I think you're crazy for doing this! But what's even crazier is that I'm lovin' it!!! 🤣🤣🤣 And, Max, I love the video format! You're not just doing the work, you're walking us through it!! Awesome! Thank you!
I most certainly am crazy! Glad you like the format it's certainly a page out of the old REality REnovision days. Lots more to come Sandi have a Merry Christmas and happy holidays!
That’s amazing!!! Me and my sister are going to restore my dad’s 68 Chevy Nova it hasn’t been touched in 34 years he just passsed away 2 weeks ago. He wanted to start the process this summer but unfortunately he didn’t make it so we’re gonna do it in his memory of him. Super excited!!! Black with fire flames on the front end. 😁💖💖💖
Wow Sheena this is amazing. First of really sorry to hear about your dad but love your idea of restoring it I'm memory of him. All I can say is "you can do it!'. Seriously. I know so little going into this and yet everything gets figured out you just gotta keep going. Best part is (for you not so much for me) is that this project has turned huge for me. We are doing way more than expected but that said we are filming everything. You will see every single aspect of a nova restoration in this series (that I can do at least). So you can follow along and hopefully the videos can help. Finally I saw you posted on the truck video you see it around town. Well if you are in Sudbury Ontario please document your restom videos pictures etc. once you finish I will come out and we can film an entire episode on your story. I love what you and your sister are going to do please keep us in the loop on your progress you got this!
Wow that's a hell of a comment and I'm really moved you think that. Considering how limited my knowledge is it's cool to hear this. Next episode comes out Friday and took months to shoot. But even before then spent months during the winter doing research so I have a shot of learning. Thanks man for this
@@dq7143 Thats awesome was hoping to do that glad it's making some sense for the common man like myself. Thanks again for the support let me know what youd like to see us film on this channel coming up.
Dude! Awesome video. Excellent quality, great production and fantastic hosting. Working on my project Nova…it’s refreshing to see someone that matches us common people as we decipher and prioritize what we need to do as we build our dream car. Keep em coming my guy!
Man thanks for this comment this is really nice to hear, glad you enjoy it. Glad the videos are relatable because honestly everyone else on youtube building these cars are pros, so im waaay behind in knowledge. But I figured id share the jouney share all the victories and defeats. next video is a huge one took 2 months to create. Tons of errors but I shared them all along with how to fix them. Will probably get torn a new one for all the mistakes because like I said im keeping this honest. Awesome you got one too what year is your car and engine? Whats your plan on your car?
You can do it man. There are creative ways to do it. I'm working on it and finding ways to do it for "cheaper". Will have videos that can hopefully help out in the future
@@erikmoya1156 thanks man. It'll take me some time just because it takes me forever to do the jobs and spreading out the spending as it adds up fast. But that said I've been finding ways to save money. Will try to make the videos as helpful as possible. Thanks again for the support next ep comes out in 2 weeks the first of the rebuild. Cheers
You have a good starting point, compared to some of the other specimens you were looking at. Good job finding it. The interior finds are awesome. If not using, I'd restore and put on a shelf in the garage. Definitely cool seeing the old 8 track player, the speaker pod is cool too. But the gauages, I'd try and use, pretty neat piece. PS. When making a patch, etc, in the states we say "Fabricate", not "Manufacture" HaHa
Oh yeah ok lucky it had so much cool stuff. I'm actually going to do your idea because I'm not even going to keep the old gauge cluster. Dakota digital makes ones that work well with LS conversions that look exactly like the 72 did so it'll look period but it'll be modern and work with the gauges. But there is so much cool stuff I don't wanna throw any out. In terms of the words manufacture vs fabricate I honestly don't know if that's a Canadian thing or just a me thing. Like I said pretty new to all this so I may say something stupid from time to time! Thanks for your comment
Glad you found a Nova! Have been watching your channel. I own 7 Novas all between 68 - 73 Started collecting classics at age 16. You can accomplish a lot with patience. Put hands on all of them. Looking forward to the progress. You got this ✊🏼
Wow 7 novas white the collection! I don't blame you'd I'd buy more if I could for sure. Great cars. Thank you for the awesome comment and support next video is a big one comes out Feb 2nd when we start patching this thing up 😎
I'm in the same boat with my 71. My floors were alot like yours and I did the same thing with the patches. Lots told me it's easier to do the entire floor in one piece. They were definitely correct. I did the patches and what a dang job. HRS grinding and welding. Love the channel! Oh for those bolts, cut a small slot and use a large flat head screw driver. Late reply but 🤷♂️😂
Oh man I feel your pain I had more of the "floor pan views" with this car since this was done. You will see me revisiting the floor after I strip it and remove the rust. Had the same issue with the trunk too. I would never try to save a floor or trunk pan I'm an old car ever again let me just say that much. Hell I haven't even sanded the bottom yet that's going to take forever. How far are you into your resto?
