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OK, so I got the six headlights installed in the 76 nova. The extras aren't wired yet. Going to put them all on a relay fired off the highbeam circuit, probably straight off the battery for convience.
http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/n...one/madmax.jpg
Everyone whom looks at it says MAD MAX.:whacked:
now thats cool.
And whats wrong with that:D
Now faba aluminum grill head light filler assy and away you go, Maybe checkerplate :toocool:
????? Why
Looks like lots of tickets and cop hassles to me......
What the......Oh nevermind......:eek:
Im am thinking a couple of rocker switches would be good.. one switch fires them all in series, the other fires them parallel... low/hi sweet
Ok, so the headlights aren't wired up yet, but I am pushing to get it on the road.
TO WIT:
tail lights. The old ones are a mess, and replacements aren't in the budget. On ebay, a ratty set will go for $80. Anyway, the sockets are bad, the buckets are dry rotted and deteriorated. the lenses are melted from bulb heat, and the left is busted up to boot. BUT.. I have the firebird the wife wrecked as a donor car, so off we go!
The trunk pan is a mess..
http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/n...lone/trunk.jpg
but I'll address that later.
There was a lot of bondo and great stuff ( foam ) all around the seal channel, and of course the channel was totally rotted out. So that came out first. I'll pull the front seal channel off the bird's trunk and weld it in. come to think of it, the little sail panel in front of the trunk lid will work nicely for donor steel. The steel around the left side tail light was pretty rotten too. Lucky I won't be needing it.
First thing, stripped down the rear ends of the nova and the firebird, to get a better look at what's what. Then, I cut out the tail panel from the bird. Then I cut a preliminary hole for installing them into the nova.
http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/n...aillights1.jpg
Next, more cutting as I got a better idea of how it was going to work. Then I got to do some welding. Lucky me, the acetylene was running out just as I was finishing up. Not that it's done, I need some little odd pieces of donor steel to finish it out.
http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/n...aillights2.jpg
http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/n...aillights3.jpg
Not bad. thought I was going to have to notch the trunk lid, but it seems to clear. At least for now.. the trunk lid is too far back on the hinges, will have to adjust it right and see if it still clears. Ok, one side is in.. and the other side should go a little quicker!
Man what a chore this is turning out to be. Thought I had the lights in nice and straight, but nope. They both angled down some, and the pass side was way off. Didn't know how the heck I got it so messed up. Decided to go ahead and adjust the trunk lid in, just to see if I would have to slot out for the tail lights. discovered that the quarter panels had leaned in when I cut everything loose. Either that, or they were already misadjusted from some repair / damage in the past, as the trunk lid was adjusted almost an inch too far back. Just knew that gap at the rear window looked odd.
SO I cut them both loose, and stretched the quarters back into position, and welded them back up. I was happy with the drivers side, but the pass still got skewed. Two more tries and I think I can live with it. Not that it is perfect by any means.. If I were to do it over again, I would have taken the extra work to put the tail panel in as one piece, and of course, BRACED THE QUARTERS before I started cutting. But then again, judging by the adjustment of the trunk lid, they were off anyway.
SO.. here is the latest effort.
http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/n...aillights4.jpg
http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/n...aillights5.jpg
I would like to be out there right now, piecing in around the donor sections, but the sun is really cooking me. Got a pretty good sunburn as it is.
That's why they make long-sleeve shirts and wide-brim straw hats.
Weld sparks and straw hats are a bad combination.Quote:
Originally Posted by techinspector1
Today I went to trace-and-splice in the tail harness from the 78 firebird into the 76 nova. Low and behold -- it just plugged right in, and everything works fine! Well, after I replaced two bulbs, and adjusted the bottom contact on one socket, that is. The nova licence plate light is in the trunk lid, and won't be needed now, so I didn't splice into the harness to wire it back in. Instead, I used the socket to fix the front side lamp, drivers side.
