Between 485 & 705 SQ/FT 3rd time's a charm with a 3 car workshop

[loganb]

Working more on the passenger seat "return to factory"

Has a magnetic door sensor...started to remove:

This looks odd ....





Yeah....a "professional" installer used a couple of mini fuses for shims...was one on both the door sensor and the switch on the kick panel. Haven't found the paperwork for the bill when it was installed but it's a $12k or $13k seat now....not super impressive work

Airbag bypass...





At least it was heat shrinked...

Sure the mfg is trying to avoid perceived liability by not providing a nice premade plug in resistor bypass unit...but damn for the price should be better then what was done here

Now to fix this



But this did show up ...lives up to the reputation... definitely makes cleaning carpets easier!

 

[loganb]

It's never going to be perfect, but it's a base model F150 so perfection isn't necessary...but this takes it from a 20' visible boo boo to a 2' in good light so I'm calling this corner done.



Made progress on the engine bay, some of the interior and a similar boo boo on the back passenger side bumper corner. Driver's side is going to take more work but it's late and the truck needs moved around to give room to work on the driver's side so that'll wait till tomorrow.

 

[loganb]

These are going to be more challenging to get out....



Several of these are big and into or thru the paint and look like they got crudely hit with some touch-up paint

But going to give it a try



Wash and clay bar done, starting to work with the polisher and a correction pad with Chemical Guys scratch remover. I don't think it's going to be aggressive enough for these so may move on and work on the rest of the truck while I decide a game plan(leaving as is being a valid option) for these boo boo's

Also have an airbag warning light on now, so have to pull the scanner out and figure that out. Assuming it's related to the passenger seat that just got put back in

 

[loganb]

Storage unit is all setup



Which is timely as supposedly the Nova arrives this weekend. Will believe it when the carrier calls but was scheduled for pickup today and they wanted to confirm availability for this weekend so that's a good sign. Need to take the leaf blower over and blow it out well, then get a big drip pan in there as if it sits for awhile it drip out from around the dipstick tube

Have spent probably more money then is reasonable on detailing "stuff" working on the truck but knowing the Nova is coming. Visited a store today and saw some brands like KochChemie and P&S that before D.F.B's threads didn't know existed





Left with a few things and realized while looking at stuff in the garage I'm gonna need to make a bigger shelf for stuff lol

 

[loganb]

Starting point of the existing shelf....a scrap piece of plywood on a couple of cut down metal shelf brackets. Can't stick out too far as this is where wifey parks so can't be in her way



Was going to edgeband a piece of plywood...then saw this which was a piece from a work auction lot I bought, sapele mahogany




Too much **** in the way to run the 8' piece thru the planer ...so hand planer it is to knock some of the glue off and flatten the top a bit



Tracksaw cleans up the ends in two passes as it's almost 2" thick



Hit with some 80 grit on the Festool sander(I almost like sanding with that thing). 1/8" round over and then got a quick slather of danish oil



Will print some labels to try and keep **** organized and make it easier for others to find stuff...now to clean up the mess

 

[Boostingaz]

Nice work. That's too nice of a shelf for the garage lol

 

[loganb]

Nice work. That's too nice of a shelf for the garage lol

Lol thanks...though I'll admit the top side looks way better than the bottom....but that's just part of lumber selection is hiding the defects right?

Should more then 4x my available surface area to encourage flat surface disease....I hope my minor shopping spree hasn't already filled that volume up!

 

[loganb]

The fun of the day job is you never know what's going to come up. I work for a window & door distributor with a title that's made up but primarily involves complicated/expensive single family projects and large multifamily/commercial projects....so I don't deal much with the bread and butter replacing windows in existing houses as it just doesn't need me. We get into some larger projects where we're enlarging/creating openings and need to size/install new headers/move existing etc

In this case we moved up an existing header (6' wide) to install a taller door, got it all done without issue and came back next day to finish the install and found the gift that keeps on giving...



In good news this was done to the narrower opening that the header was already substantially stronger than required....and in good news they installed nail plates. We'll be discussing with the electrician that they're not allowed to touch the 11' header that is a couple feet to the right of this door and that any electrical chasing for that one must go thru the ceiling

 

[loganb]

This afternoon could be amusing....car hauler calls and claims will be here at 3 ish and sent an address....it's a restaurant parking lot in a grocery store/strip mall with ****** access...and I confirmed it's a semi not a dually with a 5th wheel car hauler. I expressed my concern with access at that spot...he assured he's used it before so hopefully the loading dock area in the back of the mall is empty and that's what he's planning...

