Restarting My '70 Nova Project

[the old grind]

We've got the entire wiring diagram, and only the tach doesn't work. It was fun while I put <20k mi on it last century but it's not a NOVA so why keep it? OK, enough of this side note & back on topic ....

 

[BravoXray]

We've got the entire wiring diagram, and only the tach doesn't work. It was fun while I put <20k mi on it last century but it's not a NOVA so why keep it? OK, enough of this side note & back on topic ....

Goof looking Vette! I always liked that body style, way better than the recent incarnations.

 

[BravoXray]

Yesterday afternoon, I stuck the dash back in the car, hooked up all the wiring and tried the turn signals. Right side, good, left side, no indicator and I could hear the flasher clicking a lot slower than normal. Checked at the cluster connector and had turn signal, but was still flashing slower than normal. I was hot, sweaty and pissed off, so I turned everything off and went to the house.
This morning, I went back down to the shop, disconnected the dash and set it aside, turned on the left turn signal and it was still flashing slowly. A data point nere is that when I pulled the dash oput, you have to turn the headlights on, pull the knob all the way out, to push a button on the bottom of the switch to get the knob and shaft out. This leaves the headlights on, so I stuck the shaft back in turning off the headlights, and parking lights, and the turn signal started flashing at the normal rate. Sounded like a bad ground. (Been watching too many South Main Auto and Pine Hollow Auto Diagnostics videos.)
Turned the headlights back on and walked around the car, and the left rear tail light was flashing dimly, and had no parking light. Popped the trunk and the turn/park light holder was popped out of the taillight housing. Popped it back in and the flashers worked properly. So I Plugged the harness back into the cluster and still no indicator. Pulled the bulb holder out, and there was no bulb in it! Turned the cluster over and shook it and the bulb fell out. I examined the holder and the little contacts looked deformed, so I tweaked them a little, stuck the bulb back in it and into the cluster, and now it works. The holder doesn't hold the bulb as tightly as it should, so I'm going to replace it so I don't have this problem again. I though I might have a spare bulb holder in all my collection of "sfuff", but I don't, so I'm going to order a couple, and when I get them, I'll reassemble everything, again.

Stay tuned...

 

[dodge man]

Sounds like you have it figured out. Do you feel a little beat up after this battle?

 

[BravoXray]

Sounds like you have it figured out. Do you feel a little beat up after this battle?

I don't know about beat up, but I'm sure effing tired of taking the dash in and out.
The crazy thing is, sometimes the left turn signal would flash at the normal rate and sometimes it didn't, have no idea why though.

 

[NoTrespassing]

I don't know about beat up, but I'm sure effing tired of taking the dash in and out.
The crazy thing is, sometimes the left turn signal would flash at the normal rate and sometimes it didn't, have no idea why though.

If it were me, I would be using hand signals out the window or park the car and never drive it again. Of course I'm joking.

I had an 86 Mustang notchback with tinted windows. After 2 tickets for those tinted windows, I parked it for 10 years and never drove it. It sat there and rotted basically. I'm kind of stubborn. You have more patience than I can imagine.

 

[BravoXray]

I had an 86 Mustang notchback with tinted windows. After 2 tickets for those tinted windows, I parked it for 10 years and never drove it. It sat there and rotted basically. I'm kind of stubborn. You have more patience than I can imagine.

I have a scratch built diesel, 10KW generator that I started building back in 2010. It had a serious malfunction on the first test run and bent the shaft on the generator. It sat in the back of my shop until 2020 when I finally pulled it out, repaired it and got it all finished up. Sometimes you have to walk away from a project or you'll just make the problem worse, at least in my experience.

 

[BravoXray]

Today I finally got everything working as it should and got the instrument panel reinstalled. Not sure exactly was wrong, but I think there were several different issues that were intermittent or inconsistent. But, I got everything to work with it out on the floor, worked when set in place, worked when it was screwed in place, and finally worked when the heater controls, radio, headlight switch and speedo cable was installed. In all, I must have had it screwed fast then had to remove it , at least a dozen times, I lost count.
So all I have left to do is clean up the carpet and put the driver's seat back in. One day soon, I'll take it for a drive, maybe to Dairy Queen for a Blizzard as a reward for getting it done.

 

[MossRoad]

My wife and I met while we were both working at the Dairy Queen on LWW in South Bend. The car I was driving at the time....

1970 Nova.

Enjoy yourself!

 

[dodge man]

I was a little afraid you wouldn’t get it sorted out until an actual blizzard hit. I hate electrical problems, I’m glad you had the patience to sort it out.

 

[alexpops]

Hats off to you. Between ABSOLUTELY hating electric gremlins and the trend towards more & more electrical/electronic components in the late 70's ... I finally quit working on cars for a living in 1980. You have WAY more patience than me.

