Restarting My '70 Nova Project

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The 396s were all actually 396 cu.in. displacement with a 4.094" bore until '70 when they bored them all .030" over, making them 402 cu.in.
The L78s were one of the few engines produced that would actually put out more than their advertised HP. The same exact engine that was rated 375 HP in Camaros, Novas and Chevelles was rated 425 HP in Corvettes. a few years ago I saw a video of an L78 engine dyno test, and it put out ~435 HP.
I had 4.56 gears in my Nova which helped get it into the mid 12s.

Back then, every auto manufacturer stated hp ratings at ridiculously lower rpm’s for lower hp numbers for insurance purposes. They didn’t lie about the numbers, they just took them at lower engine cycles. I mean a hemi rated at 425 hp at 5200 rpm’s…c’mon. A 428 Mustang rated at 335 hp…yeah sure.
Big differences occurred between a number gained at 4800 rpm’s vs 6200.

 

[BravoXray]

The continuing saga...
Last weekend I decided to see if I could get the cruise control working correctly on the Nova. I worked, kind of, but not correctly. After going through the installation manual, about the only thing I saw that was not quite as they stated was the amount of slack in the cable that pulls on the throttle lever. It had about 1/4" of slack, the manual said for it to have little or no slack. I adjusted that, then decided to revisit the configuration switches and see if I had set them correctly. The only one that was a question was the one for the number of pulses per mile that the VSS (vehicle speed sensor) generated per mile. When I had set it up originally, the suggested setting for Tremec transmissions was 8,000 PPM (pulses per miles) so that was the setting I used. After some research, I found out that was way off. The VSS on the TKX generates 17 pulses per revolution. With the tire size, differential ratio and number of pulses the VSS generates per revolution, I came up with 48,280 PPM, way more than 8,000. The maximum listed in the configuration table was 38,000 PPM, so I used that setting. Also, when the cruise did engage previously, it surged really badly, so I had set the sensitivity to high, thinking that would help, but after reading the manual, which wasn't really that clear, I set it to low. Took it for a test drive, and WOW, it worked perfectly. Rock steady, no surging whatsoever. Scratch that off the list.
Monday night, Brian came over and we took the Nova to a local place called Bronco's. They have great sandwiches at reasonable prices. Service was slow, they were pretty busy, so it was almost dark when we came out. No problem, I had working headlights, I thought. When I pulled the knob, nothing. No headlights, no parking lights, no dash lights. We only had about 7 miles to go, so I turned on the 4 ways and took off. Made it home no problem. Tuesday, I felt around under the dash, and discovered that when I had installed the Autometer tach, in the process of moving wires around, had pulled the connector part way off the headlight switch. Pressed it back on and all the lights worked, thankfully.
As I posted previously, I finally installed the new RideTech upper A-arms on the Nova, and today finally got it to the shop to get it aligned. I had put almost 100 miles on it after installing them, and the only thing I could notice was a little more pull to the left. I even swapped the front tires side to side, in case that was part or all of the problem, but it made no difference at all. So, I was at the alignment shop at 7:30AM this morning and told them I would wait on it. Initially the caster on the right side was a little better, slightly over 3°, more than the desired 2°. The tech took the A-arm loose and installed the #2 adjuster slugs, which we hoped would bring the caster down closer to 2°. But after they were installed, the caster came out at -3°, 5° more than before. That was the slug with the least offset, so he put the original ones back in and it was back to the starting setting. After some discussion, we decided to that without a slug with only a slight amount of offset would be needed to get to out target, there was nothing more to do. Since the crossbar was bolted to the mount with no shims, which set the camber where it was needed, we couldn't add one at the back and take one out of the front to move the ball joint forward. Finally got out of the shop at 10:30AM and went home. It still has a very slight pull to the left, but it's barely noticeable unless you're on a flat, level road, of which there are few around here.
I took the trim rings off before I went to the shop, and I kind of liked the look of the painted rims, looks a little more retro, I guess, but I put them back on when I got back.
The engine and EFI are still getting along, so it's really nice to be able to drive a well mannered car again. Soon, I want to take it to the shop that did all the metal work on it. It's about 80 miles over to San Pierre, so that will be a nice little road trip for the Nova.

Oops, I forgot to attach the picture of the Nova on the alignment rack.

