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The 55 chevy was pointed out to me in the local Winnipeg World of Wheels car show one year (was not able to catch up with the owner then). When I contacted the owner later he told me he had the Richmond out for repair and was currently running the M20 as a spare. I offered to trade for an M-20 or M-21 which I had on hand plus cash and he wanted no part at that time. He said to wait until the Richmond was back in and he would then check the #'s. I probably tried him five times over a period of three years before he finally admitted to having the #'s transmission. We did come to an arrangement to swap plus cash which worked out (wasn't cheap but it was a pretty integral piece to the car). |
Unfortunately the "I think the old radiator might still be out at the farm" story did not have the same happy ending (quite possibly along with the fan, smog set-up etc).
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1970 L-78 Nova Restoration; Saga of The Green Bastard
4 Attachment(s)
Rear lower corner of the inner RH tub required a small patch
Attachment 212266 You can also see some of the finish welding on the trunk drop flange Attachment 212267 And a couple faux spot weld dimples Attachment 212268 Attachment 212269 |
1970 L-78 Nova Restoration; Saga of The Green Bastard
5 Attachment(s)
The rear flange at the bumper has not survived the previous repair and all of that brazing... so it will be replaced
Attachment 212270 This ones a little tricky with all the curves Attachment 212271 Attachment 212272 Attachment 212273 Tacked in Attachment 212274 |
1970 L-78 Nova Restoration; Saga of The Green Bastard
6 Attachment(s)
Mid-winter trip to a Fargo wrecker with fingers crossed to retrieve a replacement inner rear door panel. I knew there was Novas there, I didn't know if they would be good. As it turned out we found a good candidate and a cut out a good size chunk of the forward rear quarter along with the rocker.
When I began cutting this thing apart at home I could not believe how solid it was. I could have actually harvested the rocker repair piece from this. This car has been sitting in the yard forever. I was shocked at the condition. Attachment 212275 Attachment 212276 Attachment 212277 Attachment 212278 Attachment 212279 This last photo, though not finish welded, represents an enormous amount of work towards the repair of the car. Attachment 212280 |
Excellent job splicing all that together. Looks factory!
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VERY impressive work indeed! This is WAY over my head. Glad you're bringing this L78 back :3gears:
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Very nice work and very fortunate to find those super clean donor pieces for the inner structure.
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I've been to Fargo in January, not wanting to do it again! :no: Great craftsmanship going on here, I'm sure it will turn out as nice as your Chevelle convert!! - Bill W |
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It was a necessary trip but we did luck out with an unseasonably warm, mostly sunny day with little wind. It's amazing how WARM it is trudging through heavy snow with winter gear on !! It was a workout !! |
1970 L-78 Nova Restoration; Saga of The Green Bastard
4 Attachment(s)
Tub time. The flange of the tub is sandwiched between two layers at the top. Getting the old metal out from in between was a challenge. The huge holes on the outermost flange were two-fold. 1) because it was so hard to separate, it required a larger drill size. 2) My game plan was to plug weld to the inside flange first (through the larger hole). Then finish welding the outer flange.
Attachment 212333 Mock up with tub Attachment 212334 Drill, drill drill, drill Attachment 212335 And getting welded... You can see I took the opportunity of no quarter to work on the trunk floor.. lots of old drilled holes (battery in trunk ?) and lots of hammer and dolly work. While things were opened up I was stripping the "to be painted" surfaces to bare metal and the "no show" surfaces were getting wire wheeled sanded and either Por-15 if surface rusted or DP90 if bare and clean. Attachment 212336 |
1970 L-78 Nova Restoration; Saga of The Green Bastard
5 Attachment(s)
Continued welding
Attachment 212346 Front lower inside, with faux spot dimples... plug welded in between. Attachment 212347 Rear Lower inside Attachment 212348 Bottom rear edge Attachment 212349 Top flange Attachment 212350 |
1970 L-78 Nova Restoration; Saga of The Green Bastard
2 Attachment(s)
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Nice work! I don’t have the skills for this, but I love to watch this part of a build more than anything for some reason…
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It all looks great.
