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Project "Darla" 1974 Chevrolet Nova SS
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Official start of my build project here on Lateral G. Started in 2011. Lots of interruptions and side projects but have stayed on it relatively consistent. Won't kill this thread with overly detailed posts but will try to keep the progress up to date.
$1,800 out of Oakboro, NC - on our way home. No engine, 4-speed car with driveline. Some of the tear-down pictures included. |
Back-half
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Cut a bunch of rusty metal out so I could get to more rusty metal. Removed the rear diff/axles. Sectioned the frame rails and moved them inward. Fabricated a cross-member and 4-link suspension.
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sub-frame connectors
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DSE Sub-frame connectors. Fabricated bolt on connection to front sub-frame.
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Looking good. I'm tuned in...
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DSE minitubs and rear frame tubes
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Inner (DSE) and outer wheel houses + trunk extensions so I could get the quarter skins mocked-up to figure out my axle/housing length. Then I bought 80' of 1.75" x 0.120" DOM tube, nice bender and cheap notcher. Started making bars.
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FYI...I’ll be posting many historical photos. I started this project in 2011. Currently the car is on a rotisserie in my garage. I’ve been replacing rusty floor pans etc. Next project, I think, is sheet metal fab for rear seat area. That and/or getting the fuel cell roughed-in. I’ll try to get this thread current this week.
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Nice work so far. I really like the tubing in the trunk area, it looks good and I've never seen something like it. What was the idea behind adding it?
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Thanks. It’s structural. I moved the factory frame rails inward and felt like I needed to reinforce/tie them to the rest of the cage/chassis structure. I’ve essentially adopted the practice of “ladder” bracing the entire factory chassis. Maybe overkill but I guess I’d rather over build it than under build it. You may find the mid-frame upper crossmember interesting as well. Haven’t posted that part of the build yet but I’ll throw one in this post so you can see it. I have a lot of work in the cage for this car. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...ca2d7907bc.jpg Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk |
Got it. Yeah seeing that photo makes it all come together now. Nice work!
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I have had 2 1974 Nova Customs one being a hatchback. The hatchback was optioned like an SS with buckets and mini console, but had very little else original (i.e. motor/trans) always wondered if it was an SS.
Do you plan to tuck bumpers tighter to body? Todd |
It is an SS. My understanding is that means little for the 74 other than a dealer applied sticker package. Bumpers definitely going to be massaged. They are ugly as hell in factory form.
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4-link suspension
10 Attachment(s)
Once I had the wheel wells situated so I could mock up the tire/wheel package, I started working on the rear suspension. I had to add shocks, panhard bar and the anti-sway bar.
I bought some lower shock brackets from a local swap meet. Bought the upper shock brackets, panhard link brackets and anti-sway bushings from Speedway. I made an upper shock crossmember with a drop leg for the panhard. I had to revise my original design though because the panhard bar was going to hit the shock body. This forced me to extend the panhard axle bracket about 3" additional from the axle housing. Next I had to extend my upper shock brackets because the panhard bracket mod forced me to move the crossmember to keep things lined up. This wound up being a blessing because it created a perfect place for my antisway bushings to be mounted. I have to completely fabricate my antisway bar assembly out of 1/4" plate and 1" Chromoly steel bar. I am a bit apprehensive on the antisway assembly though. I don't like how long the 1/4" arms are. I also planned to heat-treat the assembly to case harden the bar so it will have some spring but I can't remember what variant of chromoly it is. The guy that welded the housing ends on my rear axle thought it was unnecessary to treat a 1" bar. He even laughed when he said it. Not sure how that will all play out but at least the parts are there and all fit and work together for now. |
Rotisserie
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2018 was the year of building tools. I built a rotisserie and a sand blaster. This post will focus on the rotisserie. I'm too cheap to buy one so I made one. In the end I think I had about half the cost of a quality new unit. I think it cost me about $800 (and 2 months of weekends) to build. I used the plans primarily but did make some changes.
1. The main lift posts were supposed to have hydraulic rams. I opted to use a 3/4" threaded rod with thrust bearings. It's the same concept as the balancing risers and it works well. 2. the plans called for bolts through welded nuts for the pivot pin/bushings to lock the rotary position. I was skeptical about it from the beginning and went a different route. I had some old brake rotors and some old 11" steel discs that I used to create a friction lock on each end. I use either vise grips or c-clamp to lock them together. 3. I welded tabs to accept rollers to the main risers. I did this to ease the load on the 3/4" threaded rods I was using for jack screws. 4. The one mistake I made was using the red, 250 lb casters. They were straining badly under the load and I later changed them out for heavier 600 lb ones. The thing has been a back saver ever since. |
Engine Donor
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After the rotisserie, I decided to pull the engine from the donor vehicle. It was a 3/4 ton 2014 Chevrolet Express Van with a 6 litre LQ4 iron block and a 4L80E transmission. Had about 225k miles I think. Ran and drove great. I got a lot of flack from my co-workers for tearing it apart, especially my buddy who drove it home to me! I had already been down this road years earlier. I bought an earlier model service van with the same package, from the same company, with the same intentions. With that one, I decided it was better to simply fix any problems it had and sell it to make some extra cash...for the car. Regretted doing that. Was not going to make the same mistake with this one, although it was tempting.
