Restarting My '70 Nova Project

[BravoXray]

I am surprised your car has a o2 sensor.

The O² sensor is for the MSD fuel injection system and is installed in the collector adapter bolted to the left side header.

 

[civilian]

Bleeding Orange beat me to it, but I heard of guys heating a bolt to push though rubber belting on conveyor. Was going to suggest trying something similar on a scrap of carpet. Glad OP got them drilled. Jon

 

[murphy1244]

The O² sensor is for the MSD fuel injection system and is installed in the collector adapter bolted to the left side header.

Ah Here i'm thinking holley. Fuel injected sounds better!

 

[BravoXray]

Still pecking away at a few loose ends on the Nova. I got the coil and oil pressure sender hooked up, connected the front and rear sections of the line to the rear brakes, made up a short braided SS hose to connect the front and rear sections of the fuel line, pulled the clutch linkage out so I could get my hands in to tie the O² sensor cable to the transmission cable, put the clutch linkage back in, and dug out the fan I bought long ago and hung it on the water pump. I'm not sure yet if the fan hub extension I have on it is going to be the right length until I get the radiator mounted up.
Yesterday, I pulled the master cylinder off, got it bench bled, bolted it back on the brake booster and hooked up all the lines. I had to go to NAPA and pick up a quart of DOT3 brake fluid, as I only had about an inch left in the quart I had, and it was probably five years old. Brake fluid is highly hydroscopic and I didn't want to take a chance using old contaminated fluid. It took a couple of hours the get all the leaks stopped and all the calipers bled. I had left a plug in the proportioning valve and one in the Line Lock valve loose and both were leaking. Also, a few of lines on the proportioning valve, master cylinder, the connection of the rear hard line to flex line to the rear brakes and Line Lock valve were leaking or seeping. I installed stainless steel brake lines, and you really have to tighten the fittings up or they will leak. I used my home made pressure bleeding tool to find all the leaks and get everything bled. That took about 80% of the quart of brake fluid, and now the brake pedal feels nice and firm.
I have decided to use the right side header as is and not try to move the #4 tube away from the idler arm, as with the dent I made in the tube, it clears the arm by 1/4" or so at full left turn. I think I'll get that mounted up tomorrow and maybe start assembling the rest of the exhaust system. After that, the only thing I need to do under the car is hook up the parking brakes. I'm still pondering on the best way to do that, as the staggered shocks on the rear axle force one caliper to be mounted forward of the axle and one to the rear. This makes hooking up the parking brake cable on the driver's side, the one in front of the axle, take a convoluted path, and I'm trying to figure out a way to correct that. Once that's done, I think I'm going to put the tires on it and either set it on some foot tall stands or just set it on the floor, I haven't decided which yet, to assemble the front end.

Keep your digits warm.

 

[BleedingOrange]

Great write-up and progress report. Really enjoy the pictures as well. When I look at your flex fan, it appears the blade mounts are not evenly spaced. I wonder why they built it that way. Even thou i know that somehow it will be perfectly balanced, my OCD keeps telling my that something isn,t correct there. LOL

 

[BravoXray]

I'm not sure what the reason is for the odd spacing of the blades, noise reduction or something else. I know my '69 Nova with the 396 375HP engine had a seven blade fan and it made an unmistakable howl at certain RPMs. If you heard that howl come from a Nova, you knew what was under the hood.

The more I work on the Nova, the more I learn about how it and cars in gerneral of that era were made, and what their strengths and weaknesses were. Unlike today's vehicles, they were no more complicated that the needed to be.

 

[BravoXray]

