1/6/06
Here it sits in my "garage", my "new" '71 Nova 350/350.

I spotted it in early '05 parked beside my commute. After a few weeks without moving, trash piling up around the wheels, I put a note under the wiper. Every day I drove past and the note just sat there. Finally, in late April, I was driving past and saw a tow truck and the police getting ready to impound it as an abandoned vehicle. This time I put my business card under the wiper. About a week later I got an email from the owner...he didn't want to sell. Oh well........

Months pass...I'm still sort-of looking for another project...then just after Thanksgiving there it is again; parked in the same place! Card goes under the wiper again...every day I drive past and the card just sits there. Then, just before New Years, I get the email I've been hoping for..."Make me an offer." The rest, as they say, is history. Closed the deal on 12/31/05 and had it towed to my "garage" on 1/1/06. Woo--Hoo!!

Is this a project car or what?? The front seat is bare springs, but the back and the headliner are near perfect. Two dents...a bad one in the left rear roof and an easy one left real lower quarter panel...otherwise the body is very straight. Despite the appearance of the paint, there is almost no rust. The trunk is perfect with original paint in good shape.

Original 350 runs but will get rebuilt. Hard to believe this thing made 245 HP with a dinky little 2 barrel (OK...OK...I know they reported gross HP not net HP back then). Will do a mild, streetable rebuild this summer. First stage is to convert manual drum brakes to power disks, as I'm sure my kids will be fighting me to drive it!!

Stay Tuned!!
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1/15/06

Now the sheet metal is off so I can get to the very small amount of rust and to the front suspension when I replace the brakes. At least I hope I'm going to be replacing the brakes soon. I bought a great looking set on eBay but I am having trouble getting in touch with the vendor.

Don't you just love the way these old Novas use bolts to hold the front on? It makes it so easy to work on them. At this point I have power-washed most of the oil and dirt from the engine and engine-compartment. That's my homely old sleeper-parts-runner-V8-Sonoma in the background.
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1/24/06
Isn't it funny how when you start taking something apart it is so hard to stop? I'll bet I'm not the only one that happens to. At least this time everything is going into labled baggies and I'm taking lots of pics (don't you love digital cameras??).

My usual approach to this sort of project is to piddle around with it for months and months; fix something part way then take it apart again. Under pressure from my kids (and neighbors ;) however, I have decided to tear this one down all the way and do it right the first time. This will be such a change for me. I really am used to driving around in something that runs like a bat and looks like ... um ... heck.

Here is my goal!!!!!!!!! I will post a pic of my finished project on or before August 31!! What? No! August 31 of this year!! 2006!!!

So now I have to strip it down, get on on the rotisserie, clean it up and put in any subframes &c &c that I want, and get it painted. I thought I had found a nice color this weekend; its on the new GTO ... Brazen Orange Metallic! That pretty much describes it. Need I say that my daughter said something to the effect of,"Ew ... Ew ... Gross ..." Well, maybe I'll keep looking.
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2/12/06
Isn't it amazing how much more space a car occupies when its in pieces? I am just about to run out of storage and I still have a way to go.

I am tearing our the interior now, and have everything out except the dash and the headliner. I need to make a run to the dump with all the old matting before my neighbors complain. By the way, I am giving away the front seat to anyone who will pick it up. It is going to get replaced with buckets and a console. I hate to dump it, but there is no point in keeping it around.

I was just congratulating myself on how amazingly rust-free it is, a real California car, when I found it!! Under the matting on the passenger's footwell was standing water and ... you guessed it ... RUST!

Then I pulled out the mat on the drivers side...MORE rust! In fact I can see the ground underneath. I sucked the water out and when it dries I will see how deep it goes. I am hoping I can clean it up and hit it with Rust Bullet and not have to replace it. I will keep you posted.

I am also getting ready to pull the engine and tranny. Have disconnected everything and hope to yank it out in a couple of weeks. I'm draining the oil, right? I'm lying under it unscrewing the plug, have the catch-pan all ready, yank the plug out and .... WATER comes blasting out! Not green coolant water ... nice, clear what-looks-like rain water! About 2 quarts of it!! Then comes the oil on top of it. I don't have any plans for this engine, which under the circumstances is probably a good thing, but it is still something of a surprise.

Hope to have it on the rotisserie next month!! Stay tuned!!!
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2/14/06
Happy Valentine's Day!!

I bought G a boquet...um...bouquet...um...a bunch of roses! Hope they make up for some of the other stuff I have been buying!! LOL!! I'm really taken with the new project of actually painting this thing. I've hit eBay to get a gun and some of the other stuff, got a mask, got a REALLY MANLY air compressor from Harbor Freight (have to run 220 to get it hooked up) and got a 10X20 canopy from CostCo today. I have been sort-of hinting to the neighbors that one was going up. I'm hoping it will be OK with them...my town is pretty chi-chi, if you know what I mean!! Well...anyway...if the cats and dogs start walking in circles when I paint then they will really be upset. Did I mention that I got a mask??

Finished drying out the floor pan. The driver's side will have to be cut out and replaced, but the passenger's side is just surface rust. I dosed it with Rust Bullet, but in the end I may just cut it out too. It probably makes sense to replace both sides.
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3/13/06
Have you ever noticed how one thing leads to another which leads to another which leads to another which...? This project is no different.

In keeping with my pledge to "do it right" this time I have resisted the urge to just tear into it and instead to take it a logical step at a time. So, to properly install the compressor I tore all the crappy shelving out of my 9x13 "shop". Then I replaced (with my neighbor the electrician's help) the single 20 amp 110 circuit with 2 20 amp 110 circuits and a 30 amp 220 circuit all properly done to code in emt. Next I added more lites, an 8' bench and new shelves. There is still room on the floor to tear down an engine. I just finished this weekend and will get back to work on the Nova this week.
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3/19/06
I have all the door and quarter glass out now, along with the fuzzies and channels. Its looking pretty empty! I also got the side molding completely off (the aluminum strip that runs down the side, front to back). Since I am not going to use it again, I ground down the studs that it was mounted on and primed the spots so they wouldn't rust in the next couple of months. Anyone want some molding??

Finally got the exhaust out, too. Its a nice stainless system, but the guy who installed it obviously had it on a lift (duh!) and he tack-welded each of the joints. After spending at least an hour trying to get to the welds with the car on jack-stands I gave up and got out the sawz-all! Hated to do it but at least the front 2/3 of it is still OK. I don't like the way the exhaust came out anyway. I want it to come out just in front of the rear wheels...his was straight out the back on each side and it just didn't look right.
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3/25/06
Scored some cool stuff at the Good-Guy's swap meet today. Unfortunately, I am still missing the script "Nova" badge for the right side fender. Howsomeever...mounted the "350" badges from the Nova on the Sonoma and they look cool (OK...OK...its now a 5.7 but it still sounds like a 350 to me!!). Pulled into the show this morning in the Sonoma and the kid at the gate said, "You want to register THIS?!" I just pointed at the badge and he says, "Oh...OK!" No respect....
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