on the jack, bolted on the Quicktime bell housing and bolted it up to the motor. I jacked up the trans until it started hitting the trans tunnel. The transmission hit at the white lightning shifter, just behind the shifter and the top ear that bolts to the bell housing. I drilled small holes at the corners of where I needed to cut from under the car then used a cut off wheel from on top. I had to cut completely through the floor support under the floor to fit the transmission up high enough. I mocked up the trans on the X factor cross member on the lowest of the 3 settings. I made some relief cuts in order to make more room on top of the trans. I decided I was going to just cut the entire tunnel out because of the amount of patch work and welding and this would also make it look a little cleaner. This is not needed if you cut the approximate areas I started at and weld them back together. I cut down the middle and was just going to spread the tunnel apart and up some then weld a small strip in between. I figure both ways would take me about the same time considering the weld time.
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      This is approximately where the new trans tunnel will be. There is about ½ in clearance at the back bolts. I later bent my patch down a bit at the rear so I should have maybe ¾ in clearance. I feel more comfortable with that than the minimum ¼ in the instructions. I started my new patch but making a template out of construction paper. I traced that onto some 18 gauge sheet metal and cut it out. I would normally have bent the patch over a piece of iron and used a hammer but since I moved I didn’t have anything. So, I ended up bending it by hand which was a PITA. I finally got it to fit pretty good though. I then traced around the patch on the stock tunnel. I cut just inside my line by about 1/8 in to allow room to grind and make the patch fit better. The patch is now ready to be welded in. That is where I stopped for the day. I’m pretty sure my Nova is missing some floor supports/seat brackets so I will have to check on those so I can get my Corbeau seat’s installed correctly later on. I think I’m going to go ahead and clean up the floor more, weld up some of the poor previous work that was done, lay new sound deadener and put new front and rear carpet. I might as well while I am at this point.
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      Question: I got 4 point harnesses with my seats. The instructions say not to mount the shoulder straps down the back of the seat on the seat bolts but at an angle no less than 45 degrees backward. Where should I mount the straps? I will put a roll cage in the car later down the road but need to figure out something until then. Any suggestions?

    3. #3
      Join Date
      Jun 2010
      Location
      Georgia
      Posts
      2,215
      Country Flag: United States
      for harnesses without a cage, I went with the Schroth Rallye 4 that bolt to the rear seat belt mounts and are easily removable. That gives you the correct angle and location to keep from compressing your spine in the event of a wreck.

      By the way, we make a bolt in aluminum radiator for these Nova's now:
      https://www.pro-touring.com/showthre...rs-coming-soon!

    4. #4
      Join Date
      Apr 2013
      Location
      Granite Bay, CA NORCAL
      Posts
      40
      Country Flag: United States
      SparkyRND, that’s what I think I am going to end up doing. I also saw online there are harness bars in the import world and there was a guy on Steves Nova Site that made his own for his Nova. It mounted to the two rear front seat bolts and came up in a V, then a bar ran back to the rear seat seatbelt bolt. This way the 4 point harness mounted straight back onto that bar instead of an angle to the back seat. Anyways, got some work done on the trans install and floor.
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      I got the trans patch panel I made welded into place. There is a ton more room compared to before. It was also probably faster making the piece and welding it in than making small patches and welding the tunnel back together.
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      I welded up the holes in the floor where the bucket seats were previously mounted with bolts. I could -only find the tunnel supports and seat brackets for Nova’s and not the 72. Supposedly they work but move the seat a bit. Well they do not work without modification for the Corbeau seat brackets. The seat brackets say 6? To 74 Nova’s. They seem to actually only work on the 72-74 Nova bucket seat brackets because I am having to relocate the bolts on the rear tunnel support to line up. If anyone knows where I can get actual 72-74 brackets I may cut the tack welds on these and swap them out.
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      I put the hydraulic throw out bearing in, did all the measurements and supposedly I need 5 spacers. Odd since the directions talk about GM owners sometimes not having enough room so they need to space the bell housing away from the block with washers. Not in my case evidently. I was installing the trans and found out I needed to adjust it on my jack. So I was wiggling it back in forth under the car and almost dropped it off the jack. I panicked and grabbed the output shaft area and my right hand latched onto the hydraulic throw out bearing. Just my luck the dang thing came apart when I did this. Just my luck because the instructions say to not take it apart since it is preloaded with fluid. Now I have to go through the PITA way of bleeding the clutch once I get it all installed.
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      I had to take 2 of the bolts for the scattershield and leave them off. One was hitting the oil pan because I have a deep sump and the other was hitting the oil filter. Should still be plenty strong if my clutch comes apart I would think.
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      I had clearance issues with the stock booster and the port on my valve cover for a breather. I had a mini booster for my S10 project so I decided to go ahead and swap them for now. This also freed up room for the clutch and hand room to the wiring area at the firewall. The windshield wiper motor is still in the way some for the breather though.
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      I got it all mocked up and installed with 2 bolts. Just have to mark for the other 2 bolts and then reinstall it and connect the hoses. For the life of me I could not locate the clutch reservoir in the Wilwood kit. I called up American Powertrain and Bill said he would send me. Awesome guy.
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      I have cleaned up the floor with a wire wheel and torn all the wiring out that is getting replaced. I will clean the floor a bit more then seam seal and spray a little bit of primer. Then I can put the new carpet down. I decided to go with the stock style insulation because it came with the carpet for like $30. I plan on putting a cage in later so I will take all the interior back out. When I do that I will spend the time and money on some Dynamat or Thermotech. My Ricks gas tank arrived so that can go in soon as well. Hopefully I can get this back together soon and test it out. I had to make another order for some fuel line parts and forgot to get some wire loom and a plug. I always forget something.

