I would build it like it would have been late 70s early 80s jacked up rear end with a set of fat boy cregers with 50s on it rat rodded out just cleared if it was mine
I’ve got one just like it. I replaced floor pans, trunk pan, taillight assy and both quarter skins. Almost forgot a door skin. If it didn’t have as much rust, I would have left it alone and made it a street bruiser.. patch panels are cheap, do a homemade mini tub and frame connectors using 2x2 square tube for the frame. Try to leave as much of that blue paint as possible so it looks rough. Manual trans and a big crammed small block.
New floors, new trunk, repair areas to make the trunk seal and the window areas seal against the elements. And make sure it is structurally sound enough to put some budget sbc 307 stroker power to the pavement! 4.0L jeep pistons and a 350 crank, 5.7" rods to build a sbc 328 with a standard bore or a sbc 333 with a .030" overbore or a 335 with a .040" overbore. You can use the same pistons if you have a sbc 400 crank and sbc 400 rods with the mains ground down from 2.650" to 2.450" to fit in the 307 block. Can't use the sbc 400 rods on an aftermarket crank, they're made for 5.7" or longer rods.😎👍
Johnny, You have the Skill and Will to make it decent. Make it a Street Legal StockCar Sportman. Decent used Race Wheels and Race Radials, cleaned up and custom metal work inside. SBC, 4 spd, posi, Bare Naked Necessities!
If I owned that car, I would personally turn it into a burn out competition car and do events like they do at the freedom factory. Build a budget friendly big block, th400, convert the rear to limited slip (if it isn't a factory limited slip) , install the necessary missing sheet metal, and all the necessary safety gear, and have some cheap fun killing tires.
I personally like the look of these cars in the late 70s and 80s as muscle cars. Back end up with air shocks. Duel exhaust with glass packs, rallys or craigers with white letter tires. For this build i think you should do something along the lines of DDspeed shop, repair the floors, get it running and driving and enjoy it then sell it or give it to a subscriber.
I would really like to see one like this with a nice set of wheels and sanded to bare metal with all the rust holes on the body left there and clear coated over!!! What conversation piece but lots of sanding........
U know as well as the rest of us they don't make em anymore!!! I throw some sheet metal on it, batch up the bad spots, throw some floor pans at it, and make it a sleeper. I wouldn't send it to the scrap yard, it just needs some love
Put a new floor and trunk in it, patch the rest of what you can with old license plates. Beyond that, if its not falling off don't worry about it. Do a "cheap as you can" turbo or nitrous LS/4L80e build. A burnouts and ice cream car as Matt Happel the tuning raccoon would say.
If that was my car, I would replace whatever sheet metal needs replacing. I would try and leave the paint the way it is and match it to the look of the patina. Put a nasty big cam 350 in it with a tunnel ram, big and skinny Cragars with a zoomie exhaust system. The 70’s look is pretty cool IMO.
80s style hack job make over. Re-do the bondo under the windshield, pop rivet some street signs in the floors and trunk. Schmoo some fiberglass on the tail light panel. Wire nut the lights til they mostly work. Find some wrong offset keystones and a lift kit for the rear and a snorkel air scoop. Toss a bad running 307 in it and tell everyone its a 400sbc
Fix suspension bushings etc. Make brakes and steering safe. Steelies and poverty caps. Install biggest torque engine you can afford. Make noise and smoke tires
I was wondering what your plans were for it. Already had the idea in my head and low and behold the comment before mine had the same idea ! lol. 70’s street freak !! That’s my vote. 😎 take care John
Mount the body on a 4wd k5 blazer chassis. To do it right you would need to remove most of the floor anyways. Once it’s on 35’s nobody will care how rusty the rest of it is!
Also, have you ever done a shop tour? If you have i missed it. I always wonder about the plastic over the door openings lol. From what I seen in your videos you have a very nice shop.
Patch what needs to be patched to make it go. Got the interior put a race seat in it put a big old engine in it with a turbo and light the tires up. The less paint the faster it goes.!!
