First Build: '71 Nova

[RayTx]

Hey everyone! I picked up this 1971 Nova (base) in June.

Rough plan is LS3/T56Magnum/DSE TCAs w/ JRi coilovers/DSE Multileaf/(275/40/r18) front and rear. Autox-able and roadtripable ride, ETC is roughly 2yrs

Here we go!
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/10/10064911366_80bc5b3cdf_c-1.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/igo2thegym/10064911366/)


https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/10/10064986263_950aed0295_c-1.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/igo2thegym/10064986263/)

[rchaskin]

Go for it!!!!

[MrQuick]

let the madness begin. welcome to the site.

[NvrDun71]

Out of curiousity did you buy this car out of Austin? I think I remember seeing it on Craigslist?

[Buryingthesun]

Get mad at it!

Nice build, I love all novas and chevy II's

[rustomatic]

Was this car buried for some period of time?

[DCx]

i would clear coat that surface rust! looks so bad ass.

wish my project was surface rusted like that. the previous owner primered it to hide the crappy paint and now i have to deal with it.

[rickpaw]

i would clear coat that surface rust! looks so bad ass.


I'd do the same, if everything is solid. Then you'll have that sleeper look, and not have to worry about damaging the paint.

[AusMarty]

Yep.
Then surface rust becomes body rust, then that becomes chassis rust.
Rust = bad.

[83tb]

New here also, go for it!

[BLACKLIST]

i would clear coat that surface rust! looks so bad ass.

wish my project was surface rusted like that. the previous owner primered it to hide the crappy paint and now i have to deal with it.


https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

anyways..

nice project. id get rid of the rust and not be cheap.

[Buryingthesun]

Rust is a Honda / Volkswagen / Child look, Real men have paint

[RayTx]

It's getting full body work and paint. I didn't wanna bore people with that. Lots of DA work will go down.

[brownz]

I say who cares about paint right now. That doesn't get the car down the road or make it handle better or faster. Mine is rusted and I like it. Im still a man lol. Glad to see another nova. keep the updates coming

[Jon @ Hotchkis]

Good to see another Nova around these parts! It should be a great car with that parts lineup; what do you have planned for chassis stiffening?

[RayTx]

Update: Pulled the fuel lines and tailpipes/hangers out, then had to go run an emergency errand. Sandpaper has started to arrive and I ordered a set of Motegi MR120 wheels 18x9.5 in black(24lbs, not too shabby), plus a cheap set of sumitomo tires to reestablish the car as a roller (the car came with the 5 factory 14" steels/bias ply and was rolling on AR outlaw/bfgTA that, luckily, decided to blow out AFTER they were piled neatly in the garage). Subframe connectors and body mounts from DSE are sitting on the couch, and the search for a roll cage begins after these messages.

[RayTx]

Only two of my tires showed up today, so I relaced a buddy's wheel

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/10/10302820093_1a1da9a0c6_m-1.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/igo2thegym/10302820093/)
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/10/10303714234_edc627f17a_m-1.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/igo2thegym/10303714234/)
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/10/10303709814_a2d205555f_m-1.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/igo2thegym/10303709814/)

[RayTx]

what do you have planned for chassis stiffening?
Hey Jon
I'll be welding up the subframe, adding subframe connectors and, by proxy, installing at least a 4 point cage so far...

[GS455vert]

Following the build, nice to see a 68-72 Nova being done over the next million and one 67-69 Camaro. I got a 70 SS Nova that I plan on giving the pro touring treatment.

[RayTx]

Following the build
Thanks, I'll keep an eye out for that SS

Update: dropped the fuel tank (still looks good!?), removed the rear bumper shell. One of the welded nuts on the mounting bracket broke loose, so that was interesting. The mounting flange on the end of the frame rail was bent in toward the rail making it a pain to get a socket in there. Also wasp nests.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/10/10339070205_22e0509f4b_n-1.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/igo2thegym/10339070205/)

The car was impacted in both rear corners (silver lining) so I was able to get a wobble/socket down in to the outer shell nuts and pop that off, Ill figure the bracket out later. In the meantime, I removed the seats, sill plates and rubber mat and vacuumed the floor pan. the front passenger side needs some patch work, but the rest is pristine.

