'70 Nova SS L78 Resto Question...

[YenkoSFC]

Wow thanks for all the feedback from everyone! She truly is a special car, as Tom mentioned on the thread, probably one of the last L78's ever produced and highly optioned, was special ordered in late summer of '70 with nearly every box checked off the list!

As for the wheels, I like both options, gold or black, perhaps I'll paint these gold some time down the road, but for now the black steelies are staying. I'm attaching the article pic of the Dana L78 Autumn Gold Nova where the idea came from, which was similar optioned, L78, TH400, F41, bench, etc. but later added the steel wheels and stinger hood added. (where I saw this and loved the look).


By the way, apologies Tom for butchering your last name, I tried to go back to correct, but I wasn't able to edit anymore. Anyway, I agree with the consensus of the group at this time to leave her alone and drive her like hell! The snowmobile tow story alone is a good reason to keep everything as is! LOL... And believe you me, she really is a blast to drive! [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/youguysrock.gif[/img]

[resto4u]

I would fix the rust. But that said, finding a shop in california that can do rust repair right might be a challenge. The only way i would do it, if the shop can metal work with little to no filler. Also to be able to use laquer and match the color to spot the paint in as small as possible. There are shops that can do this and most people would never know. You need an old school shop that worked on these cars back in the day.

[Salvatore]

Repaint the whole car. Just no need to do a frame off. No reason to try to blow it in and all that stuff.

[L78steve]

I would not start rust repair unless your ready to go the distance. Light rust showing at the rear quarters will usually require replacement of the trunk drop off and the outer wheel house.
If this is the case to do it right the quarters will also have to be replaced.

I would enjoy it as it is.

[Jim Ferron]

I remember seeing this car when Tom had it [Guptils or the Valley Tom? I don't remember]

It is a fabulous time warp. But rot holes kinda suck. I'd find the 'right' body guy, Mud the bottoms of the front fender below the body line.

Use 'all metal' and it will never 'pop' And I'd get patch panels for the rear quarters... trim them 1/2 below the bottom rocker panel body line. Glue them on with panel adhesive. 'Right body guy fills the seam blending filler below the body line and paints both sides beneath the body line [for color match] leaving the pinch-weld area of the rockers alone. 'Right' guy will make the repair invisible unless some one is really studying the car. Just don't 'weld' anything or 'blend' any paint, that messes everything up....

Doing it 'Right' means ruining the 'it's only original once ' thing. Then this super cool car just becomes one of the crowd....

[YenkoSFC]

Yeah it's a tough call on what to do here and I value everyone's opinion on this topic, but for me a full restoration was never a question. The originality factor of this car was the biggest selling point to me, more than even being matching numbers, having the original docs, etc.

Going back to my original question was whether to take care of the obvious rust or not, which I should add isn't really all that bad, or seemingly isn't getting worse. I definitely DO NOT want to ruin the &quot;it's only original once thing&quot;, so I'll probably hold off for now and will just continue to drive her! Thanks again everyone, really appreciate the advice! [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/biggthumpup.gif[/img]

[Salvatore]

Wasn't the motor rebuilt and the interior redone already? If I remember correctly some things have been redone?

[YenkoSFC]

You are correct, the drivetrain was rebuilt at some point, was rebuilt to spec and is original to the car. I wish the interior was original like the exterior, but the seats were recovered years back only out of need. [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/smile.gif[/img]

[Salvatore]

Then doing a paint job would only enhance that car in my opinion. NO restoration, just a good repaint.
I would talk to Ken Maisano if I were you.

[YenkoSFC]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: [email protected]</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Then doing a paint job would only enhance that car in my opinion. NO restoration, just a good repaint.
I would talk to Ken Maisano if I were you. </div></div>

Good point, never really thought of fully painting her. Something to consider, will think it through, thank you.