 

[BravoXray]

Been working collecting parts to install power steering on the Nova. I decided to go with a Type II style pump instead of the Saginaw pump, and so far it's been a challenge getting it mounted, and devising a way to adjust the belt tension. I bought a March mounting kit and have had to modify the bracket to the pump and reservoir can be mounted in the correct orientation and allow for a range of adjustment. The instructions with the mount show the pump in a completely different position than where it lands, and the adjuster link is too long to work as pictured. So, I worked this afternoon fabricating a lever that bolts to the pump, and will allow the adjuster to work, although in a different location. I bought a couple of 3/8" ID X 1/2" wide spacers to go on each end of the adjuster to get it positioned correctly, so I think I have the pump and mount figured out. I think I pressed the pulley on the pump, because there are holes in the pulley for access to the pivot bolt. I'm waiting on the hose, fittings and a couple of adapters for the ports on the steering box to come from Summit Racing. I also have the steering box, the Pitman arm, and the nut and washer, so I should be ready to get it all installed soon.

 

[MossRoad]

Power steering? BAAAA!

I recall throwing my Novas around corners and just letting go of the wheel and watching it spin violently back way past center. The good old days of 'keep your thumbs out of there'.

 

[BravoXray]

I've been working on the power steering conversion for the last couple of weeks. After getting the pump mounted up, I discovered that I had put the part that the pump mounts to in the wrong orientation. It can go either way, but it has an offset, so when it was installed, the pulley wouldn't extend far enough forward to line up with the crank pulley. Well rats! I had to grind clearance to allow the pump to pivot into the proper position, and when I turned it over, I had to grind clearance on that side too. Once that was done, I got the spacers for the adjuster link, and it all lined up as it should. Once I got the belt and put it on and adjusted, the pump was really close to the A-arm bolt, closer than I was comfortable with, about 3/8". Sooooo, I was looking through the Jones Racing catalog that came with the pump assembly, and they had a billet aluminum bracket that is slotted to allow belt adjustment. That looked like a much better solution, so I ordered one off Amazon. Once I got it, it looked like it would do the job, so I mounted it and the pump on the engine. Now, the pump pulley was too far forward, by ~1/4". Well rats again! Being the persistent person I am, I figured that if I used thinner spacers than the 1/2" thick ones they supplied with the bracket, I could get it to line up. After some precise as possible measurements were made, I fired up the lathe and made the correct thickness spacers, 6mm, from a piece of 1" aluminum bar stock I had. With these, using thinner washers on the bolts and grinding a little off the bolt heads, I got it all to clear the boss for a freeze plug when it slides for adjustment. Being so close to the block, I couldn't get a wrench in between the block and the bracket, so I bought a 1/2" Kobalt combination wrench that was in the clearance bin at Lowes and ground it thin enough the fit. Now I can use a shorter belt to get more clearance from the A-arm bolt.
Yesterday, I pulled the old steering box off, and it was a really tight fit to get it out. There is no way the power box will go in unless I loosen or maybe remove the header. Also, the power box uses a different rag joint to connect to the steering column, so I ordered one of those too. I have the hoses partially assembled, I put on the ends that connect to the pump. Once the box is in, I can measure, cut and install the other ends. It's been so hot here lately, I can only work in the shop for a couple of hours, so the conversion is going slow, but it's supposed to cool off next week, so hopefully I can get it wrapped up soon. I have a 1" shorter belt than the one in the picture, that will move the pump in another 1/2" away from the A-arm bolt, giving me plenty of clearance.

 

[BravoXray]

Today I made some progress on the power steering installation. I jacked up the front of the car, put it on jackstands, then unbolted and removed the left header. It came out really easily, especially with the steering box removed. I received the new rag joint from Muscle Car Central this afternoon, so I installed that on the new box, Then I checked the flange on the steering column to make sure it was clocked so the rag joint would line up with it. The three mounting bolts had been painted and were looking pretty bad, so I bead blasted them and gave them the black oxide coating treatment. They look a lot better now, even though no one will see them once they're installed, but it satisfied my OCD. Since there was no putting it off, I crawled under the car and got the new box up in position, rag joint pins engaged in the steering column, and got the mounting bolts installed. I had to tweak the brake line that goes to the rear brakes to get it to clear the box, then torqued the bolts down. The fiddly part was getting the bolts and retainer plate that fastens the rag joint to the column flange installed. Getting wrenches up there with little room to work took a while, but I got them tightened up eventually.
After that, I let the car back down and worked on getting the lines from the pump to the box cut to length and installed. I had to move the fitting for the return line from the lower part of the reservoir back up to the side so it didn't rub on the subframe, so I had to loosen up the pump again and slide it in to get room to work. I got both lines cut, the ends installed and the lines installed to the pump and steering box, so I'm getting closer. Went ahead and tensioned the belt and tightened up the pump, so with everything installed, I can add power steering fluid any time.
By then it was nearly 5:00PM, I was sweaty and tired from crawling all over the car, (never thought I'd be doing that at 75 years old) so I closed up and went to the house. I'm sure I'm going to feel all that tomorrow, so I took some Aleve, which really helps when I overdo it.
Getting the header back in looks like it's going to be a lot of fun. I'm figuring on removing the left motor mount bolt so I can lift the engine, and also removing the clutch Z-bar for more room. That was what I had to do before, but I'm not sure just how it's going to go back in now. If I have to, I think I can remove the right side motor mount bolt, pick up the front of the motor and shift it to the right to get enough clearance. I'll see how it goes.

