Looking for advice on my 69 L78 nova

[cwc]

I would like your guys opinions on how I should proceed.this is a 100% original paint car.its a local car,a good friend of mine had it in72,so I know it's real.a previous owner stripped it underhood to freshen it up about 16 years ago.my question is should I paint as little as possible underhood,or go ahead and detail it along with the undercarriage,the floors are super nice,no rust or undercoat.

[njsteve]

Snce it looks like he stripped and wirebrushed a lot of the firewall and subframe, that finish is gone. I would carefully remove the front sheetmetal and paint/detail the firewall and subframe - replace susponsion bushings if needed. Then reinstall the original sheetmetal.

[enio45]

x2....your at the point of doing the whole subframe very nicely.....pull the subframe as well if your confident enough and redo the
that as well -

[Kurt S]

Many approaches possible.
I'd do as little as possible - paint the firewall and do minimal to the subframe and let some patina exist to match the original paint.

[cook_dw]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Kurt S</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Many approaches possible.
I'd do as little as possible - paint the firewall and do minimal to the subframe and let some patina exist to match the original paint.
</div></div>


X2

[Schonyenko2]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: njsteve</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Snce it looks like he stripped and wirebrushed a lot of the firewall and subframe, that finish is gone. I would carefully remove the front sheetmetal and paint/detail the firewall and subframe - replace susponsion bushings if needed. Then reinstall the original sheetmetal. </div></div>

In looking at the pics, the A arm bushings look like they should be replaced. Notice a lot of bolts are missing so I would guess the frt end is partially disassembled. The car looks very nice. I would pull the frt sheet metal, and stub. Give it a nice restoration, including brake hoses, and bushings. Have the heater core tested. Last thing you want is to reassemble it, and have it leak.

As nice as the rest of the car looks, I don't think a nice stub/engine compartment restoration will look out of place. JMHO

[bbbentley]

Many approaches possible.
I'd do as little as possible - paint the firewall and do minimal to the subframe and let some patina exist to match the original paint.

X3 and sell me the Cragars [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/santa.gif[/img]

[cwc]

Benny,your a man after my own heart,I love cragars too. The fronts are 15x5 I think,with western auto manhandler f78 tires,they are just rollers.i have some 15x4s for the front,rear are 15x7 that were still in the boxes dated 1986

[Zman1969]

definetly agree with others save the original paint! And it's Black! great find! Love it

[WILMASBOYL78]

I had a similar situation with our 70 L78 TH400 survivor. I opted to leave the engine in place and work around it, only doing minor cosmetics. I did pull apart the front suspension though...all new a-arm bushings, lower ball joints, sway bar bushings, etc...also updated the front brakes. All the parts were cleaned and painted, but not at a resto level...and they still look very original. We updated the valve train, installed a 163 intake, Eric prepped 850vs, headers, etc.