And of course it's a cold and wet day with afternoon highs in the low 40's....but at least with wet roads should be able to get the tail sideways easier

 

[loganb]

 

[loganb]

82k miles, smells like it's running a bit rich but it hasn't run in awhile. It's raining and the windshield wiper arms are in the trunk so a longer drive will have to wait. The couple of miles it got to be picked up didn't feel bad, front end steering components may be a bit loose but will check that out when I get it up on jacks to change fluids

 

[OutlawDrifter]

Logan...few items for thought:

Its carbed and you're used to (at this point) fuel injected rigs w/cat converters. Looks like an Edelbrock 1406 carb (or similar). We could build you a nice QJet...hell, I think I have one in a cabinet.

Rack and Pinion Steering vs. the ancient system on this rig.

I have to remind myself that both the Suburban and Z28 do not have R&P steering when I get out of the Tundra and into one of those...now the Z28 is easier, but the Suburban feels like I'm driving a battleship

PS - Beautiful car, color me jealous!

 

[bugnut]

PS - Beautiful car, color me jealous!

 

[loganb]

Few more pics .....

Started working on polishing last night...this color is awesome



Yellow pad wasn't getting enough on the first round, just switched to a orange pad with Griot Perfecting cream and looks like that may be a winner



Interior is clean, radio works, factory AC but no belt on the compressor so don't know it's status


Clean underneath





Rear shocks are air shocks

It came out of Vegas and I doubt it's seen 5k miles in the last 10 years...I think it moved to Vegas with them from Atlanta in the mid 90's. Pretty sure it's been painted or at least professionally touched up by a paint shop as last time I drove it there were some wear marks from the car cover on it which are gone

New tires on it....boy wanted to help so said go for it. Going to try using Stoner Tarminator on them then dressing...more things gained from D.F.B's thread




Had to quit early for the day...surprised the wife with a date night out of the house at a new restaurant not far away



Fancier then we normally do but was very good...told her it was blasphemy to take home lamp chops to warm up and they must be finished which was only hindered by the fact we also got an appetizer and a side of brussel sprouts to share...but they were yummy!

The old fashioned in the background didn't **** either

 

[loganb]

Spending some time on the couch with the wife trying to learn a bit of the online "decodable" history of the Nova

Went out to the car to take a picture of the firewall tag and popped the glove box....and damn:




So as best as I've pieced together so far, and I'll get a chance to confirm this in a couple weeks as the inlaws are coming back out, from other paperwork in the glovebox it appears he bought this car from the original owner around 2001. The original warranty policy document made out to her, on Dec 24, 1971 (Merry Christmas!) was in the glovebox, and on that policy is what I assume is the original Protect-O-Plate. There is some old insurance documentation showing it registered to her in 2000 (other documents make her approx 83 yrs old then) and my wife kinda remembers it showing up when she was in high school.

Based on the sticker and the firewall/cowl tag decode from:

NovaResource - 1972 Cowl Tag Decoder

It was originally a V8 car with "Light covert vinyl bench" seat, in exterior paint code 57 aka "Golden Brown" and a light tan vinyl roof. I think that the move to blue and ditching the brown was a good call by the father in law.

 

[jonshonda]

Ohh man that Nova looks like a lot of fun to work on and investigate. Lot's of discovery and "ohh what's this" will be happening for a while I imagine.

Circling back a bit on the Tornador...excellent tool that everyone in GJ should own. I frequently use it from top to bottom on vehicles, but also on workbench, blowing hair/clothes off, etc.

 

[Boostingaz]

Spending some time on the couch with the wife trying to learn a bit of the online "decodable" history of the Nova

Went out to the car to take a picture of the firewall tag and popped the glove box....and damn:




So as best as I've pieced together so far, and I'll get a chance to confirm this in a couple weeks as the inlaws are coming back out, from other paperwork in the glovebox it appears he bought this car from the original owner around 2001. The original warranty policy document made out to her, on Dec 24, 1971 (Merry Christmas!) was in the glovebox, and on that policy is what I assume is the original Protect-O-Plate. There is some old insurance documentation showing it registered to her in 2000 (other documents make her approx 83 yrs old then) and my wife kinda remembers it showing up when she was in high school.

Based on the sticker and the firewall/cowl tag decode from:

NovaResource - 1972 Cowl Tag Decoder

It was originally a V8 car with "Light covert vinyl bench" seat, in exterior paint code 57 aka "Golden Brown" and a light tan vinyl roof. I think that the move to blue and ditching the brown was a good call by the father in law.