Still working away at the Nova, though working in the unheated shop limits how much at a time, because I hate working with gloves on, and then my fingers get cold and numb.
I got the exhaust all on, finally. And of course, therein lies a story. I installed the system back to and including the mufflers, and wanted to put on a pair of tailpipes I had gotten a while back that ran out the rear under the bumper, instead of dumping out behind the rear wheels. Pulled the pipes out and saw that they were too long where they attached to the muffler and went up over the axle. I would have to pull the mufflers and X pipe off and shorten the pipe ahead of the mufflers about 4 inches, and then the muffler hangers that came with the system wouldn't work and I'd have to use some others. But, there was enough pipe to cut off the swedge and re-swedge the pipe, and then it would fit just like the other pipes. So, I cut the swedge off, pulled out my shiny new exhaust pipe expander and was able to expand it enough that it almost fit, put it back on and then I got a little carried away. Now the swedge is way to big to be able to get it clamped down on the muffler pipe.
I was cold and pissed off, so I decided to put the original pipes on until I decide how to fix that screwup. The left side fit fine, but the right side interfered with the fuel line and it's frame bracket. After some looking at the situation, I pulled the fuel line off, shortened it up about 6", re-bent it to come back to to meet the hose from the fuel filter. The braided hose had a 45° fitting where it connected to the fuel line, and I was able to change that to a straight fitting and it connected up just fine. Another kink ironed out.
This afternoon, I decided to put the steering wheel on, so I found the wheel and mounting parts and hopped in the car to install it. After an hour fiddling around with it, I couldn't figure out how it went together, so I gave up and did a few other things in the shop. I put the steering wheel, a Grant 969 3 spoke wheel, on before I tore the care apart to restore it, and I don't have the instruction sheet, or at least I can't find it. I tried to find the instructions online, but haven't been able to. I did see other adapter kits the gave me an idea of how it goes together, so I'll give it another go tomorrow.
I went online to two shops that make driveshafts a couple of weeks ago, and filled out their forms to request a quote for a driveshaft, but have not heard back from either one so far. I remembered there is a shop in South Bend, Kaley's Motor Service, that we used to use to make and repair truck driveshafts back in the 70s and 80s, so I gave them a call. The guy that does the driveline work there said to bring the transmission yoke over and he could have a shaft built in a couple of days, so tomorrow I'm going to go over there and give them the yoke and dimensions to have them make one up. They are cheaper that what I've seen quoted for the online shops, too.
They guy I worked for at a freight brokerage in the 80s and early 90s stopped by this afternoon. He's an old gearhead too, and I had build up a Ford Windsor engine, a 400 inch stroker if I remember correctly, back then for a 70s Ford short bed pickup he had. It turned out pretty strong and he burned up a fair amount of rubber on the back of that old Ford. He said he hadn't seen the car in a while and was there to do an inspection to make sure my work was up the his standards.
After a half hour looking it over, he said it looks okay to him, but once it's running and driving, he'll need a ride in it to give it his full approval. I said I could arrange that.
Once I get the steering wheel on, I'm going to get the radiator support installed, then the fenders and inner fenders. On the inner fenders, I'm going to have to figure out how to staple the rubber mud guards to them like they were from the factory, so that will be another interesting little task. The factory used a staple gun that punched right through the metal and rubber, but I don't have a tool like that.

More later on, stay tuned!

 

[MossRoad]

I'm surprised Kaley's could get that done for you so fast. A mechanic friend of mine said they are 9-12 months out on engines, so if they can do the drive shaft that fast, that's great!

 

[BravoXray]

I'm surprised Kaley's could get that done for you so fast. A mechanic friend of mine said they are 9-12 months out on engines, so if they can do the drive shaft that fast, that's great!

I dropped the trans yoke off today at Kaley's, and Susan said 2 or 3 days. I can imagine building engines would take longer, especially if there are parts on B.O. Could depend a lot on what type of engine it is and what type of parts are needed, like oversize rings or bearings.

 

[MossRoad]

I dropped the trans yoke off today at Kaley's, and Susan said 2 or 3 days. I can imagine building engines would take longer, especially if there are parts on B.O. Could depend a lot on what type of engine it is and what type of parts are needed, like oversize rings or bearings.

Wonderful location, eh?

I'm really surprised they are still there. Glad, but surprised.

 

[BravoXray]

Yeah, not the greatest of locations.
Susan was telling that some years back, a storm took the roof off the old building, which was built in the 1920s, so they built a new one. When I left, I went east on Tutt street past where Ace Refrigerated Trucking used to be. I still remember them running those old gas powered, single axle R model Internationals around into the late 70s. They actually had some brand new cabs they had gotten ahold of when IHC quit building them, so they could replace ones that got rusted out of wrecked. They also had several of the Red Diamond engines, probably 450s, all rebuilt and ready to change out when needed.

 

[MossRoad]

Those buildings to the east between Tutt and Sample are experiencing a bunch of activity. Used to be Ziker cleaner owned. Good read here. Nice to see...

'Vested Interest': South Bend artists' collective gets new hometown owners

Jacob Titus, 31, came reluctantly back to South Bend in his early 20s. The city's resurgent decade has played into his own sense of purpose.

www.southbendtribune.com

 

[BravoXray]

A good article about a young man with a vision.

By the way, Susan from Kaley's called around 11:00AM this morning because they had my driveshaft done. She said they were waiting on parts for a couple other jobs and were able to get mine done. I went over this afternoon and picked it up, looks great!

 

[MossRoad]

Fantastic!

 

[BravoXray]

