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72 Nova - C5 Corvette Suspension Swap Project!
This is a relocation of my "Introduction" thread... which I'll delete when the move is complete. I also updated it a little bit, since I'm no longer 24 like I was when I started this thread! It's always kind of fun to go through the thread, as I can see how this car has been with me through so much of life... from highschool, Prom night, college... now I'm married and have a toddler!
I Joined this site due to a recommendation from Robert at Automotive Design Engineering... so far I think he made a good recommendation! This site has alot of good, technical information and real build threads. Anyway, I'm 31 now, I work as a mechanical engineer at a company that makes castings for jet engines and such, based in Portland Oregon. I became an engineer as I've always loved working with my hands on mechanical devices, largely due to my experiences working on my nova as a teenager. About [s]four[/s] 11 years ago, I happened across a corvette chassis/engine/transaxle drop-out on eBay... and that got the gears going in my head. Pretty much since that day, I've been planning this project. Saving money... not to buy the parts, but to buy a house with a good sized shop. With the house found, I finished out the shop, and got ready for this project. Anyway, I've owned this car since I was 15, in 2003, when it looked like this: https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...ative/HQ15.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...ative/HQ22.jpg I painted it before I turned 16. Did all the body work, panel replacement, primer, and final paint. Had a professional help me mask the racing stripes. I was such a fresh faced young man for my first prom! https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...beforeprom.jpg As high school came to an end, and college began, the poor old nova began to see neglect. I couldn't afford to drive it, so it got parked, and the motor was eventually pulled and used in a circle track car. And there it sat. As the car sat, covered in dust... I looked at corvette chassis on eBay, thought about wheel choices, engine combos. All the while saving, saving saving. I needed a place to do this project. And eventually, the perfect piece of property came along. It had a 32x24 shop. It was also cheap, well located. minutes from work, minutes from downtown Portland, and it also had some kind of house or something, which turned out to be pretty nice as well. After re-wiring the house and shop, and getting my quarterly bonus and huge tax return, I was finally financially and schedule ready to begin this project. First step, dragging the old nova out of the hay barn in Roseburg Oregon up to Portland. My dad and brother get big props here for hauling the car up for me. Even after sitting all that time, it cleaned up nice! March 2011 https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...arrative/1.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...arrative/2.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...arrative/3.jpg Next step: Frame jigg. This thing is square to within 1/32 of an inch, and flat to within .005" per foot. I thought having the beams right under track width of the car would be a good idea. After building it, I realized this was not the case, since I can't install a wheel and tire on the rear-end without getting them caught in the wheel well. lesson for next time is to make it a bit narrower or wider. https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...arrative/4.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...arrative/5.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...arrative/6.jpg |
April 2011
So then work began on tearing the car down. The old 9" axle and front sub frame had to go. I was able to recoup a bit of coin by selling these, which was nice. https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...arrative/7.jpg I threw one of the 295 rear tires under the front, just for kicks. https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...arrative/8.jpg In order to design this thing, I needed the tires and wheels, so I could figure out the track width. So i spent $1200 on tires and wheels! Aint no thang. Fronts are 265 35 17s, the rears are 315 30 18's. I also bought the corvette front and rear suspension drop-outs, and transmission. https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rrative/22.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rrative/23.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rrative/24.jpg And with that, I began the design. All CAD'd so I could have pieces cut on a water jet. I needed to narrow the track width about 3 inches... the only steering rack that was close to the right width was from a 93-02 camaro. It is 4 inches narrower than a C5, but mounts differently. https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rrative/14.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rrative/15.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rrative/21.jpg After finishing the design, I had the parts cut out on a water-jet. https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rrative/25.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rrative/28.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rrative/29.jpg At this point, I needed to build my jig. I had all of the pieces cut out so they had a "datum" tab that was on a plane 5" above the simulated ground. i needed to build the rails for that to sit on. https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rrative/30.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rrative/31.jpg |
May/June 2011
And, the assembly begins. https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rrative/32.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rrative/34.jpg I spent about two hours tweaking and finessing the front cradle to be square. Doing this, you find out that factory control arms aren't perfect. Turns out the left control arm is sprung about .090 too far. I ended up getting the whole thing squared to itself within .032, and to the chassis to .032 as well. One of the cool things about using precision water-jet cutting to make these parts is that I was able to make most of the parts self-fixturing. See the steering rack mounts below. https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rrative/35.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rrative/36.jpg At this point, I started doing track-days on my SV650... this pretty much ate all of my car budget and time, so I didnt start working on it again until a few weeks ago. By the way, does anyone from this site do car track days at Oregon Raceway? that track is amazing. very technical. I'll post some more pics in a few. |