How many can I order for 3,700, I'll take 10 .

Whenever you get asked the silly question of what would you do if you could time travel, I always say take back a bunch of money and buy cars!

 

[gearhead1960]

How many can I order for 3,700, I'll take 10 .

Whenever you get asked the silly question of what would you do if you could time travel, I always say take back a bunch of money and buy cars!

Hah…wouldn’t we all. I would run out of ink listing all the cars I would buy!

 

[loganb]

How many can I order for 3,700, I'll take 10 .

Whenever you get asked the silly question of what would you do if you could time travel, I always say take back a bunch of money and buy cars!

According to ChatGPT, $3,700 in Dec of '71 is equivalent to $29,240 today. Today you'd get power window and locks, airbags and cruise control for that price....but a lot less fun in my mind. Today's equivalent would also be a bit shorter I suspect

You saying this "change" you're alluding to and talk of a new building isn't to recreate a play like this in the states:

How much man who bought 200 Land Rover Defenders in 2015 could be set to make selling them

Twisted founder Charles Fawcett made the decision to buy 200 Land Rover Defenders in 2015.

www.ladbible.com

Hah…wouldn’t we all. I would run out of ink listing all the cars I would buy!

Yeah.....there is a picture floating around of my Dad as a kid with a new '70 Superbird that came thru their local car dealer in a town of 400-ish people. This was in '72, the car was still new, untitled but was being shuffled around dealer to dealer as they couldn't sell it. Lots of people went to look at it....after a week or so it went down the road to the next dealer. Couldn't find anyone who wanted to put gas in it(had the Hemi) and this was before the big jump in '73

 

[loganb]

Logan...few items for thought:

Its carbed and you're used to (at this point) fuel injected rigs w/cat converters. Looks like an Edelbrock 1406 carb (or similar). We could build you a nice QJet...hell, I think I have one in a cabinet.

Rack and Pinion Steering vs. the ancient system on this rig.

I have to remind myself that both the Suburban and Z28 do not have R&P steering when I get out of the Tundra and into one of those...now the Z28 is easier, but the Suburban feels like I'm driving a battleship

PS - Beautiful car, color me jealous!

Good eye on the carb...exactly what it is. I will admit I spent a bit of time looking at Vortec heads for it last night....then ended up at Speedway Motor's site and looking at their top end kit for small blocks:

https://www.speedwaymotors.com/Small-Block-Chevy-Top-End-Kit-w-Flo-Tek-Heads,458841.html

It's already got a cam, but I could drive the car down and pickup that kit as they're an hour down I-80.....then I reminded myself I don't have time for a project on it already and to focus on getting it cleaned up, polished and then put into winter storage. My wife will be more "supportive" of me stealing the garage stall for a couple days(week) in the spring when it's warmer

Hoping to take a couple hours off later this week when it warms up and go run it a bit and see what I think of it on the road. Would like to get the wife out driving it too this fall before it goes into storage as it's probably the only carb'ed vehicle she's ever driven and it's going to handle very different compared to what she's used to. Biggest adjustment for her will be starting it when cold

The comment on the steering is spot on...she floats in the direction you point her, just have to get used to the amount of float!

 

[OutlawDrifter]

Good eye on the carb...exactly what it is. I will admit I spent a bit of time looking at Vortec heads for it last night....then ended up at Speedway Motor's site and looking at their top end kit for small blocks:

https://www.speedwaymotors.com/Small-Block-Chevy-Top-End-Kit-w-Flo-Tek-Heads,458841.html

It's already got a cam, but I could drive the car down and pickup that kit as they're an hour down I-80.....then I reminded myself I don't have time for a project on it already and to focus on getting it cleaned up, polished and then put into winter storage. My wife will be more "supportive" of me stealing the garage stall for a couple days(week) in the spring when it's warmer

Hoping to take a couple hours off later this week when it warms up and go run it a bit and see what I think of it on the road. Would like to get the wife out driving it too this fall before it goes into storage as it's probably the only carb'ed vehicle she's ever driven and it's going to handle very different compared to what she's used to. Biggest adjustment for her will be starting it when cold

The comment on the steering is spot on...she floats in the direction you point her, just have to get used to the amount of float!

Edelbrocks are "easy" to work with, other than the fact the whole top has to come off to change stuff (Like a Q-Jet). Most will run right out of the box after setting the idle screws.

Skip the Vortec heads unless you come upon a set super cheap and ready to put on. Much better offerings out there right now. Used to be a bolt on 40hp deal when the Vortecs first came out and they were "cheap".

