Restarting My '70 Nova Project

[dlbraly]

True
If I was smart I would stick with one.

I lived in Brunswick Maine when I was in the Navy. They salted roads there. I had a few cars while there. I remember having to rivet sheet metal to the floors in my 71 VW Bus to get it to pass inspections.
Not sure what the rules are now, but in early 90s it just needed to be solid to pass. No big holes.

 

[BravoXray]

When I bought my Nova, I knew it had some rust holes in the driver's side floor, but figured I could fix that. Three years later, I decided to get it fixed, so I pulled the seats and carpet and found holes in the passenger side too, from the leaking heater. Some more checking, and I found sloppy rust repairs in both rear quarters. I ended up completely gutting and disassembling the car and looking for someone to fix it. Talked to a couple of shops in the area, but neither one gave me a good feeling about the work they would do. A friend suggested I talk to a shop about 80 miles away, that that guy had done some work in a couple of his cars and the work was excellent. I called him and went down to meet him and show him pictures of what I had. He said he could do it if I wasn't in a big rush, and I agreed, and said I'd bring the body down to his shop, and have all the parts delivered to him. He showed me some of the work he was doing in his shop, and I was impressed, it was excellent.
I built a fixture to mount the body on, with six solid mounting points, put it on casters and hauled the body down to him. He ended replacing the firewall, complete floor, both rear quarters, the tail light panel, most of the trunk floor, filler panel between the trunk lid and rear window, part of the cowl/dash area, repaired the A-pillars, and replaced a piece of the roof. It took him three years, but the work was excellent. The painter even remarked the metal work was some of the best he'd ever seen.
So, after more than ten years, I'm finally getting close to getting it back on the road.

 

[dlbraly]

Nice!
I was looking at the pictures - professional looking.
Crazy when you dig in, the stuff you find. One thing leads to another.
Your car will probably be better than new.
A ton of work.

 

[BravoXray]

After sleeping on the hood alignment problem, I came up with the probable cause and a fix. It seems that The subframe must be slightly offset to the left side, causing the radiator support to also be offset to the left also. The error is only about 1/4" or 5/16" at the radiator support. Solution I came up with was to loosen the bolts that attach the support to the subframe, use a ratchet strap to pull the support to the right about that amount, and tightening the bolts back down. I also loosened all the bolts at the rear of the fenders a bit, so it could move at those points if necessary. after I tightened everything back up, I had to adjust the right rear of the hood and move it back a little to get it centered between the fenders. Now it's aligned as well as I had it before taking it apart for paint. I may, if I get really serious, attempt to realign the subframe. Not sure just how to do it yet, but I'm cogitating on it, and I'll have to crawl under it and assess just how to go about it.
I also readjusted the hinges on the fenders and got the rear of the hood to set level with the fenders, or at least the right side does, the left side is still a little proud of the hood, so I may have to pull the hinge and lengthen the slot for the rear bolt a little, maybe 1/8". But, it looks way better than it did initially.
I dug out the nose trim for the hood and checked the fit on the hood. It fits really well, but it didn't come with any speed nuts that thread onto the studs that go through the hood, and I didn't have any that were big enough. I may check Lowe's or Menard's tomorrow, or the hardware store in town on Monday.
I went to the powder coat shop yesterday and picked up the wheels. I can see the material that's down in the crevice where the rim and disc meet on the wheels, but I don't know how you'd get it out I may try with my bead blaster, as I'm sure that is much finer that the abrasive they used, if that doesn't work, I may use seam sealer to smooth them out before Brian paints them for me. He'll give them a coat of epoxy primer, a couple coats of Argent silver, them we'll mask them of to paint the areas between the spokes with some Hot Rod black. That should make them look good as new.

Going to get into the mid 80s next week, in fact I think it was 83° here today.

 

[BravoXray]

Got the hood lip trim installed today, makes it look a lot better with that on. Couldn't find the correct speed nuts anywhere today, to I took some 3/16" ones and swaged them out a little with a tapered punch. Then they worked just fine.
I found some 1" tall spacers and put them between the rear of the upper slider tracks and the seat frame. That tipped the seats forward, makes them look better and you sit more upright now. Damn, those seats are heavy to take in and out.

Now, to get those wheels painted and mounted up.

 

[dlbraly]

That is looking so sharp I think I cut my eye.