Fall 2011
Now that the front suspension was installed, it was time to begin designing the rear suspension. I decided to start by laying-out the stock control arms, lacking good CAD models. I bought a slab of granite from a counter top store. Scratch that, I bought three. I blued it up and calibrated it to a certified granit block, found it to be within .005 of flat... the other two were flat at about .020... Just an FYI for those looking fo an inexpensive super-flat surface. https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rrative/39.jpg I also digitized the wheel-wells of my car to check wheel fitment. https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rrative/38.jpg For a little bit of motivation, I threw a rear-wheel in there after i cut the wheel-wells out. https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rrative/37.jpg I decided I needed more accurate data about the geometry of the transmission, so I called up a locale guy who is quite well-known in the pro-touring community to use a CMM arm to measure the parts... we worked something out and I got some very good cad models. So then CAD design commenced: https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...e/RearSus3.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...e/RearSus2.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...ative/CAD6.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...ative/cad5.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...ative/cad4.jpg |
Fall 2011
I left off on updating this thread about the time I finished designing my rear suspension... some screens shots of the cad files can be seen in my earlier posts. https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rrative/40.jpg After design, I went on to waterjet/laser the parts out, and began fabrication: https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rrative/42.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rrative/45.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rrative/47.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rrative/48.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rrative/49.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rrative/50.jpg Gotta love a nice CNC transmission support cross member: https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rrative/46.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rrative/51.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rrative/52.jpg Next up: How to connect the engine and transmission... |
Winter 2012 Through Fall 2014
Now I needed to figure out how to connect the engine to the transmission. The OEM solution is the 'torque tube.' there are front engine mounts, a long tube that connects from the bellhousing to the transmission, and transmission rear mounts. initially, I decided not to use this since it is large, and I was worried about interior room. Also, it is too short, and getting a longer shaft that will not vibrate is tough. So, an open shaft seemed the way to go. Unfortunately, Nobody makes an adapter that goes straight from the clutch to a driveshaft, so I had to design my own. I make castings for a living, so I figured I'd make up a pattern and have it made from aluminum. Aligning the engine and transmission: https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rrative/60.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rrative/61.jpg Cad model of the tailhousing casting https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rrative/62.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rrative/63.jpg Shaft and bearing assm design https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rrative/64.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rrative/65.jpg Heck I even built it! https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rrative/66.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rrative/67.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rrative/68.jpg The problem is, it is too heavy. I drove a corvette, and it already seems like the syncros had a hard time with the rotating mass of the corvette shaft, let alone mine which is 4 times heavier! At any rate, I didn't like the solution, I was concerned the mounts wouldn't keep the engine in line, and I'd have a hard time lining everything up if I ever pulled the engine. So, I decided to go back to the torque tube. A local shop had experience lengthing these, so they did it for me. Turns out DriveShaftShop.com can make a shaft that can handle the torque and RPM just fine, so there really is no reason not to use the torque tube. It just required some diligence in making the tunnel tight to the tube, as much as possible. https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rrative/69.jpg With the torque tube in hand, mounting the shifter and installing the linkage went quickly, as did installing the tunnel: https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rrative/70.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rrative/71.jpg |
Fall 2015 Through Spring 2017
More progress has been made! With the transmission tunnel installed, I attached the upper suspension mounts: https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rrative/75.jpg I wish I'd taken more photos... but that's the rear suspension mocked up. Now, wheel wells begin: https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rrative/73.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rrative/74.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rrative/76.jpg I did the exhaust before I removed the transmission for working on the wheel wells, but this is a pic of it installed. It fits snug, but I can remove it all fairly easily. https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rrative/77.jpg Fuel cell Mount I bought a summit fuel cell, 15 gallon with the little sump, and a gauge. To make the transmission removable, I need to be able to drop the cell out easily. Here's what I came up with, after a little Coffee and CAD: https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rrative/78.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rrative/79.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rrative/80.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rrative/81.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rrative/82.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rrative/83.jpg Next, I'm going to finish mounting the fuel cell, then I'll build the straps to retain it. |
Summer 2017