I've been watching these (for a build I have in my head haha), they've got very good reviews and would work great on a 400ci SBC. I'd want a 180-190cc intake runner for a 350 to keep the velocity up.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/373995832795

That 280H cam wouldn't be fun without a 2500+rpm stall. It would sound great, but wouldn't be fun cruising around town on a hot day in traffic.

Speedway is dangerous for me to visit in person, bad enough its 1 day shipping here in NE KS...I'll leave it at that

 

[fouckhest]

Great looking car, that thing is mint!!! Looking forward to see you tinkering with this thing!

 

[loganb]

Edelbrocks are "easy" to work with, other than the fact the whole top has to come off to change stuff (Like a Q-Jet). Most will run right out of the box after setting the idle screws.

Skip the Vortec heads unless you come upon a set super cheap and ready to put on. Much better offerings out there right now. Used to be a bolt on 40hp deal when the Vortecs first came out and they were "cheap".

I've been watching these (for a build I have in my head haha), they've got very good reviews and would work great on a 400ci SBC. I'd want a 180-190cc intake runner for a 350 to keep the velocity up.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/373995832795

That 280H cam wouldn't be fun without a 2500+rpm stall. It would sound great, but wouldn't be fun cruising around town on a hot day in traffic.

Speedway is dangerous for me to visit in person, bad enough its 1 day shipping here in NE KS...I'll leave it at that

I was kinda getting the same vibe from some of the Chevy forums that the Vortec swap right now wasn't as "good" of a swap as it once was.

Thanks for the advice on the cam....I believe the documentation on what's in it right now is coming out in a couple weeks....they keep all paperwork so I know it exists....just have to find it.

 

[XJSuperman]

I come from Summit Racing territory so I lean that way, but I have learned that Speedway is the Summit of the Midwest. It was always cool to go visit (like a trip to Cabelas, but rarer) and see what was on the turntable display and in the scratch n dent shelves.
The car looks like it'll be a lot of fun in the warmer months Logan. Unfortunately for your wife's parking spot, you need to be working on it in the winter, not the summer when you want to be driving it.

 

[loganb]

I come from Summit Racing territory so I lean that way, but I have learned that Speedway is the Summit of the Midwest. It was always cool to go visit (like a trip to Cabelas, but rarer) and see what was on the turntable display and in the scratch n dent shelves.
The car looks like it'll be a lot of fun in the warmer months Logan. Unfortunately for your wife's parking spot, you need to be working on it in the winter, not the summer when you want to be driving it.

I remember stopping at Cabelas in Sidney when it and Kearney were the only ones....Kearney were "meh" but Sidney was cool...but drive there got a bit long as a kid but was a fun place to stop if we were passing thru. I've failed so far in my time here as I haven't been to Speedway yet....need to fix that.

Parking "quandary" is real....the storage spot is 3 miles away so if we get a winter warm up I can retrieve it for a couple days and do some work. I can move things around enough to get 2 cars in the double door side so I could do a larger scale project and get hers in as well, just will have to stay focused on getting it done as the "woodshop" side of the garage will be unusable during that time. Would probably want to get some tire dollys to put under it so I can scoot it horizontally over for more door clearance....but I've kept most of the woodworking stuff on wheels for this reason so in 10 minutes or so I could have lots of room for both....but with the woodshop disabled.

 

[Boostingaz]

Yea Logan, rent a dumpster from Louisiana

@Ryan

 

[loganb]

Yea Logan, rent a dumpster from Louisiana

@Ryan

Ya beat me to reporting the spam....well done!

Decided it had sat in the garage long enough so went home over lunch and swapped



Very mild mannered running down the road. Need to tighten the tension on the rear view mirror as its droops downward running down the road. Also going to need a floor cup holder or something as I put fuel in it and had no place to park my slushy...oh the modern day woes

 

[Boostingaz]

Ya beat me to reporting the spam....well done!

Decided it had sat in the garage long enough so went home over lunch and swapped



Very mild mannered running down the road. Need to tighten the tension on the rear view mirror as its droops downward running down the road. Also going to need a cup floor cup holder or something as I put fuel in it and had no place to park my slushy...oh the modern day woes

I know a guy with a 3D printer ........

 

[loganb]

I know a guy with a 3D printer ........

