73 Nova Restoration Photos/Advice
- This topic has 11 replies, 9 voices, and was last updated 13 years, 9 months ago by .
- Posts
Well I snapped a bunch of photos of my Nova today. I figure I’ll use this thread as a project thread and as a “HELP ME!” thread as well. As I said in my introduction post, I bought this car off my best friend in attempt to keep our muscle cars amongst our little group. We’ve heard too many stories from our parents which go to the tune of, “Man, I never should have sold that old…”
So I guess a little about the car itself:
1973 Nova Coupe – About 5 years ago my friend dropped in a new Goodwrench 350 crate with an upgraded Mild Comp Cam (454 lift). It’s got a 600 cfm Edelbrock Carb and intake to match, Summit Racing headers, 3.73 gears, front disc brake conversion, completely rebuilt TH350 transmission with a mild shift kit installed, Flamethrower distributor and wires, dual Flowmaster 40 series exhaust, and some other little odds and ends not worth mentioning. The car runs and drives great, but as you’ll see in the photos it doesn’t look all that pretty.Before I get to the body work related stuff, here’s the photo album:
[url=http://s968.photobucket.com/albums/ae167/audiofreakion/Nova%20Restoration%20Photos/?albumview=slideshow]73 Nova Body Photos[/url]
I would post them in the thread directly, but there are far too many to be effective in here.Some points I should make:
-The trunk lid will be replaced. My friend and I took auto body classes when we were working on our undergraduate degrees, and he used the trunk lid as his project for the Advanced Auto Body class (he knew it needed to be replaced anyway, so no loss if he butchered it!)
-The tail light section it just ugly as hell. I have a whole new tail light seection (it’s all one piece) just waiting to be welded in. While I CAN weld, this is something I will have a professional do.
-The 73 Nova used some plastic filler pieces within the front and rear bumpers. On the front bumper, you’ll notice the filler piece has become soft and is sagging. On the rear bumper, you’ll notice it’s just pretty horrible looking all around. I have located a replacement source for these pieces, and it seems like a relatively simple swap.
-There is a small “bad” rust patch on the bottom of the driver’s side front quarter panel. It is located on the very rear of the panel, near where the door meets (the rust hasn’t spread to the door). Again, another thing I will have a professional fix.
-The trim down the sides will be removed, and the car will be de-badged.So the plan is to just sort of straighten everything up and repaint the vehicle. I have *minimal* auto body experience, but as I said in my intro I’m really looking to “learn the hard way” by doing the majority of the work myself. The car was originally white, and then repainted to the light blue you see now. I’m planning on going with a light color… either white, light gray/silver, or going somewhat retro and just repainting it properly with the current color. I’m actually leaning more toward the using the same color. I don’t want an award winning paintjob… just average paint that will look decent. I’m mainly more concerned with making sure the body work is proper.
So my questions for now..
-Looking at the pictures, am I in something that is just way beyond what I should bother with? I’m a pretty confident person, but if you pros can see some things that make you think, “NO WAY” please let me know. The car seems pretty straight in the sense that there aren’t any significant dings/dents, but then again that’s just my totally inexperienced evaluation.
-I realize this could be an impossible question to answer, but can anyone give me a ballpark estimate on what I might expect to spend at a shop if I just had everything done professionally? If not, I understand.Well that’s about it. If you read through all this and looked at my photos I appreciate it!
its kinda hard to advise you on how to approach this job if your not looking for an “award winning paint job” any time you spend on it will be just a waste if you cheap out on the final paint. so being that, if you do decide to take this job on you have a lot of preperation to do. you may very well end up spending hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars to do it professionally yourself. so u gotta ask yourself do u have the time, funds, and equipment to do it?
First off here is your first lesson,no such thing as a front quarter panel…they are called fenders 😛 From what I can see I think you have a solid project car,but to be sure if you can put it up on a hoist and check the floors and trunk drop offs,wheel wells for rust damage and sub frame for collision damage.Go over every inch of the car with a light and if that checks out you are on your way.If you want to do it your self you will need a large compressor with at least 18cfm to run air tools and a sander,also you need a garage too.If you were to drop it off at a shop you would be looking at $5000-$8000 for driver quality.if you de-trimmed it and stripped it to bare metal yourself that figure would be less.It also depends where you are and what the laror rates are and what your expectations are. Good luck with your project, If you add up the cost of the tools and materials sometimes it is better to just buck up and getsomeone else to do it.