beater tires arrived! (two of them were "left at a UPS facility" according to tracking, but they showed up the next day
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/10/10302606634_1da945d91d-1.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/igo2thegym/10302606634/)

[RayTx]

Update: Removed the jacked up rear bumper bracket. When my room mate woke up, just for kicks, grabbed a small cedar block and started tapping on the rear corner dent to see what was what (with the existing damage and the previous "repairs") turns out there is a lot of bondo in there for no real reason other than lazy slab n shoot body work. The rear panel will have to be replaced (because of rust/pitting), but with a little pin puller work, the quarters will be savable.
before/after
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/10/10339070205_22e0509f4b-1.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/igo2thegym/10339070205/)https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/10/10412723113_e313965257-1.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/igo2thegym/10412723113/)

Then we cleared out the remaining interior and bulkhead bits. The interior is all in pretty good shape, but some parts don't fit my plan, so they'll be in the classified thread when I have replacements.
This is where the fun begins: time to order sheet metal!

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/10/10412750353_a4961a93d3-1.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/igo2thegym/10412750353/)https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/10/10412771926_00d0f9fc04-1.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/igo2thegym/10412771926/)

Plus, I got the tires mounted + balanced, and borrowed an s10->c5 spacer kit from a buddy to ballpark wheel fitment.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/10/10412789766_48c811fb88-1.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/igo2thegym/10412789766/)

[RayTx]

Update: I ordered some sheet metal! Kick panel supports, upper dash and right side floor pan are on the way.

[turner-nova]

Love to see the Nova's! What's the back space on those wheels? Any tire clearance issues?

[RayTx]

The wheels are c5 front spec 18x9.5 7.02" back space/45mm offset. I have a set of spacers designed to run c5 spec on an s10 which I think are 45 and 55mm. I mounted a wheel in the rear with the 45mm spacer and that's a bit too thick. There is plenty of clearance on the inside (wheel well/shock) to fit my 275/40 tires with probably a 30mm spacer. It's nice to have something available for mock-up. I won't really get an idea for front clearance till I get the suspension and fenders mounted. In the meantime, I just put the wheels on my s10. Ideally, I'd like to run a set of wheels with little to no spacers, but availability of a wheel that's not run of the mill is slim till you get into custom forging.
The corvettes use staggered wheel sizes in both diameter and width, but I want to keep all the wheels the same for the sake of rotation and general practicality...and possibly carry a full size spare for road trips.

[RayTx]

Hey all,

Time for an update! I picked up a welder (miller211), removed the dash wiring harness, door panels, shoulder belts, package tray, windlace, visors and mirror. I bought a low (4)cfm RO sander a while back and finally got to test it out. It works pretty well but my little compressor will be running constantly during use. The running twin piston motor equalizes input/output psi at around 55. In the mean time, here's a partially refined wish list of interior items. Pics when I get some actual work done. I have The right side floor pan, dash top panel and kick panel supports that will go in shortly.

Sparco r505 seats (black w/grey stitching) with sliding tracks
3 point retractable belts (black)
Lokar Handbrake (black)
Custom reupholstered rear bench (w/bucket style bolstering)
Momo Gotham steering wheel and shift knob (black leather w/ black chrome trim)
Flaming River tilt steering column (black)
Clayton Machine Works pedal assembly
American Autowire Classic Update full car wiring harness
Dakota Digital VHX instrument panel (carbon w/ red numbers)
Black carpet, door panels, package tray, and dash pad
Buckskin (light tan) Headliner, a/b pillars
New OE style window cranks w/ black knobs
Full Dynamat roof and floor

[RayTx]

Okay, finally got back in the garage. First, moved the car in to the garage (this is when Texas winter starts getting nasty) Cut out the crusty part of the left kick panel support and replaced it. The patch was (as expected) a little different than original, so some modifications were necessary. Cold galvanizer (weld-through), plug welds. Smoothed out the welds pretty nice, but I'll get a shot after its all smoothed out.


https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/11634918685_eb66231405_z-1.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/igo2thegym/11634918685/)
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/11635302684_6566436780_z-1.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/igo2thegym/11635302684/)
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/11635307904_bcdf2c92aa_z-1.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/igo2thegym/11635307904/)

Here's the prime time drama cliffhanger for the next entry (cue the urgent violins)
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/11635008195_c0616d32cd_z-1.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/igo2thegym/11635008195/)

[JAWSS]

Very cool!! I love 68-72 Novas!! Keep up the good work!!