I hope you fit the quarter panel along with the wheel house before welding. |
1970 L-78 Nova Restoration; Saga of The Green Bastard
2 Attachment(s)
Stripped out the old sandwiched quarter at base of rear window/trunk
Attachment 212628 A little repair in the corner (sorry poor picture) Attachment 212629 |
1970 L-78 Nova Restoration; Saga of The Green Bastard
2 Attachment(s)
Tail panel had been cut out as it had to be replaced due to some old repaired damage. Earlier in the sequence but had not yet included photos.
Attachment 212630 Attachment 212631 |
5 Attachment(s)
One advantage to having scavenged the replacement used inner door panel from the wrecker... I now had an original jamb to harvest the "telephone receiver". Recall the quarter which was cut off was a replacement GM panel with only half a receiver as with the replacement NOS GM panel I was now putting on. Well, we can fix that detail.:beers:
Attachment 212632 Attachment 212633 Attachment 212634 I tig welded the receiver in only because I wanted to practice with the tig. Attachment 212635 Because of the previous jamb and inner door panel damage, It was best to also attach the jamb/striker reinforcement to the panel first. That way the quarter can be perfectly aligned and welded to the inner panel afterwards. Attachment 212636 |
1970 L-78 Nova Restoration; Saga of The Green Bastard
4 Attachment(s)
Door side of jamb
Attachment 212637 Attachment 212638 There is a small reinforcement piece that goes in the corner of the quarter window. This piece was completely missing from the previous repair. Unfortunately I was not aware of it when I scavenged the repair piece from the wrecker. I did my best to get some phone pics of the LH side taping my phone to a stick and sliding it in there. Then fabbed a piece as close as I could from the pics Attachment 212639 Attachment 212640 |
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1970 L-78 Nova Restoration; Saga of The Green Bastard
7 Attachment(s)
Many many trial fits and small tweaks to the panel. Repeated small trimming on edges to sneak up on the fit. Working alone it was a challenge to wrestle this piece on and off. I honestly don't think I would be exaggerating if I guessed at close to 50 times. I made myself lots of tape notes so as not to forget anything when I came back to the project.
You can also see some areas where I did some metal work while the panel was off to have easy access to both sides. The panels had been stored unboxed for many years. Attachment 212650 You can see the faux spot weld dimples along the bottom of the panel. These were actually aligned to the pre drilled holes in the trunk drop for plug welds. Attachment 212651 Attachment 212652 Spot weld dimples were also placed along the edge of the sail panel at the drip rail. This section will be panel bonded rather than welded Attachment 212653 Some work at the top leading edge of the panel to better align with the door fit Attachment 212654 Window corner was tough, needed some persuasion to line up better to the stainless trim. Tried to minimize the filler in the window jamb. I had worked this area further prior to install (no photo). Attachment 212655 Looooong road to this point... getting close to install Attachment 212656 |
1970 L-78 Nova Restoration; Saga of The Green Bastard
5 Attachment(s)
I mentioned previously the sail panel to drip rail was attached with panel bond. I chose to also use panel bond for the wheel lip/outer tub edge. I had dimpled the wheel lip to replicate factory spot welds and plug welding in between would have created an enormous amount of finishing work. I also liked the idea of having the wheel lip completely sealed as it would be with panel bond. Pleased with how it worked (particularly after body and paint). Many clamps with moderate pressure made a nice tight fit.
Attachment 212659 Attachment 212660 Attachment 212661 Attachment 212662 Attachment 212663 |
1970 L-78 Nova Restoration; Saga of The Green Bastard
3 Attachment(s)
SIDEBAR...
April 2018 Winnipeg World of Wheels, Hot Rod Drag Week 2017 Winner Dave Schroeder is originally from Winnipeg. His cousin, mechanic and co-pilot on Drag Week is John Ens from Winnipeg. Several buddies are friends with John and Dave... The car was currently in Winnipeg and with the promise of our help for the weekend, we twisted John's arm to put the car in the show. Unfortunately Dave was unable to make the trip. Big John with Ken Murray who does the engine work on the Reher Morrison 872 Attachment 213667 After the show, we were tearing down the display while John went for the truck and trailer... Next thing I know John says get in you're driving it out! None of the other guys fit in the car, BONUS !!! Not only was I driving it out, I had to go about 6-7 Blocks to get to where John left the trailer. He wanted a picture with the Parliament Building. Holding it back on the brakes almost the whole time, close to freezing temps, no jacket, still sweating. Attachment 213668 Another Highlight of the show was a couple of Bob Marvin's cars from "The Shed" collection. Real Yenko 67 427 camaro !! Beautiful !! Attachment 213669 Back to the Nova |
1970 L-78 Nova Restoration; Saga of The Green Bastard
5 Attachment(s)
We're now into late 2018. Recall, I only bring the project car home for winter. Getting started into the LH Quarter.