Since the trunk pan holds 20 gallons of fuel weight, I decided to address this next. First, cut out all the rot.
http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/n...one/trunk3.jpg
Trunk rails look good, but frame rail on pass side will need a few small patches. Probably should have done that first, would have been easier, but I got impatient to get the trunk patched up. Have some 16GA sheet sitting around, so I cut a patch and got it spot welded in. What would be a good caulk for the seams?
http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/n...one/trunk4.jpg
The 16 GA is tough to shape, but easy to weld.
http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/n...one/trunk5.jpg
Piecing it together. Would be nice if I had a metal brake. Maybe one day.
Meantime, I'm piecing it together. One strip left.
keep the pictures coming. really enjoying this build.
Only thing that I wonder about is if your electrical system can handle the load of so many headlights. You might have to bump up the alternator to something like a 100 amp one, plus the relay and all would have to be on a separate circuit so it doesn't overload the present one. It is surprising how much juice a headlight draws.
Don
On the headlights...
the firebird harness is the same wire guage, and same alternator output, and i'm 'only' adding two more lights.
SO.. what I am thinking.. is to run the right and left two 'extra' pairs in series, and splice them into the harness on high beam, put the other side to ground. That way, the four extra lights would appear to the system as only two extra, and since the wiring on the firebird is same as the nova, it should be ok. It will also prevent me from burning out the corneas from the eyes of the oncoming drivers. I am thinking that even at half power, a high beam lamp will appear plenty bright. BUT.. come to think of it, I do have a 100A one-wire alternator from the firebird which could be put into service.
Come to think of it, this is a perfect response to those inconsiderate drivers who won't dim their headlights when coming at you...............:eek: A guy I knew years ago mounted a couple of airplane landing lights in his 56 Ford grille just for that purpose. However, not sure I want a blinded driver coming head on at me at 60 mph. :eek::LOL:
Don
I personally would rather have them on the back for the occassional Jerk riding your bumper with the highs on!:LOL:
for that, a big rearview mirror works well. Just aim it to reflect the light into their eyes.
They back off pretty quick.
OK, got the last strip in. there are a couple more pieces I COULD put in.. but I think this is good for now. The pan is complete, and all the major rust is gone. Of course, the entire pan needs replaced, but this is a beater not a show car, and the wife will probably wreck it anyway.
Anyway.. today I pulled the can of zero rust off the shelf, and it was bunch of goo, with some liquid on top. Got to stirring, and it actually came back to life. Looked through my stash of projects past, and found some reducer and paper filters. Thinned it down, and got five buckets / filters going. Pulled out my old spray gun, and filled it up. Everything was going well, until the air compressor 'walked' around and cut the hose. Fixed the hose and finished painting. Now, I wanted to shoot till it was all gone, but the gun clogged up, and so I called it good for the day. Got about a half quart of reduced Zero rust for another day. Really should have caulked first, but got ahead of myself. I'll caulk it tomorrow. Picked up a couple tubes of white lightning, might paint back over it, dunno.
http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/n...one/trunk7.jpg
http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/n...one/trunk8.jpg
http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/n...one/trunk6.jpg
I was sitting here looking at the picture of underneath, with that long, pretty right-angle seam.. and I realized I am not done.
Anyone else see it?
anyone?
The gas tank isn't going to fit.
bloody hell.
Ok, gas axe, cutoff wheel, and patch it back together. Tank should clear easily now.
http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/n...one/trunk9.jpg
Unfortunately, the top of the gas tank is worse than I had thought. Going to have to use one of the firebird gas tanks, but the filler neck is too short.
I hate welding on gas tanks. Gives me the heebie jeebies.:eek:
OK got the gas tank neck stretched.
Pulled the sending unit.
Drilled a 1/8 hole in the top corner, and drained out the last drop.
Set the tank in the hot sun for several hours.
Hooked up the shop vac to blow into the tank.
