Bought this L78 68 Nova from Stockton CA. back in 2001.Came with the original CA black plates,VND268.Anyway finally after all these years I located and talked to the 2nd owner who bought it from the first owner in 1969!! He comfirmed the car to be bought from Chase Chevrolet in Stockton California.He did tell me also that the car when new was,sat on the showroom floor.Comfirmed it to originally have the 410 gears ,muncie M21 4spd and L78 motor.Also my car came with front disc brakes,tinted glass,bucket seats,console with guages,factory 7000 grand tach with 6000 grand L78 redline.Also has the Aluminum trim around the side windows.Car was bought from Chase by original owner on 9/9/68. Option codes on build sheet are A01,A51,D55,ZJ1 and ZJ5.Car was built on 7-11-68 and is a 07B car. Also Teddy the 2nd owner dragraced it Kingdom Raceway in Stockton back then.Best time was 11.80,but mostly ran in the low 12's!! He has vintage pictures too.Pretty neat to find him!! These car are very rare,this being a 4spd is 1 of 667 L78 396/375 68 Nova SS!! Wonder what the break down on the L34 396/350hp and L78 396/375 4spd 68 Nova SS were,anyone know?? Probably made more L78 4spd cars I would think?? Dan

[quote= Wonder what the break down on the L34 396/350hp and L78 396/375 4spd 68 Nova SS were,anyone know?? Probably made more L78 4spd cars I would think??

Dan,

We can take a pretty good stab at this figure by subtracting the number of 396 Novas that were known built with the Turbo-400 in 1968. As you mentioned, 667 L-78 (396/375) Nova's is built in 1968? As most now know, 50 of these were built with the redesigned Turbo-400 for the Gibb COPO cars. This would leave 617 as stick shift cars of the L-78 family? The L-34 (396/350) Nova's numbers were smaller yet, with the most common number accepted of 234 built. Exactly 98 Turbo-400 transmissions went into the 68 Nova, leaving 48 for the L-34. By again doing the math, there would be 186 stick shift L-34's?

Ray, just started working on my 68 L78 car...turns out it is an M22 unit:D...one of 167 Novas that got that tranny. This will be a real cool car when it's done....Sequoia Green, ivy gold cloth bench interior, M22, L78, 3.55 posi, factory 8 track under the dash:cool: ...all original born with driveline with POP:hurray: ...car has the large finned drum brakes, original radiator, 170 dist., 814 alt. 4053 carb, etc....looking for exhaust manifolds..got any???

Best part, the original owner is still around and he still lives at the address on the POP:yes: ..was hoping to have it done for it's 40th birthday...but, we may have to wait a little longer..can't rush this one. What is the part number and date on your power brake booster..??..my car is 2nd week of July.

tom

[quote=WILMASBOYL78;23061]Ray, just started working on my 68 L78 car...turns out it is an M22 unit:D...one of 167 Novas that got that tranny. This will be a real cool car when it's done....Sequoia Green, ivy gold cloth bench interior, M22, L78, 3.55 posi, factory 8 track under the dash:cool: ...all original born with driveline with POP:hurray: ...car has the large finned drum brakes, original radiator, 170 dist., 814 alt. 4053 carb, etc....looking for exhaust manifolds..got any???

Best part, the original owner is still around and he still lives at the address on the POP:yes: ..was hoping to have it done for it's 40th birthday...but, we may have to wait a little longer..can't rush this one. What is the part number and date on your power brake booster..??..my car is 2nd week of July.


Tom,

First off, it is good to know of another 68 L-78 Nova that has not only survived the past, but is one of a very elite group having the M-22 and well documented. I can fully understand your excitement in getting this car back to it's original state. Sounds to be a good color combo, too.

As far as your question on the exhaust manifolds, I have never had any as my car came with headers. My power brake booster was bought complete ready to go from ASL, I believe was the name of the company? This has been almost 20 years ago. I may still have the original one somewhere, but not sure?

Keep us posted on this restoration, as many, like myself, are interested in these old muscle machines from the past. Ray

Ray, this will definately be a special car when it's finished...I even found a set of the original 14 x 6 XF wheels for this baby:) engine has been gone thru once before, but I am going to have it freshened up again. Trans looks pretty nice and even has the small metal tag with part number on the side cover indicating M22/Nova/68.....I need to nail down the booster part number and get a date that works with my build date...if you find yours please get me the info....Wayne Bushey is going to do the resto....my goal is to have it ready for the shows in the summer of 2009...thanks for the feedback.

tom

Hi Ray,Thanks for correcting my 68 Nova SS L78 Math problem!! I still have my white L78 68 Nova SS 4spd too,this car still has the Reedman Chevrolet sticker still on the inside of the glove box and Dealership trunk badge.Seems a lot of these 68 L78 Nova SS cars came with the BV 410 12 bolts. Hey Tom,Nice car,love the color combo too!! Where did you find that Gem?? Hey my 3rd 68 Nova SS 4 spd is a V-6 PNT and TR 745....Dan

Went to the shop today...took the 68 car out for a spin...here are some shots of the 68 L78 sub-frame..next in line for production..and our Butternut Yellow 427 car.....:hurray:

wilma

Tom,

Love the color combination of the Butternut Yellow, Black roof, and bottom trim combination, on the 68 427.

Ray, thanks...this is a cool car. We built it to enjoy and not worry about blowing up a VIN block. Car has a TH400 with hi-shift L78 governor, 3000rpm ATI converter and Gear Vendors overdrive...12 bolt posi with 4.10 gears. GM hi-perf liquid filled gauges including trans temp, hidden CD player, tilt wheel, deluxe interior, column shift with a"correct" TH400 shift pattern on the dash:) 427 badging on 454 block, 502/502 roller cam, Edelbrock RPM Air Gap, Holley 750DP, Edelbrock aluminum heads, stock style ignition with hidden Crane Fireball unit, Hooker ceramic coated 2" x 3 1/2...and so forth. Lot of fun to drive...planning on bringing it to the US30 show and the Nova Nationals....would love to get out to the Gibb reunion sometime....tom

engine photos and shot of my car at a show last fall...car next to me is a real 68 L78 Nova a local friend owns..