74 NovaMan’s … Novas

[74NovaMan]

My first car was a 73 Omega, shackles and air shocks baby, yeah! bought it in 86, still have it at my Dads house.

neat car, thanks for the trip down memory lane!

Charles - I love my air shocks. They are especially handy for Power Tour when the car is overloaded with tools, luggage and cooler. I'm planning on buying a new pair for the current iteration this week.

[74NovaMan]

Shortly after that, I learned a very valuable lesson regarding the difference in penetration for welding gas vs. electric when I gas welded the spring perches on my new 3.42 disc brake posi from a 3rd gen Camaro. The carnage was not pretty. The perches let loose under hard acceleration, destroyed the drive shaft and made a mess of the mufflers and dented up the floor. New mufflers, used drive shaft and some electrically welded perches later I was back on the road. Shortly thereafter, I learned another lesson about the importance of torqueing the pinion nut properly. When the u-joint from the Nova driveshaft would not fit in the Camaro rear I figured I’d try to swap the yokes. I know now that they are not even close. The problem lies in the method of removal and installation. I used and impact wrench. The terminal vibration showed up not too long after. In addition to this problem the extra traction combined with the rusty underbody made for a bad situation where the front leaf spring perches were no longer well connected to the uni-body. These issues benched the car for a while and the motor and transmission spent some time in a 1980 Buick Regal that I had rebuilt a 231 for that did not work out. As it turns out, oil galley plugs are an important element in a rebuild. I drove that for a couple of years and sold it to a friend (less motor and trans).

Somewhere around 1997 I decided to put the Nova back together. This time I scrounged a 2.56 non-posi rear and a used 700R4 transmission. I did some rust repair on the rear bumper mount and cross-member area as well as the front spring perches. It was in this configuration that I went on the 2002 Power Tour for the first couple of stops. Here are a couple of shots of the car on the dyno on tour. Results were fair at 200HP and 250 TQ.

[74NovaMan]

In high school, I pulled the original exhaust in the parking lot of the exhaust shop and installed the headers. The next day, I picked up the car with the new dual exhaust run to the bumper. After that, I scrounged a power disc brake setup from a 70’ SS and installed it. What a huge difference. I about put my buddy throught the windshield testing it out.

In college (about 1990), I pulled and rebuilt the original engine. I rebuilt it 30 over with hypereutectic pistons, balanced rotating assembly, performer intake and Edelbrock carb. I rebuilt the TH350 a few years later. It is amazing how much they stuff in a transmission case. I had the guts laid out on two 4x8 sheets of plywood and I was amazed that the transmission worked well after I was done. Somewhere along the line I found these Keystone rims and used them for a while:

[74NovaMan]

Thanks for all the kind words everyone. I'm just getting started on the story. I've got at least 3 more Novas to go!

[pintoboy77]

Man I loved all my Nova's and still miss them all my wife loves them to and says someday I am going to have to build her another one. Cool pics.

[1badmonkey]

My first car was a 73 Omega, shackles and air shocks baby, yeah! bought it in 86, still have it at my Dads house.

neat car, thanks for the trip down memory lane!

[Turbo Regal]

My folks bought a Pontiac Ventura hatch new in 73. My first car was a 74 Olds Omega. Your pics bring back a lot of memories!

[Bamfster]

Nice .... right outta high school ('85ish) I scored a '76 w/250 & th350 combo for $250. Loved that car, but the girlfriend hated it. She still my bride but the car is gone. That Nova was the only car I ever made money on ....

NEXT!

[JOES66FURY]

good stuff!

[74NovaMan]

A quick trip to the local Maaco (local quick turn cheap paint place) we were pretty pleased with the results. I do remember the water pump letting go on the way home and wondering if anti-freeze was good for fresh paint. This is how it looked with maybe $1,200 all in:

[74NovaMan]

The hood on the 73 was better than the 74 so that was swapped for the cause. We ordered a set of “Custom fit fender flares” for the rear from JC Whitney to address the quarter panel rust. Apparently custom fit means add 4 gallons of bondo for proper fitment. They were returned and we picked up a quarter panel replacement for the driver’s side. After some metal work (thanks Dad) and a reasonable amount of bondo we had this:

[74NovaMan]

Thanks Guys!

[Monk]

Novas make great projects..........yep, more pics.

[SuperBuickGuy]

cool.... next pictures pls.

[74NovaMan]

It stared fairly innocently with some minor body work and paint. The neighbor (major car guy) at the end of the block had just taken in a 72 Nova that had been smacked hard in the rear. He sold me the front fenders and doors and slot rims for $150. The door panels did not match style wise but were the right color and in good shape and I also got wing windows so it was all good.