Sandblasting Cabinet
After painting the sub-frame and getting it ready to put onto the Nova, I realized that more work needed to be done before doing so. I have all these relatively small, rusty parts that could either be replaced ($$$) or cleaned up and re-installed ($). I decided that many of the parts could be cleaned up and re-used. Enter the sandblasting cabinet.
I came across plans online to build one. The guy ended up being an engineer, so I knew the plans were going to be reliable. I called my uncle to let him know about my plans to build one and he subsequently offered to help me build it.
I purchased most of the supplies in the next few days and I cut out the easy pieces with my circular saw. Since he has more carpentry experience, I left the harder pieces to him. I believe it took a few days to complete and a few more days before I had all of the supplies to get it fully functional. I needed to buy a Spot Blaster Kit, sandblasting gloves, and few other things from Harbor Freight. I bought a few items from Sears Hardware to complete the tubing. I also bought a small Plexiglass sheet for the window, a lighting fixture, and the electrical switch from Home Depot.
The "machine" works great and I have cleaned up a few parts including my coil springs and drum brakes. The only complaint I have is that the sand is only good for 2-3 usages, then it breaks down and it basically turns to dust. It could use a few improvements, however, such as some kind of removable and inexpensive Plexiglass protector which can be removed and replaced when vision decreases. Also, I realized later that I should have bought a switch and plug combination so that I could plug in the vacuum.
Note: For those of you wondering, it took me almost a full year to write this post. The cabinet has be done since the end of November 2009. 
My Compressor Will be the End of Me
My air compressor has caused me many nuisances and many hours of fixes since the day I brought it home. It was inherited when my uncle passed, so I guess I have no right to complain. But then again, I'm not complaining, but only documenting my troubles.
Before I could get the compressor running, I had to take the existing 220 volt line to the garage and figure out what the inexperienced person did when connecting the line to the house. They had 2 220 volt lines and was only using 1 1/2 of them, but only 110 volts! In a couple phone calls to my dad, a few trips to Home Depot for breakers and such and numerous trips into the basement to the breaker box and back out to the garage, I finally got the 220 line hooked up correctly and used 1/2 of the other 220 line for my 110 needs in the garage.
After a few weeks of running the compressor, I was having a problem with moisture in the line. It was suggested by my uncles to buy an "Automatic Compressor Drain Kit" from Harbor Freight for 10 bucks. I looked at the instructions and it seemed easy enough. In an attempt to install it, I tightened it too hard and split the cheap metal, rendering it useless. A few cuss words later, I installed the original drain plug.
The next day, I bought a new drain kit. While installing the kit, I realized that I needed different parts to fit onto the pressure switch. While removing the old parts and installing the new, again, I tightened the part too tight and rendered an irreplaceable part on the pressure switch useless. I spent a few more days researching prices for a new pressure switch and I believe I ended up buying one from Ace Hardware or Home Depot. After purchasing the switch, I realized that installing it will be a little tricky, because it is larger than the original. I ended up having to install it on a tilt. It works, but it is not aesthetically pleasing.
I also noticed that the drain plug needed more clearance on the bottom where the drain kit is installed. That was the easiest fix of all of them. I got some cinder blocks and set the compressor on those.
Great!!! Now I have a working compressor...NOT!!! After 5 minutes of using the compressor, the air coming out of the cylinders blew a hole in the poly-whatever (plastic/rubber) tubing needed for the auto-drain kit. It turns out that the air coming out of the cylinders was too hot and melted the tubing.
I then came up the ingenious idea to create some kind of metal coil to allow the air to cool before bringing it over to the rubber tubing. After a few trips to AutoZone and Sears Hardware, I did just that with some break line and compression unions and fittings and such. The air was still hot towards the end of the coil, but it was enough not to melt the rubber tubing.
Part of the reason for the overheating was because it was running longer than it needed to, to get back up to pressure. This was due to the fact that the first day that I started messing with the compressor, I changed the oil and removed the cylinder head to see if the cylinders needed cleaning. I subsequently ripped the head gasket that was melded to the head. So, since day one, the compressor has only been about, if I had to guess, 60% efficient. This made the compressor run longer in order to pressurize. I had purchased gasket material from a swap meet and replaced the gasket by cutting my own.
So, it turns out that a free inheritance may have cost me more to fix it than it wold have cost me to buy a new one. But, I learned a lot in the process and I'm satisfied with the work I put into it.
