Uh, and why is that fuel line disconnected now? Well, since I was so lazy about trying to use the existing fuel lines, I was pulling and prodding them to fit. When we first tried to fire the motor, we had fuel leaks at the crimped end of the fuel filter, as well as at the rear bowl fitting!! Since I really wanted to still use hard lines I even tried buying new ones that were so far off they weren’t going to work!!

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It was at this point that I decided to give up on the “stock” look and go an entirely different direction. I saw a system like this on the internet but didn’t like the idea of the fittings being “crimped” on. I took a picture to a local hose and fitting company near me, Mesa Hose. They made me a killer set-up and even had an adapter to connect my fuel filter to their line!! And, since they’re flexible, I’ll be able to remove the fuel bowls if I ever need to change jets, without disconnecting everything!!! I found another “correct” fuel filter I had laying around and we were back!!

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Looks like we’re ready to try this again??!! Oh, yeah, can’t forget the good old battery “topper” that I modified to look operational!! As a side note, I’m not sure what color the Delco Eye is supposed to be, so I went with green :dunno:. I can change the color any time, since it’s a clear acrylic rod that transmits color from underneath it. I just put a green piece of tape there, but it could be any color I want.

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Nova porn:biggthumpup:

Looking sweet!!

After trying to fire it the first time, I realized, in all my excitement, that I had the distributor one tooth off, because I was looking at the wrong mark on the damper!!! When we took care of that “goof”, the next time we tried, we were greeted with the sound of pure, uncorked bliss!! That’s my son doing the camera work. This was the first time the car had been out of the garage for 2 long years!! I was saying that the brake pedal was going pretty far down. The reason being, I think, is because there's not enough vacuum for the power brake booster? It's kind of like manual brakes at this point, which is fine with me. Also notice the “peanut gallery” (my wife and granddaughters) cheering us on??!! Relieved and happy doesn’t even come close to describe how I felt at that point!!



Speakers on, volume up!!!!!

Sounds killer!!!!
https://youtu.be/kPqglCjz6kM?si=YsEWYrX_Uawq7Exd

Congrats! Killer setup. W

Love it. Sounds amazing!!!:biggthumpup:

Makin' the right racket!

Wow, does that sound healthy!!!

More Nova porn......:naughty:


I’m trying to figure out what to post next....bet you thought I was done, huh??!!:burnout: Oh, and don't mind that MSD box hiding under the fender!!:no: I'm still trying to come up with something to hide it!!:grin:

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nice. Put the MSD in the glove box...

How about just painting it black?

Very nice

----Yah know,,, Usually, I go to the end of a fairly long thread that I have already been thru, but I find myself going over and over what you have achieved and just love what I see! Can't help but parallel it to Arrowsmiths Nova. There are similarities, but both bare very very COOL!....Bill S

It might be kind of neat to get a factory T.I. bracket that mounts the box on the hood latch support in the air flow and pant the MSD box black.

That is an option.....

...another option...

Thank you, I appreciate that!!

....and a third option!!

So, now that I have a running driving car again.....what’s next? Well, since I can’t drive it uncorked (or I can if I’d like a big fat ticket!!) I needed a way to get it to the muffler shop and an alignment shop (because of the new tubular a-arms). I was hoping to get the hood installed before all of that but try as we might, my son and I couldn’t figure it out!! Here the hood gets to see the light of day after 2 years under a blanket in the garage!! And I still can't believe it's the best panel on the whole car, which is amazing because it's the original paint she was born with!!! (It took another friend a few days later, who had helped me in the past, to do his “magic” getting it installed!!)

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I borrowed my son’s truck (which is amazing to say the least!!), rented a U-Haul trailer and off I went. The muffler guy recommended a shop that was a couple doors down from him to do the alignment so it was a no-brainer to have both of those done there. I had to leave the car at the muffler shop over night because the alignment guys couldn’t do it the same day. I really dislike leaving my car anywhere but had no other choice.

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The muffler guys did an amazing job and it sounds great...again, because it’s the same system I’ve had on the car for many years now, which is the Flowmaster American Thunder #17104 system.

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The next day at the alignment shop.


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And after it was done, there was a little “issue” with getting it off the rack?? And, yes, I was a little nervous seeing my “baby” being driven away for a “test drive!!” I do have to say though that he did a good job driving it off!!

Sounds awesome!!:3gears:

Yes!! Sounds great!!

You are right in keeping the MSD box in the open and make certain it is grounded well. I don't recommend enclosing it all. A guy in our Chevelle club had one mounted on the plastic inner wheel house of a '72 Chevelle and didn't have a dedicated ground wire and it overheated and started the plastic on fire. There wasn't much left of the front third of the car by the time the fire department got there and put it out.
What you have done to make that Nova better than new and more fun to drive is amazing. Enjoy it...:cool2:

Sounds great - what a wonderful project. Congratulations.