Here Goes again! Between now and the last time I posted, I did manage to finish the fuel cell mounts, and even primered the back-half of the car's frame, wheel-wells, and suspension mounts. I did not, however get pictures... and I proceeded to stack parts and materials into the trunk of the car, meaning I won't be getting better pics for a while. https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/83b.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/83c.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/83d.jpg After primer, I got a bit distracted from the car for the summer. Barn parties, house projects, and even some track time in my Chumpcar racer stopped progress from July 15th until about 3 weeks ago. https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rrative/84.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rrative/85.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rrative/87.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rrative/88.jpghttps://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rrative/89.jpg Anyway, I've been busy though! I decided to transition to the front of the car. There's alot of reasons for this, but mainly it comes down to poor design of my chassis jig... I can't get under the car if the floorboards are in! The first step was working on the driver's position, pedals, and steering column. I bought a column from a '96 camaro. I transferred the Nova columb brackets to it, and shortened it. There's enough info on how to do that out there, that I won't go into it. It's not to hard though. I realized I was going to have to decide on an exhaust system. After some research, I decided it was either custom headers, or modify some LS7 manifolds. LS7 manifolds are nice, the have a dual layer, and make really good power. I purchased a pair, and cut the flanges off. You can see below, I have alot of room for the steering linkage. https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rrative/90.jpg The picture below shows the clutch and brake pedals installed. While trying to fit the column and pedals, I found that some of the frame tubes I'd installed back in 2012 would not work, as they took too much of my footwell. I also found out that there was no way to get an exhaust pipe through on the driver side. https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rrative/92.jpg Now that I'd determined the stock pedal assembly would work, and that I'd have to hack up the frame a little bit, I dove into the exhaust. You can see below what I THOUGHT I'd do for exhaust. https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rrative/93.jpg To prevent any extra encroachment into the passenger footwell, and to allow room for an AC evaporator, it worked best to route two 3" pipes next to eachother, and to join then under the torque tube. I set out to modify the manifolds, and re-did the frame tubes in the area to make room. https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rrative/94.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rrative/95.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rrative/96.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rrative/97.jpg |
Winter 2017
Once the exhaust was done, I purchased my Vintage Air kit, test fit it, and built the passenger size footwells. https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rrative/98.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rrative/99.jpghttps://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/100.jpghttps://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...ative/100b.jpg I figured i'd better check and make sure my AC kit would fit. I wanted a low mount one. It fits, quite snugly! https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/101.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/102.jpg So, back to the pedals. I needed to make a bracket to test the location of the gaspedal. It wasn't working to test the pedal placement without the pedals returning, so I rigged up some springs. https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/103.jpg Now, I'm not a guy who invents the wheel when he doesn't have to. So I borrowed heavily from RomanCommander's build, and used the same bracket, booster, and clutch master he did. https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/104.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/105.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/106.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/107.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/108.jpg |
Winter 2017
More progress made! https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/109.jpg This shows my AC unit installed under the dash, as well as the access plate for the top of the torque tube. That will be how I bleed the clutch. https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/110.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/111.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/112.jpg Firewall Completed! This took alot of fidding, and thinking everything through. I had to buy and install the throttle cables to make that work, install the pedal assembly, and so on. I wish I didn't have to make such a patchwork, but to get everything to fit, and given my tooling limitations, I did the best I could. https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/113.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/114.jpg 3 Coats of Southern Polyurethane Epoxy! The next phase of this project is to finish the core support, inner fenders, steering linkage, and swaybars. https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/115.jpg Core support installed. https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...tive/115ab.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...ive/115aba.jpg Motor placed, radiator just set in for reference. Lots of room for a fan! You can see the downbars, and swaybar tube mounted. the C5 bar is too wide, given that I narrowed the suspension up by 4 inches. I bought a speedway Engineering hollow tube, and pillow blocks. |
Jan/Feb 2018
