1970 L-78 Nova Restoration; Saga of The Green Bastard

[L78_Nova]

The Saga of the Green Bastard (1970 L-78 Nova Restoration Thread)

PART ONE; INTRODUCTION;
When I purchased my first car in 1981 (a 72 Nova) and got into cruising, there was a 396 Nova that would occasionally make the scene. 1970, SS, 396, Forest Green, Bench Seat, Rubber Mat, 4 Speed, with Poverty Caps. I later came to learn it was an original L-78 Solid Lifter car. The owner was a very nice gentleman named Ken L., a couple years my senior. I told Ken at that time if he ever wanted to sell the car to please let me know. Ken did a fair amount of cruising considering he lived 80 miles from the city and the car earned a reputation of being pretty fast on the street.


Circa 1995 he did some tuning, High rise GM square Port Intake, 425HP 427 cam swap, installed a Super T10 with 3.10 low gear, 4.11 rear gears, some sticky G60 Hoosiers and tried his luck at the Brainerd MN Musclecar Shootout. I attended as a spectator and vaguely recall the car running low 13’s (having some traction and other issues).




Years go by… after having not seen the car for quite some time it reappeared at the local cruise still looking very similar to how I remembered it with a new owner (Derreck F), and again I asked if he ever wanted to sell it to please let me know (I believe Derreck was a close friend or relative of Ken’s). Got to know him a little at the cruise nights and sometime later he showed up with a very nicely restored 1970 Blue L-78 Nova. The Green Nova was gone again, unknown to me it was being campaigned quite regularly at the local dragstrip by a gentleman named Mr Fast (how fitting). It was several years later when I received a call from Derreck letting me know that the car was currently for sale in the local Auto Trader by Mr Fast. I got my chance, dropped everything and immediately drove the 60 miles to see Mr. Fast. Canadian Documents and Numbers checked out (minus transmission) and a deposit was made (as it turns out I narrowly missed losing the car to another local collector, who still teases that I stole his car).

The Car;
1970 Nova SS
Color: 48 – Forest Green
Trim: 731 – Black Standard
Originally sold in Arborg, MB (small town approximately 80 miles north of Winnipeg).

A02 Windshield Tinted
F41 Special Performance Front and Rear Suspension
F62 Front Spring – Computer Selected (tag found HH)
G32 Rear Spring – Computer Selected (five leaf)
G80 Rear Axle – Positraction (3.55 std original, 4.11 when purchased)
JL2 Disc Brakes - Front
J50 Vacuum Power Brakes
K05 Engine Block Heater
L78 V-8 Engine – 396 Cu.In. – Spec Hi-Perf. – 375 H.P.
M20 4-Speed Transmission – Wide Ratio
(Swapped for a BW super T-10 - Later recovered M-20 from Arborg)
PL1 E70-14-B (2+2) Tire – Hwy – BB – White Stripe
U63 Radio – Push Button – AM
U76 Windshield Antenna
V48 Engine Coolant – Increased Protection (Antifreeze)
W84 Additional Fuel For Delivery
ZK8 Tire Pressure Sticker
ZL3 “SS” Body Conversion
ZQ7 Canadian Warranty Booklet And Miscellaneous Literature
Z26 Super Sport

THE “GOOD”
-Real SS, Original Born With Engine; Block, Heads, Intake, Distributer, Carb (a little molested) and Differential.
-Canadian Documents (circa 1989 with microfiche copy)
-Known Wherebouts of the transmission
(M-20 traded to a friend of Ken’s in Arborg for a Super T-10)
-Included in Sale:
-Pair of GM full Quarter panels
-Spare SS hood in primer (hood on car rusted)
-LH fender in primer
-Mint Radio delete Dash housing
-Original BB Manifolds, Distributer and Low rise L78 Intake in trunk
-Runs and Drives !!

This car has been subjected to some INTENSE flogging over the years both on the street and Bracket racing for a few season. Odometer shows 67,723 but cannot know for certain if it was operational the whole time or not. Also, it was clocking way fast with the 4.11 gears. It is amazing it is the original Block. Bills show engine redone in Dec 76 (forged TRW +030) and freshened again in Nov 81.

I was told Mr Fast bracket raced the car for three seasons prior to my purchase in 1997.
Mr Fast also liked to play in the Hood. "Those sticky Hoosiers and sagged out leafs hooked so well I would drop the clutch with my foot on the floor and immediately grab second" he said "It was a LOT of fun on the street and I beat a LOT of fast cars"


THE “BAD”
-She’s been rode hard and put away wet.
-Rusted (poor repair) wheel lips, Rusted fender heels, Rusted hood nose.
-Significant damage and poor repair in the RH Quarter behind the door. The door is fine with some obvious filler but the jamb and quarter window frame show significant fit issues. Drip rail is straight, under rocker is straight but seam between rocker and quarter shows repair.
-LOTS of Mud work obvious on right quarter.
-Rear Tailight panel shows Repair
-Some Mis-Alignment of front sheetmetal and Grille
-Original Radiator and Shroud Gone

The story I was told is the car was backed into and the full RH quarter was replaced.
OMG LOOK AT THE PRICE !!


THE “VERY BAD”
At the time of purchase I was not in position to begin the restoration and the car was put into storage. Life happens and waaay too much time slipped by.
A couple projects pre-empted… including my 1967 Chevelle Convertible which I completed in 2015 and brought to 2018 MCACN.



After getting this started I can better appreciate the time and effort you guys put in to all the content on the site. This is by far my favorite spot on the internet and I hope I can keep you guys entertained with some posts.
Please bear with my slow progress and you will come to learn of the reason for the nickname The Green Bastard.

Today's episode courtesy of Covid Positive Lockdown (I'm doing fine).
To be continued… Part Two “Barn Finds”
Gary