TomM - 66 Nova Wagon - LS1....

[TomM]

About Jan of 2010, I picked up an extremely clean 66 original wagon. It needed the usual floorpans, but the spare tire well was there, and not rotted. The previous owner had sanded the car, so the surface rust you see, is purely cosmetic. The more I tore in to the car, the more I found out it really was a solid as I suspected, so I have a pretty good canvas to start with....

Fast forward to Oct/Nov 2010. Finally got the old floor pans cut out, and the new ones fitted. It took me a while, as body work is definitely not my calling. In the meantime, I was slowly stripping the car, to get it ready for body work. I also built a rotisserie during that time. I finally got the car on the rotisserie today, and low and behold, it didn't break, and I was able to rotate the car easily....

The plan is of course the venerable LS1 from a 2004 GTO, 4L60E, 8.2 10 bolt, 3:55 posi, and without a doubt the full Church Boy's Racing "massage"... upper and lower arms, rack and crossmember, steering arms, sway bar, 2" dropped rear leaf springs,and the CBR/Stainlessworks headers. I am also doing the LS brake swap, front and rear 12" crossdrilled and slotted rotors, using the CBR front caliper brackets.

It's going to be a slow and steady build, as I already have a running hotrod, so no need to kill mysef on this one. Here are a few pictures of the car, and progress to date....I'll be updating as I have something to add.....


The wagon, as she arrived.....























And last but not least...the bullet.....








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[TomM]

Got the car off to the sandblaster. He called me the next day to say it was done...... ......Used a local guy here named Ron Nash with Knight Industrial Services. Complete sandblast with #5 sand, and two part Sherwin Williams epoxy primer for 500 bucks, including the fenders and hood (not shown). Not too bad IMO, and he got every nook and cranny.......

Picking up material to build sub frame connectors tomorrow, then a few more holes to weld up, and the bottom gets painted. Enjoy...















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[TomM]

The front clip assembled and ready for install...............























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[TomM]

All sealed up, ready for paint.......





Bottom done. Finally found some satin black like I wanted, that could be reduced and hardened as required. Rustoleum believe it or not.......8 bucks a quart...took about 1.5 quarts......








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[TomM]

Got her back on the tires. The CBR rear springs are a breeze to install, and I already like the way it's sittin, with no real weight on it............
Gonna mock up the engine and tranny next, to build the crossmember, then body work..........
























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[TomM]

Got the motor and tranny mocked up. Modified the stock crossmember by cutting a section out and sliding it back, and then welding in a plate on each side. I am setting my motor forward 1" this time, to gain more clearance at the rear. The motor mount interefered with the driver's side header so I had to relieve it a little bit, but no problems other wise.....






Relieved motor mount, just had to notch it slightly......







Rack clearance...



Console and shifter, unknown what car it came out of, got it with the wagon...







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[TomM]

Finally got the materials to build the subframe connectors. Got them fabbed up and installed...

Sub frame connector roughed in....




E-brake cable hole, this is a piece of 1/2" tubing, cut at an angle and welded on each end......



Installed, welded and painted.....









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[TomM]

So, right now the car is off to the painters, should be about 3 months. There is quite a bit of bodywork to do to it, but I have seen the painters work and am more than happy with him taking whatever time he needs. Below is a rendering of the final concept I am shooting for. Shawn has some tweaks to do to the drawing, but you get the idea.........






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[strtcar]

Great build

[coolwelder62]

Very,very cool.