What better way to start the New Year off right than an L78 Nova for your garage or workshop I have listed two of these cars here before...the 70 Fathom Blue is a new addition. These cars are all priced very fairly for what they are...happy to answer questions or help in any way. Prices are good for a limited time...so give me a call or send an email.
I went over to the 2 Door Post site and joined...looks like another good group with some familiar names
By the way... the Fathom Blue car currently has steel wheels and dog dish caps. We did the car with Rallyes initially and then learned it was a steel wheel car.
-- Edited by WILMASBOYL78 on Saturday 4th of January 2014 09:30:00 PM
-- Edited by WILMASBOYL78 on Saturday 4th of January 2014 09:30:53 PM
I went over to the 2 Door Post site and joined...looks like another good group with some familiar names
***By the way... the Fathom Blue car currently has steel wheels and dog dish caps. We did the car with Rallyes initially and then learned it was a steel wheel car.
Congratulations They love big dollar L78
By the way The blue car looks 1000 times better than the factory crap rims (my 2 cents)
I thought it would be good to add some of the history and stories behind these cars...let's start with the Marine Corps Nova.
My story with this car began in January of 2003 when I responded to ad on the Collector Car Trader website. After a number of conversations with the "then current owner"...I decided to buy the car subject to a personal inspection. Wayne Bushey from NNN went with me on the trip to Indiana to look the car over. What we found was a very solid "survivor type car", that was a perfect candidate for a restoration.
We spent the better part of the day going over the car in detail and left without making the deal...after some discussion I pulled the trigger and bought the car the next day. During the process of researching the history of the car the original owner was finally located.
This high horse Nova was ordered new in the winter of 1969/70 by a fellow named John "Jack" Kanter, a Brooklyn native who was serving in the USMC in Vietnam. Since Jack was overseas, his father handled all the arrangements and the car was sold and delivered by Dial Chevrolet in Westbury, Long Island in the spring of 1970. The original selling price of the car was approx. $3650.
Here are some pictures Jack sent me when he was "in country" back in the day...in the first photo he is the guy with the shirt...then in his fatigues and finally that is Jack with a wounded buddy.
Jack drove the car back and forth to school and work for several years...he also made the usual Day 2 mods like adding Cragar Wheels. Jack enjoyed the car a little too much one day inn 1973 and the engine was history. Hustedt Chevrolet in Centereach, Long Island installed a warranty CE block and got the L78 car on the road once more.
Jack eventually moved away and the car was sold to a relative and then to the guy we bought it from. The restoration process was a great education for me and one that I truly enjoyed. I got to learn a lot about the little details concerning the car...this lead to more discussions with the original owner along the way. In fact, I called Jack today to say hello...we hadn't spoke for a few years, but he knew who it was right away
As you all know, we named this car the Marine Corps Nova in recognition of its first owner who served his country so long ago in Vietnam. There are probably a lot of men and women like Jack who now serve that also share a love for muscle cars and our great hobby.
This beautifully restored car represents a unique link to our "muscle car past" and to the special people who are part of it. Many thanks to Wayne for all his efforts in preserving this piece of American automotive history and to my buddy "Tony the Greek" for helping to keep it looking good!
A little more history and info on this car...here is how it looked when we purchased it.
Some pics of the "techy" stuff...original underhood shot.
cowl tag...
engine bay as found...
291 heads...
photos from the 2004 Nova Nationals...
a few more from the 2004 Nats..
Gold Class Certification...
Front cover of Nova Times..
The boring numbers stuff...
Nova InfoThe Marine Corps Nova
1970 SS 396 L78 Fathom Blue....402/375hp M-21 close ratio Muncie trans P0B13 w/vin 3.55 12 bolt posi rear CBT 0223G 2 E Black vinyl top...correct Levant material used Deluxe interior...new carpet, seat belts, etc Bucket seats....completely restored...inside/out Console with gauges6,000 rpm tach AM push button radio...originally had a rear speaker ( I currently have one/not installed) 14 x 7 steel wheels...pained body color E 70 x 14 white line wide ovals...repro Firestones w/matching spare CE warranty replacement block...#3999290 dated E2572 4 bolt main hi-perf 291 heads dated early Feb/70...both dated the same 2/8/70 569 intake manifold Correct TCS system Correct Gardner exhaust system....deep tone system Correct smog system from Bill Hodel....correct dated pump, check valves, new hoses/tubes, etc. All under hood dated components are correct including: 837 alternator....9F17 811 water pump 2000 distributor....restored by Jerry McNeish dated jan. 8/70 4557 carburetor....show quality resto...dated Dec/69 660 t/stat housing 5 blade fan Correct 3 core radiator w/ZD tag 293 coil Original deep groove pulleys...no repros I think the starter has the wrong date, but I have a correct dated 418 for the car Brake booster was replaced w/reproduction...I have a dated original Paint marks, spring tags, shock labels, etcall done to original specs. Almost all trim on the car is restored original or NOS replacement T-3 headlites Spiral shocks All original body panels All new dated glass All new correct springs
Best In Show Nova Nationals 2004 in Atlanta.appeared at GM Carlisle Original Big Block display 2006, York US 30 Muscle car madness 2005, 2006.Cover feature car in Nova Timeswork done by Wayne Bushey at NNN.