https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...ative/115b.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/116.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/117.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/118.jpg At this point, it was time to finish the steering shaft. I purchased a KWIK bracket set to mount my alt and PS pump. Perfect clearance! https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/120.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/121.jpg Bumper mounts... https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/122.jpg Bumper mounted. It's only roughly aligned. There is plenty of room to make it right, but I don't want to spend much time on it now. The car is looking much more nova-like than it has in a while! https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/123.jpg Now that I satisified my need to see tangible progress, I went back to the swaybar arms. I hacked up the arms that came with the swaybar kit. I had someone lasercut some metal that I could fab the arms out of. They worked like a charm! they are all welded up, but I need to spend some time grinding welds to make them look nice before I share a pic! https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/124.jpg #novaProject. (The styrofoam # came with my radiator. I just had to.) https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/125.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/126.jpg I mocked up the suspension, and couldn't turn the wheel at all. So, borrowing some inspiration from Bouncer's 'Germany Style' nova, and am raising the wheel wells. I'll probably do the same on the back tires. |
Mini update:
In my last update, I showed the wheel well openings on the front driver side cut out and raised up. In the end, I was able to raise the openings by 2.375" on each side. Some notes for those who seek to do this: -There is no vertical portion of the wheel well opening... so when you raise the opening, you end up with a wierd jog. So you have to slice the lower part and re-work it to fix it. -Cut about 1/4" above where the wheel opening lip meets the main curve of the fender. This lets you work the lip and the main fender curve for a better fit. -ESAB EZ-Grind wire is worth the cost, if you are mig welding. It hammers out nicely and is relatively soft for MIG wire. Drive side welded up: https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/127.jpg Checking the wheel for clearance, to figure out how to do the inner fender. https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/128.jpg This is how/where I cut it on the passenger side. https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/129.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/130.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/131.jpg The next step is to rebuild the little brace that the inner fender bolts to, then to modify the inner fender to clear the tires. |
April 2018
Update time! https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/132.jpg Once the wheel well openings were both raised 2.25 inches, it was time to patch the inner fender together. The photo above shows the clearance I have a 1" of suspension compression.... which is to say, not much. My goal is to have zero rubbing for any wheel position at 1.5" of suspension compression, and have 75% of my steering range at full bump. https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/133.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/134.jpg In order to make that happen, I had to cut off the two tabs that held the clip nuts that are at the 10 and 1 positions on the wheel. To replace that, I drilled and tapped some flat stock, and spot welded it to the fender. I then cut the portion of the inner fender off that bolted to the fender opening, and attached it. Then, it was a matter of filling in the gap. https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/135.jpg With the inner fenders done, I removed the front fenders and found this rust happening under the window trim. I'm not sure how best to repair this... but I'm going to deal with it later. https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/136.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/137.jpg Maybe I should just omit the fenders... looks pretty cool! On to the windsheld wiper motor relocation! Given how far the motor is recessed into the firewall, the stock wiper motor mount was obliterated. So I read through SevenZeroNova's guide on a relocated wiper motor and purchased a wiper motor and transmission out of a 2001 Pontiac Bonneville. Motor With Mount plate: https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/138.jpg Plate that will weld to the firewall: https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/139.jpg And the hole in the firewall: https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/140.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...ative/146b.jpg Now, with the motor mounted I ran into a couple of issues. First among these is that there was not a way to run the linkage directly from the motor arm to the middle wiper pivot. the other issue was that the linkage is worn out. To solve the first issue, I built a pivot arm that bolts to the firewall about where the trim tag goes. The second of the pics below shows about where it installs, but it goes inside the cowl and will barely be visible. https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...ative/141b.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...ative/141c.jpg To solve the other issue, I borrowed some more of the Bonneville wiper system. It turns out that if you grind of the riveted in ball studs, the shank is about the same size and offset from the wiper pivot plate. I simply moved the boneville's larger ball stud to the Nova's middle wiper stud's plate... and tacked it in! This works for the linkage that goes from the middle wiper stud to the driver side stud, but you have to cut off the ends of the linkage and weld the Bonneville's in place. https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/141.jpg I am waiting on the special bolts that hold the wiper pivots in place. I broke most of mine! |
April 2018
Onward to the dash panel area... turns out I had a little bit of the windsheild corner cancer. There is alot of info on how to fix this. And I didn't take pics of the repair. https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/143.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...ative/143b.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/144.jpg With that done, I took some parts to be sandblasted, and stripped the firewall and front chassis of rust/mill scale and got it ready to primer. Here it is done! https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/145.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/146.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...ative/146c.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...ative/146d.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...ative/146e.jpg A bit of a tangent... but I had the Drive Shaft Shop narrow up my CV Axles and make a carbon fiber driveshaft for use in the Corvette torque tube! They were 8 weeks in the making, but well worth the wait! After verifying the length, they're going into storage for now. https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/147.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/148.jpg |
That's a TON of work! Great project, keep pushing forward.
