Visible progress!

[Kim_Howie]

I think the hood was louvered too. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/haha.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/haha.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/dunno.gif[/img]

[sYc]

No idea what was meant about unique the hood stripe. Car was in primer when I got it, so nothing there to go on. At this point, will do the stripes in the normal Yenko fashion. As per the wheels/tires?, will decide that later.

And Kim, yes the hood is louvered, chrome I might add. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggthumpup.gif[/img]

[Supercar_Kid]

[ QUOTE ]
It appears that Yenko removed the SS emblems and attached the other emblems in the same manner as with our Camaro.

[/ QUOTE ] If I recall correctly, aren't a Nova's SS emblems riveted onto the tail panel trim with regular old horizontal side by side rivets? If this is the case, did Yenko utilize the two existing holes and drill only two more, placing the crest and 427 side by side, or is the SS emblem riveted in the staggered configuration of a 69 Camaro tail pan emblem's pins? When you say it's like our Camaro it makes me think the crest and 427 were staggered like it too, am I correct in this assumption? Also, any ideas as to what Yenko held the emblems on with, as I'm sure he didn't have the capability to rivet them as Chevrolet did, but pins with nuts on the back would hardly allow the tail pan trim to be remounted to the body without drilling extra holes for them too. I assume Yenko removed the entire tail pan, drilled out the rivets on the SS emblem, replaced them in some manner with his crest and 427, and then reinstalled the tail panel trim. Or maybe he used the old wood chisel method of removing the SS emblem, and drilled through the tail panel trim and tail panel in one clean shot, bolting the emblems in place with speed nuts. Can someone help me out here, I'd like a definitive answer as to how these SS Novas were converted into sYc cars, I suppose I'm not the only one either. Tom, if you can post a pic of the backside of the original tail panel trim and the holes in the tail pan itself that would be worth a thousand words. Thanks in advance for any light you can shed on this subject.

[Chevy454]

ScK:

The SS emblems on the rear of a Nova had 4 attachment points, kind of like this: \ /. Our car then had a hole drilled on each side of the "\ /", all the way through, and used 1 of the original holes and 1 new hole for each new emblem. But, this left 2 visible holes from the previous SS emblem. In fact, we've heard that these extra holes were what led someone to further investigate a hidden Y-Nova. Anyway, doing them that way staggers them like the Camaro, and I'm gonna *assume* they used speed nuts or whatever as well. So, I'd say your "wooden chisel" theory is pretty darn close!

[Supercar_Kid]

I think I have it straight now. The tail pan was most likely never even removed. He just knocked the SS off, utilized two of the four existing holes to mount the crest and 427 emblems in the standard Camaro style staggered position, drilling through the tail panel trim and sheetmetal pan itself, used fast nuts to bolt them through the trunk simply leaving the two extra holes from the SS emblem exposed. It surprises me that Don made the effort he did to hide the fact that they were SS cars, I understand him wanting them to be perceived as HIS creations, but it's not like an SS was a bad thing back then. The extra work he did to delete the SS trim from the Novas in 69 was certainly more involved than the flat black rattle can method he employed on some of the '68 sYc Camaro gas caps. Thanks for the info Rob, looking forward to seeing the finished product at SCR7.

[Chevy454]

[ QUOTE ]
It surprises me that Don made the effort he did to hide the fact that they were SS cars, I understand him wanting them to be perceived as HIS creations, but it's not like an SS was a bad thing back then.

[/ QUOTE ]

You're right, as the "SS" mystique carried a LOT of weight back then, but in my mind, I think he wanted the cars to be above and beyond the "SS". Not just performance options added to an "SS", but a whole other package on a whole other level, which the '69 COPO cars essentially were. Plus, the 9561 Camaros/Chevelles were devoid of "SS" emblems, so he probably wanted the Novas to get the same treatment. And back then, customers probably didn't know the Novas didn't get the 427s from the factory, and they probably didn't care. All they saw was little car, big engine!! [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggthumpup.gif[/img]

And, like you, I'm anxious to see it done as well. I've always said I'm a Chevelle guy, but this car is growing on me in a HURRY.If this thing goes deep into the 12s like I think it can, then I may become a convert!

[ORIGLS6]

[ QUOTE ]
The Gibb Nova's all came with red lines and steel painted wheels.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, in '68. But by '69 the red lines were losing popularity to the RWLs. Chevelles and Camaros were getting the RWLs but the Novas still had white and red stripes. A friend on mine crashed his '68 L78 Chevelle and replaced it with a '69 L-78/M-40 Nova. It was a Fathom Green, Black Int. w/ steelies/ dog dish/ red stripe combo. I drove that car as much as he did for the first few months while he recuperated from the crash. ONE WILD RIDE! [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/worship.gif[/img]

Still, with the Lemans Blue/White stripe package I'd have to vote for the painted steels and white stripe tires. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/beers.gif[/img] I think we all know what the extra pair of XTs will be wearing. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/naughty.gif[/img]

Just the opinion of an Ol' Man trying to relive the past! [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggthumpup.gif[/img] (But then aren't we all?)

