79 Nova Restoration

Okay, I haven't been on here in a loooooooong time and miss it here.  Sorry, been working 70+ hours a week.  I now have the restoration bug.  My Nova is in good shape, but now it's time to put into great shape.  Let the rebirth begin!

August 12, 2011. Beginning of the teardown process in preparation of the upcoming full restoration.


Here is my Borg Warner T-10 4-speed with aluminum bell housing. The transmission only has 661 miles on it since it's rebuild. I plan on replacing it with a 5-speed.


August 13, 2011. I built a stand to hold and store my fenders.


September 3, 2011. Just removed my engine with the help of my son.





Most of the front end is in my basement.


September 17, 2011. Removed the brake master cylinder, power steering gearbox, and the fuel/brake lines attached to the front subframe.


September 24, 2011. Just pulled the frame off of the Nova.



Okay, I don't pose very often, but this is my first frame-off restoration project. I had to do it.


Here are the body mount bushings. The rubber is cracked completely through and the metal sleeves on the bushings are rotted away. To think this is what was holding the frame onto the car!
 
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September 25, 2011. I removed the front suspension from the frame.


Here's the frame with most everything removed.
 
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one thing.. when putting this back together..

you will want to know that on the forward body support brackets that stick out.. you see the 2 large holes where the body mounts went..  did you notice the smaller holes outboard  of those...

those are almost always for the subframe alignment to the body...

usually a steel rod is inserted into each hole to verify that the sub frame is aligned with the body... when you tighten it...

sometimes you can use a straight sided pin punch..  sometimes you need something a little longer..

this lets the guys working under the car at the factory know that they have the subframe aligned when they are tightening it up.. so the guys putting the front sheet metal on know it will fit properly..  

I didn't know that, thanks Wayne  
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wow... going all the way...

you might want to take a tape measure..      go straight across the gap between the upper control arm mounting brackets.. on the inside where the shims fit..

there is a specific distance between those...   some cars are effected with cross member sag... causing problems when the time to do a proper alignment is...   it also makes in extreme cases hard to get a motor mount bolt through the frame brackets.. goes good on one side...    won't fit without a big pry bar on the other..


take a close look at dimension C..    30 9/16

 

glad to hear your doing well mike!!  nice to see you bringin the nova up to the next level.

the tear down is looking good, you shouldnt have any trouble getting it back together.


Hey check out my thread    "1986 K10 restoration"   me and my brother did the tear down and assembly and had a friend that is a real body and paint guy paint it.  

This is awesome, I love to watch.  Good to see you back Mike    Nice neat teardown job, let me pull up a lawn chair!  

keep the pics coming Mike.  i look forward to seeing your restoration.  heck, your car looked great to start with in my opinion.  

Awesome schematic Wayne.  I'll put that to good use.  Any and all help is appreciated especially since this is my first time.  Breaking the cherry sorta speak.  Some of you remember my head gasket job I did a while back.  Another one of my first times.  I learn fast and pay attention to detail and feel confident enough.  Of course I have an awesome support group here.  So far the hardest part of this tear down was pulling the coil springs.  Yes I used spring compressors so I wouldn't catch one in the forehead.  

Chevelle, I'm definetely going to check out your K10.  Yeah, my Nova has treated me well and it's been fun driving her for the last 3 years, but she deserves the full treatment and some upgrades along the way.

IDJ, it's good be back.  Miss ya man!  I'll keep detailed photos of my progress.  I know it's not going to happen over night, but I'll be patient and make sure it gets done right.  You know me, neat clean and organized.  You should see my colletion of well labeled zip lock bags I have already.  Oh, if you're ever in my neck of the woods, I have a lawn chair and beer with your name on it.

Thanks Joe, it did look pretty good, but remember white hides a lot.  I've done a lot of the work already.  I've done the interior already so all I have to do is remove it again when I'm ready to do the body so I don't mess it up.  All the wiring and fuse block is new too.  