 

[Alan46]

The continuing saga...
Last weekend I decided to see if I could get the cruise control working correctly on the Nova. I worked, kind of, but not correctly. After going through the installation manual, about the only thing I saw that was not quite as they stated was the amount of slack in the cable that pulls on the throttle lever. It had about 1/4" of slack, the manual said for it to have little or no slack. I adjusted that, then decided to revisit the configuration switches and see if I had set them correctly. The only one that was a question was the one for the number of pulses per mile that the VSS (vehicle speed sensor) generated per mile. When I had set it up originally, the suggested setting for Tremec transmissions was 8,000 PPM (pulses per miles) so that was the setting I used. After some research, I found out that was way off. The VSS on the TKX generates 17 pulses per revolution. With the tire size, differential ratio and number of pulses the VSS generates per revolution, I came up with 48,280 PPM, way more than 8,000. The maximum listed in the configuration table was 38,000 PPM, so I used that setting. Also, when the cruise did engage previously, it surged really badly, so I had set the sensitivity to high, thinking that would help, but after reading the manual, which wasn't really that clear, I set it to low. Took it for a test drive, and WOW, it worked perfectly. Rock steady, no surging whatsoever. Scratch that off the list.
Monday night, Brian came over and we took the Nova to a local place called Bronco's. They have great sandwiches at reasonable prices. Service was slow, they were pretty busy, so it was almost dark when we came out. No problem, I had working headlights, I thought. When I pulled the knob, nothing. No headlights, no parking lights, no dash lights. We only had about 7 miles to go, so I turned on the 4 ways and took off. Made it home no problem. Tuesday, I felt around under the dash, and discovered that when I had installed the Autometer tach, in the process of moving wires around, had pulled the connector part way off the headlight switch. Pressed it back on and all the lights worked, thankfully.
As I posted previously, I finally installed the new RideTech upper A-arms on the Nova, and today finally got it to the shop to get it aligned. I had put almost 100 miles on it after installing them, and the only thing I could notice was a little more pull to the left. I even swapped the front tires side to side, in case that was part or all of the problem, but it made no difference at all. So, I was at the alignment shop at 7:30AM this morning and told them I would wait on it. Initially the caster on the right side was a little better, slightly over 3°, more than the desired 2°. The tech took the A-arm loose and installed the #2 adjuster slugs, which we hoped would bring the caster down closer to 2°. But after they were installed, the caster came out at -3°, 5° more than before. That was the slug with the least offset, so he put the original ones back in and it was back to the starting setting. After some discussion, we decided to that without a slug with only a slight amount of offset would be needed to get to out target, there was nothing more to do. Since the crossbar was bolted to the mount with no shims, which set the camber where it was needed, we couldn't add one at the back and take one out of the front to move the ball joint forward. Finally got out of the shop at 10:30AM and went home. It still has a very slight pull to the left, but it's barely noticeable unless you're on a flat, level road, of which there are few around here.
I took the trim rings off before I went to the shop, and I kind of liked the look of the painted rims, looks a little more retro, I guess, but I put them back on when I got back.
The engine and EFI are still getting along, so it's really nice to be able to drive a well mannered car again. Soon, I want to take it to the shop that did all the metal work on it. It's about 80 miles over to San Pierre, so that will be a nice little road trip for the Nova.

Thanks for keeping your Peeps updated!!!

 

[BravoXray]

Ever since I lubed the hood hinges, the hod just barely stays up by itself, if I start the engine, the vibration will bring it down. I made a piece of 1/4" rod that I could lay across the hinge next to the spring that would keep it up, but that's a pain to have to use every time I open the hood. So last week, I ordered a new set of springs from Muscle Car Central, and they came yesterday. Thhey were pretty reasonable at $19 a piece. A lot less that the struts used on newer cars. Will last longer too.
When I had the hinges off during the rebuild, I had made a couple of pieces of 3/4" flat stock about 11" long with notches in the ends that I could slide into the springs and as I raised the hood, it would keep the spring stretched out enough that they could be removed from the hinges. Unfortunately, I think I repurposed them for something else, as I couldn't find either one of them. So, this time I used a piece of 3/8" rod from the scrap bin to make a crutch to aid in removing the old springs and installing the new ones. I heated the ends up with the torch and hammered them out flat, and after they were cooled I ground notches in the ends to catch the hooks on the spring ends. I also used a piece of 1/4" X 1 1/2" flat stock to make a jig to be used with a couple of eye bolts to stretch out the old springs to remove the crutch from the old springs and to install it in the new ones. The left side was pretty easy, but the right side was a pain to get the new one installed. The hooks on the end of the springs need to be aligned within 45° to go on the tabs on the hinges. I was able to twist the left one to get the hooks on the hinge ears, but the right side had to be twisted the other direction. After bending the end of the crutch and more twisting and cursing, I finally got it hooked on the ears, but couldn't get the crutch out of the spring. After a couple of times raising and lowering the hood, I was finally able to yank it out with a pair of pliers.
Now, the hood stays up like it should, no more using the bar to hold it up.
The old springs were the originals, so I imagine they had probably lost some of their tension over the years. The new ones have a shorter coil, a few less turns than the old ones, but obviously provide more tension.
Just got back from my usual Sunday evening visit to Dairy Queen for the $7 special, and I dove the Nova of course.