[bad element 69]

Nice to see it's being repaired properly and not thrown together, keep up the good work!
Glad to see another 3rd gen

[Auto Rod Technologies]

I have those tires on my truck, actually I am pretty happy with them.

[RayTx]

I have those tires on my truck, actually I am pretty happy with them.

ha! me too. I put them on the s10 to get some use out of them until the Nova's ready to roll around
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/10864754905_2c5743a3cf_z-1.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/igo2thegym/10864754905/)

[Auto Rod Technologies]

lol.. here's mine
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2012/02/DSC02500-1.jpg (http://s44.photobucket.com/user/projectpages001/media/SIDETRACKED/DSC02500.jpg.html)
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/01/DSC02400-1.jpg (http://s44.photobucket.com/user/projectpages001/media/SIDETRACKED/DSC02400.jpg.html)

[RayTx]

Ok back in the garage. Decided to skip the passenger kick panel support for now (the pocket bottom inside the KPS is pretty crusty and will have to be rebuilt. Plans are to use what I need from the other patch panels and utilize the scraps with optimum shapes) So on to the dash panel.

I popped the WS reveal moldings off the front and rear glass to find some more holes :l The windshield came out in one piece, luckily, as it has a top to bottom crack on either side. I feel like this spot can be replaced fairly easily with sheet metal. I've also decided on flush mounting the new windshield.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/01/11721915566_ba2ff9f646_z-1.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/igo2thegym/11721915566/)

After the dash panel spot welds were ground out, I found that the upper cowl panel was still in good shape.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/01/11721523094_a67149ffc5_z-1.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/igo2thegym/11721523094/)
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/01/11721431013_d156b430a5_z-1.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/igo2thegym/11721431013/)

Here's the panel all tacked in. I'm gonna cut the speaker grille out and put a solid patch in there. Also, the passenger side of the dash was broke loose (spot weld) at the a-pillar, so I gotta sew that up when It's time to finish welding the patch.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/01/11721942256_5cc67914d0_b-1.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/igo2thegym/11721942256/)

[RayTx]

Tackled as much of the floor pan as possible before it got too cold. Looks like a soda was spilled on this side of the car. I know modern sodas will eat through egg shells, plus the window crank knobs are all sticky. So if you spill a soda in your car, pull the carpet up and clean it out real good or you'll be lookin like Fred Flintstone #protip

After the second picture, I laid a tape line and cut the flange back to about 1.25", lapped the panel in, and fixed it down with sheet metal screws to keep it square for welding. I guess I could have cut it flush and butt welded it, or even pulled the entire floor side out, but I felt like separating the floor from the rocker etc would be a mess and I didn't want to risk tweaking the cab. I also didn't want to pull the old floor out and find that the new panel doesn't fit right. I think this will be a nice solid repair. I'll go in with a body hammer and knock the panel down flush to the braces and tunnel before I get to spot welding.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/01/11788560035_22a377f2c0_z-1.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/igo2thegym/11788560035/)
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/01/11789338766_f404592200_z-1.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/igo2thegym/11789338766/)
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/01/11789343566_bfbcb78875_b-1.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/igo2thegym/11789343566/)

[Blown73]

Very cool build! Nice work!

The #protip made me actually LOL.

[Zoomin]

Lol! Another thumbs up for Sumitomo. Best cheap tire out there, IMO.

And I'm a big fan of Novas too. I'm in for the long haul.

[RayTx]

Mini tubs and quadra-link have been added to the list. Now that I finished up my floor pan, I gotta cut it all up again, but I can admire it for a while as I replenish my FUNds.
Tail Panel, Trunk Floor, Rear Windshield to Deck Lid Panel and Radiator Support have been ordered.

So this is what I did tonight after the third quarter of the Denver/SD game. Plug welds plus some stitch welds for good measure. (also filled in the holes from the clecos(HA-COUGHsheetmetalscrews)
Goodnight everybody. Thanks for the support!