Budget Build ? Straight 6 cylinder 250 or 292 3 speed standard trans Moderate Build 283 or 327 4 speed 12 bolt posi But it's your car , you do what you think is best ! I'm in the process of removing that 49 and 1/2 inch hood and getting the other 50 inch hood that fits installed on mine , I'll send you a Video I have a 292 Straight 6 cylinder-1967 Straight 6 cylinder 250 -1975 I also have a 262 V-6 with Headers and Aluminum Elderbrock 4 barrel intake manifold -1996 262 is the 4.3 engine
Question sir i know you have restored to a certain extent a lot of these Novas and you know how ridiculously insane the cost of rubber seals and such like windows I am rebuilding my 1966 Chevelle on a retired carpenter budget the vent windows seals are in ok shape but hard can they be rejuvenated?Replacement is the price of a set of tires ! Lol please advise thanks
yep thats why i went to oklahoma to get mine, the south and midwest and north has nothing but garbage around here and if something is remotely solid your paying up.
Since the trunk and floor are so bad, why not go pro street?! I know it's a bit expensive but it's something you haven't done yet and your how to's are well thought out and set up.
With that sweet velour dash, you have to go old school. Adjustable rear shackles on the highest setting with the widest offset cragar sst's you can find complimented by the skinniest fronts available, chrome 3 spoke steering wheel and of course save room in the budget for a set of XL rearview mirror fuzzy dice. Remount a new single sub in the already present hole and wire it up through an amp to a cassette deck with Appetite for Destruction in the chamber. 350 small block from a farm truck, headers and a q jet. Then stand back, remove your hat and take a bow.
I am old school look. Ass end jacked up but not too much. Never liked the look of shackles showing underneath. Check out AMD sheet metal. Dash panel, tail light panel,rear package panel, aren't too expensive. I think any surviving novas now days are worth putting some money into. I like Cragers over keystones also. I am curious to see what you decide.
I would pull the good parts (all 4 of them) and scrap the shell. Its just not worth the time and effort of getting it going and solid. You would have a fortune in Sheet metal if you replaced all the rust.....but something tells me sincs you already put door pins in it, you probably have a plan for the oll girl ;)
First and foremost to me is do you have a clean title for it? If not,parts car for me. However if you have a title thats a whole different proposition for me.Here in N.C. its a pain in the ass to do anything if you dont have one. I bought a car from Virginia with a title and it took me over 4 months to get it cleared after the DMV came here and looked at all the vin numbers on the car. I believe you are in Georgia so I dont know if a bill of sale will get you going or not. Novas are getting expensive here so the value is worth fixing. How good is what the budget will allow. If I were fixing it,I would strip it down make it structurally sound for safety sake weld in floor pan and sandblast and epoxy prime what needed. You got right many used parts I think. Use what you have and build a hot small block wheels and tires used seats and have a ball! Have fun and all the best to you!
No title. Not needed in GA. Usually when people tell me it’s worthless to them without a title, I argue that you can get a bonded title or a court appointed title but I don’t argue with people from NC cause y’all got a PIA dmv. I’ve heard a ton of horror stories. This car has some more serious rust than y’all saw in the video. Pieces that aren’t reproduced and I’d need a good donor
Yes sir I agree 100% I wish we had Georgias DMV system. Takes the fun out of buying an old car to tinker on. You guys are lucky. I've had people fuss and yell at me because of the title issue. All I can tell you is from my own experiences with DMV officers and a judge in a court case I lost. So it is what it is. Enjoy the car and I do enjoy your channel!@@Shop209
So You're saying the roof and subframe are good. Man I don't know John. I think the flintstones would have a hard time keeping that One.😂 I would like to save everything too but man I don't know.
Hmmm. On this one I would go stock; Even though you have a great skillset it will be cheaper and easier to do. Plus, if you go stock and make a decent driver you can then sell it to someone that might take it the next levels, and you could make a little bank on it too. (You are a glutton for punishment. 🤣🤣🤣)
I have actually considered making visible patches just covering what’s there. Might not be on this car but would definitely do it on something. Thanks!