Back to watching 2001: A Space Odyssey on the tube, well the LED actually.

 

[MossRoad]

I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that.

 

[BravoXray]

And thus began the digital lobotomy.

 

[BravoXray]

Finally have the power steering project, almost, done, not without some drama, of course. I pulled out the plugs on that side, then removed the motor mount bolt, took the fan shroud loose, and using the cherry picker with a chain attached to the head, was able to raise the engine enough the get the header back in, without removing the clutch Z-bar. It was a tight fit, but it went in without a struggle or cursing, so that's pretty easy. I set the engine back down, got it all bolted up, put the plugs back in, not without dropping and breaking one, filled the pump reservoir, and checked everything over. Started it up for just a few seconds, to get fluid pumped into the steering gear and shut it off. With the engine off, I was greeted with the sound of air being expelled and oil draining on to the floor. What the frog snacks was going on?
Oil was leaking out of the fittings on both ends of the pressure hose. In those few seconds, it almost emptied the pump reservoir onto the floor. Good thing I have a 30 gallon barrel full of oil dry just for situations like this. Threw a bunch of it under the car, and wiped off what I could that had sprayed around the area. Took the hose off, and tested wit with air pressure, it was leaking out of the fittings on both ends. This is supposed to be hose and fittings for power steering systems, it even said that on the fitting packages and hose description. I have made probably a dozen or so of these hoses in the past, and never had a problem before.
So, being pretty pissed off, I went into town to the Triad store and had them make up a hose. Thursday I put it on, refilled the pump and tried it again. No leaks, but once the engine was started, the steering wheel froze, you couldn't turn it. With the engine off, you could turn the wheel slowly, like on any other power steering system.
I had an idea of what the problem was, but just to be sure, I called the 800 support number for Lares, the steering box rebuilder. Talked to a nice guy there, and he confirmed my suspicions, the Saginaw style box like I had has the inlet and outlet ports reversed. On any normal hydraulic system, the small port is the pressure port, the larger one is the return port, but on Saginaw boxes they are reversed. Also, in my defense, there was no information with the box, or labels on the steering box indicating which port is which. After some searching through the Nova assembly manual later, it shows both type of boxes with the hoses routed depending on the type of box.
So, I was able to reverse the hoses, although that made the routing less than ideal, but I'll deal with that later. Started it up again, and after cycling the wheel from lock to lock a dozen or so times, and refilling the pump, it was working like it should.
By then, my cousin had shown up with his broken JD X534 mower with a floppy left rear wheel, so I wasn't able to take it for a test drive. I did take it for a drive today, and it works fine, and is really nice to not have to wrestle it around with the manual box. A great addition to the Nova, I believe.
I still have to address the vibration that starts around 65 mph, which I think I'm going to start with getting the tires rebalanced.

 

[BravoXray]

Been putting some miles on the Nova, and the small tach I installed in the cluster is difficult to read and not accurate. I have an Autometer pod tach, like the venerable Sun Super Tach of days gone by, so I decided to mount that on the right side of the steering column. Fortunately, I connected the in-dash tach to the wire harness with a three pin Deutsch connector, just in case this situation arose. So I installed a connector on the Autometer tach wires disconnected the old tach, and connected the new one. I had to take the steering column loose to be able to get to the connectors, but I was able to switch the connection and put it back together pretty easily. I connected the internal light to the power wire, so it's on all the time, rather than pull the cluster out and run another wire just for that.
Started it up, and it agrees with the digital readout on the EFI hand set as closely as you can determine on an analog scale.
It was a nice day, so I went for a 50 mile cruise around the area, burning up some of that Speedway 93 octane gas. Next tank, I think I might try running the mid-grade gas in it, as long as it doesn't ping under a load.
I've been fussing with the EFI for a couple of weeks, as it developed a low RPM bog that was getting worse, it was leaning it out, and you had to feed it throttle really slow, and would then take off. It was really annoying taking off from a stop. Tried adjusting AFRs, accelerator shot, power valve setting, ignition timing and checking for vacuum leaks, all to no avail. I finally reset it back to factory defaults, and it's much better now. I think it just needs to be kept above 1500 RPM due to the fairly aggressive cam, it doesn't like being lugged down.
With the overdrive transmission, I can cruise 60 MPH at 1900 RPM, which is really nice, witch cuts down on noise and fuel consumption, so I'm really glad I went with the TKX with the .68:1 fifth gear.
I still have to put the new upper A-arms on and get it realigned, but I've been procrastinating about doing it for no good reason. Should be pretty easy, I just need to knuckle down and get 'er done.

 

[racer86y]

I have owned every year Nova from 63-78.I wished i had them now but all i got now is a 73 with LS 6.0 transplant i am working on