Thanks for sharing |
Coming along well, Nick.
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Update time!
Since my last update, I have been focusing on the rear half of the car again. https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/149.jpg The above photo shows me starting on the access hatch for the rear transmission. This is how I'll get to the shifter linkage to detach it for engine removal. https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/150.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/151.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/152.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/153.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/154.jpg Sometimes you just have to get a glimpse of the end product, right? https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/155.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/156.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/157.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/158.jpg What I leanred by moving the car up like this is that A) A 315/30 rear tire looks disporportionate to a 265-40 front. So I have a 295/40 on the way. B) Somehow the rear 'axle' centerline got moved forward in the chassis by 1/2". I can align my way out of that, though. C) I don't have to raise my rear wheel well openings. I think it looks fine like this. I will raise the back by another inch though, to help even it out. https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/159.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/160.jpg I got my order of sheetmetal! All AMD products. |
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https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/162.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/163.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/164.jpg This is the trunk. To keep fumes down, I decided the fuel cell needed to be completely under the floor. The cell was mounted as low as possible, and I bought a thread-in cover with an O-Ring that goes in the trunk floor. I didn't have the budget for an outside filler neck, so I thought this was a reasonable compromise. At this point, I'm going to finish the floor boards and seat mounts, then do another round of primer! Then, I'll be going after the rear body sheetmetal. |
Great stuff, man! This is the kind of build I like to see. More of this is needed!:thumbsup:
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Very cool project!
What are you shooting for on ride height? (rocker to ground in inches) Jeff- |
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Awesome work and ingenuity. It's good to see someone else raise the front fender lip vs just widening, as that's what I've been thinking of doing on my build.
I just barely get tire sidewall rub (275/40/18) at full mechanical steering lock (25* as measured, I believe) with the below ride height.. my front fender lip is 22-5/8" off the ground. https://i.imgur.com/T5bAZkc.jpg |
very cool build, just read everything from the beginning.
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So shortly after my last build update, a big life even occurred for my family!