I may know a guy too....lol. My laser scanner is in Kansas which would be the hot ticket for generating the "Existing" profile/driveshaft tunnel sizing but should be able to get there pretty quick with a piece of paper, cut to a curve to fit then importing as an image and "Tracing" over in CAD

Then it's just figure out what to incorporate into it! Looks like there are some designs online for using the ash tray "hole" for a mounting point with a slip in cup holder for that which is something I had wondered about, so that may be a first step there

Was planning to put a new radio in it, but it's already got an Aux port in, so with that I can either plug into the phone or plug in a bluetooth dongle, so that is already handled.

 

[gearhead1960]

Back in the day.... this was my cupholder....

 

[jonshonda]

The silhouette is so appealing on that car. I might find some new GJ enemies after posting this, but if it were mine I would be painting all the chrome gunmetal or flat black, with an aggressive suspension drop and wide/offset wheels to they just perfectly cleared the fenders.

 

[loganb]

The silhouette is so appealing on that car. I might find some new GJ enemies after posting this, but if it were mine I would be painting all the chrome gunmetal or flat black, with an aggressive suspension drop and wide/offset wheels to they just perfectly cleared the fenders.

That would look pretty sweet....


As I'm getting like 1 to 2 hours every other day to work on polishing the car, asked AI last night to generate a line drawing of a '72 Nova with each side, front/back and top shown. It took a bit to get it to do both sides correctly as it kept wanting to do (2) drivers side views, but after a couple minutes got this:




Will print off some copies to keep in the garage and then shade/color the areas I get polished as I work thru so I have a better idea of where I left of and where I need to start back up.

 

[jonshonda]

Make sure you are blowing out your pads frequently!!

 

[jonshonda]

Also very jealous of the detailing supplies you have locally. Nothing like that close to me....

 

[loganb]

Make sure you are blowing out your pads frequently!!

Working on the car so far has been the heaviest use of the now 6 month or so old compressed air pipe/ceiling reels etc. That centrally mounted reel on the ceiling has been great for this. Been trying to stay in the habit of washing all used pads out each night and switching microfibers frequently.

Also very jealous of the detailing supplies you have locally. Nothing like that close to me....

Another store is about 15 minutes another way, need to check it out, based on their web presence it's a larger location. I need some hard water spot remover and was going to try the stuff from 3D and the first place I've been has it but may try the other shop

 

[slik560]

Very nice Nova. Brings back memories.

 

[jonshonda]

Another store is about 15 minutes another way, need to check it out, based on their web presence it's a larger location. I need some hard water spot remover and was going to try the stuff from 3D and the first place I've been has it but may try the other shop

Ohh sure rub it in.....

 

[slik560]

Working on the car so far has been the heaviest use of the now 6 month or so old compressed air pipe/ceiling reels etc. That centrally mounted reel on the ceiling has been great for this. Been trying to stay in the habit of washing all used pads out each night and switching microfibers frequently.



Another store is about 15 minutes another way, need to check it out, based on their web presence it's a larger location. I need some hard water spot remover and was going to try the stuff from 3D and the first place I've been has it but may try the other shop

Be cautious with the 3D stuff. I got some a few years ago to use on the side mirrors on my '87 560SL Benz, and it worked...but it is strong stuff. Make sure you have clear coat over that blue, because if it's single stage paint you could have issues. But maybe I'm just paranoid.

In the greater KC Area we have ONE shop dedicated to detailing supplies. He also does classes on polishing, etc. I wish he'd been around 15 years ago.

Take care

 

[loganb]

Be cautious with the 3D stuff. I got some a few years ago to use on the side mirrors on my '87 560SL Benz, and it worked...but it is strong stuff. Make sure you have clear coat over that blue, because if it's single stage paint you could have issues. But maybe I'm just paranoid.

In the greater KC Area we have ONE shop dedicated to detailing supplies. He also does classes on polishing, etc. I wish he'd been around 15 years ago.

Take care

Appreciate the advice! I was looking the other day to see if there were any shops that did classes....didn't make it far but haven't gotten thru all of them yet School of Youtube etc doesn't do bad on the concepts and general stuff, but tips and tricks, body position, guidance on how to better evaluate what type of product/pad should be used to get a specific defect out seems easier and faster to learn from a pro.

 

[OutlawDrifter]

Appreciate the advice! I was looking the other day to see if there were any shops that did classes....didn't make it far but haven't gotten thru all of them yet School of Youtube etc doesn't do bad on the concepts and general stuff, but tips and tricks, body position, guidance on how to better evaluate what type of product/pad should be used to get a specific defect out seems easier and faster to learn from a pro.

Logan, I learned A LOT of good lessons from polishing/paint correcting vehicles that were not cared for very well before my possession. I'm by no means a professional, or anywhere in the middle, but I've been able to fix things I never thought was possible.