Okay, so everyone will hate me but let me be the voice of reason. These are the reason's you can use to convince your self this is not for you. DISCLAIMER: I have owned at least 5 cars so very similar to this one and speak from experience. Also I feel your pain. I absolutely love these plain two door sedan and Station Wagon cars and have always felt they should all be SBC powered with a floor shifted 4 speed. Sleeper cars are just the coolest. Having said that, these are the reasons not to jump at this one, unless, you can commit to owning, insuring, storing indefinitely and understand this project will never be profitable.
1962-65 Nova, Acadian original, 2 dr sedan, plain jane cars:
These cars are so prone to rust, much like an ice berg, you see a hole in the top of the fender. What you may find is bumper brackets, inner fenders, subframe rails, firewall bottoms, all rusted beyond repair. The cheaper models usually had cloth inserts in the seat covers, so the seats are in bad condition. Glass is all clear so again dash and rear package trays are usually shot. Drain holes in bottom of doors quite often plugged so door panels are warped beyond use. Trunk rubbers and drain hole problems on deck lid allows water in the trunk, so more rust problems. Floor pan problems are just almost always there. Take note; seller posted no pictures of interior, floor pans, trunk.
So, now that we have reviewed most of the problem areas we don't know anything about, lets address the issue of drive ability. These little 194 6cyl cars just do not idle or stop and start smoothly. OK, your going to replace that motor so no sweat. Don't forget the need for motor mounts, exhaust manifolds or shorty headers, front sump pan, dip stick, oil pump and special pickup. Did you say 4 spd, special bell housing (7 O'clock), clutch cross shaft, original nova block with recessed oil filter and drilled hole in boss on original block, stud mounted on inside of frame rail. Oh yea, don't forget the 3rd pedal conversion with small brake pedal. Install an aftermarket hump on the trans tunnel for the shifter.
With all of that, I haven't gotten to the main issues that drove me to post this warning. You and or your wife will not want to drive this car with standard brakes. No power brakes and the small drum brakes will drive you crazy. All the while your exercising that right leg on the brake pedal, you will need to beef up those biceps to turn that manual steering wheel, so don't even think about throwing those old 7 inch ralley wheels on the car because those new tires will make it that much more difficult to maneuver in the parking lot or driveway. And then there is that sloppy steering issue, even with new ball joints and new rubber bushings up front and proper alignment, those torque rods with rubber bushings just don't do the job on the highway.
So, I know that with all that said, there are still buyers for this car. That's OK, but do not even think you or your wife will drive the car while you work on the issues. That ain't gonna happen. In my opinion, with all the issues, I think you would want to start at a lower price point. I hate to look like I'm dissing the seller but it is a fact that these cars are less desirable than the 66-67 models. Believe me, it is much harder to sell anyone of the 62-65 cars, they just don't bring the money. Again, IMO, if you follow through with your SBC, 4 spd conversion, a usable interior and a different rearend will then leave you wanting a paint job. All of that looks like about $15,000 on top of the purchase and you have a $20,000 investment that most people will value at $13,000.
I'm just trying to make you feel better about passing on this car, unless you want it after considering all the above. Please don't hate me.
Not hating you at all for posting the truth Norm. The part you said about about it being a horrible investment as far as it being a business venture goes is 100% accurate, but that same accuracy applies to pretty much all old cars!
However, as far as driveability goes, I felt the same way about these cars until I got the right front end alignment done (someone who knew what they were doing) on my white 65 SD. After that alignment, I could get out on a nice straight flat stretch of prairie 4 lane highway on a calm day and not touch the steering wheel for a good part of a mile, it was that nice. That was on a car with a big block in the front and 40,000 miles on the original steering and chassis components.
I am pretty sure the interior is shot on this car based on the top of the back seat showing in the 3rd picture.
As far as rust, if this is truly a Lethbridge car, it's as close to a desert car as you will find in Canada, the cars there can be pretty amazing underneath. I've seen California cars with the same hole in the fender.
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars (now converted to a "factory" 4 speed)
Someone is going to get a cool car and a lot of tire kickers will miss out
We used to have a Nova like it here in the 70's Had a chevy van straight axle It ran a 6 cyl. all week and a 283 or 327 if he could scrounge one The 283 and 327 usually died by Sunday night
norm you have described my 65 invader to a tee! new floors braces and now a trunk and unibody rail repairs but i am a glutton for punishment,and there were only 850ish built,cant be many left and its not a nova!