https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/AL1.jpg She was a bit early... 10 weeks to be exact. Looking back, its shocking how small she was, but one by one, all of the risks and potential issues went away. She was a willful little thing, deciding she no longer needed respiratory assistance 2 weeks before the doctors said she could come off of it. (She ripped it off in the night, and her vitals never missed a beat. Still, we were in NICU jail for 6 weeks. It was a stressful time that certain put some things into perspective. She's coming along fine now. She seems to be showing an interest in tools! https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/AL2.jpg Anyway, I was able to get an hour or two here and there, and finished the trunk and floor pans. https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/165.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/166.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/167.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/168.jpg At this point I primered and seam sealed the trunk and the floor, however I did not get pictures of that freshly done. I also didn't get any pics of replacing the deck filler panel. The AMD panel I got did not fit AT ALL. The radius of the arch in the panel was about 1.5" off in the middle, and there were no releifs for the trunk hinge bodies. I got a Golden Legion panel, and it dropped right in. On to the quarter panels. I thought I'd see how the AMD repop trunk fit. Answer: Not good. The counters were not right, the mount points seemed to be offset to the right by 3/4". It is savable, but I decided to put the stock trunk on as an alignment tool for the quarter panels. https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/169.jpg Sawzall time! https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/170.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/171.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/172.jpg Tire fitment Check: https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/173.jpg Driver's side: https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/174.jpg All cleaned up and ready for primer https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/175.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/176.jpg I had a little bit of rust that needed repaired on the driver rear corner of the trunk pan. https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/177.jpg |
Tire mocked up. The steel beam the tire sits on represents a 1.5" of wheel compression upwards. I am going to install the QPs without the inner wheel well, and will hand-fab a new one
that gives me more tire clearance after the panels are installed. https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/178.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/179.jpg I had always heard AMD panels were the best. I question that now, at least for Novas. I actually wondered if someone ripped me off and put another brand of panel in an AMD box. Nope, the second set of AMD panels I bought from Summit were identical. Maybe I'm too picky, but I have about 4 hours into each panel for fitting, and will have a few more for some post-install adjustments. Fitment was OK at the top. comparing to the trim piece, the contour is correct. https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/180.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/181.jpg However, the Pass side trunk rail was stamped 5/8"of an inch to far forward on the panel. That caused fitment problems at the tail panel and at the front, where the deck filler lays into it. I also had to spent a bunch of time rolling the trunk gasket rail upwards, and tightening the trough that the trunk weatherstrip goes in. It is still about 1/8" too wide compared to OEM, but it will hold the weatherstrip now. A little adhesive will make sure it stays. https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/182.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/187.jpg The driver side panel had the same issue with the shape of the trunk weather strip, but at least it was in the right place. https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/183.jpg Not to say the driver side QP didn't have it's issues. It seems that the flange on the bottom of the panel was stamped 3/16 too far forward. Once welded on, I will slice into the QP to widen the door gap, and move the back edge closer to the rocker panel. https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/184.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/185.jpg I also had to slice and dice the top area of the panel to make it fit into the B-pillar. I also needed to hammer the pinch weld flange back about 1/4" in the middle to make it align with the inner QP piece. Both side QPs also had the door latch peg hole in the wrong place. The AMD tail panel, however, fit PERFECT. I adjusted NOTHING on it. Same goes for the pieces that go in the corner where the QP meets the tail panel. https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/186.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/188.jpg I was in the shop until 10PM last night doing the first round of welding. It's exciting to see the new QP's on! The next steps are to build the wheel housings to clear the tires... then I might cut the car free of the chassis jig for the first time since 2011! |
When I started dating my currant GF she has a 7 year old. I told her my car is a 2 seater and that we're gonna have to get another project car so we can all cruise once my car is done. Start prepping your wife for that now so it can happen later lol.
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Also, holy invasion of Novas! There's like 4 built threads actively being updated right now! |