Welded it up.. and learned something. The neck is soldered in, not welded.
I melted out the solder, so I welded it in. Figured out why the factory doesn't do it that way.. the metal is real thin from the forming process. Stretched WAY thin. It was really tough to find the right heat to not burn through. ( acetylene ) But I got the job done.
Now the tank is mounted, tail lights are in and wired.
Time to get on with other things.
hood ornaments have fallen out of vogue for some reason.
http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/n...odornament.jpg
Can anyone tell me what this one is?
Looks similar to this one for sale on ebay off a 56 Oldsmobile.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-1956-OLD...QQcmdZViewItem
I bet it from a similar period Olds
here is a 52
http://oldcarandtruckpictures.com/ha...nament=KRM.jpg
This might be more help, just can't quite get yours from one photo angle
http://www.taillightking.com/images/...ornament_3.jpg
It's the 55, thanks!
Nice to be able to help!
I'm into the rear brakes now. The pass side was ok except for the Ebrake cable was siezed up. The drivers side the ebrake cable and the servo were siezed up. Also, the front pad was cocked at an angle for some reason. Worn down at an angle, so had been that way for a while. Drum was also fubbered up.
ALL the firebird brake parts fit except the ebrake cables. Got them on order, 17$ ea. I guess that is pretty cheap, but I'm over budget already, so OUCH. Also picked up a new pinion seal, $8. Would have just swapped the whole rear end, but the bird measures an inch wider at the backing plates, and I don't want to scrub tires on fenders.
OH yeah, the shocks won't swap out, because the bottom plates are different. I'll see if they will swap, because the bird had brand new shocks. How anal / crazy should I get trying to pinch a penny on this mess? I am considering cutting the bottoms off the nova shocks and welding them onto the bird shocks. ( the nova has eyelets, the birds have studs on bottom ) Probably a bad idea, right? Could result in a shock exploding in my face while I am welding, I suspect. BUT.. the bottom plates might swap out. Will be an intresting dilema for the next poor bast trying to replace the shocks on it... I can see it now.. dude arguing with the 17 year old kid at the computer, local parts store..." I don't care WHAT the computer tells you, these are the wrong part"... hilarious. Oh,, and.. can you see him telling the kid.. NO I DON'T HAVE ROUND HEADLIGHTS.. I'm telling you, it has SIX RECTANGULAR HEADLIGHTS.
WOWE IS ME..
Today I only had about 30 minutes to spend on my nova. So I took a crack at swapping the pinion shaft seal. Turns out the pinion shaft is sloppy loose! Probably meands the gears are damaged, right?
I think I got it figured out. The pinion was loose because I had the yoke off.. DUH!
Well, Ebrake cables have arrived, and I'm going to try to get the rear end finished up today.
Found a pinion seal at NAPA, $20. Today, put it in, put the yoke back on; torqued it about the same as I took it off, called it good. Dumped in oil till it poured out, put the driveshaft back on.
Swapped the axle spring plates with the bird, so I could use the bird's (new) shocks. One hole had to be slotted to make it work. Broke an upper shock bolt on the drivers side, so had to deal with that. And all my good easy outs are at work... bummer. Got that straightened out though. OMG am I bucking feat! Even putting heat to the bolts, penetration oil, wirebrushing the bolts.. still took LOTS of MUSCLE and a three foot cheater bar. I snapped both the U bolts on the bird, and one T bolt on the nova. But the plates are swapped, and shocks installed.
installed the new ebrake cables, hooked them up.
Put in the brake shoes and drums from the bird.
rear axle = done.
Next, front brakes.
Got the discs, calipers, hoses, shocks swapped in the front. Had to swap in the upper hose brackets from the bird to use its hoses.. the bird hoses have a hex shape at the bracket, the novas had a 'double notch'. The drivers side bracket had a broken bolt, and I didn't want to deal with it. So, I just welded it in. Noticed some shims in the driver side spring, so I pulled it and found the bottom coil broken off. I'll swap in one from the bird.
