Restarting My '70 Nova Project

[dodge man]

I replaced two blend door actuators on my 2010 Dodge Challenger. My arms looked like your hands. I finally figured out the installed razor blades under the dash.

 

[BravoXray]

Nice to see you are back working on your beautiful project. I can understand your frustration. It probably would feel even worse if you were doing this type of work for someone else, and not for yourself. From following along in this thread from the very beginning, I got the sense that you are the type of person that will do it only one way, and that is, to get it as good as you possibly can, whatever that takes. I really admire that trait in a person. You,re on the home stretch, and know that spring is around the corner, and as the days get warmer, you will start feeling more energized and hopefully you will get the strength to get your beautiful project finished up and start enjoying it. I,m positive every time you take it out and park it you will be receiving all kinds of compliments on it and it will help put the frustrations you had along the way into the rear view mirror. I wished I lived closer. I would love to see and hear your finished car up close, and watch it coming and going down the nice paved roads in your area.

Thanks for the kind words.
When I first started the restoration project, it was just to repair a rusty floor on the driver's side, bur once I pulled the carpet, I found the passenger side was full of pin holes too. I knew there was some rust popping out around the rear wheel openings, but once I dug into it, it was a lot worse than I thought, and it all went down hill from there. The engine was also using a lot of oil, so I was just going to re-ring and reseal it, but then I founds a 400 SBC truck block for sale, and one thing led to another and I ended up building the 434. The original 350 and Muncie are both completely rebuilt, preserved and bagged for future use.
The project has taught a couple of things, first, it's going to cost five times what you though it would. Second, it's going to take ten times as long as you thought it would.
Fortunately, I have the time, money and patience to put the car back together the way I want to do it. The only thing I would have liked to change would have been to find a date code correct 396 375hp L-78 engine to put in it, but they are hard to find and stupid expensive. Recently a bare .030" over block and bare rectangular port heads were posted for sale on a forum I frequent that would have been over $4000. I could get a new aftermarket block and good aluminum heads for about the same money.
I know my OCD and meticulousness have cost me a lot of time and money, but it will be the way I want it when it's done and that's all I care about, and I don't have a deadline to aim for. Everyone has their vision of how their car is put together, whether anyone else thinks it's right or wrong, and that's the way it should be. It's just another way to express ones individuality.

Brian is going to repaint the steering column with the Hot Road black, which will be a lot more durable that rattle can paint, which is what I should have done to begin with. I also gave him the front bumper brackets to paint too, while he's at it. Fortunately, he has a couple of days off work this week, so he should have them done this week and I can get the column back together and in the car this weekend.

 

[BravoXray]

I replaced two blend door actuators on my 2010 Dodge Challenger. My arms looked like your hands. I finally figured out the installed razor blades under the dash.

That's certainly what it seems like on any vehicle I ever worked on.
My friend Brian has a 2010 Challenger too, in B5 blue with the 5.7 Hemi and six speed Tremec. Cool, fast car. Also has a 70 Charger R/T 440 with FI-TECH EFI and a 4L60E that I installed for him.

 

[BravoXray]

I got the steering column back in the car and buttoned up today, but not without a couple of challenges. Brian got it painted for me and dropped it and the front bumper brackets off on Saturday. I started putting it back together and discovered that you have to leave the turn signal switch out so you can install the ignition key tumbler. Then when I went to install the turn signal lever with the cruise control controls on it, I discovered it was broken where it screws fast to the cancel cam. The lever is a tube that has the 4 conductor cable running through it exiting through a slot cut in the tube, and is then flattened out and a hole for the screw drilled in it. They also ground the sides of the flattened part down so it would fit in the slot in the cancel cam, which turned it into two tabs, one with the slot in it, with practically no metal on each side of the slot, so it broke off. I pondered WTF to do with it, so I smoothed out the sharp edges and made a little C channel out of some .030" aluminum, which holds the remaining tab in place and supports it better. Seems to be solid enough to work for now. I fired off an email to Dakota Digital with pictures, describing what the problem is. I'll see what they have to day.
I got the column back in, with a towel wrapped around it to protect it from any more damage this time, but it took a bit of finagling to get it just right on the steering box shaft to get the retaining bolt lined up with the slot in the shaft. Hooked up the turn signal and ignition harnesses and got it bolted up the the dash. The thin foam gasket that seals the two piece plate that covers the hole in the firewall was torn, so I made a new one up and got it and the plate installed along with the plastic cover that mounts below it. I got the steering wheel installed, but it wasn't clocked right, so I pulled it off this afternoon and reinstalled it where I think it should be really close to correct.
I pulled the fuel line off the EFI unit, attached a hose that went into a large coffee can, ran a couple of quarts of gas into it to flush out the fuel lines, and hooked it back up.
Next, made up an 8ga. wire to run from the alternator to the positive battery post. That entailed going to three auto stores and not being able to find and ring terminals for 8ga. with to a 5/16" hole. I ended up buying a few for 6ga. wire and trimming the part that crimps on the wire so it would crimp and hold the 8ga. wire properly. Got it run and connected, so It'll keep the battery charged.
Last thing this afternoon, I bolted the painted brackets to the front bumper, so it's ready to install once I get the left front fender installed.
Next on the list is to paint the forward facing part of the radiator core so the core doesn't show up behind the grille. I'm looking forward to getting it installed, filled with coolant and firing up the 434 for the first time in over a year and a half.