[Supercar_Kid]

[ QUOTE ]
And back then, customers probably didn't know the Novas didn't get the 427s from the factory, and they probably didn't care.

[/ QUOTE ] I've always been under the assumption that most Yenko buyers suspected their cars were powered by a special "dyno tuned" Yenko installed 427 and not just a factory installed L-72 unit. Hence the generous 450 HP rating and the lack of any GM window sticker or documentation regarding the origin of the engine. Sure Don did this to keep others from stealing his COPO idea, but I think it also gave the sYc cars their super hi-performance aura from day one. It seems that it was a common misconception clear up until the 1980's that ALL Yenko cars were engine swaps...which we now know simply wasn't the case. Until this day if you stand around a Yenko car at a show you'll hear all sorts of misconstrued facts and stories regarding how the cars came to be 427's, and this seems to be especially true in my neck of the woods where much of the lore seems to have it's origins. I agree Yenko wanted something above and beyond Chevrolet's SS package, but I think that he actively sold the fact that Yenko Sportscars was the builder and what they were offering was far more potent than anything to be had elsewhere. I often wonder if anyone ever asked him flat out if they were factory installed 427's, or how he managed to do them so cleanly when people were used to seeing the speed shop underhood look of the Motion and Nickey converted cars. It still makes me wonder what the buyers of "regular" COPO Chevelles and Camaros that were purchased through other dealerships thought they were buying back in '69. I'm sure the original owner of LVCamaro's Azure Turquoise RS COPO knew what he was buying, preserving the car and every stitch of paperwork regarding it like he did, but at the same time I've heard of other owners saying they thought they were just buying a "plain 427 Camaro." [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/dunno.gif[/img] I guess people just weren't as concerned with what's "normally" available and what's not back then like they are today. I guess it's like you said Rob "all they saw was little car, big engine" and they started reaching for their wallets. Oh to have lived back then... [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/worship.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggthumpup.gif[/img]

[55chevy]

So what's wrong with white stripe tires? [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

My ex-Camaro.. I built. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/headbang.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/headbang.gif[/img]

[55chevy]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I often wonder if anyone ever asked him flat out if they were factory installed 427's, or how he managed to do them so cleanly when people were used to seeing the speed shop underhood look of the Motion and Nickey converted cars.

[/ QUOTE ]

To be honest, I don't think that back then anyone looking to buy a new Yenko car even knew what a Motion or Nickey car was.. Back in the day when these things were new isn't like today.. These Supercars have been brought together by years and years of magazine features and fans and communications by enthusiasts amongst each other and not to mention today with the internet and www.yenko.net... You know? But back in 1969 when a Yenko 427 (name your car here) was brand spanking shiny new in front of Yenko Chevrolet.. I really doubt there was ANYONE pulling in and looking at that monster thinking.. 'you know, this don't look like a Baldwin/Motion car.... Chevrolet must've put this one together on the factory line'.. I Seriously doubt it. I think in todays world where we really think WAY TOO INDEPTH about what happened BACK THEN that made these awesome machines come out the way they did... I think we loose touch with reality a little too much and forget why we love these cars like we do.. When you get down to such minute details about which way should the head on the 1/2" fender bolt be facing and how much overspray under the rocker panels should there be in fractions of a cm.... Man it just gets to be too much.. Yes, I like to see a nicely restored car as close to what we think the factory put out as much as the next guy.. But the fact is the factorys that built the cars we love threw these things together as FAST as they possibly could and there isn't TWO single cars ever made that are the same. Back in the 1960s-early 70s.. There were no standards.. Not like we put on them today.. There were cars being built at 4:38 on Fridays back then and everyone knows what happens from about that time on.. You just want to get the hell out of work and go home.. Know what I mean? These are CARS... They are going to OUT LIVE ALL OF US... HAVE FUN with them.. DRIVE the damn things.. Money aside. Money comes.. Money goes. Don't be the 95 year old guy that in his next to last breath says... "I've got a Baldwin/Motion Camaro that I bought brand new .. and it's only got 300 Miles on it.. yep. I never drove it.. It's perfect.. "" CROKE...FLOP OVER DEAD.. Have fun guys. That's why were're here and that's why we were givin these toys.. What compares to value of pleasure of life? I will NEVER trailer a car and I will NEVER spend a week polishing a car just to show it at some judged (by who?) show and the push it back on to the trailer to take it home, polish it and wait for the next show to to take it to, polish it and repeat repeat repeat... I'm going to ENJOY my cars, just like I've always done... [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggthumpup.gif[/img] Live my friends.. LIVE.