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1970 L-78 Nova Restoration; Saga of The Green Bastard
6 Attachment(s)
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. Attachment 211787 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). Attachment 211788 Attachment 211789 Attachment 211790 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 !! Attachment 211791 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. Attachment 211792 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 |
Wow, very cool that you finally got and kept it all these years. Like many others, I WISH I had kept some of the cars I had in the 70's. I hear ya on time getting away. The '67 Camaro I'm working on has been waiting for it's turn since 2005.
Looking forward to hearing "the rest of the story", as time goes on. |
What a awesome story, Neat you still have it. Thanks for sharing.
Gregg |
Nice! Cant wait for the updates! Love Novas, too! :headbang:
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I should clarify the car is currently much further along so I'm hoping to catch the story up and keep you guys interested.
Gary |
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70 L78 Nova....
Great car...looking forward to seeing more photos and information. Happy to help if you have any questions. My first hotrod was a 70 L78 Nova, Forest Green, bench seat, 4 spd, 3.55 gear...that was a long time ago. :tongue:
We have a few of these in the collection today, welcome to the Nova family :biggthumpup::beers: -wilma |
1970 L-78 Nova Restoration; Saga of The Green Bastard
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The Saga of the Green Bastard (1970 L-78 Nova Restoration Thread)
PART TWO; BARN FINDS; Well I suppose “Fake Barn Finds” is more fitting ! (I’m hoping that is not received as bad as fake Patina) Attachment 211869 Attachment 211870 Having finished my Chevelle Convertible in 2015, in the fall of 2016 I finally brought the L-78 home for the first winter to get started. I only have a two car garage so summers are for drivers and winters are for projects. It had however been announced that our local World of Wheels car show was going to have a “Barn Finds” display in April 2017. Our local promoter Bob Chubala is a SUPER awesome guy and we wanted to support his efforts and have some fun. Myself and two other car buddies Dereck (different Dereck from the L78 owner) and Calvin, together hatched a plan to bring all three of our stagnant “project cars” to the show. So… my plans warped into doing as much work as possible without too obviously upsetting the “Barn Fresh” look (no washing Ha). Attachment 211871 After such extended storage the plan was, put a Muncie and shifter back in (ST-10 had been sold), replace the disintegrated headers (had an exact set of used Hookers at the ready), refresh brake system (restored master and booster were ready to go), SST brake lines, new rear wheel cylinders (cheap replacements for now rebuild the originals later), SST fuel lines, new fuel tank, install a correct BB style radiator, shroud and Fan (repop), new rad & heater hoses, repair the drivers floor, toe board, and the grenade hole for who knows what shifter was in there ??, Install the mint original ($$) rubber mat I had located (Thanks Yenko Site), install a correct original bench seat, re-install the original door panels, rebuild carb, fresh fluids, set valves (rockers had been backed off for storage), pre-lube, and fire to DRIVE it in and out of the show! Oh and throw in a couple Auto Meter gauges under the dash for good measure… Short List :no: And we begin; I will unfortunately have to Caveat that a snowblower/cell phone incident that winter lost a lot of my detail photos, so this chapter will be a little challenged for pics. Hey! it snowed A LOT! and that phone jumped out of my pocket unnoticed when I exited the truck. The funny part was after finding it smashed & glowing in the lane it actually took me a moment to realize it was mine... DOH! A portion of the drivers floor was rusted through (4-6”under heels and 3-4”up the toe board). To make the repair undetectable from the bottom side I decided to replace the pan section from the under heel seam all the way back to the under floor crossmember where it could be welded from topside and not be visible from below. The pan had enough metal to wrap up the tunnel and be trimmed to exactly match the original shifter hole cut out. Between the few original screw holes that remained and an original lower bezel, I figured it out. The toe board was trimmed to required size, plug welded at the seam (per factory spot welding) and butt welded and metal finished where it would be visible along the top edge and in the portion in the tunnel. Some of the final welding was left for the rotisserie later because it was too difficult to access assembled. The underside forward body brace was surprisingly solid (it is heavier gauge). Attachment 211872 Attachment 211891 Green Bastard part one. At some point the car had been fitted with a GM bench seat with a fold down arm rest (Monte?). It was done early in it's life as I always remember that strange seat in the car. To accommodate the seat, the section of floor pan at the front seat mounts was POUNDED down to lower the seat…. A LOT… 2+ inches!! It took Herculean effort to reform (pound back up) the sections and weld in patches to make it fit a stock seat and be indiscernible from both sides Attachment 211858 I mentioned Ken was from a small town and working on the car I quickly learned that every orifice under the car was completely filled and plugged with dried silt from gravel road spray residue. It gets everywhere and hardens like stone once dried out. Green Bastard part two. Anyone who has run high speeds on gravel roads with a carload of pals knows you often times bottom out. The rear foot wells (floor pans) were so hammered up it