Doors were home for the summer, stripped, rough body worked and Epoxy primed DP90. Everything was stripped to bare using 8" orbital 36 grit (slow RPM) where it would fit, 6" 36 Grit (slow RPM) where it would fit and a wire wheel on a drill for the tough spots... which was most of the jambs. Slow agonizing work. Doors were VERY solid replacements I had bought many years earlier. A couple small patches on the outer corners but the inners and skin seams were beautiful. Hinges rebuilt, Door hung and aligned, happy with the rear fit and away we go. Front gap was a little tight but that front corner had evidence of a little bump so we'll fix that with the fenders when I get there. So.. unlike the RH side, no ugly surprises. Attachment 213692 Attachment 213693 Attachment 213694 Attachment 213695 Attachment 213696 |
1970 L-78 Nova Restoration; Saga of The Green Bastard
4 Attachment(s)
Rocker was in much better condition than the RH side :beers:
Attachment 213709 This is the sneaky little corner reinforcement bracket at the lower rear corner of the rear 1/4 window. The one that was missing from the RH side due to the shoddy original repair work. I don't have to make this side :beers: Attachment 213710 Attachment 213711 Rear corner looks rough from drilling out the spot welds and air chiseling apart but... It was actually solid enough to hammer out and with some careful plug welding (with copper backer) I was able to get it back in shape. No after picture:frown: Attachment 213712 |
Left side is much nicer to work with than what you had on the right.
I know this post is history, but drilling spot welds on a panel that I want to save the substrate on, I now use a 3M grinding disc and grind away the outer layer to leave the inner panel untouched. Have you been to Bob's Shed to see his other rare cars ? If you haven't and it's on your list, I suggest getting there this year. His health is failing and I don't know how many more years he will be able to see visitors in person. Very nice man to talk with. |
Oh sad news about Bob.. He is a great ambassador to our hobby. He has his club guys haul or drive cars to MANY area shows. Have seen his cars in Winnipeg, Grand Forks and Minneapolis countless times. I took my convertible to the last Land of Lakes GTO Musclecar Classics show. Bob was there with a 69 Yenko Nova and a GTO. Sure miss that show.
I have not been to the Shed but hope to make it this year. Yes I have a 3m file sander now, They are AWESOME !! |
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The Northstar Camaro Club goes there every fall for a weekend and helps "exercise" some cars. Bob is pretty much confined to his wheel chair full time and has a full time personal assistant to help with everything. It is sad to watch him lose more of his strength over the years. The little air filers are cool, but the belts go dull too quick for me. I use the stone wheel grinder. Either one is better than a drill...:biggthumpup: |
1970 L-78 Nova Restoration; Saga of The Green Bastard
6 Attachment(s)
While the rear portion of this LH trunk drop was a little better than the RH was;
Attachment 213971 The front portion was a little worse; Attachment 213972 Attachment 213973 This patch was a little more challenging. I was able to find a piece in my scrap pile with a portion of the round raised shape to begin from. Drilled and slotted it out to match the plug then welded it in to the piece of replacement flange (similar to RH side). Attachment 213974 Quite a bit of cutting welding and grinding for such a small patch but I wanted to copy the original shape as closely as possible. I was happy with the result. finished from the underside you cannot tell from factory. Attachment 213975 Attachment 213976 |
1970 L-78 Nova Restoration; Saga of The Green Bastard
3 Attachment(s)
Lower rear corner of LH inner wheel tub required a patch. Concave shape required several slices along the flanges to "participate".
Attachment 214016 Fabbed and fitting... Faux spot weld dimples between plug welds Attachment 214017 Blurry shot of welded in. Edge cuts remain to be welded. Attachment 214018 |
Great step by step pictures. Well done!