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Also AMD panels for Camaro's fit really well. It must just be a Nova thing. |
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I also may just be overly picky! |
Quick update
My how fast the summer goes! Around the first of this month, I got the quarter panels welded in, and the welds ground down. After this, I fabricated the inner wheel wells to clear my tires. I then epoxy primered the inside of the trunk, the underside of the back of the car, and the wheel wells, and did the seam sealer. I also applied a layer of uPol Raptor liner to the trunk and the wheel wells. It's stupid how much time went into those wheel wells, but I can clear a 315 tire if I want, and it won't be tucked so far under the car that it looks funny. https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/189.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/190.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/191.jpg The raptor liner doesn't hide the spotwelds and such as well as I'd hoped, but it still looks good. If I'm worried I'll make a carpet for the trunk. https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/192.jpg Made a cover for the shifter linkage access plate... I lost the one I made before. Thank god I keep a journal of my hand sketches for parts made like this. https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/193.jpg I decided I didn't like the brake booster setup I had. So I bought a Wilwood 60 degree Master Cylinder mount. Turns out I don't like how that fits either. So I made my own housing for the MCs and the bias bar pivot, which puts them somewhere I can live with. I spent a bunch of time changing the design, and ended up with something cool - the pedal ratio is 5.5:1 for the first 1/8-3/16" of MC stroke, so any slack gets taken up quickly. Then the ratio increases to about 6.35:1 at 1/2" of cylinder stroke, and sort of levels off there. I'll be interesting to see how that feels in practice. All of the parts are at a shop being laser cut now. If you look carefully, you can see little tabs and other interlocking features, that will make fixturing it much easier. I'll take some pics of the finished thing! https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/194.jpg I wanted to keep the noise and engine smell out of the cabin, so I found this rubber bellows after scouring every catalog I could find. Next to it is a DSE bracket I modified to hold a Tilton 75 series master cyl for the clutch. https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/195.jpg I decided to work on the front fenders, and finish the metal work with them. My plan is to do the front fenders, the door shells, and trunk lid... then send them for sandblasting. This will reduce my time spent getting them that far. I did NOT expect to find any rust, but figured I should look in the common places. Loand behold! You can see where I welded up some pin holes back in 2003 when I first painted this car. I couldn't tell this was present under the 3M rock chip guard stuff I had along the bottom of the car. https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/196.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/197.jpg I found some more along the door opening. I had welded up individual pinholes instead of sectioning out the bad metal. Luckily, a wire wheel took the rust off the inside structure, and I was able to primer it. https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/198.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/199.jpg https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/n...rative/200.jpg Patches are welded up. Just need to grind them down! I think these fenders spent some time leaned up against a tree with the top in the mud, as the folded over area at the very top of the panel was a bit soggy. I cut the rust out and made a patch for this. I need to tweak the welds a bit, then I'll fold it over the inner structure, just like new. Next update: Other fender, doors, trunk lid! |
Doing good work. Keep it up! I know it's a little late, but I'm glad to see your daughter doing well.
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Congrats on the child. Glad she is doing well.
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Another quick update! https://njcnovaproject.s3-us-west-2....rative/201.jpg https://njcnovaproject.s3-us-west-2....rative/202.jpg https://njcnovaproject.s3-us-west-2....rative/203.jpg https://njcnovaproject.s3-us-west-2....rative/204.jpg The shop got the laser cutting done pretty quick for me. So I assembled it. I tacked it all together before fully welding to make sure the fitment was good. https://njcnovaproject.s3-us-west-2....rative/205.jpg Here it is mocked up to the pedal, so I could build the link to the pedal. https://njcnovaproject.s3-us-west-2....rative/206.jpg https://njcnovaproject.s3-us-west-2....rative/207.jpg And now it's mocked up on the firewall. The pic from inside the car shows the bellows for the brake rod, hopefully that'll keep the interior nice and fume free! Now that I know it all works, I have some finish welding and grinding to do before paint. I got the driver fender welded up. I need to work on it a bit so it fits the contour of the new door... then I have some rework to do to the rear of the door and the quarter panel... panel gaps to adjust, a trunk lid to fit... on and on it goes! |
Update Time!