I like any 1970 Nova SS396. That Fathom Blue car looks great and has an interesting history. I have to say that a set of old Cragars with the old style cast center caps would look great on the car. At least he didn't jack the car up. So many people did jack them up for fat tire clearance back in the day.
That Cranberry Red car looks cool as well, and Autumn Gold is also a nice 1970 colour.
There used to be a nice solid Daytona Yellow 1970 Nova SS396 in Ancaster around 1980. Either Exterior Decor with the window frames & bodyside moldings, or full-on Custom Exterior (can't remember since it was decades ago). All stock except for Centerline wheels.
__________________
67 Chevelle Malibu Sport Coupe, Oshawa-built 250 PG never disturbed.
In garage, 296 cid inline six & TH350...
Cam, Toronto.
I don't judge a man by how far he's fallen, but by how far back he bounces - Patton
Folks have asked for more history on these cars...let's start with the Autumn Gold TH400 car.
I bought this car back in April of 2004 (almost 10 years ago) from an SYC member. The driveline was out of the car at the time...lots of parts in boxes and in the trunk. Very solid original car with great documentation...the car had an interesting history. If I remember the story correctly...the first owner ordered this car sometime in the early summer of 1970 from Reedman Chevrolet in Langhorne, PA and it was delivered August 5th, 1970. That is pretty late for a 1970 model year car...and while I'm not positive, it was probably one of the last L78 cars ever produced. All of the dated parts and cowl tag point to a first week of July assembly date. Here is how the car looked when I bought it...note the vintage McCreary tires...G60's on the front..and J60's on the rear...floors are very solid...sub-frame and the underhood stuff was covered with normal layer of grease...as you can see it cleaned up fine.
***by the way...those 454 emblems on the fenders were installed by the original owner...seems he wanted a little more under the hood, so he installed an LS6 and gave the L78 a breather...that must have been some combo on street back then...all that power in a Nova
The original core support and front end were vey solid...49k on the odometer...undercarriage had some surface rust...original F41 sway bar was intact...car had a Day-2 cover on the rear, air shocks and a trailer hitch!! I was told the guy towed a snowmobile trailer with this car...don't see that everyday.. an L78 and a sled
The trunk was solid and the interior had a huge 8 track player w/FM convertor insert...the inside was a little funky, but overall in pretty good shape. I have since recovered seats, added a repro rug, removed the 8 track and cleaned things up.
Next post I'll get into some of the documentation and engine work I performed....wilma
Here is a little more info on the Gold car....documentation is extensive, POP, Bill of Sale, window sticker, PDI sheet, owners manual, copy of original title and registration and lots more.
The engine had been gone thru at some point, but I decided to have my shop check it out and take care of any issues. The motor turned out great...
Here is the dyno sheet...pretty impressive figures...434/torque...431/horsepower
This car was a highly optioned vehicle...19 factory options! Including the one year only Aux. lighting pkg that had the "wiper fluid monitor"
Cowl tag...
CTY code w/vin on the engine pad...
The motor looks right at home considering it's coming up on it's 44th Birthday
There are lots more photos and details available if you are interested...just ask.
wilma
_________________________ 02 Berger 380hp #95 Lots of L78 Novas Join National Nostalgic Nova! 70 Orange Cooler 69 Camaro
Wow, you know I have seen more than my share of 3rd gen Novas but that fluid monitor is new to me and at my age that's unusual. These are great cars and I think the Canadian car is the only one I haven't seen in person. I painted my 69 SS Cranberry Red back in the day because I just liked it so much more than the 69 Garnet Red. But, I'm partial to the Orange Cooler car, that is a rare color.
We flew into Ft Myers last Sat. and so glad to have gotten out in front of the storm. As of now, we plan to be in Kissimmee with the new convertible this year so come on down. Bushey's will be here in our area the week before the Nat's.
Well, I'm finally getting around to the Canadian delivered red L78...this car has a real interesting story. The car is truly the essence of a pure muscle car...no fancy options, bench seat, rubber floor mats, 4 speed, steel wheels with dog dish caps and a solid lifter big block under the hood.