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1970 L-78 Nova Restoration; Saga of The Green Bastard
2 Attachment(s)
Lots of cleanup of the inner panels. Mostly wire wheel on a drill. Slow, tedious work but it really works well for the irregular shapes. Respirator and eye protection mandatory to avoid the orange cloud.
At this point the panel has been rough fit many times and the outer tub is now in place. Attachment 214023 You can see the trunk floor and part of the hinge flange has also been stripped to bare while the quarter was off. Many hours climbing around in the trunk. Everything clean and bare steel will get a heavy coat of DP90 epoxy. Surfaces like the sail panel which still have some surface rust will get POR15 Attachment 214024 |
1970 L-78 Nova Restoration; Saga of The Green Bastard
4 Attachment(s)
Installed the inner jamb reinforcement. Unlike the RH side there was no damage here so the plate was easy to correctly locate and weld in prior to the panel. Drilled for plug welds upon installation.
Attachment 214025 Sectioned in the lower half of the telephone receiver and removed the formed dimple in the jamb (per RH panel). Drilled for plug welds. Attachment 214026 Inside view. Note lower corner of door jamb (RH side in picture). This area was a little mis-formed. The leading edge of the panel at the lower door jamb flared back a little leaving an awkward gap at the bottom corner. The contour of the paned was also slightly off at the lower leading edge. It was split, reshaped and welded up from the inside (built up to fill gap) to align correctly. Attachment 214027 Attachment 214029 |
1970 L-78 Nova Restoration; Saga of The Green Bastard
5 Attachment(s)
Prepping everything for the panel install. Sail panel.
Attachment 214032 If you look closely you can see the small faux spot weld dimples along the forward (drip rail) edge of the sail panel. The small reinforcement piece is welded in the corner of the quarter window. The faux spot weld dimples are in place along the wheel lip (foregound). Attachment 214033 Attachment 214035 Attachment 214036 Everything is sealed with primer and scuffed where trunk spatter will apply. The green tape is a small dam on the metal bracket to assist in catching the fusor foam which is later sprayed onto that ledge to dampen vibration to the sail panel. A lump of foam sandwiches between the inner and outer panel along that ledge. Attachment 214034 |
Do you have a background in body work or fabrication? I'd love to learn how to do my own stuff, I guess I'd first need to learn how to weld.
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1970 L-78 Nova Restoration; Saga of The Green Bastard
4 Attachment(s)
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Caught the car bug early from Uncle Norm that was a little car crazy; 69 Roadrunner 383, 67 Camino 396 4spd, 55 chevy P/U hot rodded. Then a couple older cousin's with a 66 Fairlane, 66 Beaumont, 67 Beaumont, 71 Cutlass 455. In high school a good friend picked up a 70 Malibu which we pop riveted patches on and started slinging bondo. Shortly after another friend Steve, was in formal auto body trade school and we were soon hacking on stuff in his garage. He taught me quite a bit. A friend's friend was the auto tech teacher for a small town High School. He offered to put on a one evening a week "school" for about six of us at the school's auto shop. We did about 10 nights each winter for two years. Essentially we just brought in our projects for the night and he guided us along on how to do it. Around the same time a towing buddy (with a Mig welder) helped me put floor pans in my 78 pick-up. For the "school" I put quarter skins on it and hung new doors on it. Then Steve painted it at his work. The second winter at "school" I did a complete repaint on my Dad's ford shortbox truck. My 78 Shortbox in it's 80's glory. We don't need no steenking alignment !! Attachment 214049 Somewhere along the way I stared at this article for waaaaaayy too long.... Attachment 214052 Attachment 214053 So... when I snapped an axle powershifting to second and lost a tire resulting in some quarter damage.... I went out to the garage and cut the inner tubs out of the car with a cold chisel and a 5lb sledge hammer. Attachment 214051 It was game on after that. I've had a lot of help from friend's in industry along the way |
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That magazine Nova, Dreamweaver- looks a lot like this one I took at the street machine nationals in the early 80's in Pomona, Ca Quote:
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Bruce, thats the car for sure, I'll never forget that big block w/ gold moroso valve covers and matching Dana cover.
A street racer among fairground pro street cars, stared at it for hours! |
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I loved that Nova...and NovaJoe's Nova. Mine wasn't even close to those two :cool2: |
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