    5. #5
      Join Date
      Jun 2011
      Location
      St. George, Utah
      Posts
      1,629
      Country Flag: United States
      Very Cool! Lots of new Novas lately, I'm diggin it!
      -Ben, Your friendly neighborhood Rendering dude

      SRD on Facebook

      79 Cutlass wagon build


    6. #6
      Join Date
      Apr 2013
      Location
      Granite Bay, CA NORCAL
      Posts
      40
      Country Flag: United States
      Thanks SRDart. I saw that you have a 74. I will have to keep an eye on it. I got the other two holes drilled for the clutch and got it mounted so I can check that off. The clutch rod was rubbing against the side of the hole and I figured out why it hadn’t before during mock up. I originally did not have a washer between the clutch pedal and heim joint. I took the clutch back out and drilled the slot out a little bit. I then put a slight bend in the clutch rod extension and now it clears just fine and swings smoothly. I attempted to connect the feed line from the HRB to the clutch but it wouldn’t fit. The plastic caps that were on the 90 from the clutch said 1/8 npt on one end and 4 on the other. I’m guessing 4 an. The feed line is a female end that was too small. I checked the instructions and it says 3 an. I guess I will have to give American Powertrain a call tomorrow and see if they supplied me the wrong 90 or if I am supposed to get one myself. I wouldn’t think so considering the trans kit is supposed to be complete but it really isn’t that big of a deal since it should be cheap anyways.
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      I moved on to the seat brackets. I used a cut off wheel and cut the 3 spot welds that hold the rear bolts in closest to the trans tunnel. I then set my seat mounts in and marked where the bolts needed to be. I drilled the holes out then welded the bolts back in.
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      I decided to move on to the fuel system next so I can get that checked off. I removed the stock fuel lines that were showing some age in spots. Most of the rubber hoses from the tank were rotten and a few actually tore in half when I was taking them off the hardlines. Once I got the fuel tank out of the way I decided to do a quick fix to the exhaust mounts. When the exhaust had been installed the shop just welded a bolt near the seat belt hole. One of the bolts broke in half when I was removing the exhaust at the beginning of my tear down for the trans. I am undecided on what I want to do with the exhaust so I just cut off the bolts and welded grade 8’s in their place. The previous bolts were grade 5. This is just temporary because I will probably end up redoing the exhaust with an x pipe and running it all the way to the back of the car (that will help cut down on the noise inside.)
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      I was ready to get the tank mocked up to figure out how I was going to mount my fuel pump, etc and noticed the two smaller bolts for the straps were not anywhere to be found. I had the longer 2 wrapped in with the straps. Guess I will call about them tomorrow. I started to run one of the fuel lines. For now I’m just using some 8 an braided line (I already have a lot so it’s cheap for now). I’m not really a fan of it for the entire system so will upgrade at some point to either ½in hardline or PTFE hose from Pegasus racing. I think the hardline looks much better so I’m leaning toward that. I will probably end up make a tube straightener and take a shot at bending up my own lines. Then just use the PTFE hose for the areas of movement and between the tank, pump and filters.
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      I also checked my new seatbelt bolts that came with my 4 point harnesses. The bolts are too small. I checked the stock bolts and they seem to be 1/2in course thread. The new ones look like they are 7/16in fine thread. Guess I will have to do a bit of shopping for those now too.

    7. #7
      Join Date
      Jun 2010
      Location
      Georgia
      Posts
      2,215
      Country Flag: United States
      nice progress. Been checking out those first few pictures for a while now, keeps egging me on to build a Nova next!

