I purchased my 1962 Chevy II Nova in 1988 from a pal I was serving with in the Nationwide Guard. The automobile was rather audio. There were being seriously no problems and I was ready to generate it residence, in actuality, I did no do the job to the vehicle for a number of several years. I would travel it to function a couple of moments a 7 days and once again consider it out weekends. I was definitely joyful with the auto. 3 a long time ago, I decided to repaint it. I know I could have taken it to a overall body shop, but I wanted to do it myself. I preferred this to be a project my son and I could perform on jointly. I began stripping the car or truck down and this is the commencing of my tale.
I determine I will be understanding a good deal during the system of restoring my Nova back to its initial attractiveness, so I imagined I would doc the processes I will go by way of and write-up them on line with plenty of pictures with the intent of it’s possible serving to a person else with their venture. So lets’ get started out!
I have eradicated almost everything that I can eliminate from the overall body of the vehicle. I did mount an ignition switch on the firewall so I could start the automobile and transfer it around but when the actual painting course of action starts I will be eliminating the motor and transmission. I started out with the ground pans. There was a descent total of rust in the front and just a small in the rear. The transmission hump and driveshaft tunnel were being high-quality.
I required to invest in the entire ground pan and substitute it all but it was far more costly than I preferred and I was not sure if I could deal with a task fairly that large. I wasn’t confident if I had the functionality to slash out the overall flooring and swap it without having maybe twisting or contorting the car or truck (it is a convertible). I determined to obtain the left and right ground pan. This coated from the front all the way to the again. Right after receiving the ground pans, I put in a great deal of time imagining and rethinking and strategizing about the very best way to go about slicing out the previous and welding in the new. Due to the fact the total flooring pan was not rusted out, I resolved to slice out just the rusted element and reduce out what I essential from the new replacement ground pans and weld that into location. I am very delighted with this determination. By slicing out just the rusted parts and replacing with new steel, I was able to prevent any twisting or contorting of the motor vehicle and likely saved me a ton of time.
I was capable to minimize out the rusted areas in a few of several hours. I applied pneumatic shears that worked quite very well. In advance of buying the shears, I tried using several other procedures these types of as a pneumatic saw, tin snips and aviation cutters. Belief me when I say that a low-priced pair of pneumatic shears will be a lifesaver. I did use the aviation cutters for wonderful cutting and producing modest adjustment cuts.
Up coming I separated the entrance and back again of my new ground pans by chopping them in fifty percent. I slash out the front section of the floor pan about 2 inches even bigger than what I needed. I then positioned this into the front for a examination match. When I experienced the replacement pan in position, I manufactured it conform to the existing floor pan with a rubber mallet. I then utilized a can of white spray paint and sprayed all over the perimeter of the new pan. By painting about the perimeter, I was capable to see exactly where the new pan in shape right after eliminating it from the vehicle. I repeated this treatment for the other entrance aspect and then both rear regions. This took me about a working day to entire.
The up coming section necessary welding, make sure you be guaranteed to notice all protection practices when welding to keep away from any existence altering accidents!
I was now completely ready to weld the alternative sheet metallic into spot. This is the place my brother was a Significant help! He has a MIG welder. We inserted the new pans and though I held them in spot, my brother spot welded every a single. Right after each individual pan was tacked into location, we stepped again and studied their positions and built positive anything was just the way I needed. My brother then accomplished the welding system until eventually all four alternative pieces was securely welded into location. I will not know a whole lot about welding, but I believe my brother had to expend more time and get more safeguards because the sheet steel is somewhat skinny. After the substitution ground pan items were being securely in location, I proceeded to protect the seams with Bondo filler and then I painted the full flooring pan with a rust preventive primer. My brother and I had been able to total the welding on Saturday early morning and I took the relaxation of the afternoon to end the Bondo. I place quite a few coats of paint on the ground pan above the subsequent quite a few times.
From the photographs on my web-site, you can inform that it could possibly not be a beautifully smooth floor pan with no flaws, but I can guarantee you that it is a solid set up that will final many decades, even for a longer time if garaged, and will look even superior at the time it is included with a audio dampening materials and new carpet. This labored very well for my 1962 Chevy II Nova and I am absolutely sure it will perform for you and your particular challenge.