I purchased my 1962 Chevy II Nova in 1988 from a good friend I used to be serving with within the Nationwide Guard. The automobile was relatively sound. There have been actually no issues and I used to be in a position to drive it residence, actually, I did no work to the automobile for various years. I might drive it to work a few occasions per week and once more take it out weekends. I used to be actually proud of the automobile. Three years in the past, I made a decision to repaint it. I do know I might have taken it to a physique store, however I needed to do it myself. I needed this to be a undertaking my son and I might work on collectively. I started stripping the automobile down and that is the start of my story.
I determine I can be studying lots throughout the means of restoring my Nova again to its authentic magnificence, so I assumed I might doc the processes I’ll undergo and submit them on-line with loads of footage with the intent of perhaps serving to another person with their undertaking. So lets’ get began!
I’ve eliminated every thing that I can take away from the physique of the automobile. I did mount an ignition change on the firewall so I might begin the automobile and transfer it round however when the precise portray course of begins I can be eradicating the motor and transmission. I began with the ground pans. There was a descent quantity of rust within the entrance and just a bit within the rear. The transmission hump and driveshaft tunnel had been nice.
I needed to purchase all the ground pan and change all of it but it surely was costlier than I needed and I wasn’t positive if I might deal with a job fairly that huge. I wasn’t positive if I had the potential to chop out all the ground and change it with out presumably twisting or contorting the automobile (it’s a convertible). I made a decision to purchase the left and proper ground pan. This lined from the entrance all the way in which to the again. After receiving the ground pans, I spent a whole lot of time pondering and rethinking and strategizing about one of the simplest ways to go about slicing out the previous and welding within the new. Because the whole ground pan was not rusted out, I made a decision to chop out simply the rusted half and reduce out what I wanted from the brand new alternative ground pans and weld that into place. I’m very proud of this determination. By slicing out simply the rusted items and changing with new metallic, I used to be in a position to keep away from any twisting or contorting of the automobile and possibly saved me a whole lot of time.
I used to be in a position to reduce out the rusted areas in a few hours. I used pneumatic shears that labored very properly. Earlier than shopping for the shears, I attempted a number of different strategies comparable to a pneumatic noticed, tin snips and aviation cutters. Belief me once I say that an affordable pair of pneumatic shears can be a lifesaver. I did use the aviation cutters for nice slicing and making small adjustment cuts.
Subsequent I separated the back and front of my new ground pans by slicing them in half. I reduce out the entrance a part of the ground pan about 2 inches greater than what I wanted. I then positioned this into the entrance for a check match. After I had the alternative pan in place, I made it conform to the present ground pan with a rubber mallet. I then used a can of white spray paint and sprayed across the perimeter of the brand new pan. By portray across the perimeter, I used to be in a position to see the place the brand new pan match after eradicating it from the automobile. I repeated this process for the opposite entrance facet after which each rear areas. This took me a few day to finish.
The subsequent half required welding, please make sure you observe all security practices when welding to keep away from any life altering accidents!
I used to be now able to weld the alternative sheet metallic into place. That is the place my brother was a BIG assist! He has a MIG welder. We inserted the brand new pans and whereas I held them in place, my brother spot welded each. After every pan was tacked into place, we stepped again and studied their positions and made positive every thing was precisely the way in which I needed. My brother then accomplished the welding course of till all 4 alternative items was securely welded into place. I do not know lots about welding, however I imagine my brother needed to spend further time and take further precautions because the sheet metallic is relatively skinny. After the alternative ground pan items had been securely in place, I proceeded to cowl the seams with Bondo filler after which I painted all the ground pan with a rust preventive primer. My brother and I had been in a position to full the welding on Saturday morning and I took the remainder of the afternoon to complete the Bondo. I put a number of coats of paint on the ground pan over the subsequent a number of days.
From the photographs on my web site, you possibly can inform that it may not be a wonderfully clean ground pan with no flaws, however I can guarantee you that it’s a stable set up that may final a few years, even longer if garaged, and can look even higher as soon as it’s lined with a sound dampening materials and new carpet. This labored properly for my 1962 Chevy II Nova and I’m positive it can give you the results you want and your particular undertaking.
Trending Merchandise