Got the drivers side back together. Had to use a coil compressor for the task, I made it years ago. 3/4" all thread, and 1/4" hardened steel plate. Did the job, but what a chore. Noticed the upper A arm bushings were SHOT so I swapped in the whole upper A arm. So, the nova has new Upper A arm bushings ( poly ), upper and lower ball joints, poly sway bar bushings. Makes me wish I had thought to swap in the lower A arm too. Would have been quicker, not having to press in / out the ball joint. I'm pretty sure the lower A arm on the passenger side is damaged. I hope the upper is ok.
Finished swapping in front end parts. Got both upper A arms and ball joints, lower ball joins, sway arm shackle bushings, drivers side spring, calipers, discs, shocks, hoses.
next, got to swap in the new rear brake hose, then I can bleed the system.
I've got two tires from the firebird, plus two old hoosiers from the firebird which were in the shed, all on the cragar rims for the nova. Soon as I bleed brakes, they will get mounted.
Today, sold the mortal remians of the firebird. $100 picked-up. Was very sad to see it go the the crusher. I've tried to sell the rest of the parts, just no intrest here locally.
the nephew is getting up too early.. doesn't want to spend time helping uncle Eron bleed the brakes...
meanwhile, I have decided to just pay my favorite transmission shop to fix the leaky front seal. Smith transmission in Columbus GA.. great guys. They are going to replace the seal and the bushing, whatever needed to fix the leak, dropping and replacing the trans, $175. And, he is going to barter down the price in return for a 3 speed from a 64 C10. sweet deal.
http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/n...e/3-4viewR.jpg
http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/n...ne/3-4view.jpg
I like the wheels and tires. Gives it a nice stance, along with the gas shocks.
Trans is fixed, no more leaks. Although I did find a loose bolt on the flywheel cover. Those guys are cheap for a reason I guess. But then, I've paid more for the same level of service..
Car drives well. Does need an alignment, it shakes a bit over 60. Very quiet, nice firm ride.
Unfortunately, the exhaust was coming in thru the trunk. Still a good deal of rust holes back there, and I suppose it's a high pressure area, so with the windows down the exaust was coming in.
So, I scrapped the exhuast ( dam shame too, as it was one of the few things on the car which the previous owners had replaced, and was very quiet ) and put on a side pipe I had laying around.
http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/n...e/sidepipe.jpg
Only put on the one side, as it's a straight six and doesn't need both sides. Also, the other pipe is a bit damaged and would have to be straightened out.
To mount, I used some 1/4 X 3 flat stock and migged it onto the rocker panel with a 2" overlap. Then I pieced together the old exhaust to blow through the side pipe. toughest part was patching a piece of 1 3/4" pipe into the 3" inlet.. For that I welded it on at the top, then heated and beated the bottom of the inlet, folded it over until it fit snugly around the smaller pipe. Not pretty ,but easy enough. Sounds good, but not as quiet at speed as the old muffler, which was stock location with dual outlet, and chrome tips. Best part is, no more exhaust coming into the car.
Oh, and it looks good. To ME, anyway.
You know, I had decided to throw in the towel on this project, and pass it along. At this point, it was supposed to be more of a driver, and less of a beater/project.
Anyway, I bought a 400$ two door nova, put a thousand $ of parts on it, and advertized it for $900. It runs good, drives good.. and no one wants to give over $700 for it. What is with that? I thought 2 door novas were top dollar? Maybe craigslist just isn't the best selling medium.
anyway, I'm keeping it.
glad you are keeping it. wish that you lived closer as i would have helped you with the brake bleeding. you are moving right along with it.
I'll take you up on that brake bleeding help. They still need to be (re) done.
Seriously thinking about just swapping out master cylinder and prop valves.. shoulda done it to start with. The brakes just don't feel quite right... They grab good at first, then kind of fade off.