@SubdivisionAuto nice man! Yeah it's a first resto for me as well! I'm chugging along well! I started with a pretty decent base, I just got the firewall, underbody, and inside completely done with paint and seam seal. Finished sound deadening, gonna be picking up the subframe from the powder coater sometime this week and hopefully making it a roller again. I'm unfortunately in a small single car garage so I'm doing the front half to the trunk area then finishing the back half later but it's coming along slowly!! Do you have a insta? I've watched all your nova videos now, from you searching to the last episode. I'd love to follow you on other socials!!
Happy to hear you are enjoying the ride so far. Going to be a huge project but we are making our way. It will for sure pay off but you'll see quite the evolution in this.
Hi Max, You have certainly found some "interesting" items. as you cleanout your car. I bought my '71 car from a fellow who had several other rides. I suspect that this led to me discover what I came to refer to as "Larryisms". The windscreen was a replacement piece of glass that he had picked up somewhere (it was "milky" around the edges) and did not have the radio lead, still in place. Instead, he plugged in a conventional antenna to the radio and used electrical tape to attach it to the top of the heater plenum. The rear seat belts were, and still are, missing. Larry hadn't replace the seatbelt attachment bolts (to the floor - under the rear seat cushion) but had smeared some wheel bearing grease into the bolt holes and then covered the grease with small pieces of tin. The shifter mechanism was screwed to the floor pan and the shift rods were fed through an opening in the floor pan. When I got hard on the throttle, the engine and transmission would torque over and cause the gear shifting to be just about impossible. A new Hurst Comp plus cured all of that. A new windscreen, proper bolts in the rear seatbelt attachment holes..... I was in a "repair, replace, re-do" mode for the first year or so. The list of "Larryism" was long and I discovered them as time rolled by - each and every one was eventually resolved. Every old car brings a history of previous ownership and therein tell a tale of someone else's adventures when they had your car, parked in their garage. Regards, Bruce
Wow Bruce that sounds like a can of worms! It's reasons like that I wanted to avoid a car thats been "worked on". Heck my car had some work on the quarters done and they pretty much destoryed the outerwheel houses which were still solid. But im lucky most the car is original. Crazy story about your car but hey they are getting so rare its good to have one and fix it up! Thanks for the support
So a couple things there will always be haters, don't worry about them, I've been in same place as you , it's your project you're passion you are doing exactly what needs done to get car back to the living world this is what it takes and do it on the level you want and can afford, 100% supporter keep it up.
Thats awesome dude! Love to hear someone else has been here before. When you are done it and want to see your car on the facebook page I am planning on starting viewer posts of before and afters in the future ! All the best Happy holidays and Merry Christmas
Gd build. Lots of pluses. Disc brakes, v8, bucket car, console, etc. They all need metal work and anything can be saved. It’s all time, money and headaches but if you have a goal it’s all worth it. Parts can be found whether new or original. Social media solves those nowadays. I’m putting my 70 together now and started the same way you are. Ready for the journey. Congrats.
Good points Dave. Thats cool your doing your own Nova when you finish you should send us some photos of the work you did would love to see. Got any pointers for challenges that may come up?
I bought a 20 ltr container of molasses from a farm supply store and mixed it 7 or 8 parts water to 1 part molasses. Soaked the rusted parts for however long they required.
So great to see you really tearing into the car. With that stripping drum tool. get the black nylon web 40 grit drum, it will remove the old material a lot better then the red finishing drum. Also be careful not to jump around too much it can be overwhelming. Once you do your full survey and get everything apart, pick one area and perform all the fixes on that area then move on to the next. Good luck with the build and can't wait to see the next episode.
Thanks man, and great tips. Haha its funny looking back at some of these videos and seeing some pretty bad mistakes but youll see them all in there. I decided to keep all the mistakes I make. Yeah man what a difference switching drums you will still see me use that a handful of times before I switch it. Good tips on the strategy I will keep that in mind when I start striping the car down to paint, which hopefully will be this spring (not filming until at least march or may but I have videos in the que). Thank you for taking the time to not only help out but to drop tips like these I really apperciate it! Next ep is when we really get into it.
Cool stuf !! I recently inherited a 1970 Nova and am starting on my journey. The engine and tranny are at the machine shop. I am changing out for new manual steering box and related parts. I am going to be doing complete undercarriage and inside floors and engine bay and trunk rust resolve and paint next. The videos will be starting soon, I havent messed with cars for over 35 years. I sub'd and will follow you as well.
That is very awesome congrats on obtaining one its not easy to find a decent one these days. Sounds like you will be doing what I have been. Next video is floor pans in this series comes out in 3 weeks. 35 years wow thats how old I am sounds like you are due to get back into it brother! Take lots of pictures, keep us informed how out goes and make some before and afters. Good luck thanks for subbing we got lots of videos coming (Floor pans, 5 tricks that save me on this job, roof skin, and window channels). I highly recommend consider removing your roof skin even if it looks decent. You will see how bad these things rot away even with no water damage it's scary.... Good luck!
