Project Scope Creep - '74 Nova Spirit of America

[68Formula]

I think cutting them up is the manly thing to do. But that's just me.

When I am done, it will be less than one inch taller than a C7 Corvette. It got just a bit out of hand.

Just spit-balling here, but just an inch to go, and I don't think anyone has ever chopped the top on one of these. :-)

[JayinMI]

I also chose a fun font for the numbers just because I could.

Attachment 151933 Attachment 151934

I like the gauges/font. Is it Comic Sans? If so, somewhere a graphic designer is cringing. lol

Jay

[cornfedbill]

I like the gauges/font. Is it Comic Sans? If so, somewhere a graphic designer is cringing. lol

Jay

Jay,

When you order gauges from Speedhut, you can design them using selections from their website. I think they called it Beetle. The flags are also menu items along with a plethora of other logos and graphics.

[cornfedbill]

Just spit-balling here, but just an inch to go, and I don't think anyone has ever chopped the top on one of these. :-)

I’ve seen chopped 3rd gen Novas. I never liked the look. We may play a bit with the roofline next year. For now I’m focused on the big items that are needed to race.

[cornfedbill]

Pressing forward still. I found I need to get my driver seat in place before I can solidify the controls and transmission tunnel. I ordered seats from Summit Racing. They aren't the best seats money can buy, but are a good bang for the buck and meet my needs. One issue is the factory seats place me too high in the car and also will not accommodate a racing harness.

The driver seat arrived yesterday. I assembled it and set it in the car. I will make brackets for it tonight so I can get my steering wheel and pedals set up. The color is a bit off white and nearly matches the stock antique white interior.

The passenger seat is coming in a few weeks. It is the same model.



I started moving my wiper motor to the left front fender area. I have the wiper motor sheet metal cut out and flattened to remove the ribs. I used my hole saw to get the hole started. I need to cut it to the finished shape, then weld it together. Then I will need to lengthen the link from the wiper motor arm to the right wiper.

[68Formula]

Pressing forward still. I found I need to get my driver seat in place before I can solidify the controls and transmission tunnel. I ordered seats from Summit Racing. They aren't the best seats money can buy, but are a good bang for the buck and meet my needs. One issue is the factory seats place me too high in the car and also will not accommodate a racing harness.

The driver seat arrived yesterday. I assembled it and set it in the car. I will make brackets for it tonight so I can get my steering wheel and pedals set up. The color is a bit off white and nearly matches the stock antique white interior.

The passenger seat is coming in a few weeks. It is the same model.



I started moving my wiper motor to the left front fender area. I have the wiper motor sheet metal cut out and flattened to remove the ribs. I used my hole saw to get the hole started. I need to cut it to the finished shape, then weld it together. Then I will need to lengthen the link from the wiper motor arm to the right wiper.

With all the set back, are you keeping the rear seat?

[cornfedbill]

With all the set back, are you keeping the rear seat?

I originally planned to keep the whole interior and back seat. But since we are adding a cage, it doesn’t seem like a back seat would be usable anyway, so I removed it. I may regret my decision later. But now that my little ones are grown and gone, there is no urgent need for rear seats.

[cornfedbill]

Moving my engine back created an argument between my wiper motor and valve cover. The valve cover won and sent the wiper motor to the left front fender to live. It’s there now. I just need to extend the arm from the motor to the right wiper.

The master cylinders will be on the inside of the firewall. I need to cover the pushrod hole. I chose carriage bolts to mount the pedal assembly so there are no bolt heads or nuts on the front of the firewall.

I will use a hydraulic parking brake from Speedway that installs in the rear brake line and acts like a line lock. The speedometer will be a Sppedhut GPS unit. That means there will be no speedometer or parking brake cable. The firewall will not have much passing through.

I am not planning to smooth the firewall. It will be functional, but not beautiful. I’m not trying to earn a Ridler with this build.

The steering is quite simple, I used a collapsible double-D shaft that is 1” at the steering box and 3/4” at the steering wheel. The universal joint is a Sweet circle track piece. One the other end is a Sweet quick release and an aluminum Speedway Motors wheel.

The blinkers will be controlled by buttons on the center console. I wanted to put them on the dash, but realized I won’t be able to reach the dash with my harness buckled properly.

[cornfedbill]

I cleaned up the firewall on the driver side a bit, welded up the unused holes and threw some Rustoleum on the bare metal.

I also did some more work on the pedal assembly.

