'76 Nova Begins

[JMarsa]

After too long I'm officially starting my build. Don't worry, pics will get posted this weekend. I've been collecting parts and tools over the last few years and I'm finally ready to get "started". Don't expect much bling, high dollar parts, or daily updates. There will be a lot of chassis fab and prerequisites for the various stages so progress will be slow. I work 50+ hours a week and have a family so the weekends are about all I have and they are often are tied up with other commitments. I'll break the build threads into sections to keep it organized.

So let's get started shall we?

Task 1 - Media Blast under carriage and wheel wells.

I checked out the local shops which are all about the same price (thanks for the leads "GRIMMEY71" and "GBodyGMachine") and have the choice of the following media types (descriptions pulled from the net, not my a$$):

1. Urea is a plastic grain stripping abrasive used in sandblasting operations. It is the most widely used plastic media. Urea is environmentally friendly and recyclable - an alternative to chemical stripping. Urea is formulated to meet an increased level of stripping performance where stripping speed outweighs other considerations. Urea is able to strip tough coatings with an impressive strip rate. Urea is typically used for less sensitive applications. Standard mesh sizes 8-12, 10-20, 12-16, 16-20, 20-30, 30-40 and 40-60. Sizes 12-20, 20-40 and 60-80 can be specially ordered. Packaged in 50 lb boxes or bags or 250 lb drums.

2. Starblast™/Sand is a general-purpose staurolite abrasive used in steel fabrication and bridge maintenance to remove rust, mill scale, and weathered coatings

3. Steel grit blasting is ideal for aggressive cleaning applications. Steel grit will quickly strip many types of surface contaminants from steel and other foundry metals. Steel grit is softer than aluminum oxide and does not fracture as easily, making it ideal for aircraft and aero-space applications. The angular nature of steel grit produces an etched surface on metal for superior adhesion of paint, epoxy, enamel, rubber and other coatings.

Using the poll:

The question is, for a car with solid floors that was Ziebart'd when it left the dealer and spent 10 years on dirt roads (I've never powerwashed the undercarriage), which one is best?

Thanks,

--JMarsa

[oldzzy]

Hey Glad to see your about to start your project! don't know much about the items you have listed but i just sandblasted the underside of my which was Ziebart'd as well. I cleaned most of the undercoating off first but for the areas i didn't the sand seemed to cut through it.

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[lh_kustoms]

I would recommend having the car glass beaded if available sandblasting is hard on the metal and is usually to coarse unless they use a nice fine sand. plastic media is good to strip paint but lacks the agressiveness to take off the undercoating. it will work but will take longer (it will cost more money if they charge hourly) also there is a good chance they can warp it. I strongly recommend getting references before using a media blasting company If there not well experienced the car wont be nice when it comes out and can create a huge headaches.

[Restomod]

Just my .02 but why not powerwash the bottom FIRST then see what you have. Then you may better see what blasting material is best. Also my .02 but unless you are planning a "show" quality finish underneath then plain old cheap sand will be fine......top side IS a different story.

[RAMKAT2]

Can't wait to see your progress. I also post on the V8Buick.com site, and there are some die-hard X-body fans there. I will pass the word along over there to keep an eye on your build. I have a 76 Skylark 2 door project car that I am still collecting parts for. Someday it will see a built 455 BBB, S/P400, and a 9" rearend.
Take plenty of pictures! Randy

[JMarsa]

Thanks for the replies.

oldzzy - I can only hope mine looks that clean afterwards. Mine isn't on a rotisserie so I have to rely on how high the blaster raises the car.

Restomod - the car is real solid and has always been stored indoors but I've never washed it underneath in order to keep it preserved, I know it must sound weird. I didn't want exposed metal before I could properly seal it.

Randy - I'm over at steves nova site as well. There's a guy there (he posts here too) who doing a 4th gen over there that's coming along nicely. We have alot in common in our builds including being home built. I'll get the pics going this weekend.

I've gotten some recommendations and called all the shops to get their details. In addition to the floor, I also plan to get the bottom of the front fenders and the bottom of the quarters behind the wheel well and the firewall. All the places I'm considering use a booth and one is actually a body shop. I'm almost set on using this one, as they also happen to be the one who does the urea beads. Since they are shop too, l can also have them spray PPG's DP90LF when they are done. This won't be an indoor show car. It'll be a driver, which will eventually see rain.

--JMarsa

[perple76]

Glad to hear you are starting to move forward on your 76. From the sound of things, I'm a few months ahead of you. I appreciate the props, though, and wish you the best of luck. If I can lend any support your way, look me up over at Steve's or here, though I do more posting on Steves because it's more "Nova-centered".

Not sure I really have any input on the media blasting - sounds like you already know more about it than I do. I used coal slag on an older project and didn't care for it. On my current project I used chemical stripper, grinding disks, and A LOT of elbow grease.

My fourth gen is coming along well, and in fact today I put the engine and tranny back on the subframe. I'm going to spend a few days (weeks?) running the engine on the sub, checking for leaks, tweaking as needed, etc. Hoping to have sub and car reuinted by Thanksgiving, if the weather cooperates.

Right on schedule for a debut sometime next spring/early summer. I'm really shooting for Nova Nationals 2009, but maybe I'll get it around to a local Super Chevy or two before then. Really hard to tell, because the car will ultimately be a driver I want all the bugs worked out before I start running the show circuit.

Here's a recent pic for those that might be interested:

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[Twentyover]

High school chemistry class- must have been about 1972- am I showing myage yet?- Teacher says 'Organic chemistry was started in 1880 (or something like that) when some guy synthsized urea. One of those who typically sat in the back of the class (with me) said- 'So what's the big deal? I synthesize it every day......'