[Verdoro 68]

Originally Posted by SD455DJ

Ken, Curious to hear which heads it has...46's or 4C's. Being a 2-bbl, it's "supposed" to have press-in studs...but you never know...

Dennis

I’ll let you know when we get it here. The heat riser shroud and hose was still in place (!!) so I couldn’t see the code. The date codes were spot on for the build date so I made the leap that they were original to the car.

[dataway]

Yep, I love it too. I'd have to make that a top notch daily driver ... specially with the working AC. Maybe convert to power brakes if possible.

I assume it's similar to the 72 Nova I had, a great daily driver, replaced the ignition components and it ran like a top, very dependable.

[SD455DJ]

Originally Posted by b-man

By 1974 wouldn’t all heads have been built with screw-in studs?

Sticking your finger down in the oil filler cap hole will confirm that pretty easily.

B-man, I think you are right...the switch to screw-in studs for all heads was '73(?). I'm forgetting those details as I get older...

If so, I hope Ken's 350 has the 46's...easy GTO engine conversion. It sure would be a great candidate for some '70 #16's with 78 cc chambers. The 350 doesn't really need to big valve heads for more power, but 1.5 points in compression would certainly help.

Dennis

[SD455DJ]

Originally Posted by dataway

Yep, I love it too. I'd have to make that a top notch daily driver ... specially with the working AC. Maybe convert to power brakes if possible.

I assume it's similar to the 72 Nova I had, a great daily driver, replaced the ignition components and it ran like a top, very dependable.

I had a '72 Nova beater for a while with the 350 2-bbl, TH350 and working AC. It was yellow with a black top and interior. I really liked that car until it rusted apart from all the Michigan winters it went through!

Dennis

[mgarblik]

Originally Posted by SD455DJ

I had a '72 Nova beater for a while with the 350 2-bbl, TH350 and working AC. It was yellow with a black top and interior. I really liked that car until it rusted apart from all the Michigan winters it went through!

Dennis

There is allot to work with there! Great project. I love that interior. Pontiac V-8 with AC. So many possibilities. No wonder he is all smiles.

[SD455DJ]

Originally Posted by mgarblik

There is allot to work with there! Great project. I love that interior. Pontiac V-8 with AC. So many possibilities. No wonder he is all smiles.

All that, plus an 8.5" rear end.

Dennis

[SD455DJ]

Originally Posted by Baron Von Zeppelin

Years back I pulled a few sets of #46 off 350 2bbl engines to resell due to calls wanting them after the headflow test came out in HPP magazine.
They were all screw-in studs , but I don't know if that was luck or not.

I just checked my limited sources and '73 350's (all 2-bbl small valve heads) had pressed in studs while all '74 V8's got the screw-in studs.

Dennis

[71GP76TA]

Same color as my Formula.

[77 TRASHCAN]

Originally Posted by SD455DJ

All that, plus an 8.5" rear end.

Dennis

Plus, disc brakes were standard issue 73 and up...

[77 TRASHCAN]

Originally Posted by 77 TRASHCAN

Plus, disc brakes were standard issue 73 and up...

Well....I re-read post 1, says drum brakes? The big cars and "A" bodies all got standard disc brakes in 73.

The Nova/Ventura group did not?

[Baron Von Zeppelin]

Originally Posted by SD455DJ

I just checked my limited sources and '73 350's (all 2-bbl small valve heads) had pressed in studs while all '74 V8's got the screw-in studs.

Great.
All my victims were 74 cars , that's what they were asking for 1974 #46

Originally Posted by 77 TRASHCAN

Well....I re-read post 1, says drum brakes? The big cars and "A" bodies all got standard disc brakes in 73.

The Nova/Ventura group did not?

No , even the 74 GTO docs from the other thread show 4 wheel manual drums as standard.
Power drums were upcharge , power disc further upcharge .
Even bucket seats were extra on those GTO's .

It also appears a choice between cloth or vinyl seats was a no-cost alternate.
But the PHS for this lemon-lime car should tell for sure.

In early 90's I found a clean original 1 owner 74 GTO Black Hatchback 4spd BenchSeat car with that blk/wht plaid interior just like this car. I thought it was some kind of joke somebody put it in there.
But it was all the real deal.
A friend passed on the car because of the interior and he was even specifically looking for a 74 Black 4spd with White interior to match with his 64 GTO.
He didn't like the plaid , and not thrilled about bench.
Car was not priced cheap for the day and time.

[Baron Von Zeppelin]

I forgot he had already posted the PHS for the new car.

And forgot it had green accent interior.
The GTO I mentioned was tuxedo with checkerboard plaid.
In most opinions now it would be considered pretty snazzy .

[Verdoro 68]

We ordered a bunch of stuff for the impending arrival of the car. I’m going to keep him busy!

- Power disc brake conversion kit
- Rear brakes: hose, shoes, hardware, wheel cylinders
- Front suspension bushings.
- Ball joints
- Sway bar end links and bushings.

I was going to get steering components, but they seem to be a little hard to come by. This car also had a rear sway bar on it, but its been removed. The brackets are still there though. I would suspect a rear sway bar should be relatively easy to find.

We’ve been searching for the interior parts. This green seems to be hard to find or maybe not reproduced? The carpet is faded and dirty, and the headliner and package tray are gone so I don’t have a good reference.

Repro carpet and package tray are available in dark green, but the door panels and seats aren’t what I’d call dark green. I don’t see a green headliner available. Anyone know what colors I should be looking for or a reference for the interior combo?

[OG68]

IIRC the mid-seventies Nova X body had a Police Package with a much improved suspension. And I think the early Sevilles came with this same suspension.
And to totally show my ignorance, doesn't the F and X body share suspension design?

[71GP76TA]

Are any of the suspension components shared with a Firebird?

[b-man]

Originally Posted by 71GP76TA

Are any of the suspension components shared with a Firebird?

All of them, this ‘74 should have the same subframe as a first-gen Firebird. Rear end and springs should interchange as well.

By 1975 the X-body used the second-gen F-body subframe and suspension.

[gtospieg]

Nice find...years ago a friend had a very similar car...350 3 speed stick.

[69gtocv]

Ken, great find. I see Courtesy Motors is still in business in Lewistown, Mt! Wonder if they kept any of the old records. And being from Montana, I can see why the original owner wanted a block heater for the brutal winters and AC for the hot summers! My folks grew up around there.

[Verdoro 68]

Originally Posted by b-man

All of them, this ‘74 should have the same subframe as a first-gen Firebird. Rear end and springs should interchange as well.

By 1975 the X-body used the second-gen F-body subframe and suspension.

I did a little cross checking this afternoon and this looks to be correct - at least according to part numbers. I did find some tie rod ends, but availability is not as wide as I expected for as popular as the platform is. Moog doesn't appear to make them anymore.

Looks like the interior is going to be a little bit of a challenge, but that can wait. The first priority is making it safe for him to drive.

Here are a few pics of the underside. It's super solid. Someone used the existing single exhaust crossover and made a dual exhaust system. It actually sounds pretty good.

[Verdoro 68]

This was kind of cool. I wanted to take a pic of him with his new car and we replicated a pic of me with '68 when I was his age.






Driver's side headlight looks a little wonky. The fender could be a little tweaked because the trim below it was out of place, the bezel was also on loose. I looked the car over close for Bondo and couldn't find any but it wouldn't surprise me if there's some on the front fenders or passenger door.





Fender to door gaps are pretty bad because the hinges are completely trashed. Way worse than my '68 ever was. Both doors have 1/4" to 3/8" of up/down play. The back corners have been resting on the sill plate and scratched them up. I hope a hinge repair kit can fix it.