Every once in a while, a surprising new reproduction part will hit the performance and restoration aftermarket without notice. And with the growing popularity of Chevy II’s and Novas, this is beginning to happen more often than ever. For those of you getting ready to replace rusted out floors in your ’62-67 Nova, take note.

Things To Remember When Working On Your Chevrolet Nova

Previously, we had the full-length floors available, which included the front floor section and rear floor section together as one piece. Unfortunately, they did not include the center hump/tunnel portion or the toe board. But now, I’m happy to say, there are new, full floors available that do include the center hump and toe board, giving you lots more metal to install on your project Nova.

New Floors Available For Chevrolet Nova’s

These full floors will help replace any rust that has accumulated under the dash area where your feet rest. With the availability of the center hump, this will be a welcome sight to many Nova owners.

Most used Novas have a hole cut in the hump big enough to have been an emergency escape for small children. Some of the cars we’ve had in our shop bring comments to the likes of “What were these people thinking when they installed that shifter?!”

All jokes aside, these new floor pans are too cool. But before you get down and dirty and ready for the replacement procedure, be sure to look at the situation very objectively; it’s not a quick and easy job or one for the first-time hobbyist. You do need to have some mechanical ability as many spot welds will need to be drilled out and there’s lots of welding to be done in order to do the job correctly.

A few other items to consider are things like:

  • Keeping in mind that the emergency brake cable anchor points and the underfloor seat braces will rust long before the floors get bad.
  • Remembering that the front and rear frame rails also need to have the spot welds drilled out, which can be time-consuming.

But, the bottom line when all is said and done, these floor pans will work great for rebuilding future and present project cars.

Stay Safe When Working Under The Hood

While all the floor work is going on it will also be a good time to consider frame connectors, especially if you plan to put any serious power under the hood of your Deuce. When it comes to doing any work under the car, as always, think safety!  Make sure you have your Nova positioned properly and have good operational jack stands.

When using a torch or welder, make sure you have a good fire extinguisher handy and don’t fire it up anywhere near gas fumes or in an enclosed garage where a hot water heater is sharing space.

Years ago I had a good friend helping me part out a Nova. It was sitting on his trailer while he torched the last part off. He left for lunch for an hour or so and when he returned the fire department had been there and gone. They had a hard time getting the fire out on the trailer tires, only one had air left in it! It appeared that a spark or two had gotten into the carpet and ignited the fire. Luckily this all happened outside. The lesson here is to think smart and use good sense, and when all is finished, enjoy your ride.

Related Posts

Comments (0)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.*