What's Under the Hood?

Before I had even gotten the car home, I had realized that I did not have a 74 Nova--I assumed a 76.  I have this thing with numbers.  I relate them to 5 and 0.  I eventually figured out it was a 79--9 being one less that 0 and 4 being one less than 5--easy mistake, I know.

Also, before I got it home, I started putting it on Reddit.  I was trying to figure out what we had.  I found the sub/reddit “chevy” and posted a picture.  Through that I found the sub/reddits “projectcar” and “cartalk.”  I posted some information about the car, and I got a lot of information back.  

Things like--This was a small car in 74.  This car is much bigger than the 75-79 models.  This is the one with the bumpers.

I found out there were people who actually wanted these cars and loved these cars, and that they were considered “American Muscle.”  This was a huge shock because no one was envious of the Nova I had in high school.  I now know that I could have made it cool if I would have bought into it being cool back then.

I stayed on the internet--Facebook and Reddit--learning what to do with the car when we got it home.  

First things first--see if it runs--Then there were other suggestions--suggestions like do an LS swap, check the compression, need new brakes, buy a camaro, etc.  

A lot of the suggestions could have been in French--because I had no idea what they were saying.  I didn’t know what an LS swap was or what it meant.  

I told the group that I had an Edelbrock engine (Edelbrock doesn’t make engines.).  They were very patient with me, but I learned a lot.

I kept in mind--see if it runs.   I was told that it did when it was parked, so I was hopeful, but not very.  

It sat in the driveway for a while. I’d ask questions to people that I knew and on the internet, but it just sat.

Then one day, my boss’s husband said he’d come take a look.