Ball Joints and Parts Application
Since the last post, I got smart and purchased a ball joint separator tool at AutoZone. I brought it home and started using it right away. After about an hour of taking turns with my brother-in-law and wailing on the pickle fork with a sledge hammer, bending the forks, and trying to loosen the lower ball joint, I decided to try the upper ball joint. I came in from the side of the car instead of front or back and the upper ball joint separated within a few whacks. Now that I could rotate the lower ball joint on more than one axis, I was able to separate it without a problem. After all was done, I remembered that the Hayne's Manual said to separate the upper ball joint first.
Since CHEVY Nova parts are so abundant and easy to find on the Internet, and since I possess the knowledge, I created a small web-based application that allows me to enter and compare prices of different car parts. For example, I'm currently looking for a front end suspension rebuild kit. One of these can be found at all kinds of online stores. All of these stores also have different ideas of what the kit should contain. I would add the distributor and the part to the database and include the price, url, and the notes. I can later bring up the part and do a price and content comparison and determine what is the best deal.
I Love Craig’s List
Last night I emailed someone that had a listing on Craig's List for an impact wrench. The listing included a slightly used Ingersoll Rand 231G 1/2" impact wrench and extras, that included an SAE deep socket set, an extension and a 360 degree swivel fitting. After a few emails back and forth today, I sent him the link to this blog. He read the part about me needing a grinder. He just happened to have a Craftsman electric grinder, that was used once, for $20 and a sawsall both listed on Craig's List as well. He also said that if I bought a few things from him, he would throw in a few cans of primer and rust inhibitor and some body work tools that I will need later.
Needless to say, I took a trip out to New Philadelphia after work today and came home with the impact wrench (and extras), a grinder, and a bunch of aerosol cans full of contents that I will need in the not-so-distant future. I came home and ordered a few pizzas and then used my impact wrench to take off the lug nuts of the passenger front tire. I ended up having to read the directions to see what knobs I needed to turn to get the right direction and power to the wrench. It turns out that the wrench is an air hog and I just needed to adjust the pressure a bit. I started to disassemble the passenger front suspension, but I ended up pinching my hand, so I stopped and called it a night.
Sorry folks, no pictures today. I'll have some photos of my new tools tomorrow.
Summit, Title Transfer, and Drum Brake
On Friday after work, my brother-in-law and I went to Summit Racing Equipment to see if we could buy either an impact wrench or a grinder. I 'll tell you that I was a little disappointed and Summit was not what I had expected. It turns out that it's more of a show store and a retail pickup location, rather than a full retail store. I did buy a deep impact socket set for $20, but nothing else. I have been looking adamantly for an impact wrench since then—on eBay, Craigslist, and retail stores. Perhaps I should ask an uncle to borrow one.
Saturday, I finally got the title to the Nova transferred into my name. There were a lot of people at the Title Bureau and given that it was a Saturday and in Akron, I enjoyed people watching. I didn't get to work on the car at all.
Monday, I was determined to start some more dismantling. I jacked the Nova up and put it on jack stands. Then I proceeded to take the tire off and eventually the entire drum brake assembly, by disconnecting the tie rod, and the upper and lower ball joints. Then I read the Hayne's manual and it suggested to take the brake assembly apart before taking it off the control arms. I managed to get enough thread on both upper and lower ball joints to get the nuts back on.
I did as the book suggested and took the master cylinder cover off and put a ziploc bag over top and snapped the cover in place again—to help prevent drainage. I took the rest of the brake assembly apart and disconnected the hose. I realized that I should have been prepared with another plastic bag to catch the dripping fluid. After taking it apart, I cleaned up the 1/2 inch thick grease that was around the lower ball joint. It was pretty thick. Using the wire wheel, the grease went everywhere, so I decided to use the wire brush instead. Hopefully, I can get enough parts together to make a trip to my uncle's house to use the sandblaster. I hope to clean up the entire engine compartment before installing the engine.
Rust Removal and Reel
June 17
I bought some Rustoleum from AutoZone to see if it would help with the pitted rust in the engine compartment. After using it, we decided that we need to buy a grinding. My brother-in-law and I decided to take the front bumper off to get at the rotted bumper support. If anyone has any suggestions on what to do about it, please let me know. The rest of the front frame is in good condition and I'd rather not replace it if I don't have to. The rusted support is shown below.