I was thinking that. Just like a house, its gotta have a good roof. I have the entire car cleaned and POR15 applied underneath. New core support and front bumper and inner wheelwells and Borgeson manual steering. All new suspension and body bushings. I will shoot a video of under car and post to this thread. It has a couple tiny holes in trunk pan.. Floorpans in cab are good. Removing interior to POR15 inside floor in a few days. Taillight panel needs replaced and 2 spots around windows. Engine and Tranny and diff are being rebuilt. Im redoing all wiring, American Autowire kit. Thanks for getting back to me. Im following your progress.. Good stuff sir !
Hey Max! Sorry I'm late... Preoccupied with Christmas for the grandkids.They doubled from two to four in 2023. Loved the video. As the saying goes, the longest journeys always begin with the first step. That's a very big step and a great Christmas present for me to watch and enjoy. I didn't check the merch today but I assume since I was late the authentic Santa beards made from '72 Nova interior fluff have already been sold out. 😅😂😊👍
Never apologize for being awesome JD, it's a privilege to see your name pop up in the comments my wife and I always get excited. WE truely apperciate the time you spend watching the videos and taking the time to drop some awesome comments. First of all Merry Christmas and all the best to the 2 new members of the family along with the rest of the fam. You must be loving it as grandpa. Haha mouse nest Santa beards! I love it... I certainly had enough material to make a batch from that headliner!
Great job.....My car has the original jack and has never been used....I removed my seats to look for a build sheet which I knew I would never find as Willow Run never put them in the Nova's as per company rules, but I did find the original seat tags that were hog ringed to the springs and have the cool, date and car's production number on them.....That was cool to find. When you removed the dash pad was it stamped "Made In Canada" as I think that's were most of them came from if it's original.
Question. why a chevy Nova? I am enjoying the video series...I can relate.. I would love to do a restoration but I know I do not have the skills. You are an inspiration. Thanks.
Honestly to me its just the ultimate cool looking car.. and at the same time its not a full sized car like a charger or something so you can whip it around pretty good with the right performance parts. At the end of the day its whatever someone likes I think. I am happy to hear you are enjoying the series and flattered you were inspired (by a guy who is so new to this). So really you are a lot like me... I did not have most the skills when I started and you will see throughout the series the skills get better with time. I can honestly say after 7 months welding I got it down pretty good and that was a big one. I truly believe anyone can do this. You just need to find what you are looking for and ensure it has what you need. For me it was all about having some options (like manual pedals, bucket seats, complete dash (and complete car for the most part), with solid structure. The car has solid rockers and frame rails and whats all I really need to work off of. However as you probably saw this was the only car I found that solid (even though its still very rusty). The structure is in tact and for a newbie this is a good starting point. The rest will fall into place despite never doing this before. Next video comes out in 2 weeks... quarter panels the biggest one. Thanks for the support Frank keep checking in let us know what you decide what to do. Just remember I said no to 62 cars...
Unsure on the cost or availability in some areas, but I've seen where other TH-cam video's have shown they've 'dipped' the cars (no idea on the solution used) which basically takes out all the rust, where you then know exactly what should be changed out, and other areas that could be saved. If the surface rust is gone, you'd see just how far some areas are gone, but others you thought where toast, may be saveable, where you could add some kind of protectant for the long term? Taking off the roof...that's a big project, and not one I could tackle, but with your abilities hopefully you have the talent to do so. My thoughts if I where doing it, that I'd get to a point where my skills where not where I thought they where, and I'd have to bring in someone with the talent to finish off the job, thus unsure of the cost of that personally.
Yeah dipping the car is an expensive process certainly not in my budget as a first time car builder. At the same time I'm doing the project in a series of little projects rather than removing all the rust first then rebuilding etc. I'm not really doing it the right way yes the easiest way is to strip everything then order but side I'm filming I'm doing it differently. So you will see me get burned for doing it this way but at the same time this is how a lot of people will do it because of how long it takes to do. In terms of the roof you say it's not something you can do but I 100% if you needed you could. you will see me doing this and trust me I've never done it before and it was not bad at all. Everything can be done one step at a time. Nice of you to say the talent and abilities aspect but I'll tell you I'm as green as they come. Kind of the whole idea of this project to show others anyone can do it. But I understand to do such a project you need space and a considerable amount of tools.
100%. With some guidance (as shown in this video) I was able to order parts for all my jobs really early on. Because of this I never lost a day of work. To date just completed about 50 days on the car, filmed the entire process. Not one day did we stop working due to waiting for parts. You will see the progress unfold. But yeah it takes forever and it still seems like we did very little. Nice to see you Don Merry Christmas and happy holidays!
There is always something to do on a project for sure. Then it's like Christmas morning all year long as parts come in. Merry Christmas.@@SubdivisionAuto
Get a Commercial sand blaster, use fine silica sand, Your changing rear quarter anyway, It will all come out, I restored a 71 ss nova 4 speed car back in the 80's Saves so much time.,And it never warped any Panels, Took 3 hours car was bare Metal, Epoxy filling Primer, Car came out Great.
You should spray penetrating oil on the seatbelt screws from the underside. So you can get to the threads and manually with a 1/2. Inch drive ratchet, it slowly start to twist it because the impact is just gonna strip the head.another thing you should do to the floors before cutting them out is use a wire wheel on an angle grinder to see how good the rusted areas are ,that will really let you see what you are working with.