    8. #8
      Join Date
      Nov 2006
      Location
      Hildebran, NC
      Posts
      992
      Country Flag: United States
      Man you have made some serious progress with some killer parts!!!!

      I wish the Magnum was available when I did my 6sp swap.

      I have only one thing for you to look at. I think your seats are going to be too tall.
      Take a look at post 4, 9th pic.
      I basically started with the same set up you have with the Corbeau bracket / mounts / slider and my head was against the headliner with a helmet on.

      I ended up laying 2 pieces of 1/2" thick x 1" wide x 16" or so long steel bar to the floor pan.
      I bolted it through from the bottom, through the outsides of the floor cross members. I'll weld it down one day when all the interior is out.
      Then I made a new square slider mount 3/16" x 2" to mount to the flatbar on the floorpan.
      I bolted my sliders on this mount, and the seats to the sliders.

      This puts the bottom of the sliders about 11/16" off the floorpan.
      The driving position is much better now.
      It gained me about 2" of head clearance.

      Good luck, and get to shifting gears!!!

      Randy

    9. #9
      Join Date
      Jun 2013
      Posts
      72
      Country Flag: United States
      Wow Charles, the Nova is looking great; I really like the black on white (my favorite combo). Thanks for posting the detailed picture of the trans clearance, I'm keeping them for future reference.

      Keep the update coming!

      Jon Rasmussen
      Hotchkis Performance
      877-466-7655 ext. 224
      [email protected]

      Hotchkis Performance East
      704-660-3060

      Check out our Facebook page!


    10. #10
      Join Date
      Feb 2007
      Location
      The Netherlands
      Posts
      331
      Country Flag: Netherlands
      Cool project.
      I saw this one on Craigslist in May this year when I was visiting the US.
      Almost went over to take a look.

      Good luck with your project.
      I love Nova's!!
      1968 Camaro, 400SBC, Baer T4 13", Airride, Autometer, 18" Intro's, March, LED taillights, Magnaflow, König seats.
      1969 Nova, LS1/4L60e, Bear brakes, ridetech suspension, AFX spindles, 69 Camaro bumpers + some custom touches.

    11. #11
      Join Date
      Apr 2013
      Location
      Granite Bay, CA NORCAL
      Posts
      40
      Country Flag: United States
      Quote Originally Posted by SparkyRnD View Post
      nice progress. Been checking out those first few pictures for a while now, keeps egging me on to build a Nova next!
      I have been putting in the hours for sure.
      Quote Originally Posted by rchaskin View Post
      Man you have made some serious progress with some killer parts!!!!

      I wish the Magnum was available when I did my 6sp swap.

      I have only one thing for you to look at. I think your seats are going to be too tall.
      Good luck, and get to shifting gears!!!

      Randy
      I bolted my seat to the bracket and installed it to check. I would prefer my seat to go back further. I don’t have a tilt column and my legs are really tight going under the steering wheel getting in. With my seat leaned back to where I like it to just cruise the top of my head is about 3in from the roof. If I lean it more straight like it would be for racing I maybe have 1in without a helmet. So I guess I will have to make my own bracket too. I think what I will do is use the mounts I welded in still. I will use some 2in x 1/4in flat bar I have and make a shape similar to a square with holes drilled for the mounting bolts. Then drill holes for the sliders. This would drop the seat about 2in or so because it essentially would get rid of the small “L” shaped parts on the Corbeau brackets. I will take pictures when I do it. My concern right now is getting the car going first though.
      Quote Originally Posted by Jon @ Hotchkis View Post
      Wow Charles, the Nova is looking great; I really like the black on white (my favorite combo). Thanks for posting the detailed picture of the trans clearance, I'm keeping them for future reference.

      Keep the update coming!
      Thanks. I’m not sure what color it will be for sure when I finally redo the body but the black and white is growing on me.
      Quote Originally Posted by Moabdude View Post
      Cool project.
      I saw this one on Craigslist in May this year when I was visiting the US.
      Almost went over to take a look.

      Good luck with your project.
      I love Nova's!!
      I found it on there about 2 weeks before I moved to California. Luckily it didn’t sell and the guy reposted it right about the day I got out here.
      So I had been waiting on a few fittings for my fuel system (most arrived today) and I need a new set of crimpers so I decided to work on the floor and putting the motor together. Mainly just getting the engine ready to start and finishing small things. I decided to swap valve covers to opposite sides so my breathers would clear the windshield wiper motor (why didn’t someone call me an idiot earlier and suggest this?!) I got the breathers put on, ran the hose for the brake booster, ran the vacuum from the distributor to carb, tightened the header bolts, put the plug wires back on, put on the fan and belts. I went ahead and put the same radiator in because I have been having trouble finding the wider radiator hold down. The radiator I want to put in is the wider one that I think would have normally come with big blocks. I have found some of the radiator hold downs but they have all been chrome. On the floor I put new seam sealer around the floor and cleaned it up some with scotch brite pads. Then I sprayed a little bit of primer to cover up the areas where the wire wheel took it down to bare metal. I think I have changed my mind on the floor insulation and will go ahead and order some Thermotech or Dynamat now.