 

[BravoXray]

Well, after the last alignment I initially thought the pull to the left was better, but after 50-60 miles of driving it, it was really no better than before. Looking at the right side upper A-arm, the alignment tech had changed the original slugs with no offset to the slugs with 1/4" offset, moving the A-arm to the rear. Also, looking at the printout with the settings on it, the new caster setting was virtually the same as before, which really isn't possible. Also, the bolts on the left A-arm were loosened and not tightened, and I KNOW they were tight after I installed the new A-arms because I double checked the bolts after I finished the installation.
So, I called another local alignment shop that a couple of other gear heads used and recommended. I explained what was going on, and wanted him to take a look at it. I took it to the shop yesterday and dropped it off and he called around noon today and said it was ready to pick up. Went over and talked to him and looked at the printout with the settings, it showed that the caster on the right side was off by ~3°, over 4°, instead of the desired 1.5° to 2°. The tech said he used the same 1/4" offset slugs but turned them 180° moving the A-arm 1/2" forward. He also had to add a couple of shims to the front bolt on the left A-arm to get the caster and camber within spec on that side. He had test driven it and said it goes straight with no pull now, and I said that sounds great as I was tired of having to hold it to the right all the time to keep it in my lane.
On the drive back, it was like driving a different car, it drives better than it ever did before, finally.
Obviously, the first shop has a problem with either their equipment or the operator, or both, as they couldn't get it right when the second shop had no problem adjusting it to get it in spec. Monday, I'm going to give the first shop a call and talk to the shop foreman and let him know that they have a problem and they might want to look into it.
Took it for a drive this evening to make a weekly check on a friend's house and stop at Arby's for a roast beef sandwich on the way back, and it's amazing how much better it drives now.Even the EFI is still behaving!
Took a picture of it in front of the house yesterday before I took it to the shop when I had the trim rings off the rims. That changes the entire look of the car, I think. I like the look, but not as much as with the rings on.

Everyone have a great weekend!

 

[Alan46]

As a Ford purist, I gotta admit she is looking mighty good!!! Here’s hoping you have many years of pleasure with your car!!!!!

 

[BravoXray]

I was always a Ford truck guy, my '06 F150 is the 4th F150 I've owned since '82, but was always a Chevy car guy.
And other than a '72 Vega, every truck and car was V8 powered.

 

[Duds13]

Damn she is purdy! So glad you got her running and driving great!

 

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A Chevy was so easy to make go. A set of headers at least 411s in the rears, enriching up a carburetor and you were in the 12s.
The only car Ford made that you could do that with back then was the 428 Mustang.
I remember a guy that had a 68 or 69 Camaro Z 28 with a 302 in it. He was doing 13 threes and 456s in the rear end.
That was pretty stout for 302 in.³

 

[BravoXray]

A Chevy was so easy to make go. A set of headers at least 411s in the rears, enriching up a carburetor and you were in the 12s.
The only car Ford made that you could do that with back then was the 428 Mustang.
I remember a guy that had a 68 or 69 Camaro Z 28 with a 302 in it. He was doing 13 threes and 456s in the rear end.
That was pretty stout for 302 in.³

That's the reason why there was so much aftermarket speed equipment for Chevys, the design, for the day, was very responsive to better breathing, i.e. headers, intake manifolds and carburetors.
I had a friend that had a '68 Z28, and when he took me for a ride in it, I couldn't believe the power that little 302 made. He regularly beat cars with 100 more cubes than his car no problem. The only ones that could beat him were the L78 Novas or big block Mustangs. The 295 HP rating on the 302 was a real joke, they often put out over 400 flywheel HP on a dyno with minor mods.

I talked to the shop foreman at the first alignment shop today, and told him how the second shop had no problem getting the alignment set to specs. He admitted that they have been having problems with their machine, specifically the right front readings on some vehicles. Also, they have been waiting for a new alignment machine for six months, and it is finally being installed now.