Hmm that's an interesting idea. If I still a tiny hole I can shoot oil In. Really want to avoid cutting open the rocker if at all possible so this is a good idea. Thanks for the tip I'll try combining this along with some other ideas
I don't think those bolts go inside the rocker. If you look under the car, you might see the threads sticking through the floor but I'll go look at my car right now and let you know
And just to let you know my friend. It's always nice to try to find a NOVA without a lot of Rust. That's always a good goal. But the reality is when you're looking at any old car. Especially these novas. They got rust in hard see areas. It's common to find Rust in the window channels
Yeah, I just went and checked mine, and they are inside the rocker. But you know a good idea is just drill a small hole next to the bolt use a flexible tip on wd40 spray that should work
@@Novarider72 oh yeah you'll see a lot of that in this. Car looks good on the surface but it has a ton of hidden rust. Learned a lot since I picked this up about novas problem is there cars rust in hard to see parts so can be difficult to judge it with all interior and trim on.
He was happy with it. He didn't come see.it in person but he said it's a good one. It was the only car we found that didn't need like 10-15k in new metal. Overall it's been a lot more work than I expected but happy with it becuase been learning a lot on the car (next episode is the roof which I didn't plan to do but learned it's super worth doing). Was the only car that didn't need frame rails, rockers, and trunk. But it still needed a lot
if you were paying someone for labor it would be an issue but since you are doing the repairs yourself it’s a no brainer. Replace the floor sections and roof. You’ll be happier.
Yeah good points not paying for labor going to try to tackle most this stuff on my own. But will be getting help from people I know that are experts down the line for sure. Thanks for your comment wise advice!
Weld an old nut to the top of the bolt. If you do it right. It will come right out. As far as the body. Have it dipped. Then primer the body bear metal with epoxy. That's what i did with my 1966 chevelle convertible. You'll not have to worry about the car rusting as you work on it. Epoxy primer is the best base You'll find.
it will be driven daily rain or shine. And yes you are 100%... have done some of the roof work and my god you will see whats underneath. really big job but well worth doing. Thanks for watching and commenting!
For the stuck bolts: 1- Torch; preferably oxy acetylene (but mapp gas can work just takes a lot longer) Heat the area where the bolt threads into as you want to use the heat to expand the metal and help release the bolt. Otherwise using oxy acetylene you can carefully blow the head off, as the saying goes, "can't be stuck if it's liquid" 2- weld a nut to the head (1/2" or 3/4") so you have a nice center hole to work with. Weld the middle of the nut to the bolt head and fill it up. Let it cool and use a socket or wrench and start working it back and forth. Take your time and it'll come.
Here's an idea, Why not spend lttle in having the body sand blasted, then you KNOW what you need to replace, then spend the money where you truly need it.
I think you're crazy for doing this! But what's even crazier is that I'm lovin' it!!! 🤣🤣🤣 And, Max, I love the video format! You're not just doing the work, you're walking us through it!! Awesome! Thank you!
I most certainly am crazy! Glad you like the format it's certainly a page out of the old REality REnovision days. Lots more to come Sandi have a Merry Christmas and happy holidays!
@@SubdivisionAuto Wow, I forget it's almost Christmas. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and the family!! (Especially the kids!! 😂)
You are spot on regarding the floors. I would do the floors as you stated.
Floors went pretty well next video with them is out if you wanna let me know how the came out. Was different thank I expected.
That’s amazing!!! Me and my sister are going to restore my dad’s 68 Chevy Nova it hasn’t been touched in 34 years he just passsed away 2 weeks ago. He wanted to start the process this summer but unfortunately he didn’t make it so we’re gonna do it in his memory of him. Super excited!!! Black with fire flames on the front end. 😁💖💖💖
Wow Sheena this is amazing. First of really sorry to hear about your dad but love your idea of restoring it I'm memory of him. All I can say is "you can do it!'. Seriously. I know so little going into this and yet everything gets figured out you just gotta keep going. Best part is (for you not so much for me) is that this project has turned huge for me. We are doing way more than expected but that said we are filming everything. You will see every single aspect of a nova restoration in this series (that I can do at least). So you can follow along and hopefully the videos can help. Finally I saw you posted on the truck video you see it around town. Well if you are in Sudbury Ontario please document your restom videos pictures etc. once you finish I will come out and we can film an entire episode on your story. I love what you and your sister are going to do please keep us in the loop on your progress you got this!
Make sure you save the headliner rods and keep them in order they came out they don't remake them that I know of
I did not know that good to know. I kept the rods but out of order. Thanks for the tip Kevin got any others?
Your videos are 100 times better than classic car restoration videos on TV. You hit the details better.
Wow that's a hell of a comment and I'm really moved you think that. Considering how limited my knowledge is it's cool to hear this. Next episode comes out Friday and took months to shoot. But even before then spent months during the winter doing research so I have a shot of learning. Thanks man for this
@@SubdivisionAuto The challenges you're going through I can identify with.
@@dq7143 Thats awesome was hoping to do that glad it's making some sense for the common man like myself. Thanks again for the support let me know what youd like to see us film on this channel coming up.