 

[BleedingOrange]

Awesome stuff. Getting closer to firing it up. Any chance you could make a video of the start-up. I really enjoy hearing a powerful engine running, especially one that has a nice lumpy cam. I had my new mustang out yesterday for the first time this spring. Before I left the driveway, I set the exhaust to track mode so I could hear the throaty exhaust even better. Sure helps make this old man feel younger once again, after a long winter in hibernation.

 

[BravoXray]

I'm getting close to starting it up. Today, I painted the front of the radiator core with Eastwood radiator paint, so you can't see the aluminum core from the front, got it set in place, the top plate bolted down on it, put the fan shroud in place, bolted up, got the new radiator hoses trimmed to length and installed. The cap is really close to the battery, and with it slid to the outside as far as it will go in the tray, you can just get the cap off. Tomorrow, I'm going to pull the battery and see if I can slot the mounting holes maybe 1/4" to 1/2" to move it over and give the cap a little more room. I can't go much more, or the negative terminal will hit the fender. I am also considering putting in an overflow reservoir, but not sure where I can install it. It would have been easy if the filler neck was on the driver's side, but it isn't so I'll see if I can come up with a mounting spot for it.
I was looking at the pictures I posted yesterday, and noticed something I missed when I installed the alternator wire onto the positive cable clamp. The cable clamp broke! So, today pulled the cable off the battery, cut the clamp off and crimped on a new one. It's a good quality solid copper clamp, so it's a better terminal than the lead one that broke.

I got an email back from tech support at Dakota Digital today, and he asked if I would send him the pictures of the broken turn signal handle. I sent them over to him and this evening he sent an email back that he had never seen one break like than and that he was sending me out a new one. That's great, but it means I'd have to take the steering column apart, again.
I might leave the broken one in as long as it works and change it next winter, as I'm sure there will be other items that will need to be addressed, as there always are with a project as extensive as this.

Time to watch the news.

 

[BravoXray]

Got it fired up for the first time in almost 2 years. It started immediately, on the first revolution, I think. Love the EFI for cold starts.
Only had one water leak, I forgot to tighten the clamps on the heater shutoff valve.
Holds good oil pressure, doesn't make any strange noises, and water temp came up to 170°F, although the EFI controller shows the temp going up to 240°F before the thermostat opened. Not sure about why that sending unit is reading so high, though that sensor is at the rear of the passenger side head, and the gauge in the car has it's sensor next to the thermostat. The six blade flex fan I put on it moves a LOT of air, just standing in front of the grille, you can fell the air being pulled in.
I let it run for about 20 minutes at 1800-2000 rpm, so the cam should be happy, and there is virtually no blowby, so the rings appear to be seated. A look around underneath didn't show any oil leaks.
Tried the transmission, and it goes into every gear easily, so the clutch is releasing completely. Speedometer works too.
For some reason the phone didn't pick up sound very well, so I'll try to get another video that captures the sound better. It does sound pretty nasty even though the cam isn't that radical. It's basically a hydraulic version of the 327 350hp L79 cam from the '60s. It has 239° intake and 246° exhaust duration at .050" lift, and .483" intake and .477" exhaust lift with standard 1.5 ration rockers.
The only real problem I have is that the alternator isn't putting out any current. I had it checked out a while back and after the tech replaced a couple components, it was putting out 90 amps, but I had to take it apart and reclock the rear housing because he put it back together 90° off and the output stud was hitting the valve cover. I must have messed something up, so I'll pull it off and take it apart to see what might be the problem. If I can't, I'll take it back to the shop and have him fix it.
There is one other little thing, the in-dash tach doesn't work, so I'll have to look into that too. Hope I don't have to pull out the instrument cluster again.

https://imgur.com/a/ADqYNHG

 

[goeduck]

Sounds GREAT!

