68 L78 Nova - resto journey

[DougsL78]

Hi All,

Well here we go- purchased a 68 L78 Nova, M22, born with drivetrain, Sequoia Green and ash gold interior from a member here (Thanks Tom!) and after shipping it up to Canada, the restoration journey begins.

Many of you I’m sure know the car as Tom has posted about it before..I guess I was the right bum for the seat and I am very proud and honoured to be the next caretaker of it. So the restoration begins.

I followed the saga of the Green Bastard Restoration here and loved that documentation, so hoping to do the same here for anyone who is interested.

First pictures here are not too different from when it was down in Tom’s garage- but we’ve started the cataloguing and restoration of the parts that came with the car, bought up 15k of NOS parts (so far, a long way to go still…. ) and have the right body and paint men lined up to make it perfect. It is one of 167 produced with the M22 so it’s a special car. Will make it as original as possible- only day 2 items will be headers and exhaust (as I’m not ready to give away the horsepower!

Using NOS parts as a first choice, used original as second, and repro as a last choice only if required. This is my “forever car” and restoring it with my father (at 75 is as pumped as I am) is the best part of the journey. That’s him as we pull the engine to prep for body.

Always open to tips, tricks, advice from the experts here- especially on the 68 which seems to have 1000 “one year only parts”, plus being an L78 it is going to be an adventure.

Huge thanks to Tom selling the car to me and more importantly for his knowledge, patience, and digging for parts. Also to Jason (down the street from Tom) for his expertise, willingness to help, and some door jambs that were the first “impossible finds”. Last shout out for this first post is 427King for the 1100814 alternator (the second impossible find).

[69M22Z]

Congratulations!! Ready to follow along.

[Too Many Projects]

Congrats on the purchase. I remember seeing that in Tom's ad and thought "someone is going to get a really nice project". If I recall, didn't it come with a lot of the NOS parts it needed ?

[DougsL78]

Thanks guys,

It came with a 6000 mile granny interior, an NOS grille and rear SS plate, rebuilt carb and starter among some other bits and bobs. So that was a great start. And even though I was prepared to buy a lot of stuff, it continues to make my eyes water as to how many parts I actually needed and how expensive good stuff is.

Members here have been great at helping locate and sell some really hard to find stuff- but I may have to take a 2nd mortgage on my house to finish the car… LOL. Something I would absolutely do before selling other cars if anyone was doubtful…

[Too Many Projects]

I hear ya on the NOS parts. They do get harder to find and the price seems to go up daily.
There is no chance we would be mortgaging our place to restore cars. We are both retired and living on fixed income based on no payments.

[DougsL78]

I hear you.. I was kidding - a wise person once told me “you can’t see the numbers when you are behind the wheel” - that really resonated. I’d like to this one as proper as possible and will do my best to do it without putting myself in financial jeopardy.

[BJCHEV396]

Congrats and good luck Doug from Ottawa!

[RPOLS3]

Glad to see this great car found a new owner - looking forward to following along.

[DougsL78]

Small update- car now moved to body shop… had a little May snow here in Alberta that we had to thread the needle on.

Next update car should be on rotisserie and start the stripping/metal work!

NOS Parts collection continues…. NOS air cleaner and rebuilt 8E voltage regulator added to the ever growing pile….

[chevyman0429]

For sure looking to watch this build!