[quote=”MoCoke” post=18117]its kinda hard to advise you on how to approach this job if your not looking for an “award winning paint job” any time you spend on it will be just a waste if you cheap out on the final paint. so being that, if you do decide to take this job on you have a lot of preperation to do. you may very well end up spending hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars to do it professionally yourself. so u gotta ask yourself do u have the time, funds, and equipment to do it?[/quote]
I don’t necessarily mean that I wanted to go cheap; I guess I should have elaborated a little more on that. I just want a good paintjob, but I’m not looking to turn this into a vehicle that I’ll be taking to car shows in hopes of winning best in show. I want the car to remain a driver, and I can’t envision spending a TON of money on paint just to have it getting chipped up on the freeway. When I said “average” paintjob I meant average amongst the good quality work.. 😆
As far as your questions at the end go, that’s what I’m trying to evaluate. Time wise, I would expect this to be a project to last quite a long time. I have no misconceptions about how many man hours it will take, I expect it would be something that would take me many months to complete. With regard to funding, that’s sort of why I’m considering the two options. I have the funding to just have a pro do the whole thing, but I really like the idea of seeing my own work come to life. Equipment wise, I don’t have anything to speak of yet. If I decide to do this, I’m going to invest in what I need. Being in the military, I have the luxury of having auto hobby shops on base that I can use (cheap too… $3.50/hr) and most of them have paint booths. So yeah, I’ve got a lot to consider. I guess it just comes down to how much monetary value I can place on the feeling I get from doing the work myself.
Thank you for your insight!
[quote=”Jayson M” post=18121]First off here is your first lesson,no such thing as a front quarter panel…they are called fenders 😛 From what I can see I think you have a solid project car,but to be sure if you can put it up on a hoist and check the floors and trunk drop offs,wheel wells for rust damage and sub frame for collision damage.Go over every inch of the car with a light and if that checks out you are on your way.If you want to do it your self you will need a large compressor with at least 18cfm to run air tools and a sander,also you need a garage too.If you were to drop it off at a shop you would be looking at $5000-$8000 for driver quality.if you de-trimmed it and stripped it to bare metal yourself that figure would be less.It also depends where you are and what the laror rates are and what your expectations are. Good luck with your project, If you add up the cost of the tools and materials sometimes it is better to just buck up and getsomeone else to do it.[/quote]
D’oh! :blink: I knew that about the fender. I just had so much stuff going through my mind when I was trying to type the original post that I kinda goofed up. I’ll take my car into the shop later this week and try to get some pictures of everything. My buddy has had a lot of work done to the car, and he did a lot of the work himself. Although not the most gifted auto body specialist, he’s quite good when it comes to the mechanical aspects. From what he and I know, the only real rust of significance is the rust spot you can see on the driver’s side fender.
Would stripping it to bare metal actually save me any significant amount? That’s one thing I KNOW I can do 😆 I figured this part might only save me a couple hundred dollars at best, but then again I don’t know much about paint and body. I like your point about adding up the cost of tools and materials… that’s sort of where I’m at right now. Part of me thinks, “How stupid would it be to buy all these tools for one paintjob?” The other part of me thinks that buying tools is never a poor investment. The compressor, for example, is something I’ve been wanting for a long time anyway.
Oh and the garage is in the works 😉
Thanks for the ballpark figure and the insight. You’ve definitely given me some good information for consideration.
In my opinion, you can never have too many tools. Unfortunately, unless auto body is something you think you will be doing more of in the future, the cost of the necessary tools will be expensive. You could easily have $5000.00 in tools and a compressor if you don’t already have some of the basics. As for stripping the car yourself and sending it out for the body work, you could certainly save yourself some cash. Just take care in stripping the existing layers of finish from the car. Don’t want to make extra bodywork for yourself. Looks like a solid car (from the pictures) and shouldn’t be too difficult to get cleaned up. If you have plenty of time to put towards it, I’m sure you can get it done. Good luck and ask plenty of questions, the people on this site are very helpful.
im sorry but that car has all kinds of surprises hiddin in it lookin at the pics u can help it alot but i would recommend going back ta white on that ol girl kinda reminds me of dings last girlfreind been there done that u can make it a nice driver though;)
[quote=”velvethamma” post=18126]In my opinion, you can never have too many tools. Unfortunately, unless auto body is something you think you will be doing more of in the future, the cost of the necessary tools will be expensive. You could easily have $5000.00 in tools and a compressor if you don’t already have some of the basics. As for stripping the car yourself and sending it out for the body work, you could certainly save yourself some cash. Just take care in stripping the existing layers of finish from the car. Don’t want to make extra bodywork for yourself. Looks like a solid car (from the pictures) and shouldn’t be too difficult to get cleaned up. If you have plenty of time to put towards it, I’m sure you can get it done. Good luck and ask plenty of questions, the people on this site are very helpful.[/quote]
I’ve got a lot of standard tools, just no specialized auto body equipment. A lot of it will come down to what it would cost to furnish the equipment I need versus what it would cost to have a shop do the work. I’m going to take the car to a couple shops tomorrow that I’ve received recommendations for. Hopefully they’ll be able to give me some realistic quotes. I’ll post up the estimates I receive so I can get the word on whether or not I’m getting hosed 😉 Thanks!
