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1964 Nova Wagon “Plank”

Nova
Still haven’t gotten to that :( but it’s a good idea. I also found my brake lines sticking on. Whoever put the brake light switch in didn’t do a great job. I tweaked the mount some, hope it’s good for now.

I put a battery disconnect switch under the hood. Rolling with that right now.
 
Last couple days work. Wife is out of town so I can use her car while the nova is apart.

Used the rubber mat from my van I had to sell. Threw that in the back. (Apologies for the screw holes but they are small)

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Before position

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After position. About 5” back and rear mount dropped 3/4” to “tilt” the back some. Still retains the sliders to move up with rear passengers. :D
Yes, the plates are welded to the bench feet. No there are no new holes in the beautiful floor.
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Mounts
I measured across the mounts and driveshaft tunnel. The bench seat feet would allow me to drop the rear 1” and I had about 1.125” clearance from mount to mount. The floor and new metal however would only let it drop 3/4”. If I drilled a hole in the floor, it might be closer to 1”.

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I’ll let anyone that cares how the drive goes tomorrow. Feels good with the new position. “B” pillar isn’t bad, looks it, but my arm still goes out natural. Easier to get in and out of now too. We’ll see, can always slide it up too.

One of those free mods that makes a world of difference. :waytogo:
 
As a fellow tall person, I made similar seat brackets for my daily driver. The extra leg room is so much better
 
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OMG the room makes all the difference. I can straighten my legs! And the back tilted is soooo very nice. Getting used to driving it again, brake pedal feels a mile away and take effort to push lol
 
Right now, however, Im stuck in an Oreilly’s parking lot. Vapor lock. Second time. First time it left me in the fast lane during heavy, extended length of traffic. Was hoping to just avoid the traffic but it’s hot out. Currently 100*

Not sure what to do. All my old cars end up with FI and fuel lines pretty quick.

Finding all the quirks the more I drive. She stumbles over speed bumps. I’ve had it stumble with other movements as well. Maybe floats are high? She’s also a bitch to start, not so much warm, but like the first one of the day. Feels like the bowl empty’s overnight and it takes a ton of cranking to get fuel in it again. Timing seems ok, there’s no mark. I played it by ear and later retarded some for hard cranking. Left it there. Carb “looks” rebuilt 248 times, it’s questionable but she drives/cruises so nice when it’s not vapor locked.
 
Vapor lock really is going to be a chore to deal with. Even more so with ethanol in the fuel.

Check the routing of the fuel line and make sure it’s not gaining heat from the exhaust.

Insulate the line or reroute it where you can. The only reason fuel injection eliminates the vapor lock is because any liquid under pressure increases it’s boiling point. The more pressure the higher it goes. For a carburetor it can only handle 3-6 psi before the needle/seat is overcome, but that just means you run a fuel pressure regulator with an electric pump to drop the pressure for the carb.

Back when class a motorhomes still had carbureted big blocks my Dad fixed many by running a Holley pump back by the tank and a new mechanical pump on the engine (since there was 25 feet of fuel line) with the fuel line routed outside the frame rail to avoid the exhaust. Every one he did took care of the vapor lock. He didn’t use a regulator since the pump put out 7psi max back then and it had so much line to push through.

You could route fresh line for the feed and reuse the stock line for the return.


Though the old mechanics tale of clipping a bunch of wooden clothes pins to the line is said to help as a heat sink to a metal fuel line. Your results may vary…
 
It lights off but won’t keep running. Tickle the throttle and it’s unresponsive. I can see fuel in the filter just before the pump. I’m going home with Uber, coming back when it’s cooler on my E-scooter. Figure it out then. :(
 
Yeah, the steel line doesn’t look poorly routed and it jumps to the opposite side of the exhaust at the water neck. Going back to the tank, it’s on the opposite side as well. Didn’t know it would be that picky. Funny, I bought heat shield tubing from the Orielly’s and a jump box. Told them it’s having vapor lock issues and what do you know, here I am. Little surprised on this one though.

Also need to figure out the dumb “heat riser” in the exhaust. Make sure that’s welded closed :angry1:
 
Wooden clothes pins on the steel line, a bunch of them.
Did you check that the carb bowl is still tight to the throttle base?
 
Wooden clothes pins on the steel line, a bunch of them.
Did you check that the carb bowl is still tight to the throttle base?
I saw you mention this before and no, I haven’t. Sorry sir, I appreciate the ideas. I’ll post up some picture and question once I get the car back. It’s kinda funky and I don’t know what I’m looking at :D
 
Broke down and purchased a one wire, internally regulated, alternator. Any good write ups out there for swapping these in and ditching the other wires? I watched some YouTube videos, I’ll start with that so long as it matches my car.
 
Guy I used to work with had a Jeep 4.0L that had vapor lock issues and he wrapped the fuel rail with tin foil. Not sure if it helped him at all.
 
On my 64 Vette, it originally used the horn relay as a junction block for the alternator and battery so when I installed the new one wire alternator, I ran a one wire with #6 or #8? Ga. Wire to a junction block separated from the horn relay. Then a heavy gauge cable from junction block to battery.

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Trying to get some things done while the wife is out of town. (I have a spare vehicle to use)

Zim: I’m waiting for the alternator to be delivered. I stripped back the harness and would like to ditch whatever I can. Still unsure what can be cut out but I’ve seen some folks choose to jumper the wires going to the old regulator. This thing.
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I’d much rather solder things together and tape them up in the loop. (Or cut them back and connect somewhere) I heard some of the wires are needed for an “exciter” or “keyed on signal”. I dunno, whatever this mess does. Missing from the picture is the line going to the battery, so my horn “junction block” has 3 horseshoes going to it.

Another reason for stripping the harness was my alternator terminations were junk. Wires are good but ends were very bad. Like to simplify, reliabilify, and modernify.
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Old alternator wires. I can see how some of them backtrack and tie into that regulator connector. Is all that still necessary? I’m on the hunt for a good write up. I’ll post if I find one to share.
 
Wes: I got some pictures for you too. Here’s the carb, little warn out. Choke seems to function. Screws seem tight, so naturally I tighten them more. Tightened the manifold/carb bolts when I bought it, still good. I don’t see an excelerator pump or squirt in the throat.

This screw doesn’t seem to do anything. Maybe it’s an adjuster…that doesn’t adjust. It “bounces” with throttle movement. I would say idle air valve almost but that sounds crazy. Like it “closes” when the throttle is pushed.
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Going to dump some more picture, for the hell of it.

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