Restarting My '70 Nova Project

[BravoXray]

I finished out the year by getting the right side fender installed and aligned, and inner fender installed. The fender wasn't too bad to get adjusted and aligned, but the inner fender was a pain in the ass. The radiator support, fender and inner fenders are all new parts from Auto Metal Direct, and for the most part, they were well made parts, but like any repop auto parts, they don't always fit together perfectly. Just getting the inner fender in and in place was like solving a puzzle, but once I did get it into place, I was able to get seven of the nine bolts in and started fairly easily. One of he last two, the one farthest to the front below the marker light, bolts the radiator support, inner fender and the fender together, so getting the holes in all three pieces lined up was a real treat, and even then the bolt wouldn't start straight, but I finally got it in and tight, The other one that is on the inside of the fender at the front of the wheel opening was a bear. Initially, there was an inch gap between the mount on the fender with a welded nut, and the hole in the inner fender. I finally had to use a couple of 1/4" bolts and washers to pull them together enough to get the proper bolt in and tight. The final piece was a brace that hold the bottom lip of the fender to the radiator support, and that went in pretty easily. But, I got all the bolts in and tight and it looks good.
I'm considering assembling the left fender and inner fender before I mount them to the car as a couple of guys on Steve's Nova site have recommended. If I do that though, I'll have to have someone help me get it on the car. I have a couple of other things I can do while I decide on that though.

It's New Year's Eve, so I hope everyone has a good time and stays safe and well, and have a great 2024!

 

[BleedingOrange]

Always look forward to your updates. Looking great !

 

[BleedingOrange]

I cann,t remember if you mentioned it before, what method do you use to properly break-in your new motor ?

 

[BravoXray]

I cann,t remember if you mentioned it before, what method do you use to properly break-in your new motor ?

The big thing is to properly break in the new cam. They recommend starting it, check for oil pressure and leaks, get the timing checked and set, then run it at about 2,000 RPM for 20 minutes. By then, the rings should have begun to seat also.
As soon as I get the front end assembled, the radiator and hoses hooked up and filled with coolant, I'm going to run it for another 20 minutes or so just for good measure. I pulled the oil filter a few weeks ago and checked it for metal, and it was clean as a whistle. I also pulled the valve covers and checked the valve adjustments and they were all pretty much spot on.
This cold weather has slowed down my progress as I don't heat the shop when I'm working down there and it's been around 35-45° in there. Most of what I'm doing now has to be done without gloves, my fingers get really cold and I have to used the heat gun to thaw them out. It takes 5 or 6 hours to get it warmed up over 50° in there, so it's not worth burning all that gas just to work for a couple of hours.
I've been doing a lot of fiddly stuff, getting window trim sorted and ready, figuring out where to mount the cruise control actuator, and installing a new connector on the cable that attaches it to the car. The cable was about 8 feet long, and I only needed it to be about 2 feet long, so I cut off the original connectors, shortened it up and am putting new Deutsch connectors on it. I'm also making new inserts for the headlight adjuster screws. The new radiator support's holes for the plastic inserts are larger than stock, and they easily pull out, so I designed and 3D printed some new ones, but it took a couple of changes to get them to fit properly. I have one side done, but have to redo the other side.
This next week, it's going to be down in the single digits, so I won't be doing anything then, but hopefully it'll warm up again after that, but we'll see what happens.
I don't think I'm going to quite make my original estimate of getting it finished in a year, as I started working on it a little bit in late February after I had back surgery in late January.

Everybody stay safe and warm.

 

[BleedingOrange]

Awesome, thanks for the info. You are certainly doing it right, and making progress.

 

[JPRambo]

I have a 1964 Chevelle Malibu SS convertible with the original 265 and 4 spd. But it will be a while before I get to work on it. So I put the outer parts in storage.

 

[BravoXray]

Great way to store them!
I hung a lot of my parts from nails and wire in the back of my shop, kept them out of the way, and easy to retrieve. I added quite a few more after this picture was taken.

 

[Skeletor]

I’ve had a 69 charger r/t se 4 speed dana 60 for for almost 24 years. I had a 76 Camaro beater for maybe 15 years. I’ve had three modern challengers. I’m in my forever challenger now though, 2016 plum crazy purple, hellcat 6 speed manual.

 

[BravoXray]

Well, the temperatures have finally moderated, so I can work in the shop without freezing my fingers and feet.
I got back to work on finishing up the front wiring, headlights, turn signals and side markers. The American Auto Wire front harness has a LOT more wire than needed, I think I cut at least six feet off most of the wires. I ran the harness in the same type of loom I've been using and routed it over the inner fender, behind the left headlight, across the radiator support and back around the right headlight.
There are two wire in the harness that my car doesn't use, a 12 ga. orange wire for an electric fan, and an 18 ga. brown exciter wire for the alternator. I rolled them up and will secure them behind the headlight just in case a need for them should arise.
I use a little trick to pull wires out of the loom that I have used before, using a little pointed loom spoon. It has a pointed, tapered and curved point that I push through the braid in the loom to spread the weave apart and I can feed the wires out through it, instead of out through the split. This method keeps the wires right where you want them. Cutting all the wires to the right length, stripping, selecting the correct terminals and crimping all them is a slow fiddly process, and I check the colors and terminals repeatedly to make sure I have it right. On the left headlight, the low and high beam connectors are special ones to allow two wires on each terminal, one from the headlight switch, and one that runs over to power the right headlight. Those are a real pain to get both wires in the proper amount and crimp it without one popping out, but I managed. The side marker and parking light wires do the same thing to feed both lights from one wire and then feed it over to the right side. I think I only have one more wire to run up front, the wire to the water temp sender. It was in the harness to be run along the fender and then across to the sender on the front of the intake manifold, but I'm going to run it across the firewall to the rear of the engine and then along the valve cover to the sender. Things are pretty crowded back there, so it's going to be fun!
I was going to set the battery into the tray and hook it up so I could test all the lights, but the cable I installed that runs to the starter is about 18" too short, so I'm going to have to make up a longer one. I have the cable, terminals and crimper to do that, the big thing is getting it off the starter and removing the loom clamp that holds it to one of the engine frame mount bolts. At least the car is up in the air plenty high enough to work under it.
I pulled the turn signals out of the bumper to check them out and make sure I had the wires correct. They have a grommet on the wires where they go through the inner fender, and both of them are a hard as rocks and won't stay pressed into their holes. So, I carefully cut them off and removed the connector shell and ran the wires through some new grommets that will work much better.

Leftover wire.

Loom Spoon, handy little tool.

 

[BleedingOrange]

Awesome. Looking forward to seeing more progress now that spring is just around the corner.