June 18
I went to Harbor Freight after work today and bought an automatic drainer and a lead in hose for my air compressor. I tried installing the drainer, but I don't have enough clearance on the bottom and also I would have to cut the tubing connecting the tank and the shut-off switch. I want to do it right, so I need an expert's opinion (hint).
Today, I also unmounted the hose reel and re-mounted with better support connecting to the wall stud. I ran into several problems in doing this. I first took the reel off the piece of 2x4, drew the holes by laying that piece onto a new 2x4, and drilled the holes. I found out that that was a bad idea, because the holes were nowhere near the correct location. So I did it right and took apart the reel so that I could drill straight holes into the 2x4. After that was all done, I screwed the 2x4 into the stud instead of nailing it and then I mounted the reel. All of this took me about 2 hours to do. But it is up now ad the picture is below.
New Light Fixtures and Air Hose Reel
Today, I stopped at Wal-Mart and Home Depot to buy a light fixture for my work bench, a fluorescent light assembly for the ceiling, nuts and bolts to mount the air hose reel, and other small things. While at Home Depot, I spent some time on the phone with my uncle discussing my progress and asking a few questions. He made a few suggestions about books, tools, and products I should buy, to make my restoration project a lot easier.
I mounted the reel on the wall above the air compressor while my brother-in-law installed the light over my bench. I have a feeling that tomorrow, the reel and hose will be laying on the floor. Although the reel is securely connected to the two by four with the nuts and bolts that I bought, I don't think the two by four is secured to the garage wall. I think I may need to screw it into the wall instead of nailing it.
I also installed the fluorescent light above the engine compartment. I first moved the existing light back one ceiling joist, and installed the new one, two joists in front of it. Hopefully, I can get some work done on the car tomorrow. I think I might take the front bumper off to get at the front passenger-side frame—or at least try to take it of.
Clean Up
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Preface
Before the delivery of my Nova, I had to make preparations to my garage in order to have enough room for everything. One of the improvements was done in April when I rewired the electricity in the garage and the breaker box in the house to allow for 220 volts in order to run my air compressor. After a few phone calls between my dad and other electrical experts, I installed it the correct way.
The next improvement was to repair the leak in my air compressor. This was done in the beginning of May with the expertise of my uncle. I thought it would have been an easy weld to patch a tiny hole, but I was wrong. Long story short, he cut the motor mount bracket and welded a steel plate to cover the entire leaky area.
Repairing my leaky—and apparently partly moldy—roof, was done on my birthday weekend, with the skills, knowledge, and help from my dad. We were both a little sore the next day and I learned a new trade. The most recent improvement which was completed on Saturday before the delivery, was a 9 foot work bench. This, I constructed with the verbal help from my uncle, and a borrowed saw from my other uncle to make a few cuts. Currently, the bench is completely covered with car parts. Perhaps a shelf between the bench and the floor would be a good improvement for extra storage space.
All of the above mentioned people deserve a big thank you for helping me thus far. Someone else I would like to thank is my great uncle who left most of his tool collection to me after he passed away. Without it all, I wouldn't be able to get started with this project.
Post
Today, I went to Harbor Freight to purchase over $100 worth of supplies and tools, including a few wire brushes, mechanic's gloves, safety goggles, and a new air hose and reel. I started my work by vacuuming out the interior and cleaning certain areas of the windows, as shown in one of the above pictures. I also started cleaning up the engine compartment using the wire brushes I had purchased. The first two above pictures are closeups of the engine compartment before I started cleaning.
My brother-in-law spent a lot of time cleaning the engine compartment with the a little help from the wire brush, the air compressor, and the Goof Off that I purchased earlier. Nowhere on the bottle does it say anything about rust removal, but it seemed to have done the trick. I spent some time disassembling a few parts, looking up the parts in a catalog, putting the nuts and bolts into Ziploc bags, and labeling them accordingly.
I removed both inner fender wells and set them on the floor of the garage. I later found out that when my dog got scared when my air compressor kicked on, he bolted out of the garage and he *censored for graphic content* cut his leg on one of the fenders. That incident resulted in a trip to the veterinarian emergency room at 11 at night. He is doing OK now. The five stitches come out in ten to fifteen days.
We also managed to remove the driver's front fender to have better access to the engine compartment. The work that has been done is shown in the photos below.