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Been doing rust repairs for the last few months. Also did a major rebuild on the front subframe prior to that, after blasting it and finding some rust-through on the main crossmember. I’ll save that for another post.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...2faf18f097.jpg https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...3bee7328f4.jpg https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...dbb6bf6027.jpg https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...8bd2242e33.jpg https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...b934a10895.jpg https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...573c098097.jpg https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...715bf96f94.jpg https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...8fb8a207fe.jpg Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk |
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I had a 1973 Nova SS 4 speed Hatchback as my first car .And wish I still had it at times. Its nice to see a 1974 built so well .Continue on your build .And good luck to you.
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Thanks buddy. She’s a bit of a Frankenstein, or perhaps I am. I’ve cut-up and rebuilt so much of it, with still a good bit more to go. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk |
Sometimes we all wonder if it will ever end .But when it does .You will have your dream car.And be able to take it out and enjoy it.:whenitsdone
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Rear firewall
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Made a couple of panels for the back-seat firewall.
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Passenger Cowl Rust Repair
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Repaired a section of rust-through on the passenger cowl.
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Isnt rust wonderful ? One of the "fun"things about Fisher bodies .But its nice that to be taken care of. Very nice work though. Good luck to you.
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Beaded the cowl filler and worked up the courage to bead the rear firewall pieces.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...475582cf2a.jpg https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...516aec3d5a.jpg Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk |
3 month update:
Tackled the front wiper cowl area. Painted, seam sealed, second skin. Welded it back together. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...d529010184.jpg https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...cd4f364df2.jpg https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...c618b0cf85.jpg https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...b9f03e6897.jpg https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...e9808c0fd2.jpg Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk |
Fuel cell support cage and mocking into car. All pictures are “top mount” mock up. Going to try bottom mount to see how that looks. It will drop by 5”. Im speculating that will be better for handling but puts it down in the weeds and makes exhaust routing more challenging.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...1e456247e2.jpg https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...fd76826238.jpg https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...55abe7a9ae.jpg https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...844dcf82b5.jpg https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...cb3737478f.jpg Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk |
That tank placement looks good visually. Not too high or engulfing majority of the trunk space & not hanging too low.
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Yeah, I went with that height. Tacked it in and started making the mounts today.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...da85985349.jpg https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...d881539a9d.jpg https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...b45f012237.jpg Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk |
Got the mounts on it, took it out of the car and welded it up.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...1c4c90c3e7.jpg Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk |
Don't see many post 72 Novas getting this kind of love! - I like to see someone else using the GM 8.5" rear ends - I like them, They are the Rodney Dangerfield of rear ends
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https://www.ebay.com/itm/Chevy-GM-8-...53.m1438.l2649 It's part of my reverse LS build, accumulate, prep as much as can in advance before I pull the SBC & Muncie. |
Sheet metal...
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...4a5866231b.jpg https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...d2d653dfdd.jpg https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...45fe5c3329.jpg Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk |
Welding it together...https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...9778a63911.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...9796a566b8.jpg https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...d4ab1872cb.jpg Just have to do the corners, prime, paint and hope the cell still fits! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk |
More fuel cell work yesterday. Made up the bottom corner flanges and plug welded them on. Still have to weld the bottom pan to the flanges from the inside, grind down all the plug welds and prime it.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...ffaf466337.jpg https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...d44b0de714.jpg https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...2f25d25ddc.jpg https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...a2bd90d927.jpg Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk |
Shifted back into sheet metal and flange work on the car. Basically I need to get any sheet metal work done and out of the way before I weld that fuel cell can into the car. It’s obviously much easier to work in the trunk area with it absent.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...1b7a5c323a.jpg https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...f08201b797.jpg https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...b262fe6412.jpg https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...bc6c120941.jpg https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...537ea1db64.jpg Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk |
Had to weld a few more bars in the trunk, modify the front trunk floor template and made the panels.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...c15672f881.jpg https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...1290a2706a.jpg https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...175c87a602.jpg https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...ca91d638d8.jpg https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...5203c2932f.jpg Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk |
Clean panel work.
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Two more panels today.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...3466ab73ee.jpg https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...fa8bf3f6bb.jpg https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...b4f6272b17.jpg https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...52c93912be.jpg Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk |
Looks Great
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Back seat area fab work is nice. I like it!!
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Received the new transmission today!
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...b3a99fac76.jpg Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk |
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