 

[MossRoad]

Sweet music!

 

[BleedingOrange]

Awesome. That,s got to be a great feeling of accomplishment. Thanks for posting the start-up. Love the sound of the lumpy cam. Getting there.

 

[murphy1244]

I love that Grrrrr, the sound of music

 

[dodge man]

Nice! Sounds good, I bet it smells good too, tge way a car should smell when it’s running. Based on where your sensor is located I’d say that’s normal, the water is circulating through the block before the thermostat opens. When it pops open it should drop down pretty quick.

 

[BravoXray]

I pulled the alternator off and took it apart to see if I had messed something up when I reclocked the back cover, but it looked okay to me. I took it back to the shop that had fixed it last fall, it had a bad a bad regulator, and the tech spent over an hour trying to get it to work. It had him stumped after installing a new regulator, brushes, a couple of jumper wires and checking out all the other components. So, I left it and he said he'd ponder what could be the problem and let me know when he got it figured out and fixed. He called the next day and said that the new regulator that he had put in was also bad. Another new one made it work, finally. When I picked it up, he wouldn't take anything for the repair as the original regulator must have been bad too. Brought it back, put it on and fired it up, shows ~14.5 volts now. Finally!
I've been putting off installing the left fender for a while, I hate sheet metal work, and I just knew I would knock at least a little paint off it, no matter how careful I was. And I did, though just a little bit.
Tried to hang the fender on the alignment bolts in the cowl and rad support, but I had mounted to horn and it was hitting the headlight connector, so I took it off and the fender sat down where it should. Started lining up bolt holes and adding shims to get the door gap looking good, and even with the door. The front bolt that joins the bumper/grille filler was a bear, but finally go it in and snugged up. There are two more bolts that join the fender and inner fender, I got the front one close and managed to get a 1/4" bolt in and pulled up close to position, but the rear one, just ahead of the wheel opening was about an inch from it needed to be. I'll save that one for last. With the help of a 2X4, floor jack, pry bar, lineup bar and some adult language, I got the rest of the inner fender bolts around the wheel opening in and snugged up. Amazingly, the ones at the top that bolt it to the inner fender support lined up perfectly and went right in.
Back to the last problem child, er, bolt. The metal pieces were within an 1/8" of together, but the bolt hole was off by about 1/2". So, I used a little right angle, really low profile air drill and drilled an 1/8" hole down through the welded on nut to get the location, then drilled up from the bottom with a 3/8" bit to put the 5/16" bolt in and tightened it up. I also installed the brace rod that supports the bottom of the front fender skirt, then went around and tightened all the other bolts.
There is one other problem bolt, and it's at the top of the fender in the door jamb. The hole in the fender tab is about 1/4" too far forward to get the bolt in, so I'm going to have to get something in there and slot the hole to get the bolt in. Still cogitating on how to do that, there's just not much room to work with.
I installed the headlight trim door which makes a big difference in the looks of the front end. Got the hood hinges bolted onto the fenders too, but haven't put the springs on then yet though.
Another task was to install the new air filter and make up the line and fittings to the filter base from the right valve cover.
Tomorrow after breakfast, my friend Van is going to give me a hand hanging the front bumper. That'll really make it look better.
I haven't figured out what to do about the in-dash tach not working, but IF I can get my hands up behind the instrument cluster and disconnect the cable that goes to it, I can make up a new cable to connect to my classic Sun tach that I can mount on the steering column. Haven't decided on that yet, though.
I'm slowly getting the list of things remaining to do whittled down and not many parts are left to go back on.

Some day, not too far off....

 

[BleedingOrange]

Hang in there, you are definitely on the home stretch. Your patience and willingness to doing it right is certainly paying off. You will soon be driving your beautiful car around and getting tons of compliments everywhere you go. Cheers

 

[BravoXray]

We did get the bumper on today. Initially I had the rear bracket bolts in the wrong holes in the subframe and couldn't get it positioned correctly, but I figured that out. It HAS been over a decade since I took it apart.
I went over to Brian's place this afternoon to help him get his '70 Charger fired up. He took the engine partially apart to find out what cam was in it, and after 1 1/2 years finally got it put back together. It cranked over fine, had fuel and spark, but never fired even once. Turns out he had pulled the distributor when he tore it down, but didn't set the engine to TDC on #1 cylinder when he reinstalled it. To make it more difficult, the timing marks on the 440 are really hard to see, they're almost hidden by the water pump inlet. This is going to be interesting, but I'll get it back in time and running.