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/01/11921515383_0fec4eac26_z-1.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/igo2thegym/11921515383/)

[RayTx]

Wheel tubs came in...still waiting on all the other sheet metal. In the meantime, I'm designing a rotisserie, I should be able to build one under $300. I'll post some of that stuff when I get building. A new idea in the mill is shortening the bumpers and brackets. I want to tuck them in as tight to the body as possible and get the backward slant lines a little more pronounced. I have the rusty old bumpers / brackets to test on before modifying new straight ones. the bumpers will be black or body color, so all the chrome will come off regardless. The final look will maintain the basic shape of the OE bumpers, and you'd (hopefully) only notice the difference if you were familiar with the car or it was parked right next to another nova.

[RayTx]

here's a close-to-scale model of my rotisserie design using a scissor jack (30" rise 5,000lb). I'll add casters, just didn't feel like drawing them here. Specs are subject(definitely) to change. The jacks I ordered are for leveling RVs, so that should be plenty to lift a 800-1000lb car cab. I won't have to worry about rams failing if it sits in the garage for a few years afterward, plus I can screw the jacks with a couple of electric drills. yee haw.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/01/12064967073_5c68af0edf_b-1.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/igo2thegym/12064967073/)

[796spdbu]

Nice build!

[rchaskin]

Nice Work!!!


.......I've also decided on flush mounting the new windshield....

I am really interested in seeing this done to a Nova.

Nice work on the rotisserie as well.
The 30 inch lift would let you pick the car right up off the body, and give plenty of room to get the chassis out from under the body.
Mcmaster carr has 3d drawings of casters if you need them.

[RayTx]

The flush mount method I intend to use is as follows: move stock windshield up to the top of the window frame, leaving a 3/16 - 1/4" gap for urethane, then fab and weld in sheet metal fillers on the sides and bottom. Might buy a shrinker/stretcher :) It's much cheaper and far more likely to work correctly than custom glass. I still have the stock windshield for testing unless the cracks give way. The one thing you have to compensate for is that replacement glass will be a bit thinner than '71 spec. I saw this on a linked article for a RideTech car I think. Since the factory window seal is hiding under the trim, you wouldn't know it was bad until it's too late, which is what happened to this car, so I want to avoid that for myself and/or the person I sell the car to down the road...if I sell it, huge if. This has been a fun learning experience, I've never done any of this before.

[RayTx]

Hey look what came in the mail!
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/05/13932777850_20e236b9a2_c-1.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/nec8rL)

[RayTx]

Back from a long hiatus. Sorry to any who were following this build, the short answer is $$$. But progress has been reignited. I finally got a compressor that can handle all the grinders/saws/sanders I'll be using. I had my buddy gang in an outlet for my Miller 211 in case I need to run it at 220V for thicker metals. I got some other goodies in as well. There was a hangup in my last order of patch panels (my fault, I was supposed to call and confirm the order and just didn't do that) which is fine since they would have been sitting around taking up space. I've spent the last few weeks organizing tasks and expenditures, obtaining tools and took a few stabs at organizing the garage (you don't realize how much stuff you don't need 'til its all in your way) Hopefully more frequent posts to come.

I found the panel from Ground Up that contains the front body mount (the passenger side is totally rusted out) which will make that and the outer kick panel (with the fender mount) that much easier to get right, so I ordered that and a couple other things that were discounted and shipped free for their columbus day sale I guess. (3 point retractable seat belts, front clip hardware kit)

I grabbed some Sparco r600 seats and a Dakota Digital gauge cluster as well.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2016/10/29669828063_acab6d7906_c-1.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/McPCcH)Untitled (https://flic.kr/p/McPCcH)
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2016/10/30300568185_c7f1772436_c-1.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Naykgp)Untitled (https://flic.kr/p/Naykgp)
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2016/10/29670095084_d2d4f9aa37_c-1.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/McQZzw)Untitled (https://flic.kr/p/McQZzw)
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2016/10/30184957352_95588b28d0_c-1.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/MZkNcb)Untitled (https://flic.kr/p/MZkNcb)

[RayTx]

After cutting out the firewall support and the rusted section of the kick panel support, I found some cancer in the footwell. I don't have a bead roller, so I patched it with a flat panel, but I feel like the edge of the firewall support will do just that. I'll need to grind and seal this panel before putting the fw support in, so I'll update when that goes down. I will be patching the driver side as well before filling in the firewall.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2016/11/31036561752_c54e531cb8_c-1.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/PhAuvE)