All I did was make a mess this weekend. Took apart one of the steering actuators, Someone used red locktite on the aluminum piston to the shaft. Tried heat, solvent. I was worried the aluminum piston would break. Stuck it back together and ended up ordering another hydraulic actuator.
I will still rebuild it, just did not want to put it out of commission. I will have an extra Actuator ready for is/when it leaks again.
I didnt get to my carb, chores took longer than expected.

 

[BravoXray]

I rarely use Locktite for that very reason, especially in aluminum. If you have a problem with bolts loosening in aluminum, I prefer to drill the heads and safety wire them.
Are you talking about the actuators in a hydraulic steering system with a cylinder attached to the tie rod?

 

[dlbraly]

yes, the piston in the Hydraulic actuators on a Case 480E.
number 13 is supposed to only be held on with the nut #10.

I have a press. I will try that once I get a new actuator.

I've always called them hydraulic actuators, some people call them hydraulic cylinders, but to me that is just a part of the actuator.

 

[BravoXray]

Yeah, they don't make those types of parts easy to repair without special tools.

 

[BravoXray]

FINALLY got the wheels painted and ready to get the tires mounted on them. After the powder coat shop wasn't able to coat them without bubbles, Brian said he would paint them for me, as he had a supply of single stage argent silver. He had some personal issues that came up in the mean time, so after three weeks, he finally got them painted and brought them back last Friday. It was probably just as well, as during that time my water well decided to start pumping sand into the house, most likely from a rusted out well casing. I guess just shy of 50 years isn't too bad for an old 2" deep well. Lots of calls to well drillers made it obvious that I wasn't getting a new well any time soon. I finally got one driller to squeeze me in, and they finally got it drilled and in operation last Thursday. Both crews, the drillers and pump setters were great younger guys, very knowledgeable and skilled. Then it took most of the day on Friday to get all the sand flushed out of the system, cleaning all the plugged fawcet aerators, shower heads, toilet flush valves, clothes washer and water softener lines.
So Saturday and Sunday I got the wheels all masked and taped up, ready to paint the black on them. I had some leftover hot rod black paint, but it was not going to be enough, so I ordered a couple of spray cans of 2K catalyzed hot rod black from Amazon, and it came late yesterday. Today I gave them all three coats and after a short wait, it had set up enough the pull all the stencils, paper and tape. I think they look pretty good. Tomorrow I may get time to run them to the local tire shop and get the tires mounted and balanced. A cousin is coming over and we're going to do some work on his pickup, not sure how long it'll take. But hopefully, by the weekend I'll finally have the Nova back on the ground and able to move itself.

 

[BleedingOrange]

Looking great ! I,ve been wondering how your wheels were coming along, and watching for updates. Nice to see you finally got them ready to have your tires mounted. Are you going to use lead weights or stick on weights to balance them up ? I switched to stick on weights many years ago that go on the inside portion of the wheel, which eliminates scratches from the lead weights and gives the wheels a much cleaner look.

 

[BravoXray]

Looking great ! I,ve been wondering how your wheels were coming along, and watching for updates. Nice to see you finally got them ready to have your tires mounted. Are you going to use lead weights or stick on weights to balance them up ? I switched to stick on weights many years ago that go on the inside portion of the wheel, which eliminates scratches from the lead weights and gives the wheels a much cleaner look.

I was thinking about that, going to ask if the tire shop can use the stick on weights.

So it's been over six weeks of waiting just for the rims to be finished up. Guess I should have gotten started on them earlier in the process, but I didn't imagine I would have all this trouble.

 

[dodge man]

Chrysler had a similar wheel on their cars called a road wheel. I restored a Challenger in the late 80’s and didn’t mask them off and used a Scotch Brite pad to get the paint off the spokes. It was a royal pain in the butt.

 

[BravoXray]

Chrysler had a similar wheel on their cars called a road wheel. I restored a Challenger in the late 80’s and didn’t mask them off and used a Scotch Brite pad to get the paint off the spokes. It was a royal pain in the butt.

I believe these wheels were also called Magnum 500s. I think Chevy called them Super Sport wheels. Several cars uase the the same basic wheels with different trim rings and center caps.

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

Yes...Magnum 500
I have a couple sets. AMC, Ford, Chrysler, GM used them. Some chrome, others painted.