Slowly but surely I'll get there.  My goal is to have a better than new car when I'm done.  Stronger and of course faster!  
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i don't know what you are planning with the control arms...

but you will want to read this article on replacing the bushings...


http://www.chevyhiperformance.com/techarticles/0711ch_control_arm_bushings/viewall.html


you are probably going to want to invest in some kind of NON rotating head vice...

i don't know if the 30 buck versions from harbor freight will work.. but they might...

keep the receipt..  



you are probably going to want a decent handled 32 ounce ball pein hammer...



you might want to invest in a better quality hammer than whats at HF. with a forged head.. not a cast head...

i have one i bought in 1979.. still use it almost every day..   got one of the import versions also.. head chips away ...

you will want to be sure to recall that you want to tighten the upper and lower control arm bushings ONLY with the car at ride height..  so the bushings won't be in a twist at ride height..  which will cause them to fail quickly..  

Very cool, Wayne, thanks!  I'm thinking polyurethane bushings all around the car.  Control arms, body mounts, leaf springs, etc.  I've considered swapping the control arms out for a set of tubulars or just stripping and powdercoating the stocks.  Problem is, I haven't found a set of tubulars that will work with a 79 Nova.  I want to keep stock ride height.  I'm not interested in lowering the car.  
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Global West has you hooked up, Mike!    Geometry changes but not necessarily ride height.

http://globalwest.net/1975-79nova.html  

ID, that's like a candy store online for me right now!  You know how long I've been researching suspension upgrades for 4th Novas and I've never heard of Global West before?  Too long.  Any tips when I put it back together concerning tow in/out and how to determine how many shims and where to put them on the upper control arms?  
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Aw man, a buddy of mine had a 78 and it seems like he got some stuff from there so I surfed it and lo and behold ... there ya go, don't hurt yourself or go blind looking at that stuff. I'm sure you can put the Nova on rails using their upgrades.

On eyeball alignments, I ain't much. I usually put back what shims it had and drive it to an alignment shop for a "four wheel" alignment (not that they can adjust the rear wheels but they need to reference the thrust angle). I'm sure GW can tell you all you'll need to know about setting up the new goodies, if the instructions are vague. I say that but we know thats not always the case. I've never installed tubular control arms, just some lowering stuff. My best tip is find the OLDEST alignment tech you can, take it to him when you're done, and chances are your ride will drive like poetry in motion. Get a printout of the specs, and try to have the same guy re-check the alignment after a year or so. You may get the "Our machine doesn't go back that far" response at some shops. You need a guy who just knows what drives good. Gonna be real similar to what works in a Camaro.

Wayne's link on doing bushings is a good one, I like it.  

Mikes79:
ID, that's like a candy store online for me right now!  You know how long I've been researching suspension upgrades for 4th Novas and I've never heard of Global West before?  Too long.  Any tips when I put it back together concerning tow in/out and how to determine how many shims and where to put them on the upper control arms?

mike,,,, put all the shims back in the control arms that you took out when putting it back together.

when you replace all those bushings, and ball joints,,,, they will NOT be like the factory ones any way so the toe, caster , and camber will be waaaay off.

 when I rebuild a suspension I put the shims back, then use a nylon string, get a helper to hold it at the rear of the car, pull it across the center line of the tires on the face side, and bring the string close to the wheel adjust the steering box to the center,,

then pull the string tight and bring it close to the wheel, you will be able to tell where the toe is ONLY   adjust the tie rod sleeve to bring it to where the string contacts both sides of the tire at the same time.

do the same thing with the opposite side of the car,,,,, with out a lot of tools and the know how to set up the caster and camber  properly   you cant do it at home.

using the string it will get you to the alignment shop safely,,,, pay the money and watch them do it.

the caster, camber  it what allows the car to follow the road properly and maintain the proper tread contact to the ground.

the camber is what makes the wheel return to the center when you turn and let go of the wheel,,, the weight of the car makes that happen.

the caster is set to keep the tire square with the road,,,

notice when you turn the wheel on your daily driver,,,,it tilts the tires into the turn,,,, that tilt is the degrees of camber that forces the wheel straight while driving.


if set up properly you will seem to never need to rotate the tires,,,,, cause they will all wear almost the same,,,,,,,
 
 most chevys will do that,,,,,, all mine do  cause I rebuild the suspensions cause that is cheaper than 1 new set of tires!!