literally took a sledge hammer and my trusty chunk of RAIL to coax them back to position and a several hours of hammer dolly work. More Herculean effort. I considered replacing them but they were very solid and in the end turned out surprisingly well. The radiator was purchased locally from a 68 BB Camaro (which went to Aluminum). I had also bought one from WilmasBoy here which will end up in my Acadian at some point. Shroud was purchased from GM way back when I bought the car. Fan is a repop and is a decent piece if you’re not concerned with full concours restoration (which I am not). In your face is what I believe to be the original equipment block heater plug, welcome to Canada. Also notice the chain to hold the engine under torque. The original equipment engine mounts are still in the car. Recall how Mr Fast said he launched the car :haha: Attachment 211875 Attachment 211876 Attachment 211877 Most of the rest was just plug and play with a little cleanup along the way. Attachment 211857 Attachment 211873 Attachment 211874 To be continued Barn Finds PART B |
1970 L-78 Nova Restoration; Saga of The Green Bastard
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The Saga of the Green Bastard (1970 L-78 Nova Restoration Thread)
PART TWO; BARN FINDS; (PART B had trouble adding all the photos) So all three of us had big plans to have these dinosaurs fired up and drive into the show and all three of us had issues but they did all run and we made it in (even if we did trailer). AND WE HAD A BLAST THAT WEEKEND ! We thought it was display only and were surprised to find out we won awards. Attachment 211878 Attachment 211879 3rd place Calvin’s 1970 Chevelle L-78 He’s owned since High School ! (Tammy calls it HER car as she drove it lots back in the day as the DD) Highlight : A young guy at the show says man that looks like my Dad’s old car. Well probably not because this one is from Thompson MB (Way North). Well that’s where we’re from too. Next Day previous owner shows up at the show… sat in the car for a while and says “Wow that was like an Acid Flashback Man”! Attachment 211880 Attachment 211881 2nd place My 1970 Nova L-78 Highlight ; Upon arrival for setup, unload off the trailer and idling over to my spot some guy yells out “Hey that’s my old car… Mr Fast (Originally had sold the car because he was moving to BC, had recently moved back to Manitoba). Attachment 211885 1st place Dereck’s 1967 Nova SS. This is an original Texas Gem with “ZERO” rust!! Has some bruises and needs lovin but very COOL car original 275HP 327 Factory Air & Power steering. It would appear to have been stored inside since new. I actually knew the previous owner and got out of the way for Dereck to buy this car because I knew I would just never get to it. That’s around the time when Dereck and I became friends. Highlight ; EVERYONE WANTED TO BUY THIS CAR! and it was the weekend trunk bar and Snack shack! Attachment 211882 Attachment 211883 Attachment 211884 Leaving the show was a little different story. My battery went dead got a boost to drive out to the trailer and stalled it loading… flagging down people to help push up the trailer. Calvin’s keys somehow went home with his wife so he needed to make a trip home and back before loading up so Dereck’s Nova went first… sort of… wouldn’t fire (I think it ended up being the fuel pump), another pusher. To be continued… Part three Left Quarter |
Hi, I'm looking forward to Part 3.
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Very cool car Gary. Love those story's that go along with the cars too.
I agree, Bob Chubala is a great guy. I met him when I brought one of my cars to the show in 2013 and had some great conversations with him. I used to frequent that show when it was the Piston Ring Autorama when I was a kid in the early 80's. I remember all those commercials they used to run when the show was coming to town. |
Hey Gary, what's the story on the Minneapolis Moline UB tractor parked beside your Nova in the building, Yours??
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1970 L-78 Nova Restoration; Saga of The Green Bastard
9 Attachment(s)
The Saga of the Green Bastard (1970 L-78 Nova Restoration Thread)
PART THREE; Left Quarter; Here we really go! Well actually, according to my pictures, I started on the Right Quarter !!! and it was 2018 (I think I stripped out the Sub-Frame and did the suspension and rack kit on my 72 Nova in 2017) I am just a hobbyist and not a professional bodyman, so by no means do I claim this is the correct way to do things… but this is my way. I do have a pretty good support group of friends in the industry that TRY to keep me close to the correct path. This is the age old lesson of toe bone connected to foot bone and on and on…. First step rebuilding hinges, strip and hanging doors easy peasy right ? Maybe not. I had purchased a VERY nice pair of 69 doors out of Nebraska hella years ago to use for this car. Somewhere along the way a friend needed hinges for his Nova restoration so I offered up (no problem Green Bastard has it’s own hinges). Here’s where things become a little more complicated. 69 Nova hinges bolt on, 70 hinges weld on (body and door). I had fully intended to use the bolt on half for the doors to provide some adjustability but… gave away one of the parts I needed. Long story, had to source some pieces and section in the tab for the spring lever (which was broken off on both originals) to repair the hinges. Sorry no real hinge pics. Attachment 211901 Attachment 211902 Attachment 211903 Attachment 211904 Attachment 211905 Rough hang the door which really exposes the previous poor ¼ panel repair I had mentioned Attachment 211906 Attachment 211907 Attachment 211908 Attachment 211909 This really wasn't a Green bastard issue because I did know about this going in. |
That's my orange 69 Camaro in the BIR photo back in the 90s when I raced Kenny.
