67 Nova Project "Resurrection"

[Gmachine1911]

Well, been a minute since I’ve posted any updates on the Nova. I took a break to do some home projects, rewired my Dad’s street rod and bought an enclosed trailer where my OCD kicked in as I was building out the interior. I was a little burned out on the car after getting it to roller status but now I’m fired up again and ready to make some progress. I started by getting the remaining few trim items I needed as well as the bumpers, hood, headlight buckets, bumper brackets, etc. to complete the front end. It’s scheduled to go to the body shop to get the front sheet metal fitted at the end of this month. Lots more to come so stay tuned. In the meantime, here’s a few pics…

GM NOS headlight bezels I scored…




Got the transmission in today as well…4L70E

[Roscoe03]

Glad to see you back in action! I've been wondering what happened to your build as you seem to make a lot of progress quickly. Your build threads are killer!

[Gmachine1911]

Originally Posted by Roscoe03

Glad to see you back in action! I've been wondering what happened to your build as you seem to make a lot of progress quickly. Your build threads are killer!

Thank you, I appreciate that! It feels good to be back at it!

[Gmachine1911]

Here’s some pics of the front brake lines, battery mount, fuel tank vent and battery shutoff I got done as well…trying to get everything situated that’ll allow me to set the engine/trans in the car as well as get the front sheet metal stuck back on it so I can transport it easier to the body shop. Also wanting to get some of the components situated so I can get other smaller items done around them as well. Thought I had everything necessary to mount my steering column until I figured out the swinging pedal assembly I bought a long time ago was for a 66, not a 67…turns out there’s a big difference so got one located and waiting on it to show up but it set me back about a week on my timeline…guess I should’ve done a test fit a long time ago!

[camcojb]

Very clean, nice!!

[Gmachine1911]

So I had a little snag in that the swinging pedal assembly I bought a long time ago was actually for a 66 Nova and as it turns out, they don’t interchange with 67’s so I got the correct bracket, got it cleaned, swapped the brake pedal over with all new stuff and was finally able to get my steering column halfway installed to determine where to drill the hole for the column to go thru the firewall. Worked up the nerve to drill the hole after experimenting with a couple different methods and got that checked off the list. Also got the AC bulkheads mounted to the firewall and mocked up on the inner fender and then shifted my attention to the transmission. Got the torque converter installed and verified it was seated properly and noticed that the bellhousing must be for an LS based engine as the 12 o clock bolt hole and the one to the right of it are in the wrong spot. This sucks cause I specifically called to ask the company if I needed to buy the LT bellhousing and they said it was already on the part number trans I was looking at. It bolts up fine everywhere else except the 2 positions but I guess I’m gonna have to pull it back apart and swap the bellhousing. This business of having to order and wait on parts to make progress is getting old, especially when you think you’ve got everything you need. If anyone has any insight as to the differences between the two bellhousings (besides the two bolt holes) I’d like to hear it. Here’s some pics…Also, for anyone else having trouble identifying 1st/2nd Gen Nova pedal brackets, the guy I bought the correct one from sent me a pic of the three early types…the left one is 62-65 I think, middle is 66 and right is 67.

[camcojb]

VERY nice attention to detail!

[Gmachine1911]

Happy Halloween! Haven’t updated here in a minute so figured I’d post up some pics. I last left off getting the car ready to haul into the body shop for fitting the front sheet metal/trim, etc. I was thrashing to get as much of the front end components together as possible so had the inner fenders and hood hinge supports powder coated as well as some misc items. Got my HVAC lines planned out and roughed in even though they’d have to come back off. Also got the transmission installed with CBR’s trans crossmember, which bolted right up (thank you, Jesus). I took the car to the body shop back in mid Feb and they’ve had it ever since. I’ve made a few changes along the way and then the usual delays from pausing to work on other cars. It should be ready to come home next week finally! Here’s some random pics and thanks for looking!

p.s. my oldest was rubbing it in that he was technically the first to “drive” the Nova. I find myself arguing a lot of technicalities with my teenagers these days!

[Gmachine1911]

While the car’s been in the shop, I’ve been stockpiling parts. I’ve got basically everything needed to complete the brakes, HVAC, fuel system, chassis and engine wiring, wheels/tires, cooling system, transmission cooling lines and shifter, accessory drive, etc. I had them fit the front windshield/trim, headlight bezels grill and bumpers. Ended up buying a couple different core supports to get one that fit decent and had to modify the new hood where the hinge bolts up on one side because it was made like crap. At one point we even stuck the GM hood back on I bought that turned out to be garbage. Also had to cut the headlight bucket mounting brackets off both new fenders and reattach them in the proper location so things fit right. Up to this point, I’d had pretty good fortune with the repop metal but it all caught up to me on the front end! It’s mo better now, though…