[quote=”bondomerchant” post=18130]im sorry but that car has all kinds of surprises hiddin in it lookin at the pics u can help it alot but i would recommend going back ta white on that ol girl kinda reminds me of dings last girlfreind been there done that u can make it a nice driver though;)[/quote]
Could you elaborate at all on what sorts of things tip you off that there might be hidden surprises? I’m not doubting you at all, just curious what types of things I should be looking at. I was really thinking about white because it’s a forgiving color, and I think you’re the first person that’s actually voted in favor of it as well.
I’ve seen cars in far worse shape get restored to great condition. Granted I’m sure they shelled out the cash to do it, but basically I can’t personally see anything that shouts “incredibly difficult repair ahead.” This car means quite a lot to my friends and me, so I’m going to get it fixed up one way or another. You nailed it though… a nice driver is all I’m looking for. Thanks for the advice.
[quote=”bondomerchant” post=18130]im sorry but that car has all kinds of surprises hiddin in it lookin at the pics u can help it alot but i would recommend going back ta white on that ol girl kinda reminds me of dings last girlfreind been there done that u can make it a nice driver though;)[/quote]
I agree!
Some one has repainted that car before maybe three times who knows definitely a lot of body work coming up. Theres going to be some rust repair thats for sure.
looks like some Okies been working on it :whistle:
**************************************************************************************************If you have the TIME and Patience you can do this job yourself, You will be money ahead IF your going to do it Your self.
But you need to commit to doing more than one though other wise its going to be a waste of money too invest in all the tools
It sounds like your a Hot Rodding type of guy that can probably do some engine work and you’ve already took a class on body work you said so Belly up get yourself some tools and dig in!Biggest problem I see is the rust coming up from under the Bondo seam fillers gone bad and the old Paint itself.
Theres going to be some rust issues under some of that Bondo AND your in the Rust belt so your going to need a mig welder get a small Miller there the easiest to use I think.
Then get the Biggest Baddest air compressor you can afford.
The rest is easy stuff a couple sanders a bunch of sand paper a Good spray gun some body tools such as hammers Dolley’s etc… Lots of good sanding blocks.Sounds easy doesnt it?
I got into this stuff to save myself some money on a few paint jobs myself
All I have done since starting is SPEND money and every spare moment I have in the shop! now for the last 3 years!
Getting Harassed by everyone in the neighborhood wanting a cheap paint job :chairIts a great hobby if you love working with your hands
Its a great hobby if you love playing with cars
Its a great hobby if you like making a mess
Its a great hobby if you like to piss off your neibors
Its a great hobby if you want to paint all your friends cars and make a buck or two
Its a great hobby if you dont want too spend time with your wife girlfriends or kids, unless you get them involved some like it.Other wise expect to pay 5-8K even around there for a GOOD paint job even in Kansas might get some one to do it a bit cheaper in OK but you get what you pay for.
Looks like a great project to me.
I’m starting with worse :stoned
Have you thought of looking into the local community college to see if they offer an autobody course? I know that many military posts have these classes on post or nearby. This way you could work on this without the huge investment in tools and a place to work on. That is how I got started in this to begin with.
Chuck
Just an update…
Still working on finding a good shop that will give a working quote. I’ve been pretty busy so I haven’t made it to as many as I want.I should have mentioned that this is a California car. The car has spent it’s entire life, from 1973 to 2009, in California. The original color is white, and the blue is the only extra paintjob. My best friend purchased the vehicle off the original owner, so this is where we’ve received the information. I’ve just noticed that a few of you have referred to the potential for rust from being in the “rust belt” here in KS. The car has been driven minimally since it’s been here, so it hasn’t been exposed to the horrors of this state’s weather/roads. A couple shops have given me much lower quotes after learning of its origins. The quotes so far have ranged from $5,000 to $10,000.
[quote=”AeroNut” post=19022]Just an update…
Still working on finding a good shop that will give a working quote. I’ve been pretty busy so I haven’t made it to as many as I want.I should have mentioned that this is a California car. The car has spent it’s entire life, from 1973 to 2009, in California. The original color is white, and the blue is the only extra paintjob. My best friend purchased the vehicle off the original owner, so this is where we’ve received the information. I’ve just noticed that a few of you have referred to the potential for rust from being in the “rust belt” here in KS. The car has been driven minimally since it’s been here, so it hasn’t been exposed to the horrors of this state’s weather/roads. A couple shops have given me much lower quotes after learning of its origins. The quotes so far have ranged from $5,000 to $10,000.[/quote]
If you can find a shop that will stick to a qoute ( get a contract ) that you are comfortable with, go for it! A classic like this ( I’m a Nova nut ) needs to be stripped, and only then ( in my opinion ) could an honest qoute be given.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.