Bought a new ride today

[69TAPoser]

While I am putting my Bird together (which will take another year) I have had quite an itch to get something to drive this summer. Then I went to a cruise night (as a passenger in my buddies '71 Trans Am) and I got the itch to get something NOW even worse.

Soooo, I just put a deposit on this '70 Nova with a 454 Big Block today and I go pay him in full next week.

It's from CA but has been in PA the past 6 years (garaged of course). I have over 25 pics of the (underside, inside, outside) of the usual rust places and it is VERY solid. 90K miles. All original panels, floors, and trunk with original undercoating. No pin holes or surface rust! I have pics of the inside of the qtrs too! Ther are 5 bubbles in the paint on one quarter in an area that is about 6" wide above the wheel well. This is the worst spot. The car is very clean underneath and still has all of it's orginal undercoating and no rust. It has about 3500 miles on the rebuilt big block.

It's a nice driver that won't take much to make it very nice.

The bad news is it has a 10 bolt, non-posi rear and a T350 auto tranny. It needs fresh paint which I have already gotten a committment to get from my body shop for some short $$ (same color deal).

Here's a few pics:







...I know, the steering wheel will be ripped out 1st! And someone cut the door panels for speakers. All gauges and lights work.

Here's where it gets even more interesting and I need help from the Nova gurus. It was sold to me as NOT an SS as I am told (and I have researched), the '70 SS cars can only be identified for certain by the motor stamp and this motor is not original. It DOES have the 5 digit sequence that came on SS's (but there are cars that have this sequence that are NOT SS's), it has the buckets, console, and front disks which I believe are all SS options. Of course it has SS badges, but we all know that means nothing. I am also told that some SS's did come with 10 bolt rearends. It does have AC.

I have 20+ more pics I will get on my site this week of the complete underside of the car, quarters, trunk, and frame rails, underside of doors, bottom of windows, engine bay, etc (all solid and original!!).

It runs great, has a 3" exhaust (that turns down at the rear axle and needs to be extended).

So what do you guys think?

Phil

[BA.]

Sweet car at a real good price.
Nice goin' man!!

[wills55]

hell of a car for the price. good find for sure.

[Mock2]

Man You Got A hellava Deal Man I Wish I Could Come Across Something Like That.

[dropit69]

nice score !!!!!!!!! body looks rock soild !! got a good deal cause of the steering wheel right?

[Chad-1stGen]

It is a good thing the first thing your wrote after the pics was that the steering wheel is coming out 1st lol!

Looks fun.

[Restomod]

Nice ride,I know where an SS Nova is with drum brakes also. The cars then could be ordered any way you wanted.

[55chevyman]

deffanitly a good deal, i have always been into novas. make a good car to cruise in until you finish your bird.

got a good deal cause of the steering wheel right?

[mac71ss]

Good find. My dad is looking for one so i went and looked at a 72 yesterday for him and what i pile! Wanted 7500 for it. I told the guy good luck.

[buickfunnycar.com]

Man...you freaking scored!

I'm not even looking for another car but there's no way in hell I'm passing that deal up for $7500.

Proves they are still out there guys...

[69TAPoser]

Thanks guys, it's good to get some validation that it is a good deal.

I can't wait to get it.

There are a page of pics here:

'70 Nova

I lost the engine bay picks, but it looked pretty nice too!

I'll take some more pics when I head down next week.

Phil

[Yelcamino]

You did good! Now you can fully enjoy your summer with a sweet little Nova.

[69TAPoser]

You did good! Now you can fully enjoy your summer with a sweet little Nova.

Just got faxed the Bill of Sales and I am going to see it in person on Tuesday.

Phil

[Motown 454]

nice car Phil looks solid, short money too. Wayne

[ssdeuce]

I have been told there is no way to tell for sure on those third gen Nova's if they are true SS or not. Looks like a great score congrats!

[Mr. B]

Is that an original Nove center console? It looks like the Auto Meter 4 gauge pod for Camaro consoles would work in it.

[69TAPoser]

Hi Wayne- How's the 'maro coming along?

SS deuce- Yes, afer spending some time reesearching, you are right. There is no way to tell by the VIN or the options the car has. It does have a VIN that starts with 11427 which all of the SS's had, but there were also Non SS cars that had this. The only true way to tell is by the build sheet. The document can be found in the bucket seats or on top of the gas tank. Both the seats and the tank are original, so I hope I can find it!

Mr. B - I believe the console is original and correct. The 3-gauge cluster is NOT original. My guess is they cut the dash to get them in. I don't think they look horrible, so I can live with them. The stereo is obviously also NOT original. The question is how much they hacked the dash to get it in (at least it is a knob style radio).

Phil

[hdesign]

Congrats Phil....looks like a great find!

[69TAPoser]

I am on vacation in Upstate, NY at the moment, but I took a day yesterday to drive to Pittsburgh to pick it up (a looooong day). The car was accurately represented and is very clean (CA car). The floors and trunk are immaculate. All original and no patches! The rockers are also exceptional. Besides some small stuff here and there, the only "issue" is the rear qtr lip on the driver's side. It needs about a 2" x 6" area of the lip replaced (it has some bondo). You can see the inner qtrs from the trunk and they have the original spatter on them and are solid, so it is just the lip area on the driver side. The drop offs look perfect. Other than this, the car is amazingly solid and had the original warranty book from Los Angeles in it! As advertised, it will need new paint (lots of nicks and some peeling). Someone quickly sprayed the blue over the original gold. I would like to return it to it's original gold.

Once it stops raining, I'll take some pics. If anyone is interested I will post them here.

Phil

[Steve68]

Mines gold too, I think all SS had disc in front, multi leafs and a 12 bolt,