That sounds GOOOOOOD Joe! I really admire the build. It the perfect amount power yet restraint:biggthumpup:

Hey Joe.....If you put studs in the hood (instead of using bolts), it's super easy to get it on and off the car. I've done that in multiple hot rod builds over the years. FYI, I usually Loctite (blue) the studs in the hood. Then you just use a washer and nut on the hinge side. Here's a pic of Jane's hood setup (you might have to zoom in)...

https://i.imgur.com/LXbPiOjh.jpg

Your car looks and sounds awesome!

Wayne

The first “real” road trip was driving the car home from the alignment shop that day. It felt amazing, but I was trying to adhere to the recommendations/instructions of Centerforce in putting 450-500 miles on the clutch for proper “bedding” of the disc with the flywheel and pressure plate. I so bad wanted to go WOT!!!

After getting the car home I drained the water out and put in some antifreeze.

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And then finally back in the garage with the hood on!!

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I’ll bet it will “peel out” real good! Have fun with it Joe…W

69 Nova...
 

Joe...

This whole build thread is amazing...nice job!

Are those chrome reverse wheels or just painted silver...I can't tell from the photo. It looks great :biggthumpup:

-wilma

We will know soon enough Wayne!!:3gears:

Thanks for the kind words Tommy!! The wheels are just painted close to body color, like they were from the factory. I had the rear ones made which are 15x7, but the fronts are "stock" 14x6.


But wait.......there's more......

So, in order to put hundreds of miles on the clutch, I had two “trips” planned. One of which was to go see friends in another town about 50 miles away. The other was to head up to a friend's shop to run the car on their chassis dyno, another 50+ mile trip. You see, after driving around locally for a few days, I decided to check the plugs to see what they might look like. I was kind of surprised to see them looking pretty dark, which in my mind meant she was running rich. I thought by running it on their dyno, we could check the air/fuel ratio (AFR). I was hoping they could use the bungs I had welded into the collectors to get an accurate reading, but they said they could just stick a “probe” up the tailpipe to check it. I’m still not convinced that it was that accurate, but at least we got some numbers.

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They did a couple of pulls and noticed that it was pretty close as far as the AFR was concerned. They even bumped the timing up a couple of degrees and picked up a few more horses!! (Terry, in the video, said it picked up 20, but it was actually 13, plus they ran it to a higher RPM) As a side note, when we had the motor at the dyno shop previously, there was no attempt to adjust the timing, which might have put the motor over 500 HP??!! Another thing that’s puzzling to me is the discrepancy of both the engine dyno and the chassis dyno. I know that you can’t really compare the two, but to have 549 on the engine dyno and what we ended up with here, 402 at the wheels, seemed like a big difference. They did mention that it was a pretty “bad air” day, so that might have been the problem?? But, as you’ll see, I’ve got another “problem” to contend with now.....

Really nice Joe!

There is so much that can effect the "result" from an engine dyno then going to a chassis dyno. The correction factor on each is a big one as is the air the way you mentioned it. I'm a little surprised they did not adjust timing in the engine dyno session to begin with. On the bright side, it seems as though your fuel system is up to the task. That would certainly show up on the chassis dyno. You are also driving the fan and accessories in addition to the drivetrain.

My history with different combinations (engine dyno) were to start with 32 degrees (safe) just to make a pull and see where EGT's / AFR's are. Then start adjusting the carb and timing as needed. We'd always go in 2 degree increments to see how the engine responded. 36-38 seems to be the sweet spot. My only exception was the L88 in the HM Camaro where it liked 40. That L88 though had a camshaft and cylinder heads from the stone age

That's one of the many things that make that car so flipping cool!!:beers:

Now, after driving it for over the recommended number of miles (for the clutch break-in), I started noticing an oil leak. I actually fixed one early on which just happened to be coming from the valve covers. This one, however, is coming from the back of the block. I snugged all the pan bolts, checked the valve covers again, checked the distributor and oil pressure sensor, but it didn’t stop the leaking!! I even saw a drip of oil on the oil pan flange at the back of the motor. At this point I’m trying to give my engine builder the benefit of doubt. He’s forgotten more about the SBC than I’ll ever know!! I sent him a text message but never heard back. I’ll be paying him a visit whenever I get a chance, to get his input.

In what little research I did, I was wondering if I could have a PCV valve that’s not keeping “pace” with the crankcase “pressure”, and allowing it to push oil past the pan gasket?? What’s in there now is just a stock type PCV for a stock engine.



I then found out about the M/E Wagner Dual Flow adjustable PCV valve, which has helped others with this problem. I’ve since ordered and received one, and am in the process of getting it dialed in. They also mentioned that it could even be adjusted so much that it might even pull oil out of the valve covers (depending on the baffling in the covers) and introducing it into the intake manifold under the carburetor. However, my valve covers do have adequate baffling and I'll be keeping my eyes on the plugs for fouling.

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For that problem though, they suggested installing an oil catch can between the PCV valve and the vacuum fitting under the carb. I found one on Amazon (of course!!) and am now in the process of making a bracket to bolt it in and make it look “factory!!” It might be “overkill”, but I don’t want any more issues! I might even invest in 02 sensors to be able to monitor the AFR in real time.

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