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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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.
Last edited by Kmelander; 05-15-2020 at 04:16 PM.
Reason: Add description of work performed
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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.
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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.
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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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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.
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.
Brian Hobaugh SCCA National Tour June 2014
First Hemi 'Cuda Convertible Ever Built
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