 

[BravoXray]

Still getting some things done on the Nova. I repainted the black part of the rear trim plate, then spent an hour laying out the four mounting holes. Measure six times and drill once. Came out very close, only had to file a couple holes out a 32nd of an inch or so to get it to fit snugly against the tail light panel and secured it with the original speed nuts.
Brought down the rear bumper and got it cleaned up. There was some surface rust on the back side, so I sanded that down, gave it a coat of rust reformer and then a coat of stainless steel colored appliance paint. That made it look pretty good, even though no one but me will see it. I searched for the license plate bracket for at least an hour, knew I had seen it somewhere recently, but couldn't find it. Then that evening it came to me, it was on the desk, with a bunch of paperwork. Went down to the shop, and there it was, almost in plain sight. Bolted it and the mounting brackets and installed a couple of 3/8" studs to get it located until I could get a couple of bolts in to hold it in place. It's too close the the fender on the right side, but I think it's because the lower corner is bent in a little. I'm thinking about how to go about pulling that corner out to get more clearance.
Even though they worked initially, I think, the left turn dash indicator isn't working, nor are the rear turn signals when the four way flashers are on. The turn signals in the rear work, but not with the four ways. Not sure why, so I ordered a new turn signal switch assembly, and when it came today, I plugged it into the harness and now the rear lights work with the four ways on. So it looks like the steering column comes apart, again. At least while it's out, I can replace the defective turn signal lever that I jury rigged to work a couple of weeks ago. The turn indicator bulb is a real bear to get to from behind the instrument cluster, but I got it out, checked it, and it was bad. Replaced the bulb and spent an hour with my head under the dash trying to get it back in, finally did, and it still doesn't work. WTF? Looks like the instrument cluster is going to have to come out , again, too. BAH.
I talked to a local guy that does vinyl graphics about putting the racing stripes on, instead of painting them on. That would at least make the easy to remove if a future owner wants to. He can do it, he just needs the measurements so he can order the flat black vinyl and cut them out.
Once the rear bumper is on, I'm going to see about replacing the current tailpipes with the ones I have that exit out the back under the bumper. The current ones exit behind the rear tires and make a lot of noise that comes up through the trunk and floor. Or, I might cut the current ones and make an extension that comes out the back. Gonna have to study that situation.

Time to watch the news.

 

[BleedingOrange]

Coming along nicely, in spite of the gremlins. What do you have to do with this car in your state to get it legally back on the road, after it has sat for so long ?

 

[BravoXray]

Actually, I've kept the car registered and insured all these years as I didn't know just when I'd get it back on the road and I didn' want to lose my vanity plate, so as long as the plate is on it, I'm good to go. I have a 1970 plate a friend gave me, and I can take it and my "Seventy" plate into the BMV and they will issue a new registration that will allow me to run the 1970 plate as long as the other plate is in the car.
Got some things accomplished today. First I was able to get a test light probe up to the trace on the printed circuit where the turn signal indicator plugs in, and it showed there was power there. So, I pulled the turn signal indicator bulb out and sure enough it was bad. I have to admit that while trying to get it reinstalled in the dash, I dropped it and it rolled off my chest, out the door and onto the floor, so that probably broke the filament. Stuck another new bulb into the holder and after more dash rash and blood loss, finally got it reinstalled, and it works.
Then I pulled the steering wheel and removed the turn signal switch assembly and the turn signal lever/cruise control harness. I had shortened the harness down to two feet from the original five feet so I didn't have to deal with a wad of extra cable hanging under the dash, and I used a piece of SS safety wire to feed it down the steering column. I installed the connector shell on the cable end and plugged it into the cruise control harness. The turn signal switch wires are run through a plastic condiut that runs down the steering column, and I switched that to the new switch, and after a lot of pushing, pulling and wiggling finally got it all the way through and connected to the car's harness. After that, everything went back together pretty well, and a test showed the rear lights flash when the four ways are on. Mission accomplished.
Tomorrow, I my try to test the cruise control. With the car up in the air, the wheels off and the rear rotors bolted to the axle flanges, I can put it in 5th gear and bring the RPM up so the speedo shows 40 MPH or so and engage it. If the indicator light comes on and it holds the speed constant, it would pass the test. We'll see if it does.

Onward and upward!

 

[MossRoad]

I like the lighting in that photo.

 

[TripleS]

When you finish this nova you'll be able to assemble gm tilt columns with your eyes closed! Don't give up your almost at the finish line. Nice job!!