After getting the brake system bias bar completed above, I moved on to the fenders and doors. https://njcnovaproject.s3-us-west-2....rative/209.jpg https://njcnovaproject.s3-us-west-2....rative/210.jpg https://njcnovaproject.s3-us-west-2....rative/211.jpg Removing the door skin was easy - take a angle grinder to the folded over edge, make long sweeping passes until I broke through the door skin. After that, it folded right off! Once the skin was off, I had the shell sandblasted and epoxy primered. https://njcnovaproject.s3-us-west-2....rative/212.jpg Here's the skin going on the shell. the AMD Skin fit decently, but I did have some issues where the door handle attaches. https://njcnovaproject.s3-us-west-2....rative/213.jpg Does anyone know what kind of sealer to use in the corner of the door opening? https://njcnovaproject.s3-us-west-2....rative/214.jpg https://njcnovaproject.s3-us-west-2....rative/215.jpg Passenger fender patch. This turned into a bit of a debacle. I had to chase high spots, low spots, the door gap started changing... I had to step away for a few days to reset on it. In the end I got it decent enough where I don't need more than 1/8" of filler anywhere, and the gap is good. https://njcnovaproject.s3-us-west-2....rative/216.jpg I had to slice along this body line and move it up to make the contour work right. https://njcnovaproject.s3-us-west-2....rative/217.jpg https://njcnovaproject.s3-us-west-2....rative/218.jpg The driver door fit decently, except that the arc between the upper body line and lower line is too long relative to the quarter panel. I'll have to add a little metal to the top of the quarter panel line and the bottom line using some round rod. https://njcnovaproject.s3-us-west-2....rative/219.jpg https://njcnovaproject.s3-us-west-2....rative/220.jpg Got the shop relatively cleaned up, so it's time to step back and take it all in! You can see I made a wheel change - got some Forgestar wheels with a custom offset to tuck under the car another 1/4". Not shown is having the fenders sandblasted and primered. Shifting gears, I decided I needed to complete all heavy metal work in the interior. That really just means the radio bezel, center console mounts, and making sure the dash fits. https://njcnovaproject.s3-us-west-2....rative/221.jpg https://njcnovaproject.s3-us-west-2....rative/222.jpg https://njcnovaproject.s3-us-west-2....rative/223.jpg I decided to make the console from sheet metal. I may live to regret it... but I think it came out pretty well. I'll use some filler to smooth it, then put a layer of foam and vinyl over it. |
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https://njcnovaproject.s3-us-west-2....rative/225.jpg https://njcnovaproject.s3-us-west-2....rative/226.jpg https://njcnovaproject.s3-us-west-2....rative/228.jpg Dash panel test fitted! At this point, I decided to cut the car off the frame jig, for the first time in 8 years, 10 months. I decided to get the tires mounted up so I could roll it around when I get a little further. https://njcnovaproject.s3-us-west-2....rative/227.jpg Things were slow at work, so I designed something to make my life easier for installing and removing the transmission. https://njcnovaproject.s3-us-west-2....rative/229.jpg https://njcnovaproject.s3-us-west-2....rative/230.jpg https://njcnovaproject.s3-us-west-2....rative/231.jpg I have not yet welded this all together. I'll use a powered winch to raise and lower it. |
It looks good. Nice trans jack.
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I suppose I'm due for an update! The Covid thing has given me a bit more time to work on the car, so I've made some great progress!
After the last post, I went into full body work mode. My OEM trunk was too rusty to save, so I got a new one. They guy who had it before really piled on the featherfill sprayable body filler, so I used a heat gun and a razor to knock it down. Then, an 80 DA to profile the surface. https://njcnovaproject.s3-us-west-2....rative/232.jpg https://njcnovaproject.s3-us-west-2....rative/233.jpg I then put a layer of Southern Polyurethane Epoxy over everything. I did the fenders a while back in White epoxy. https://njcnovaproject.s3-us-west-2....rative/234.jpg A couple weeks of body work ensued. I blocked the black epoxy, and took care of all kinds of little dings and waves at this point. https://njcnovaproject.s3-us-west-2....rative/235.jpg After the body work, I did 2 coats of White epoxy, Followed by 3 coats of Southern Polyurethane's regular build 2K primer. https://njcnovaproject.s3-us-west-2....rative/236.jpg https://njcnovaproject.s3-us-west-2....rative/237.jpg I got the whole car blocked out flat to 400 grit without getting through the White epoxy! Minimizing film build is good, so I'm happy with that. After blocking, I replaced all the plastic sheeting, and got ready for base and clear! I put down a coat of White epoxy, reduced 50%, then 3 coats of Southern Polyurethane Orange base. Seemed like everything was covered in 2 coats though. I used SPI's Universal clear. https://njcnovaproject.s3-us-west-2....rative/238.jpg I made sure to make the door window frames black, I've seen novas where they left them orange with a 2 tone look, and it comes out kind of odd looking. https://njcnovaproject.s3-us-west-2....rative/239.jpg Suspension, Wheels and tires: https://njcnovaproject.s3-us-west-2....rative/240.jpg https://njcnovaproject.s3-us-west-2....rative/242.jpg First time it's been out of the shop in 9 Years, 2 months! https://njcnovaproject.s3-us-west-2....rative/243.jpg https://njcnovaproject.s3-us-west-2....rative/244.jpg |
Congrats, Nick! I missed the update where you got the car on the ground and now it's outside. That's great. Hope Jody is able to get the pic issue resolved so we can see it.
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Got the pictures fixed! One little typo copied and pasted....
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Looks good orange and black always a good combination.
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