Jason Hale's L78 Nova

[Xplantdad]

Hi Bruce,

I just finished up the 2 year restoration on my 68 Nova SS L78 4 speed car. The car was an old drag car and hasn't been on the road since the late seventies. I have tracked previous owners all the way back to 1978 and they all wish they held on to this one. Exterior color is sequoia green and the interior color is ivy gold. The car has the following options bucket seats, console with factory gauges 6,000 redline tachometer, custom interior, tinted glass, power 4 piston disk brakes and a black vinyl roof. According to the broadcast sheet it was the 4th car in sequence on the assembly line May 31, 1968.
I did all the work myself except assembling the engine and having the seats recovered I left that to the experts. I have a lot of pictures throughout the restoration. I will try to explain the story of the car that I know of.

I bought the car out of the local want ad in 2003 as a parts car for my 70 Nova. The guy I bought it from thought It was an original BB car but wasn't sure. The drive train was long gone. I bought the car and got it home and did some investigation. The BB heater core was there, bb core support, bb motor mounts, 4 speed cross member and it had the 6000 redline tachometer.

I have talked to 4 of the last owners all the way back to 1978. This is were my investigation trail ended. This young man in 1978 was only 15 when he bought the car. The owners told him then, it was a rare car originally a BB car but the motor was long gone. He bought complete minus the motor. He painted it silver and ran a small block for a year then sold it to his friend who owned it until 1980. He sold it to the next guy who held onto it for 18 years. It was in and out of storage never doing any thing with it but new its rarity. Then he sold it to the guy I bought it off of and he owned it for 5 or 6 years again never doing anything with it.

I bought the car in Highland NY where it has been since 1978. The young man bought it in Pleasant Valley, NY from a couple going through a divorce. The car had a piston ring winner circle sticker on each quarter window. I am told these were winner circle decals.

I am a 3rd generation Nova nut. I have seen Tom Williams collection and it is amazing. I never knew that I would own a car so rare and being a limited production car to boot. I built the car to drive It does have a 68 date coded 396 out of a Chevelle along with a 68 Muncie. I do plan on building a correct 375 hp motor with the 11:1 factory specs in the future.
Jason

[69hurstSC]

nice looking hotrod! i'm also a geek for the 3rd generation Nova!

[Bill Pritchard]

Very nice!!! I like that color combo.

[mockingbird812]

Nicely done. What an unusual and beautiful color combo. Thanks.

[mssl72]

I have a big soft spot for Nova's. Very nice job on that car! The color combo is cool! Before anybody else asks,

[Tim Penton]

Jason, Who rebuilt your 4 piston brake calipers and how much did it cost you? Your '68 SS Chevy II looks great.

[Salvatore]

Very nice car! I hear most, if not all work done by the owner and he DRIVES it!

[jasonL78]

Thanks for the comments.Yes I did do all the work myself except for the motor assembly and seat covers. All the hard work has paid off. I just got back from a car show with a nice first place trophy. So far I have 2 first places, 1 second, and 1 third place. As far as the color combination goes I am happy I left it original. I almost did black interior. The color is what really sets this car off and the pictures don't even justify it because it is a hard color to take a picture of. I still don't have a picture that brings out the color but I haven't came across the correct light I guess. Again thanks for a the replies.

Jason

[jasonL78]

Tim,
I had my local auto parts store send out the calipers to get rebuilt it was 150.00 per side. I had them back in a week. He must of had someone locally do it.

Jason

[kwhizz]

Wow..........Nice job Jason.........It's nice to see another one saved........Great Job

Ken