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When I get a chance I will get that print made and share. Gary |
1970 L-78 Nova Restoration; Saga of The Green Bastard
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Peeling The Onion
Hanging the replacement door provided reference for where the jamb and pillar (and replacement quarter) should be, clearly there was a lot more investigation required here! Removal of the old panels could now begin. Attachment 211964 The Nova doors can be easily hung and removed by just pulling the pins without having to realign each time. Attachment 211965 Attachment 211966 I suspect the replacement panel was trimmed below the sail panel to simplify/shortcut the repair. The entire bodyline was formed in Bondo. Attachment 211968 Attachment 211967 Inside Panel was obviously damaged as well. |
1970 L-78 Nova Restoration; Saga of The Green Bastard
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Looks like the body person that did yours, learned from the guy that did my '67 Camaro, except my quarter was brazed on the entire length from the tail light to the door pillar. And then the body line was formed from filler too.:rolleyes2:
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1970 L-78 Nova Restoration; Saga of The Green Bastard
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Cutting this open uncovered a couple significant (Green Bastard) issues.
The replacement 1/4 was only welded to the rocker at the front and rear edges. The seam at the roccker was essentially loose. The inside of the panel was then filled with an entire caulking tube (or two) of silicone type sealant. This plugged the drain holes into the rocker, trapping water and rusting through both the lower edge of the inside door panel and the top of the ROCKER :eek: Attachment 211973 There is enough left that this could be covered over but that's not me !! So.... A piece of rocker will have to be repaired and an inner panel will be required. |
1970 L-78 Nova Restoration; Saga of The Green Bastard
I'm going to start doing just a couple pictures at at a time. Really struggling with downloading the pictures... only half are loading.
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1970 L-78 Nova Restoration; Saga of The Green Bastard
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Continued removal of the quarter
Attachment 212012 Attachment 212015 Attachment 212013 Close up of the rusted area. Top of rocker is badly pitted. Attachment 212014 |
1970 L-78 Nova Restoration; Saga of The Green Bastard
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With the panel off the quarter window post will be easy to correct.
Attachment 212060 While waiting for the replacement rocker piece and required trip to the wrecker in Fargo for the interior panel (fingers crossed), continued with stripping the roof and melting out the lead. Previous paint at some point included a very aggressive stripping job... lots of coarse gouges which will add some work later (If I only knew :laugh:). Attachment 212061 Carefully pulled apart the roof seam and drip rail. Anyone that has done this job knows it is quite difficult to release what are a few layers of sandwiched and spot welded pieces. Including drilling out welds and folding back some of the interior bracing to get the old panel loose (to be later coerced back into place and welded once the new panel is in position. Attachment 212062 The tail panel had medium-heavy bondo and needed to go as well. Digging in looks like the rear corner had taken a light bump at some point. The RH side of the trunk flange needed a little straightening. Attachment 212063 |
Yeah, buddy, you're in deep there. My '67 Camaro is in about the same state, sans right quarter and tail panel.
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1970 L-78 Nova Restoration; Saga of The Green Bastard
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ALLRIGHT !!!! Let's get into some repair !!!!!
The Rocker was pitted badly at the rear section and also under the lower corner of the door jamb. So if I was cutting it this far apart, I might as well include that section as well. Plus it's easier to align the longer piece when installing. In this photo I had not yet cut out the lower half of the original. Attachment 212079 Close up better shows how bad this was, particularly the front edge along the 1/4 panel to Rocker seam. It would have been impossible to spot weld repair that. Attachment 212080 Of course the replacement panel is not exactly the same size.:no: Here you can see an early mock up where I had already slit the front face of the panel. It had to be sectioned to shorten the face to the exact width. Attachment 212081 Attachment 212084 Top half mocked in. Doesn't show in the picture but the wheel opening end was also reworked to replicate the original folds. Attachment 212082 Here's the bottom half. Note the weld line, the lower face was also too wide and had to be sliced and cut down ! The cross section of the replacement panel would have nested over the original section... Way Off! The wheel opening end was also reworked. Attachment 212090 |
Wow... I just spent over an hour putting a post together and lost the whole thing.