Dude! Awesome video. Excellent quality, great production and fantastic hosting. Working on my project Nova…it’s refreshing to see someone that matches us common people as we decipher and prioritize what we need to do as we build our dream car. Keep em coming my guy!
Man thanks for this comment this is really nice to hear, glad you enjoy it. Glad the videos are relatable because honestly everyone else on youtube building these cars are pros, so im waaay behind in knowledge. But I figured id share the jouney share all the victories and defeats. next video is a huge one took 2 months to create. Tons of errors but I shared them all along with how to fix them. Will probably get torn a new one for all the mistakes because like I said im keeping this honest. Awesome you got one too what year is your car and engine? Whats your plan on your car?
I wish I had the money to restore my 1970 Chevy Nova can’t wait to see yours finished 😉👍🚙
You can do it man. There are creative ways to do it. I'm working on it and finding ways to do it for "cheaper". Will have videos that can hopefully help out in the future
@@SubdivisionAuto thank you so much can’t wait to see your ride but hopefully one day I can do it
@@erikmoya1156 thanks man. It'll take me some time just because it takes me forever to do the jobs and spreading out the spending as it adds up fast. But that said I've been finding ways to save money. Will try to make the videos as helpful as possible. Thanks again for the support next ep comes out in 2 weeks the first of the rebuild. Cheers
My frist car was a 68 nova had five or six what find great fine happy for you can’t wait too see if done
That's awesome Jesse. Glad to hear youre hanging around for the ride hopefully we won't dissappint. Cheers !
You have a good starting point, compared to some of the other specimens you were looking at. Good job finding it.
The interior finds are awesome. If not using, I'd restore and put on a shelf in the garage. Definitely cool seeing the old 8 track player, the speaker pod is cool too. But the gauages, I'd try and use, pretty neat piece.
PS. When making a patch, etc, in the states we say "Fabricate", not "Manufacture" HaHa
Oh yeah ok lucky it had so much cool stuff. I'm actually going to do your idea because I'm not even going to keep the old gauge cluster. Dakota digital makes ones that work well with LS conversions that look exactly like the 72 did so it'll look period but it'll be modern and work with the gauges. But there is so much cool stuff I don't wanna throw any out. In terms of the words manufacture vs fabricate I honestly don't know if that's a Canadian thing or just a me thing. Like I said pretty new to all this so I may say something stupid from time to time! Thanks for your comment
Glad you found a Nova! Have been watching your channel. I own 7 Novas all between 68 - 73 Started collecting classics at age 16. You can accomplish a lot with patience. Put hands on all of them. Looking forward to the progress. You got this ✊🏼
Wow 7 novas white the collection! I don't blame you'd I'd buy more if I could for sure. Great cars. Thank you for the awesome comment and support next video is a big one comes out Feb 2nd when we start patching this thing up 😎
I'm in the same boat with my 71. My floors were alot like yours and I did the same thing with the patches. Lots told me it's easier to do the entire floor in one piece. They were definitely correct. I did the patches and what a dang job. HRS grinding and welding. Love the channel! Oh for those bolts, cut a small slot and use a large flat head screw driver. Late reply but 🤷♂️😂
Oh man I feel your pain I had more of the "floor pan views" with this car since this was done. You will see me revisiting the floor after I strip it and remove the rust. Had the same issue with the trunk too. I would never try to save a floor or trunk pan I'm an old car ever again let me just say that much. Hell I haven't even sanded the bottom yet that's going to take forever. How far are you into your resto?
@SubdivisionAuto nice man! Yeah it's a first resto for me as well! I'm chugging along well! I started with a pretty decent base, I just got the firewall, underbody, and inside completely done with paint and seam seal. Finished sound deadening, gonna be picking up the subframe from the powder coater sometime this week and hopefully making it a roller again. I'm unfortunately in a small single car garage so I'm doing the front half to the trunk area then finishing the back half later but it's coming along slowly!! Do you have a insta? I've watched all your nova videos now, from you searching to the last episode. I'd love to follow you on other socials!!
2nd video in! Glad to see you got a actual nova and in good shape I look forward to seeing this build
More to come!
Haters will hate,,,,follow your dreams. Keep up the good work.
Thanks for support 100% agree Jim
Hey! Hustle House here.. Awesome Content, Just subscribed.
Glad you like it HH thanks for the support welcome
Satisfying to see the process begin after the long hunt, excited to see the progress and pay off of this journey
Happy to hear you are enjoying the ride so far. Going to be a huge project but we are making our way. It will for sure pay off but you'll see quite the evolution in this.
This was excellent ❤
Glad you liked it man!
Hi Max,
You have certainly found some "interesting" items. as you cleanout your car.