I got the driveshaft installed. I was going to paint a barber pole white stripe on it, but after a half hour trying to get tape put on in a decent spiral, my fingers were cold and my patience worn thin, so I gave up and installed it just plain black.
I got the radiator support mounted the the front of the frame, but left the bolts a little loose so I can move it around a little if needed. It sure makes it look more like a car with that on it. It looks like the fan shroud will clear the new fan just fine. Once the fenders are on and the support bolted down, I'll set the new radiator in place and hook up the hoses.
I've been rough fitting the inner fenders on the front end, the right one will be okay, I think, but the left one was hitting the brake lines coming off the Line Lock valve. I studied that a while and ended up moving the lines to the front brakes on the valve. There is a port on the back of the valve, so I moved the line from the center port to that one, and the line from the outside port to the center one. It would still be pretty close, so I pulled the bracket that holds the Line Lock valve on the master cylinder and made a bend, twice, don't ask, to lean it inwards and make a little more room. It should clear just fine now. Bending the plate, twice, messed up the paint on it, so I blasted it off and gave it a new coat of satin black. It should be dry tomorrow, even though it's only 40-45° in the shop. The low temps don't seem to be a problem for the paint to dry, by tomorrow it'll be hard as nails.
I've also been trying to decide how to attach the rubber mud guards that attach to inner fenders. From the factory they are stapled on through the metal, so I decided to try to duplicate that with some .063" stainless steel wire cut and made into staples. I made a drill guide with a couple of 1/16" holes drilled a half inch apart, to use to as a guide for the holes in the inner fenders. Took a little while to get the spacing worked out, but 3 1/2" worked, giving me eight positions for the staples, and I got both inner fenders drilled. Once I get the SS wire from McMaster-Carr, I'll work on those.
I thought I had it figured out how to assemble the steering wheel mount, so I tried that, but that didn't go well. The wire from the horn button goes into a plastic tube with a spring and the brush that makes contact with the slip ring for the horn circuit. I thought there was a little cap that held the wire and spring in the tube, but I didn't find one in the bag of parts, so I pushed the wire in, compressing the spring and when I tried to install the cover plate, it popped out. I found the wire in the back seat, but the spring is MIA. It's probably in the back of the shop lying next to the missing door hinge spring. I think a spring out of a pen will work as a replacement, but I'm going to make some sort of a cap to hold the wire and spring in the tube.

Looks like we have some snow and lots of wind coming in tomorrow, so I might not be working in the shop, we'll see.

 

[BleedingOrange]

Looking great. If you have time, tell us more about the barber pole painting on the driveshaft. I have never heard of anyone doing that.

 

[BravoXray]

I just thought it would be unusual for anyone that looked under the car to have it painted that way. Years ago I saw a driveshaft on a semi painted like a barber pole and thought it was pretty neat. Another pattern I might consider is a black and white checkerboard like on the bodies of some rockets, that was done to enable monitoring any axial roll of the rocket. Even another pattern would be to paint one longitudinal stripe on it. 180° white and 180° black, that would make any twist in the shaft easy to detect.
After I installed the driveshaft, I had an idea about how to lay out the spiral pattern more easily. I can make a strip of masking paper a few inches wide and wrap that around the shaft to get an even spiral pattern, and then paint the exposed area white. I'll have to experiment to see what width and pitch would look the best. I may still do that.

 

[BleedingOrange]

Interesting, thanks for the explanation. Looking forward to seeing some pictures of the spiral painted driveshaft.

 

[BravoXray]

Been working for a few days on getting the rubber mud guards attached to the inner fenders. The factory stapled the rubber flap to the inner fender, so I kinda wanted to replicate that look. The flaps came with staples, but the were pretty chintzy looking, so I bought some .062" stainless wire and made my own staples. I also made a drill guide so I could drill all the holes with the same spacing. After a little trial and error spacing, I got a good spacing to put eight staples in each flap. I drilled all the holes and got the right side done, but when I was working on the right side, the flap got ripped right where a staple went. BAH! Those flaps were pretty cheaply made, looked like they were made from recycled tires, so I ordered a new set and when they came, I got them installed with no problems. Then I gave both inners a couple of coats of undercoating for protection. So now they are ready to install.
The last couple of days I worked on getting the Nova emblems, simulated louvers, side marker lights, engine placards and headlight trim installed on the front fenders. There were no predrilled holes for the "350" emblems, so I had to drill those. I had drilled the holes for the Nova scripts and louvers before the fenders were painted, so those just dropped right in. Since the car came with '68-'69 fenders that use different fenders and side markers, I had no reference as to the location of the holes. The assembly manual shows a dimension and stud spacing, but the location above the side markers shows a reference dimension, but doesn't show where that is located. After looking at a lot of pictures of '70-'72 Novas with engine emblems. it looked like they were about 1/4"-3/8" above the light. The dimension they showed in the manual was 1.20", and using the top of the marker light opening as the datum, that gave about the corrects spacing. So, after carefully measuring and marking the two holes, I took a big breath and drilled a pair of 7/32" holes for each emblem. When dropped in place, it looked like all the others I saw, so that's good.
The eyebrow moldings, as they are called, are known to be ill fitting, even from the factory, so I was ready for a frustrating job getting them to fit acceptably. The left side actually fit pretty well, needing just a minor amount of tweaking, but the right side took about an hour of careful work to get a decent fit.
I applied two layers of blue masking tape on the front edge of the doors and a couple more to the rear edge of the fenders to keep from damaging the paint while installing and final fitting of them on the car. I have studs I install in a hole in the cowl and one in the radiator support to aid in hanging the fenders by myself, which works pretty well. I hung the right side fender, and it looks pretty good, but I'm going to work on getting it adjusted for a proper door gap. It was done before it was painted, but I failed to keep the stacks of shims together and labeled as to position, so I'll have to start from scratch again.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and will have a happy New Year!

 

[MossRoad]

Looking good!