Hello everyone, this looks like a good place to learn everything possible about Novas. My 14 year old daughter and I are restoring a '71 for her first car. We bought it last August and here are a few pics of our progress over the last few months. I know it doesn't look it here, but this is an original 22K mile car. It has been nice to work on with the low miles; I'll post a pic of the floor pans first.

floor pans...

http://pic1.picturetrail.com/VOL1142/4323404/12817274/189097321.jpg

http://pic1.picturetrail.com/VOL1142/4323404/12817274/189097327.jpg

Where we found it...

http://pic1.picturetrail.com/VOL1142/4323404/12817274/189097338.jpg

After a couple days of cleaning and some rallys...

http://pic1.picturetrail.com/VOL1142/4323404/12817274/189836589.jpg

original engine...

http://pic1.picturetrail.com/VOL1142/4323404/12817274/230403887.jpg

new engine...

http://pic1.picturetrail.com/VOL1142/4323404/12817274/230403892.jpg

new suspension with drop spindles and addco bar...http://pic1.picturetrail.com/VOL1142/4323404/12817274/230403895.jpg

this is my favorite pic... she's a good helper

http://pic1.picturetrail.com/VOL1142/4323404/12817274/230817737.jpg

Thanks for your time and hope you all enjoy the pics, I know we are having fun working on the car. Doug

Wow. Where did you find it ? How long have you been working on it ? That's some nice progress, imo. :hurray: Good luck with it. I wonder who will drive it more - Dad or daughter ?

Welcome to both you and your daughter.

Big Dave

Welcome :waving:

I've been watching your progress on the chevytalk site. The car looks great,I like the way you cleaned the floors lol. Ed

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d46/RPOZ28/189836593.jpg

[quote,I like the way you cleaned the floors lol. Ed
[/quote]



Well, the bumpers aren't much to write home about so it worked out pretty good, we did the same thing from the front as well.

Also, thanks to everyone for the welcome.:)

Welcome Doug and Daughter from the Frozen North.

Amazing what a little elbow grease can do. Looks great! Good find.

Harv

Welcome, it looks great so far.

Doug,

Saw some of the other pics from your daughter's nova and I've got the same type of surface rust in my 71 GSX project car floor pan and trunk. My 66 SS has some of this in the trunk as well. Both cars had leaky window seals, which I will be fixing. I'm new to body work but willing to learn. What did you do to go from the before and after shots?

Harv

Hey Harv,

It was pretty simple really. After removing the original floor mat we let it dry out from the intense pressure wash job. You can see the moisture in the first pic.

http://pic1.picturetrail.com/VOL1142/4323404/12817274/213773907.jpg

Next we wire brushed with a electric 4 1/2" angle grinder and wire brush wheel. After wire brushing we then applied a rust converter which was a sulfuric acid product. It was something my dad had left over from another project. It really worked good, however, we really had to be careful as it was pretty potent stuff. I also used the wire wheel to remove all of the seam sealer so new could be applied. Here's a pic after the wire brushing and rust converter...

http://pic1.picturetrail.com/VOL1142/4323404/12817274/213773910.jpg

Next, we applied new seam sealer then brushed on POR15. I was told afterward that you don't need to use a rust converter or neutralizer before POR15 but it was too late. Even after several months now the POR is sticking great. When we cut the hole for the shifter I tried to peel the POR15 off the chunk of metal removed and it is tough stuff. Here's a pic of the POR15...

http://pic1.picturetrail.com/VOL1142/4323404/12817274/215333190.jpg

I'm a novice at this stuff myself so I hoped this helped a little. Doug


http://pic1.picturetrail.com/VOL1142/4323404/12817274/237403109.jpg

Doug,

Yes, it did. Thanks. Just brushed on the POR-15, huh? Looks pretty good. Did you have any small spots that were rusted through or just surface stuff. I've got a few pinholes in mine and I'm not sure of the best way to get rid of them. One hole might be as big as a dime +-. I guess either cut and patch or ??

Harv

Welcome to the club , I wish I could get my little guy's to help like that . Would be a lot easier on my back . I'm not getting any younger.Your Nova looks solid and you are making descent progress ,nice job!