help decipher my 69 Nova
Let me start by saying, I didn't buy this car under the impression or assumption of it being a numbers matching car. I bought the car from a friend of mine who is NOT a car guy and never has been. His Dad on the other hand was a car guy and he is "technically" who I bought the car from after he passed away. He unfortunately passed away about 4 years ago and my buddy inherited the car after his passing but he wasn't going to do anything with the car as long as his Mother was living (it was THEIR car that they enjoyed until he became ill and ultimately terminal). Unfortunately, his mother passed away back in January this year and my buddy started the process of selling off their estate. My buddy first told me about the car 4 years ago and I told him when the time comes and he had reached the point of selling the car to let me know. Fast forward to March, my buddy told me he's gonna sell the car and he promised me first offer on it. I really wasn't in the market to buy a car BUT, me being a car guy I'm always open to look. My buddy told me up front, he knows the car had been restored but doesn't know if the car is original or not and he has not found any information regarding the car, no receipts, no anything since his mother passed away and he didn't even "look for anything" in the time frame between his dad passing away and his mother passing away. During those 4 years, the car stayed in their garage and never moved. When I went to look at the car it was dusty from 4 years of garage dust and popped the hood it appeared to me to be a L34 big block, cast iron intake, Quadrajet carb AND get this, A/C. I could tell his dad used to keep it clean but I could tell his dad had also gotten to the point that he couldn't crawl under it and in and around it and keep it as clean as he once did, it had road grime everywhere but definitely NOT bad. Overall I could tell it was a nice car with absolutely ZERO rust on any of the body or floor pans and that big block had me sold anyway. Took alittle doing to get it to run and it immediately developed a pretty substantial oil leak(s) from numerous spots. He priced me the car, I bought it and drove it home the next week. Once I got it home I started cleaning it up and fixing oil leaks. This went on for WEEKS (actually, it has never ended LOL as I'm still "cleaning" and tinkering with it). Now for the deciphering part...
When fixing one of the oil leaks I could read the block casting number to be 3955272. I pulled the valve covers to fix those from leaking and the head casting number is 3931063. Took some towels and wiped all of the grime off between the alternator and head and the block stampings read T1106JM 19W353779 (the "779" appears to be a correction restamp and one of the sevens was stamped 90 degrees from orientation which constituted the restamp). The VIN on the dash is 114279W353779. The Fisher Body Cowl Tag; ST 69 11427 WRN177426 BDY
TR 732 51 B PNT
11B 0 B 3
The 12 bolt rear end is stamped BL 11 14 G1. It is an open differential non posi.
So by the numbers, I believe the motor was first week of November, the body was second week of November and the rear axle was second week of November. The car is Dusk Blue (paint code 51). The interior is the custom interior package with the bench seat (732). And it has the black vinyl top (B). So the car appears to be matching numbers. Well mostly. The transmission is a Turbo 350 and why it's not a Turbo 400 is anybody's guess as I have no idea why it would've been changed on such a high detail nut and bolt ground up restoration. When I say high detail restoration, I mean, there is ZERO paint overspray on anything that it shouldn't be such as wires, hoses, lines, washers, nuts, bolts, sheetmetal clip nuts, under the dash, firewall, etc, etc. Same question about that transmission can also be said about the factory A/C. I had no idea when I bought the car that finding a factory big block Nova with factory A/C was like finding a real life Unicorn. Evidently, the general consensus is, there was none. BUT the plot thickens because I stumbled upon ChevyNova.ORG 1969 Nova Power Teams Bulletin posted June 1st 1968, A/C was an early option on the L34 big block. It was NOT an option on the L78 big block. THEN, a revision to the 1969 Nova Power Teams Bulletin was posted on April 1st 1969 that omitted A/C as an option for both of the big block engines. Since my car by the numbers appears to be early production (November 1968 L34 big block car) it begs the question, is the A/C legit or not? I pulled the rear seat out hoping the find the build sheet, no luck. The rear seat has been changed/recovered at some point.
I thought the folks on this forum may be able to help me figure out what I have. I'm hoping somebody knows something about the history of this car. I did send off for the MuscleCarDOX, we'll see what that provides. It would be nice if my buddy contacts me and says he found a safe deposit box with the build sheet in it!
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