I bought my '71 car from a fellow who had several other rides. I suspect that this led to me discover what I came to refer to as "Larryisms". The windscreen was a replacement piece of glass that he had picked up somewhere (it was "milky" around the edges) and did not have the radio lead, still in place. Instead, he plugged in a conventional antenna to the radio and used electrical tape to attach it to the top of the heater plenum. The rear seat belts were, and still are, missing. Larry hadn't replace the seatbelt attachment bolts (to the floor - under the rear seat cushion) but had smeared some wheel bearing grease into the bolt holes and then covered the grease with small pieces of tin. The shifter mechanism was screwed to the floor pan and the shift rods were fed through an opening in the floor pan. When I got hard on the throttle, the engine and transmission would torque over and cause the gear shifting to be just about impossible. A new Hurst Comp plus cured all of that. A new windscreen, proper bolts in the rear seatbelt attachment holes..... I was in a "repair, replace, re-do" mode for the first year or so.
The list of "Larryism" was long and I discovered them as time rolled by - each and every one was eventually resolved.
Every old car brings a history of previous ownership and therein tell a tale of someone else's adventures when they had your car, parked in their garage.
Regards,
Bruce
Wow Bruce that sounds like a can of worms! It's reasons like that I wanted to avoid a car thats been "worked on". Heck my car had some work on the quarters done and they pretty much destoryed the outerwheel houses which were still solid. But im lucky most the car is original. Crazy story about your car but hey they are getting so rare its good to have one and fix it up! Thanks for the support
A place called Belden Speed & Engineering makes window channel patch panels, they come coated in weld thru primer and fit nicely
Oh no kidding I did not know that. Thats pretty useful information good to know.
Good work.
Thank you appreciate you joining along
Great episode...good learning curve in terms of what to expect when tearing into an interior....a lot more work than people expect.....
Thanks guys Merry Christmas!
So a couple things there will always be haters, don't worry about them, I've been in same place as you , it's your project you're passion you are doing exactly what needs done to get car back to the living world this is what it takes and do it on the level you want and can afford, 100% supporter keep it up.
Thank you for these great motivating and down-to-earth comments. Thanks Chuck you're awesome
Great stuff, been workin on modifying / restoring my 72 Chevelle and it's also my first project, a learning process for sure but 100% worth it.
Thats awesome dude! Love to hear someone else has been here before. When you are done it and want to see your car on the facebook page I am planning on starting viewer posts of before and afters in the future !
All the best
Happy holidays and Merry Christmas
Gd build. Lots of pluses. Disc brakes, v8, bucket car, console, etc. They all need metal work and anything can be saved. It’s all time, money and headaches but if you have a goal it’s all worth it. Parts can be found whether new or original. Social media solves those nowadays. I’m putting my 70 together now and started the same way you are. Ready for the journey. Congrats.
Good points Dave. Thats cool your doing your own Nova when you finish you should send us some photos of the work you did would love to see. Got any pointers for challenges that may come up?
I bought a 20 ltr container of molasses from a farm supply store and mixed it 7 or 8 parts water to 1 part molasses. Soaked the rusted parts for however long they required.
So great to see you really tearing into the car. With that stripping drum tool. get the black nylon web 40 grit drum, it will remove the old material a lot better then the red finishing drum. Also be careful not to jump around too much it can be overwhelming. Once you do your full survey and get everything apart, pick one area and perform all the fixes on that area then move on to the next. Good luck with the build and can't wait to see the next episode.
Thanks man, and great tips. Haha its funny looking back at some of these videos and seeing some pretty bad mistakes but youll see them all in there. I decided to keep all the mistakes I make. Yeah man what a difference switching drums you will still see me use that a handful of times before I switch it. Good tips on the strategy I will keep that in mind when I start striping the car down to paint, which hopefully will be this spring (not filming until at least march or may but I have videos in the que). Thank you for taking the time to not only help out but to drop tips like these I really apperciate it! Next ep is when we really get into it.
Cool stuf !! I recently inherited a 1970 Nova and am starting on my journey. The engine and tranny are at the machine shop. I am changing out for new manual steering box and related parts. I am going to be doing complete undercarriage and inside floors and engine bay and trunk rust resolve and paint next. The videos will be starting soon, I havent messed with cars for over 35 years. I sub'd and will follow you as well.
That is very awesome congrats on obtaining one its not easy to find a decent one these days. Sounds like you will be doing what I have been. Next video is floor pans in this series comes out in 3 weeks. 35 years wow thats how old I am sounds like you are due to get back into it brother! Take lots of pictures, keep us informed how out goes and make some before and afters. Good luck thanks for subbing we got lots of videos coming (Floor pans, 5 tricks that save me on this job, roof skin, and window channels). I highly recommend consider removing your roof skin even if it looks decent. You will see how bad these things rot away even with no water damage it's scary.... Good luck!
I was thinking that. Just like a house, its gotta have a good roof. I have the entire car cleaned and POR15 applied underneath. New core support and front bumper and inner wheelwells and Borgeson manual steering. All new suspension and body bushings. I will shoot a video of under car and post to this thread. It has a couple tiny holes in trunk pan.. Floorpans in cab are good. Removing interior to POR15 inside floor in a few days. Taillight panel needs replaced and 2 spots around windows. Engine and Tranny and diff are being rebuilt. Im redoing all wiring, American Autowire kit. Thanks for getting back to me. Im following your progress.. Good stuff sir !