I actually followed this car for several years before I was able to purchase it in 2004...but, before we talk about all that, lets travel back in time about 44 years to Dick Irwin Chevrolet-Oldsmobile in North Vancouver, BC. From what I have been able to learn the car was probably ordered as a stock unit by the dealership. The Fisher Body Build Sheet shows an assembly date of Dec. 23rd, 1969..with car being shipped on January 2nd, 1970. This info came from some of the extensive documentation we have for this rare car.
The car was prepped by the shop at Dick Irwin on January 9th, 1970..note the CKO code on the PDI sheet
The dealership applied a stock number to every vehicle they had...it was written with some kind of indelible ink on the firewall...C2353
The car was purchased by John Walker Beggs on January 10th, 1970...he traded a 64 Acadian convertible for the $4300 Nova...they gave him $606 for his old car...he put down a $10 deposit and financed the rest..try that today **these figures are in Canadian dollars
Here is a photo of Beggs when the car was new... note the antenna on the fender...not sure how that came about he also appears to have added some hood latches...
Now we move onto Mrs. Beggs...from what I have been told she was not a fan of the 4 speed and clutch and lack of power steering...and since we all like to keep our ladies happy..Mr. Beggs did some modifications. I am told he added power steering and replaced the factory 4 speed with a TH400 tranny to keep the lady of the house happy you can see the power steering pump in the earlier pictures. **the vacuum fitting on the intake manifold still has the outlet for connecting a line for the automatic..it is obviously blocked off now.
there is something interesting in this photo..the steel wheels almost appear to be black..not sure if they came that way or the original owner painted them....I've had discussions with other Nova folks about cars that came with black wheels..maybe the red doesn't show up in the photo??...hard to know for sure after 44 years.
For some reason in 1971 Beggs decided to get documentation from GM of Canada on his car...the info included the microfiche shown earlier along with a letter and hand written list of options.
So, now we move forward about 20 years to the time when the car finally changes hands...for the first time! It seems that a fellow named Frank Vanveen had know of this car since 1976 after responding to an local ad for some parts for sale. He tried to buy the car, but Beggs was going to "keep it forever".. Mr. Beggs finally gave in and Frank bought the car in April of 1990. Talk about persistence!! I believe that Mr. Vanveen's father may have worked at the dealership when the car was sold new...here is a photo of the car when Frank brought it home on April 14th, 1990. **note the silver painted wheels, blacked out rockers and hood latches.
The restoration process started shortly after arrival...here are some of the parts being worked on and Frank posing with his prized red L78
Frank also sent in for the GM of Canada paperwork..
The restoration was completed in 1993 and Frank made his debut at Super Chevy Sunday show
Frank owned the car until the early 90's and it was featured in an issue of Canadian Classics and Performance in June 2003...shortly after he sold it.
Well..the car ended up going to someone in Washington State for a short time and then to a fellow in California...and finally to Joe Grom at Chevy 2 Only. I bought the car from Joe in early 2004... it is a really neat muscle car and turns heads with that red paint. We took it to the Rhinebeck Car Show a few years back and won Best in Class...here is the car on display in the winner's area.
As you know from reading the earlier threads we recently installed the correct 731 plain jane black vinyl seats...these were missing from the original restoration.
So...there you have the story of the Red Nova...maybe you have room in your garage to carry on the story ...wilma
_________________________ 02 Berger 380hp #95 Lots of L78 Novas Join National Nostalgic Nova! 70 Orange Cooler 69 Camaro
As I mentioned in the story, the original owner's wife couldn't deal with the 4 speed so he installed an automatic for her. Unfortunately he sold the Muncie that came with the car long before Frank bought it. However, Mr. Vanveen was able to locate a 1970 M20 out of a Nova..so, while it does not have the VIN it is as close as you can get.
**I have made some contacts in Canada...maybe that tranny is still out there
For you numbers guys... 12C build date on cowl tag 75/75 Cranberry Red 731 Black Vinyl Bench A-2 black trim interior...two exterior moldings
Engine and rear match the POP
Engine...correct $854 block cast K 11 9 T1125CKO pad stamp w/VIN Tranny...M20 Muncie P0E15A Tag #3952659 WB Rear... #3969341NF date L-11-9 axle tube CBT1219 1 E Bell Housing...#3899621 Cyl. heads...#3964291 both dated J31 9 Distributor...#1112000 9H20 Intake..#3963569 Alternator...#837 Carb..#4557 Nov/69 date Smog and TCS are all complete and correct including exhaust manifolds 5 blade fan
Love the red When I see the air pumps it brings back memories I have a new set off a L78 Nova from 1970 used to have several sets The locals came to me to get the junk removed...
I have listed two of these cars here before...the 70 Fathom Blue is a new addition. These cars are all priced very fairly for what they are...happy to answer questions or help in any way. Prices are good for a limited time...so give me a call or send an email.
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he also appears to have added some hood latches... 
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