1966 Nova wagon 2 door conversion.

Hello. I am a new member here and have posted a few pics in my introduction thread. As I am a member of a couple of other auto forums, I know how much pictures are enjoyed. I will try to do a beginning to end story of my experience, reasons and method. I started with a very solid car that I purchased off of Ebay on Sept 5, 2005. The car was located in Grants Pass, Oregon. The woman had owned the car since 1968. Somewhere along the line the original engine was replaced by a 292 six cylinder truck engine. The car ran descent but needed carb work. I made the 16 hour round trip with trailer in-tow to retrieve my new project. I have wanted to do this project for awhile so a lot of thought has gone into what I was wanting to achieve. A clean 2 door wagon, LS power train, a few creature comforts, dependable road trip car with decent fuel mileage. The car should be done in time to enjoy this summer. It's at the upholstery shop now for the last major part of this build. There will be some de-bugging I'm sure as I start putting some windshield time in. Enjoy the pics and please comment and ask questions if you like.
Pat

 

As you can see from these pics the car was incredibly sound.

 

Let the cutting begin!!! I used the blue tape to visualize different B pillar angles. Originally in my mind I thought to match the C pillar angle but seeing it in blue tape quickly changed that. I chose to continue the slight angle that you see at the upper part of the door panel. It's subtle and works well in my opinion.

 

With the B pillar removed it was time to get into the meat of the fabrication. Doner pieces were gathered, 2 door sedan doors and lock pillars. Some parts were fabricated.

 

The new doors are 10'' longer than the originals so I removed the door skin from the rear door. Next was to locate the new lock pillar. I then trimmed the door skin to mate to the lock pillar and quarter panel.

 

Next step was to remove the pillar between the rear door and quarter glass and re-locate to the B pillar.

 

That's basic conversion process. I did the driver's side first and drove it that way for a couple of years before I did the right side and the LS transplant.

 

Another thing I forgot to mention.... all the glass is flat except the windshield so any glass shop can make the glass with a pattern provided.

 

Man, that's a lot of work! But you sure did a great job.

Good to see you have some help...

 

Yep. That's one of my grandsons. He is 10 years old now. Gives you an idea how long this has taken.

 

I will move on to the mechanicals and other little mods. I am using a TCI front clip with coil overs and power rack. The engine is a 7k mile ZO6 from a stacked up 2003 Vette.

 

I chose to use a cross flow rear muffler like the F body GM cars. It allowed me to tuck the exhaust system tight to the floor for ground clearance.

 

The next step was fuel tank fabrication. The stock tank hols 16 gallons but I want a loooong rangecruiser. The new takn holds 24 gallons so it greatly extends the distance between fuel stops. Still have to make the regular comfort stops though!!!

 

Amazing project...I am also a fan of it's garage mate...

 

Here are some pics of the brother.