Hey Max! Sorry I'm late...
Preoccupied with Christmas for the grandkids.They doubled from two to four in 2023.
Loved the video. As the saying goes, the longest journeys always begin with the first step.
That's a very big step and a great Christmas present for me to watch and enjoy.
I didn't check the merch today but I assume since I was late the authentic Santa beards made from '72 Nova interior fluff have already been sold out. 😅😂😊👍
Never apologize for being awesome JD, it's a privilege to see your name pop up in the comments my wife and I always get excited. WE truely apperciate the time you spend watching the videos and taking the time to drop some awesome comments. First of all Merry Christmas and all the best to the 2 new members of the family along with the rest of the fam. You must be loving it as grandpa. Haha mouse nest Santa beards! I love it... I certainly had enough material to make a batch from that headliner!
Great job.....My car has the original jack and has never been used....I removed my seats to look for a build sheet which I knew I would never find as Willow Run never put them in the Nova's as per company rules, but I did find the original seat tags that were hog ringed to the springs and have the cool, date and car's production number on them.....That was cool to find. When you removed the dash pad was it stamped "Made In Canada" as I think that's were most of them came from if it's original.
Ill have to look into that cool tip didnt know that. Thanks for dropping in Nova1971 have a great holiday season
Question. why a chevy Nova? I am enjoying the video series...I can relate.. I would love to do a restoration but I know I do not have the skills. You are an inspiration. Thanks.
Honestly to me its just the ultimate cool looking car.. and at the same time its not a full sized car like a charger or something so you can whip it around pretty good with the right performance parts. At the end of the day its whatever someone likes I think. I am happy to hear you are enjoying the series and flattered you were inspired (by a guy who is so new to this). So really you are a lot like me... I did not have most the skills when I started and you will see throughout the series the skills get better with time. I can honestly say after 7 months welding I got it down pretty good and that was a big one. I truly believe anyone can do this. You just need to find what you are looking for and ensure it has what you need. For me it was all about having some options (like manual pedals, bucket seats, complete dash (and complete car for the most part), with solid structure. The car has solid rockers and frame rails and whats all I really need to work off of. However as you probably saw this was the only car I found that solid (even though its still very rusty). The structure is in tact and for a newbie this is a good starting point. The rest will fall into place despite never doing this before. Next video comes out in 2 weeks... quarter panels the biggest one. Thanks for the support Frank keep checking in let us know what you decide what to do. Just remember I said no to 62 cars...
Unsure on the cost or availability in some areas, but I've seen where other TH-cam video's have shown they've 'dipped' the cars (no idea on the solution used) which basically takes out all the rust, where you then know exactly what should be changed out, and other areas that could be saved. If the surface rust is gone, you'd see just how far some areas are gone, but others you thought where toast, may be saveable, where you could add some kind of protectant for the long term? Taking off the roof...that's a big project, and not one I could tackle, but with your abilities hopefully you have the talent to do so. My thoughts if I where doing it, that I'd get to a point where my skills where not where I thought they where, and I'd have to bring in someone with the talent to finish off the job, thus unsure of the cost of that personally.
Yeah dipping the car is an expensive process certainly not in my budget as a first time car builder. At the same time I'm doing the project in a series of little projects rather than removing all the rust first then rebuilding etc. I'm not really doing it the right way yes the easiest way is to strip everything then order but side I'm filming I'm doing it differently. So you will see me get burned for doing it this way but at the same time this is how a lot of people will do it because of how long it takes to do. In terms of the roof you say it's not something you can do but I 100% if you needed you could. you will see me doing this and trust me I've never done it before and it was not bad at all. Everything can be done one step at a time. Nice of you to say the talent and abilities aspect but I'll tell you I'm as green as they come. Kind of the whole idea of this project to show others anyone can do it. But I understand to do such a project you need space and a considerable amount of tools.
It seems right now that the problem people restoring cars are having is back order parts. It really shows just how many people are doing restorations.
100%. With some guidance (as shown in this video) I was able to order parts for all my jobs really early on. Because of this I never lost a day of work. To date just completed about 50 days on the car, filmed the entire process. Not one day did we stop working due to waiting for parts. You will see the progress unfold. But yeah it takes forever and it still seems like we did very little. Nice to see you Don Merry Christmas and happy holidays!
There is always something to do on a project for sure. Then it's like Christmas morning all year long as parts come in. Merry Christmas.@@SubdivisionAuto
On the seat belt bolts welding a nut to it then impact it out
Gonna give that a shot thanks
That IS the correct size torx socket for the seat belt bolts. They get dirt and corrosion that causes the tight fit.
Heat the fixed nut with a small torch tip. The bolt will back out easier.
Heat the fixed nut with a small torch tip. The bolt will back out easier.
Heat the fixed nut with a small torch tip. The bolt will back out easier.
Heat the fixed nut with a small torch tip. The bolt will back out easier.
Heat the fixed nut with a small torch tip. The bolt will back out easier.
