Restarting My '70 Nova Project

[BravoXray]

I got the patch welded in and welds ground down so it looks pretty good. Shot some primer on it and then welded the tab in place, the same distance from the A-pillar and the top of the windshield channel as the left one is..
I made a jig to locate the new bucket seat mounts so I can weld them in the proper places and the seats will just slip over the studs when installed. I just used a couple of 16" and one 13" piece of 2" X 1/4" bar stock with 11/32" holes to go over the 5/16" mount studs, then welded into an H pattern. Should make it easy to get the mounts positioned properly. Forgot to get a picture of the jig though.

 

[Doug62]

Fender shims? Aligning body panels... the thought is horror. 1 hr to install my fenders. 6 hrs to get them aligned to the doors. Still don’t line up on passenger side very well.
Good Luck!

The joy of rebuilding an old car! The gap tolerances were pretty big back in the day.

 

[BravoXray]

The joy of rebuilding an old car! The gap tolerances were pretty big back in the day.

According to the assembly manual, the door gap is specified at 3/16" +-0.40".
I did some more shimming, pulling and pushing again this afternoon, and I think I got it to where the door gap is okay, and the rest of the alignment is acceptable. I'm going to have my friend, who is a body man take a look at it to see if it passes muster. It's going need a little bondo at the door gap to even out the area I had to recontour, but other than that it looks pretty good.
While I was looking for the seat tracks for the bucket seats, I came across a set of OEM seat mounts pulled out of another Nova. I bought them off Ebay a few years ago and forgot I had them. I spent a couple hours grinding off spot and MIG welds and hammering the inner mounts back into shape, and they fit pretty well, better than the aftermarket ones. The outer mounts have holes that bolt to the original bench seat mounts, so I don't have to figure out where to mount them. I also ordered a set of tracks for my application, and they'll be here tomorrow. Then I can get all the mounts in the correct position to weld them in place. Going to blast and prime the inner mounts first though.
Won't be able to do it tomorrow though, as I am going with a friend 270 miles north into Michigan to retrieve a '96 Dodge 2500 pickup with a 5.9 Cummins that he bought from another friend. It blew a head gasket and when torn down has four scored cylinders, so the engine is going to have to come out and be overhauled, even though it only has just over 100K on it. The owner doesn't want to spend $10-$12K they want to overhaul it, so he sold it to my local friend. Going to be a long day.

 

[BravoXray]

Made some more progress today. I blasted and primed all the bucket seat mounts and after I clean the primer off the floor pan where they will be welded and edges of the mounts, I'll be ready to get them welded in. I even made a jig to make sure they are aligned properly.
A friend came over to help me get the hood unboxed and mounted up. I put a couple of studs in the front hinge bolt holes, and that made it easier to put the hood on. Just screwed them into the front bolt holes and stuck the studs in the front holes in the hinges and it was pretty easy to start the rear bolts. After the rear ones were in, it was easy to remove the studs and put the front bolts in and snug them up.
The hood fits pretty well, but had to do a little work to take some of the curve out where it meets the fenders. Got it looking pretty good now. Only trouble spot is at the left front where the hood and fender meet. The front edge of the fender extends too far forward and is too high. The hood stop/bumper is adjusted all the way up to get the hood even with the fender. It also measures almost 1/2" higher at the point it bolts to the radiator support. Looks like it is going to need some surgery like the right fender did. After I get that area fixed, we'll get the hood and fenders primed and blocked out.
I can hardly wait.

 

[goeduck]

Looking Good !!

 

[markerxt]

I looked at my Dad, with his gorgeous '69 Camaro that I had grown up with. Since I was old enough to be aware, that car had been parked in my parent's garage. It was faded, dusty, with something green growing out of the carpeting; but it was mine! Nonetheless

 

[BravoXray]

After closely examining the left fender for the reason for it's misalignment, I discovered that the internal reinforcement that runs from the forward firewall mount to the radiator support is spot welded out of position, about 1/4" too low. That's why it is too high at the top where it meets the door, and at the radiator support. On the right fender, the support is up snug against the underside of the top of the fender, the left side it's down 1/4" from the front to the rear.
So, it looks like I'm going to take it off and drill out the spot welds to get it into proper position. Looks like 12-15 spot welds, so it shouldn't be too much of a job.
I love aftermarket parts.

 

[Peace]

After closely examining the left fender for the reason for it's misalignment, I discovered that the internal reinforcement that runs from the forward firewall mount to the radiator support is spot welded out of position, about 1/4" too low. That's why it is too high at the top where it meets the door, and at the radiator support. On the right fender, the support is up snug against the underside of the top of the fender, the left side it's down 1/4" from the front to the rear.
So, it looks like I'm going to take it off and drill out the spot welds to get it into proper position. Looks like 12-15 spot welds, so it shouldn't be too much of a job.
I love aftermarket parts.

Your patience is admirable.

 

[BravoXray]

Got the seat mounts all welded in today. Had to use an angle grinder with a stiff wire brush on it to remove the primer in the areas to weld. Not sure what the metal man used, but it is some tough primer. After I got to bare metal, I gave the areas a quick coat of weld-through primer. Welded them all in and gave it another coat of self etching primer.

Not to tackle that d@*n fender.

 

[BravoXray]

Pulled the hood off, and then the problem fender. After a long look at it, to fix it, I'd have to drill out almost every spot weld on it, as both the top reinforcement and the one going down the fender ahead of the door are spot welded in the wrong positions. So I would have to drill out 30+ spot welds and then figure out how to hold it all in alignment to weld back together.
Nope.
Going to order a new fender from one of a few venders that all say they MIGHT have them in stock in late November, since they're setting in containers on ships setting off the coast of California waiting to get into port and get unloaded.