71 Nova with zz502

[hotwheels000]

I have been plugging away at the things I wanted to change on the car.Rear suspension was next on the list.
Replaced the stock mono leaf with a 5 leaf pack. I then had a buddy make some new shackles for it. (no pics)
Then it was time for the shock relocation. My goal was to get ride of the old school air shocks. The ride was harsh and installation was less than steller, meaning the bolted directly to the trunk pan.
We started with the upper mounts. Several ideas were tossed around and then a decision was made. A 1.25 hole was cut in the rear sub frame. We fabbed up a piece of tubeing with one end capped and a hole drilled threw it for a Rancho shock stud. That assembly was welded into the subframe.



Then it was time for the lower shock mounts. Again many ideas were considered until we decided on this version. It is a piece of 5" square stock cut to fit the desired shape then welded to the slapper bars.



A pair of KYB gas adjust shocks were installed. Talk about a difference in ride quality. Couldn't be happier... Thanks to Kenny for all his help fabbing, welding and putting up with me...

 

[hotwheels000]

Spent the weekend working on the cooling system. My son stopped by to give me a hand. We spent most of the day on it. A buddy had given me a fan and shroud off of his Chevelle. I had decided to use a BE Cool 2 row,1" rows radiator made to fit a Camaro, it is a bit larger. We ended up installing and removing the shroud about a dozen times test fitting and what not. In the end we trimmed about 2 inches of to make it thinner and installed it upside down to achieve the proper height and clearance for the blades.
I did a little prep work ahead of time and had the fan ready... blasted and painted body color. We stripped the bumper, grill, and headlight bezels off to gain access.
Taped off my cut lines and pulled out the 4" grinder.



Trimmed out the cuts with what we called pinchweld when I worked at Kenworth.

Almost back together...

Took it for a test ride and was able to cruise in town between stoplights and freeway cruising at 180*, idle and extended stops at lights ran it up to 190*. That's a big improvement from the 210*-220* I was seeing before the swap.
One more item of the list:awsome:

 

[boisetrucker]

Nice clean build.

Sent from my SGH-T769 using Tapatalk 2

 

[hotwheels000]

Thanks, just trying to build a nice "driver". Allthough I keep seeing things that would make it look a lot nicer.Electric power steering caught my eye the other day:shock:

 

[Hollister_Ry_5]

My dad has a '77 and he would love a '71, his is just a primer roller, he plans on putting a big block he built and Idk what else

 

[hotwheels000]

Picked up some turbo mufflers:mrgreen:

 

[hotwheels000]

Took the Nova out to fill her up with some non ethanol based gas since it isn't driven as much in the winter and I didn't want that crap in the tank.
!3* out when I pulled out of the garage and let her warm up. I was surprised when I got out and did a walk around and saw this. The exhaust was freezing in place on the asphalt



A quick vid

http://s484.photobucket.com/user/hotwheels000/media/004_zpsb5c46f44.mp4.html

 

[hotlemich]

Nice Nova man

 

[hotwheels000]

Spending a bit more time getting a few things done. I pulled the seats in prep to have them reupholstered. While they were out I pulled the carpet to inspect the floor pan from the top side. All looked great, you can see where the roll bar was welded in prior....

(Side note) I new it had one during the intiall build up of the car. When the previous owner was trying to sell it, he had no takers. So, the bar came out and a complete interior was installed. The car had never been to the track as the owner before the one I purchased from never completed the project. And the fellow I bought it from didnt have any desire to run it on the track prior to the sale to me.

 

[hotwheels000]

While waiting for the seats to return I decided to throw down some soumd deadening Fat Mat.



This is currently the the top of the line seat that was given to me as a loaner until the tibs return. Notice the cup holders on the sides

 

[chino63]

Looking good there Devlin, I was contemplating Fat Mat instead of Dynamat for the wagon but held off due to some things I read on the internet as well as the crappy customer service I got when I called them with a few questions. :roll: Since you are the first sucker... I mean guy I know to use it, I'm curious to hear how it works out for you.

 

[hotwheels000]

I will let you know Dean, what did you read about it that you didnt like ?

 

[b00st3d-vr6]

Love the color. Thought I would share 1970 ss 548 Merlin block brodix heads 4 speed and street tires. What a riot...

 

[hotwheels000]

Very nice ride, i bet it is a blast with that motor on street shoes.

 

[hotwheels000]

I installed the drivers seat, the pass side will remain out untill the rear seat is installed for easy of access. The pic washed out the thread color a bit but it is a close match to the paint. Inserts are a perf material, again the pic doesnt do it justice as it is just a shade off from the black on the rest of the seat. Pic makes it look like light grey when it is more of a gunmetal or charcoal. The seat backs were also wraped to get ride of that ugly plastic and to make it match the rest of the seat.

 

[TraxFD]

Holy shit Dev! I need a ride in that thing. Can I borrow the 502 to put in my truck?

 

[1BadJeepBruiser]

Any reason you didn't go with a caltrac mono leaf set up? My buddy has a nova with a 502 and had slapper bars with a mickey ET street and it didn't hook so well. Now it hooks like a beast with the caltrac set up

-Mike

 

[hotwheels000]

Holy shit Dev! I need a ride in that thing. Can I borrow the 502 to put in my truck?

you bet Sam on both accounts. I would just need a ls7 and wiring harness to loan you the 502:mrgreen:

Any reason you didn't go with a caltrac mono leaf set up? My buddy has a nova with a 502 and had slapper bars with a mickey ET street and it didn't hook so well. Now it hooks like a beast with the caltrac set up

-Mike

Mainly because I dont plan on running the track, it is just a fun street car for me. I am also trying to stay abit old school and build it how I would have my old 72 I had as a kid if I had that money to do it up back then.

 

[chino63]

Any reason you didn't go with a caltrac mono leaf set up? My buddy has a nova with a 502 and had slapper bars with a mickey ET street and it didn't hook so well. Now it hooks like a beast with the caltrac set up

-Mike

Caltrac = mild street car awesomeness.

If set up right, slappers can work pretty good too.