Get a Commercial sand blaster, use fine silica sand, Your changing rear quarter anyway, It will all come out, I restored a 71 ss nova 4 speed car back in the 80's Saves so much time.,And it never warped any Panels, Took 3 hours car was bare Metal, Epoxy filling Primer, Car came out Great.
Wow 3 hours thats amazing. Sounds very efficent. Thanks for the tips!
@@SubdivisionAuto Make sure if you Sand blast Remove all Glass. And Merry Christmas
Weld a nut to it the heat from the weld will release it with you impact good luck.
Will give it a shot thank you
Best bodyman i knew try to tighten a bit before you try to loosen
Yeah that does work for sure. That's a good tip
You should spray penetrating oil on the seatbelt screws from the underside. So you can get to the threads and manually with a 1/2. Inch drive ratchet, it slowly start to twist it because the impact is just gonna strip the head.another thing you should do to the floors before cutting them out is use a wire wheel on an angle grinder to see how good the rusted areas are ,that will really let you see what you are working with.
Hmm that's an interesting idea. If I still a tiny hole I can shoot oil In. Really want to avoid cutting open the rocker if at all possible so this is a good idea. Thanks for the tip I'll try combining this along with some other ideas
I don't think those bolts go inside the rocker. If you look under the car, you might see the threads sticking through the floor but I'll go look at my car right now and let you know
And just to let you know my friend. It's always nice to try to find a NOVA without a lot of Rust. That's always a good goal. But the reality is when you're looking at any old car. Especially these novas. They got rust in hard see areas. It's common to find Rust in the window channels
Yeah, I just went and checked mine, and they are inside the rocker. But you know a good idea is just drill a small hole next to the bolt use a flexible tip on wd40 spray that should work
@@Novarider72 oh yeah you'll see a lot of that in this. Car looks good on the surface but it has a ton of hidden rust. Learned a lot since I picked this up about novas problem is there cars rust in hard to see parts so can be difficult to judge it with all interior and trim on.
Induction heating coil made by bolt buster for freeing up frozen nuts bolts use one at my job not cheap and good quality impact driver
Very cool will keep this in mind!
What does your buddy think about your nova?..... the same guy who was with you looking at the other novas, keep up the good work
He was happy with it. He didn't come see.it in person but he said it's a good one. It was the only car we found that didn't need like 10-15k in new metal. Overall it's been a lot more work than I expected but happy with it becuase been learning a lot on the car (next episode is the roof which I didn't plan to do but learned it's super worth doing). Was the only car that didn't need frame rails, rockers, and trunk. But it still needed a lot
I use White Cleaning Vinegar for cleaning rust on parts. A gallon is around $2 or so.
Good call will get the job done for sure. Thanks for the tip any others you got?
I have also used white vinigar. Note: some brands have less % of acid in them than others.
@@57BAwagon good to know thanks Henry thanks for dropping in
I get mine at Menards. The brand is Tile Plus Cleaning Vinegar. It says it contains water and Acetic Acid. Seems to work real well. @@57BAwagon
if you were paying someone for labor it would be an issue but since you are doing the repairs yourself it’s a no brainer. Replace the floor sections and roof. You’ll be happier.
Yeah good points not paying for labor going to try to tackle most this stuff on my own. But will be getting help from people I know that are experts down the line for sure. Thanks for your comment wise advice!
Weld an old nut to the top of the bolt. If you do it right. It will come right out. As far as the body. Have it dipped. Then primer the body bear metal with epoxy. That's what i did with my 1966 chevelle convertible. You'll not have to worry about the car rusting as you work on it. Epoxy primer is the best base You'll find.
Great tips bobby thanks!
I knew atilla his mother and father owned pickeral park in hay bay.
Wondering if the car will be driven in the rain or sleep outside. If both or one are true you need to fix the roof issue.
it will be driven daily rain or shine. And yes you are 100%... have done some of the roof work and my god you will see whats underneath. really big job but well worth doing. Thanks for watching and commenting!
I wouldn't take the roof off.....
Id be more worried about doin the roof problem first.
100%
Order sound deadner for the floor.
For sure, any recommendations? Was thinking hush mat but thats the only one ive heard thus far.
@@SubdivisionAuto "Clunkers and Classics" in TH-cam uses Dynamat. Watch his videos about the 1972 Nova he restored.
For the stuck bolts:
1- Torch; preferably oxy acetylene (but mapp gas can work just takes a lot longer) Heat the area where the bolt threads into as you want to use the heat to expand the metal and help release the bolt. Otherwise using oxy acetylene you can carefully blow the head off, as the saying goes, "can't be stuck if it's liquid"
2- weld a nut to the head (1/2" or 3/4") so you have a nice center hole to work with. Weld the middle of the nut to the bolt head and fill it up. Let it cool and use a socket or wrench and start working it back and forth. Take your time and it'll come.
Good points will try em out dude!
Here's an idea, Why not spend lttle in having the body sand blasted, then you KNOW what you need to replace, then spend the money where you truly need it.
The best way to do it for sure.
Mouse piss probably not leaking aroung the window.
Less talking more doing , should be a nice car when done .
Ill try to keep it short
Wear a mask.
Yep learned that one the hard way...