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    12. #12
      Join Date
      Nov 2006
      Location
      Hildebran, NC
      Posts
      992
      Country Flag: United States
      Getting closer......

    13. #13
      Join Date
      Apr 2013
      Location
      Granite Bay, CA NORCAL
      Posts
      40
      Country Flag: United States
      Well I got married over last weekend and had been pretty busy with that so I haven’t gotten as much done as I would have liked. I also go on my honeymoon this week and will be gone for a bit so progress will be nonexistent after tomorrow probably.

      I got my Dynamat installed. I think it turned out okay considering that was my first time using it. I put a couple layers down on trans and toe board area. I started with a kit of 9 pieces and still have 3 or 4 left. I will use them later for the firewall area where the heater is covering probably and behind the rear seat. Just figured I would do that when I put in an under dash ac/heater unit and fill in the panel behind the seat.

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      Ran all the wires for the fuel sender and fuel pump. Installed the tank and made a simple mount for my fuel pump. I will probably make a new one and relocate the pump and filters when I change to solid fuel lines so I wasn’t too concerned about the appearance of the mount. I also ran a temporary fuel line to a breather with a rollover valve for a vent. This may get taken off before the car even gets started because I ordered one of the II Much Fabrication fuel vents but it’s back ordered. I wasn’t sure if I should use the stock spacer for the strap so left it off for now. I got some stainless screws exactly like the stock ones for the other end of the strap but couldn’t for the life of me get them to thread through the stainless strap. So… I just used a couple of these allen head bolts with nyloc nuts. It took a few minutes to get the nuts to thread on the bolt because of the small hole to get to them but it worked out.

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      I got my driveshaft from American Powertrain. It looked like it was boxed up for shipping before the paint was dry because some was rubbed off and it was stuck to the cardboard. Not that big of a deal to me so I got it put in. Seemed to fit like a glove.

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      Quick pic of the wiring tools I’m using. I got these blue handled crimpers from Snap On. They are blue point. I was wanting to buy USA made but these had really good comments and reviews on several sites so I decided to give them a try. I use them for open barrel connectors and they work pretty awesome. The red handled simple crimpers are blue point as well but made in the USA. I use them for all of the normal connectors and they work very nicely because of the long handles and design. The wire strippers are from Lowes and are my favorite design I’ve used so far. Cutters are cutters, I’ve had mine for years and I have no idea what brand, Stanley maybe.

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      Got the front headlights, park lights and turn signals all wired together. I haven’t put the powerbraid on them yet because I want to make sure it all works okay first and I am debating on ordering all new sockets for all the lights so they may just get cut back off. They painless kit came with the headlight plugs. I read somewhere that American Autowire came with all the plugs including inside just like factory. Sometimes I wish I went with them but oh well. I am going to order a neutral safety switch and probably the sockets from them though.

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      I cut the tips off the wiper control wires from Painless (left) and put new pins on the ends so I could use the factory style plastic plug (right) because it also had the pin for the ground wire.

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      I took a similar approach with the headlight switch because the painless plug didn’t have the ground wire pin either. Painless connector (top in second photo) and stock style connector (bottom.)

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      Took the wires out of the dimmer plug because the painless one (left) didn’t have the little clips on the sides. I opted for the factory style so it should stay connected better.

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      I decided to use the 4 wire plug from between the tail lights as a plug for my cheapo tach (came with the car.) I didn’t see a point in there being a plug between the tail lights anyways. Also ran some wires off the instrument panel wiring for the oil, voltage and water temp gauges so I can just mount them in the cheapo 3 gauge pod (again, came in the car and I currently don’t have a console.)

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      Finally found this little guy on the factory wiring diagram so now I can get rid of it. Voltage regulator.

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      I posted a thread in the wiring forum about this wire. I was/am trying to figure out what it is. It isn’t labeled at all and it’s not listed in the painless instructions. I traced it on the inside of the firewall and it splits to 2 tan wires. 1 goes to the e-brake pedal switch and the other runs into the harness along with the brake light wires and brake pedal switch. All I can think of is that it would be connected to transmission running down the firewall and under the floor. I don’t think I need it because I rerouted my third brake light wire (no third brake light on the Nova) under the dash and plan on running it along the trans tunnel and out the shifter hole to the trans for the reverse lockout switch. Am I wrong?