I bought some junk fenders a while ago for $20. I stripped off the outer metal and saved the under structure. The right fender support is done. I hung the hinge and laid the fiberglass fender on the check the fit. Not to shabby. It will not take much to finish.

If it looks like the front of the fender droops a bit, it is because I lowered the radiator support one inch to lower the nose. I tell myself it will cut the air a bit better. It’s the equivalent of shaving the door handles on a Chevy Van to make it more aerodynamic. But it makes me feel better.

[68Formula]

Great progress Bill! Can't wait to see the finished product.

Question: The appropriately named scope creep seems to continue in part because of the large engine setback. With all that you learned through this, could you share, how much setback is possible before it leads to the additional unforeseen efforts? As in, if it was limited to "x" inches, then "this, this and this" wouldn't have had to have been modified. What's the "bang for the buck time-wise" if one is willing to compromise a little of the max effort to save a bunch of extra fab?

Thanks.

[cornfedbill]

Great progress Bill! Can't wait to see the finished product.

Question: The appropriately named scope creep seems to continue in part because of the large engine setback. With all that you learned through this, could you share, how much setback is possible before it leads to the additional unforeseen efforts? As in, if it was limited to "x" inches, then "this, this and this" wouldn't have had to have been modified. What's the "bang for the buck time-wise" if one is willing to compromise a little of the max effort to save a bunch of extra fab?

Thanks.

The issues I ran into have to do also with raising the engine when I channeled the subframe into the body. It now protrudes 1 inch into the passenger compartment. This is a huge commitment and a lot of work.

Moving the engine rearward only would have limited the impact. One or two inches will make minimal difference in the weight bias. You are better off to move the battery to the trunk as far at that is concerned. That's why I went to a full four inches. The conflict is the throttle pedal. It is attached to the transmission tunnel and is the most effected by the move. the other issue is the wiper plenum. It needs to be modified to make room for the distributor. You will find that you will have to relocate your wiper motor also to make room for the valve cover on the driver side.

I would begin by moving everything you can rearward in the car before moving the engine back. Also, using aluminum heads, intake and water pump, and scrapping the cast iron exhaust for headers will help take weight off the nose.

If you do move the engine back, plan on a lot of time and unexpected issues.

[cornfedbill]

It looks almost like a car again after about two decades. I am installing all of the stock grill and headlight items and trim. It seems to be going well so far.

I took the carburetor and air cleaner off of the intake so I could close the hood. I need to modify the hood for clearance.

[cornfedbill]

I have to yield to reality that the Nova will not be ready to run by August. We will be running the HHR SS again in the Sandhills Open Road Challenge, but in the 105 mph class. We need to add a roll bar and racing harnesses. Other than that, it is running pretty strong.

I am still working on the Nova. It will be ready for next year.

[cornfedbill]

I assembled and mounted my JD Squared tube bender today. We bent the main loop and started fitting it in.

I’m glad I bought a good quality bender. It only took one try to get it right.

We have only 5 weeks to get the car ready to race. We’re feeling some pressure now.

[TheBandit]

Hi Bill any updates on this car? Very interesting build - clearly you are not afraid to cut and fabricate to make it what you want! Hope to see more.

[cornfedbill]

The Nova has been on the back burner. Three job changes and two cross-country relocations have hampered my progress.

In the meantime, I have been playing with Little Red, my Saturn Ion Redline.



It has been my daily and race car for the past 4 years. It gets the job done.

Monday the movers will arrive wtih my fabrication tools, welders, subframe, engine and transmission. I will complete the front suspension and subframe modifications, then haul it back to my Michigan place, install it and bring the entire car to my new place in Albuquerque.

Hopefully, I will begin making some progress now.

[cornfedbill]

I did some low-tech sketching to see how the car would sit. I moved the lower control arm mounts in the subframe up 1" and set the lower control arms level to the ground, removed the frame biscuts so the subframe bolts right to the body, then moved the mounts on the body down one inch. This should put me about 4" lower than stock.

The subframe now protrudes through the floorpan. The bottom of the frame is level with the bottom of the pinch welds. I raised the motor until the Milodon oil pan is as high as the bottom of the main suspension crossmember, moved it back 6 inches in the frame and over 2 inches to the right.

The subframe has been moved forward 2", as will be the rear axle.

Minimum ground clearance will be 4".



Here is a comparison against a C7 Corvette. I did my best to get the scale correct.

[68Formula]

Did you account for the added caster, (assuming you plan to run 5-6* with the modified upper control are relocation)?