motor & trans are in & the new wiring harness is roughed in. plan is to get the carbs rebuilt, & the motor fired off by saturday. still have a ways to go but it looks like we're still on schedule, you know how that goes.
ok here's some shots of the front suspension; for brake hoses we used parts store 89 f-250 front hoses that we bent slightly for clearance. we figured these would work cuz our plow truck is an 89 f-250 & we took a quick look under there & said "hey, these look like they'll work" they even hav lil "scuff" rubbers on them that line up perfectly where they barely touch the leafs! here's a view of the factory nova steering arm attatched to the jeep drag link this is a veiw from behind the passenger side front wheel of the suspension here's our oil pan clearance, it gets kinda close at full lock right, but i think it'll be ok this factory clutch z-bar mount has seen better days & flexes like crazy so we'll be beefing that up soon too
headers are back on, & that z bar mount is fixed. gonna try & get the carbs rebuilt & the linkage squared away next. the wiring should be buttoned up saturday & hope to have the exhaust & brakes done for next weekend.
thats awsome! one question though,,is it a 63 with a 62 grille? i did have a 62 grille im my 64 so i do know they interchange but i just had to ask
you know what? i can't give a real answer to that question. all i know is i was told it's a 63 & we cut the shit out of it to make it "awesome". the car didn't have a title & we have a repair plate (as well as relatives who can register it in a state that doesn't require titles) so yeah, basically what ever year it is really is an after thought at this piont. it's a pretty bitchin 60s ish chevy II though right?
wow! that's even better than my "your 55 looks like it would rob me in a dark alley" quote! thanks man! it is a street freak, not a gasser, by the way. (i don't want to ruffle anyone's feathers around here!)
yes it is bitchin for sure!,,well if your not sure about the cars exact year that dosent matter too much, 62 63 64 have same body, taillights,and grille shape,just a little difference between the three years,,but that is a 62 grille for sure,but the fenders dont have the 62 trim pieces so probly it is a 63 with a for sure 62 grille,,anyways thats just tech bs,,what ever it is year wise dont matter,,its a bitchin chevy II/ nova for sure,have fun with it it looks like a blast to drive.
thanks guys! i really can't wait to rip this thing through the gears. we did a bit more wiring on it today as well as made up the throttle linkage, and ran all new brake lines.
here's our completed $50 throttle linkage. some spherical rod ends at 9 bux a piece, some threaded rod, & a pep boys throttle cable setup & we're in business also banged out the exhaust & bled the brakes today. the exhaust consists of the fender well headers that came with the car painted high temp white & wrapped, summit exhaust dumps, no name 12" long 2" diameter glasspacks, and some parts store 2" tailpiles. should sound absolutely ridiculous. as of now we are an upper radiator flex hose, electric fan, starter/battery/coil install, starter/coil/dash wiring away from having a runner.
a little more progress from last night. got the down tubes from the firewall to the front frame rails cut to length & welded in. these really did a good job of stiffening the front end, there was some noticeable movement while raising the car on the lift, these & the subframe connectors along with an added rear crossmember (tying the back end of the subframe connectors together) all but eliminated that flex. also finished mounting the radiator & support today.
looks freaking sick ...keep it up guys ya almost there ....there better be some videos of the 55 and this nova reving and some burnouts...
a street freak is a street car built to look like a "race car". search "street freak" on here & you'll find some prime examples... we're a bit ahead of schedule & we're gonna try & get the nova to the ring reckers show in salsbury mass this sunday. try.
damn, little frustrated today. all set to fire it up, no spark. dead short. seems to be in the cheapo chinese ebay distributor. oh well, we're still ahead of schedule, and should have a nice new distributor in there on wednesday, and go for round 2. would've been sweet to have gotten it all back together in exactley 1 month though...
we have a runner! we decided to try an old untested mallory distributer & ignition box box we had on the shelf before we went out & spent 2 hundo on a new distributor. wired it up and she fired up on the first whack of the key (push-button) and idled nicely at 800 rpm without touching the carbs or distributor. tomorrow we got to get the front shock mounts in, adjust the shift linkage, get the electric fan to work, and then let her rip. not bad for a months work if i do say so myself. i love the wheel/tire combo. i think it really gives it that street freak vibe i was goin for with this one. my boss hates the wheels & tires, but that's all we got lying around at the moment so they stay! i think that that front lower edge of the front fenders is gonna get trimmed off too...it bugs me.
we seem to have some terrible clutch chatter. we used a clutch disc & pressure plate that came out of a nova of mine a good 6 years ago. we're really not sure of the problem considering the clutch had less than 500 miles on it before i swapped it out for an auto trans. so maybe the thing got a bent or sticky finger from sitting around so long. oh well, our new flywheel is drilled for both small & large diameter clutches so we're just gonna throw the known good ,but smaller, clutch set that was already in the car when we got it back in.
pulled the clutch out & the pilot bushing came right along with it...oopsie! to clear the larger diameter 400 flywheel we used a truck bell houusing, not paying attentioin to the fact that the opening for the input bearing cover is much larger than that of a passenger car bellhousing. so even though the trans bolts right up to it, it doesn't center it causing all sorts of trouble for us. we have a few leads on correct bellhousings, so hopefully we'll have one tomorrow night & this thing buttoned back up soon. the dual 600 holley's seem to run excellent at the moment...
I did that once on a 400. One of the guys started laughing, went out to the scrap pile and got what he said was a cast iron bellhousing from a 55-57 chevy. I can't say for sure but it is a place to start. The 400 flywheel was too big for an aluminum car bell. I don't think the lakewood would work either.
The Jalopy Journal