Particularly frustrating that downloading photos fails at least one file every time. When it fails it also corrupts the original file. Time for a break. G |
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I fabbed a backer with plug welds to provide some extra strength to the rocker joint
Attachment 212180 Attachment 212181 Hard to see in the photo but a taught string line along the corner allowed for an easy alignment visual when tacking in place. Attachment 212182 |
1970 L-78 Nova Restoration; Saga of The Green Bastard
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Lower half of replacement piece. I made a clamshell die to replicate spot weld dimples along the lower body flange. I then drilled holes in between the dimples for plug welding
Attachment 212188 All tacked in place Attachment 212189 Underside also shows holes for plug welding to the internal reinforcement bracket Attachment 212190 Lots of careful grinding now required Attachment 212191 |
Great work man you have some skill!!
Subscribed! |
1970 L-78 Nova Restoration; Saga of The Green Bastard
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Replacement rocker also plug welded to inner reinforcement bracket.
Attachment 212192 Flange also plug welded at interior flange (welds from inside). Not yet welded in this photo. Attachment 212193 |
1970 L-78 Nova Restoration; Saga of The Green Bastard
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The lower front corner of the inner wheel tub required a small patch
Attachment 212201 Fabbed patch Attachment 212202 Tacked in Attachment 212203 Welded Attachment 212204 |
1970 L-78 Nova Restoration; Saga of The Green Bastard
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RH Trunk Drop
So the trunk drop looks terrible before cleaning up but really only the bottom flange was really rusted. I had an NOS piece to use but I was quite certain I could save this with some creative fitting and grinding. At worst I would waste some time trying. The NOS drops were dear $$... and I do have other Novas. Attachment 212205 To save the beads, my plan was to weld in a replacement piece and grind out the backside where it overlapped the beads Attachment 212206 Attachment 212207 Replacement flanges were made, copied from the NOS originals Attachment 212208 |
1970 L-78 Nova Restoration; Saga of The Green Bastard
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Rough fit
Attachment 212209 Attachment 212210 Tacked in The plan is to weld in solid from this side then grind open the formed beads from the underside (exhaust pipe side) Attachment 212211 |
VERY nice work. Going at it like a pro. Obvious "this ain't your first rodeo"...:biggthumpup:
I've had some experience with losing pics in posts on here too. My local Chevelle Club and the Tri-Five websites have gotten so bad, I quite posting for now. It seems to be my vpn that they don't like. If I turn that off, it works better. |
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Being from Winnipeg Canada we didn't have much for rust free choices. I learned early on how to patch and bondo and then over the years refined it !! HA !! With a tiny bit of formal training, LOTS of help from friends and a lot of hard work. But I truly have a passion for this stuff and could work 12 hour a day on it rather than watching TV or cutting grass. Gary |
Nice work on the Nova Gary, and great job with the pictures. If I can make a suggestion, maybe create an image folder account on https://imgbb.com/ and upload your pics to your own folder. It's free and you simply grab the raw files from your PC and drag then into a folder that also allows you to size the images before it uploads.
I do mine at 1200x900 so they fit the screen display for most people on forums, and then upload them into project folders. I then grab the image display codes and simply copy and paste those into the forum and the images display great. Kind of like photobucket was, but way better...and it's free. If you need any pointers, shoot me a PM and I can give you a quick call. Graeme |
I'm grandfather in on Photobucket at $35/yr, so I stay with it. I, also, have a thousand pics posted on different forums that would go away if I quit PB...:rolleyes2:
I don't watch TV, but spend way more time than I should on my computer and forums. As for cutting grass, we only cut about 5 months of the year, so the 1.5 hrs it takes isn't bad. I cut a little over an acre split up in 3 sections around the house. Yes, living in the rust belt necessitated learning how to repair/replace metal, or buy a new car every 5 years. I'm with you on the self learning curve. It took a few years to move on from pop riveting patches over holes in the floors and quarter panels to keep rain and snow out, to actually "restoring" the body to original...:biggthumpup: |
1970 L-78 Nova Restoration; Saga of The Green Bastard
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I cheated and Fast Forwarded to an underside shot so you can see how the trunk drop turned out from underneath. This side was finished up on the rotisserie.
Attachment 212245 Back to previous schedule |
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yes... the pop Rivets... one of my first jobs (around 15) was pop riveting a wheel lip and rear 1/4 bottom for my buddies 70 Chevelle. We did most of that car one winter in an underground heated parkade at the downtown Library. The security guard was SUPER cool... never met the guy... He would whistle loudly when he was coming by to make rounds so we could pack up and hide!! We would have to move around once in a while to get away from the pile of bondo dust on the floor.... GOOD TIMES !! Gary |
Really enjoyed reading the back story and then following your rebuild.
So you found the original transmission and have it back? |
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