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    14. #14
      Join Date
      Dec 2008
      Location
      Detroit
      Posts
      2,584
      Country Flag: United States
      You had a very good foundation to start with. Progress looks good. I'm watching...
      Big dreams, small pockets....

      Chris--
      '72 Cutlass S LSA/T56 Magnum
      Bowler Performance, Rushforth Wheels, ATS, Holley EFI, KORE3, Ridetech

      Project Motor City Madness

    15. #15
      Join Date
      Apr 2013
      Location
      Granite Bay, CA NORCAL
      Posts
      40
      Country Flag: United States

      Finally got it started with the new motor and 6 speed in.

      Add Content

    16. #16
      Join Date
      Apr 2013
      Location
      Granite Bay, CA NORCAL
      Posts
      40
      Country Flag: United States

      72 Nova "bout time"

      Double post.

    17. #17
      Join Date
      Apr 2013
      Location
      Granite Bay, CA NORCAL
      Posts
      40
      Country Flag: United States

      problems

      I finally got most of the wiring connections made. I'm waiting on new park, brake and side marker plugs to show up in the mail. I had a hell of a time trying to figure out why the motor wouldn't turn over at first. After tracing all the wires several times and checking several areas with my test light I noticed the purple starter wire was not hot when the key was turned at the plug on the column. I pulled the plug off and found out it was because the male portion on the column got bent upward and didn't go in the female portion of the plug so there was no connection. I was unable to see this the whole time because the metal portion above the column was hiding it. Got that sorted out and the motor fired right up. This video was actually about the third time I started it. I thought I had another issue because I couldn't get the motor to idle the second time then it died and wouldn't start. Then it hit me that I couldn't hear the fuel pump anymore. Turned out I had bumped the switch and turned it off. It now fires right up and will idle. Unfortunately I have to sort out some issues. When the car was tilted backward there was fuel leaking a small amount out of the glass sight on the passenger side rear bowl of the carb. It doesn't seem to be doing it now but I will see about replacing the seal just in case. I couldn't see any leaks anywhere else. For some reason after I switched to the mini booster my brakes aren't working. The pedal has feedback when the car is off but once started it goes to the floor with ease. Should I try bleeding the brakes? I didn't think any air would have gotten in the lines though just from switching boosters. There is also an issue with the clutch and hrb. It is farely stiff but doesn't seem to be pushing the pressure plate enough. I'm afraid to push it too far because I don't want the hrb to come apart. The pedal moves about 4-5 inches right now. Could there still be air in the system and the pedal still be stiff? Third problem is my ground clearance. My motor has a deep sump pan. With the car at the current lowered height the pan is only maybe 3 inches off the ground at most.
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    18. #18
      Join Date
      Jan 2010
      Location
      Oxnard Califas.
      Posts
      62
      Cool build man, I need to save up some money to do the 6 speed swap. Looking good .
      The Blurr!

    19. #19
      Join Date
      Jan 2010
      Location
      Oxnard Califas.
      Posts
      62
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      I had the same issue with my oil pan from Milodon 8 quart pan , I ran with their stock looking pan 6 quart with a windage tray, it does clear my super comp headers.
      Last edited by DYNODANNY; 09-19-2013 at 09:44 PM. Reason: picture
      The Blurr!

    20. #20
      Join Date
      Apr 2013
      Location
      Granite Bay, CA NORCAL
      Posts
      40
      Country Flag: United States
      Thanks Danny. The bottom of the bell housing is only maybe an inch higher than the bottom of the pan so switching pans won't really change much.

      Well I think I have the solutions to a couple of my issues. I took the master cylinder off and noticed the plunger on my new dual booster is only about 1/4 inch or so and the stock one is about 1 1/2 inches. So when I would push the pedal I wasn't even engaging the brakes. My master cylinder is a deep pocket instead of shallow so I have to use a bullet/spacer/slug piece to make up the gap. I couldn't find one from any of the local parts stores but Right Stuff (who makes my booster) said they would send me one. So that should be cured once the piece arrives in the mail.

      called American Powertrain. My clutch freely travels for roughly an inch then it is tough but my clutch is not fully engaging. My calculations came out to 5.?? For my hrb so I used 5 spacers. Their tech told me I should have used 6 and that is probably why I have the free travel because I'm just pushing air. So now I will have to raise the car back up and take the trans back out to install another spacer (sucks ass.). Hopefully that fixes the clutch issue. I will go ahead and weld my collectors on and get the exhaust hooked up while I'm at it.
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