 

[BleedingOrange]

What have you got left to finish up once the wheels and tires are on the car ?
I believe you can get the stick on weights in silver or black. I,ve used both, depending on the color of the wheel.

 

[dodge man]

At least on Mopars the Magnum wheels were chrome with no trim ring. I think 1969 was the last year they showed up on factory Mopars. Starting in 1970 they started using the “Road Wheels” which were similar but had a trim ring around the edge. They weren’t as nice a wheel and cost less. A lot of Mopars end up with a Ford Magnum, same bolt pattern but an inch wider.

 

[BravoXray]

What have you got left to finish up once the wheels and tires are on the car ?
I believe you can get the stick on weights in silver or black. I,ve used both, depending on the color of the wheel.

Next task is the vinyl roof, then the front and rear glass, cowl panel, and window trim. I'm also thinking about putting black racing stripes on the hood and trunk lid.
I had them use stick on weights, picked them up this afternoon, and when I got them home, the weights on one of the front wheels had fallen off, so I had to make another trip back to the tire shop. Fortunately, it's only 7 miles away.
Came back and unloaded them out of the truck and used SOS steel wool pads on the raised white letters to brighten them up. Took them down to the shop and installed the center caps and trim rings. Wow, what a difference those make! Mounted them on the car and finally took it down off the jackstands. On the ground at last!
Had to charge up the battery and got it started up for the first time in a few months. Tries the clutch, and wow, it takes hold about an inch off the floor, even though it has 1 1/2" - 2" free travel at the top, but it moves the car backwards and forward. Tried the brakes, and the brake light came on on the dash, and when I got out and looked around, there was brake fluid sprayed behind the right front wheel, as you can see in the picture. So I guess I have a bad brake hose, and if I remember correctly, I had some reservations about that one when I put it on, but it held fine when I was bleeding the brakes. I'll check at the local speed shop tomorrow, and if they don't have one, I'll get a pair of front hoses ordered from Summit Racing.
After dinner, I went back down and took the new hood louvers out of their boxes and tried fitting them on the hood. I used the old louver bases to drill the holes in the hood before it was painted, and the old louvers fit perfectly, but I had to elongate a few holes just a little to get the new ones to fit.

Tomorrow, I'm going to call the vinyl top installer and see when he can get mine installed.

 

[BleedingOrange]

Looks great. I wouldn,t be able to sleep til it was completed and driveable. LOL You certainly have lots of patience, and I admire your do it right attitude. Beautiful car. The stripes will give it a totally different look. Are you thinking black stripes like the ones that came from the factory way back when ?

 

[Duds13]

Next task is the vinyl roof, then the front and rear glass, cowl panel, and window trim. I'm also thinking about putting black racing stripes on the hood and trunk lid.
I had them use stick on weights, picked them up this afternoon, and when I got them home, the weights on one of the front wheels had fallen off, so I had to make another trip back to the tire shop. Fortunately, it's only 7 miles away.
Came back and unloaded them out of the truck and used SOS steel wool pads on the raised white letters to brighten them up. Took them down to the shop and installed the center caps and trim rings. Wow, what a difference those make! Mounted them on the car and finally took it down off the jackstands. On the ground at last!
Had to charge up the battery and got it started up for the first time in a few months. Tries the clutch, and wow, it takes hold about an inch off the floor, even though it has 1 1/2" - 2" free travel at the top, but it moves the car backwards and forward. Tried the brakes, and the brake light came on on the dash, and when I got out and looked around, there was brake fluid sprayed behind the right front wheel, as you can see in the picture. So I guess I have a bad brake hose, and if I remember correctly, I had some reservations about that one when I put it on, but it held fine when I was bleeding the brakes. I'll check at the local speed shop tomorrow, and if they don't have one, I'll get a pair of front hoses ordered from Summit Racing.
After dinner, I went back down and took the new hood louvers out of their boxes and tried fitting them on the hood. I used to old louver bases to drill the holes in the hood before it was painted, and the old louvers fit perfectly, but I had to elongate a few holes just a little to get the new ones to fit.

Tomorrow, I'm going to call the vinyl top installer and see when he can get mine installed.

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Looks incredible! My dream is to own a muscle car, in silver so I am drooling over these photos. And the fact that you did the work yourself is even more amazing. Awesome work!