Y2KZX12R
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posted November 23, 2002 06:43 PM
 Edited By: Y2KZX12R on 23 Nov 2002 19:16
67 Chevelle SS restoration...
Are any of you guys old school gearheads? Of the 396 type?
I thought some of you might be interested in seeing the restoration I'm about 30% of the way thru. I started it on sept 1st. Its getting its 4th engine sence my wife has owned it. She bought it back in 1976 as a Jr in High School.
The first 396 was toast and in the trunk when she bought it. ($350)
So it got a 377ci small block in 1976.(de-stroked 400)
That engine was in it until 1994 when a 383 I had from a 66 Nova went in.(Stroked 350)
So now its time to freshin the old girl up. It had some rot and some bondo but the car was solid. All of the rot it had it got in the forst several years on the road. Its been inside for the last 27 years and never saw winter after 76 when she bought it.
As I started to strip it like Dr. H. Lee would, I found 2 buils sheets and lots of hidden info. The car was Marina blue and had the white stripes on it from the factory.
My wife and her brother painted the car in 76 a dark maroon.
It has the original tranny (M21) and 12 bolt 3.73 posi rear.
This time around I'm going to buy a Chevy crate engine. It hasnt had a Big Block in 27 years but its getting a ZZ-502.
It looks like a nice engine. I'll post about it as I blueprint it this winter some time. I gotta balance it and do some valve bowl work in the heads for shure but other than that its gonna be a stock crate ZZ-502.
This is the start of disassembly.
These were a month ago after it came back from the dry stripper.
   
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TurboBlew
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posted November 23, 2002 06:49 PM
Cool look foward to the coming restoration picts.
There are lots of Chevelle nuts in the NE. I met Dennis Kirban a few years ago at a national event. Cool guy!
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Y2KZX12R
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posted November 23, 2002 07:24 PM
Is he a restorer? I'm not really in the show loop these days. This one will go to some shows and compete this year, after that it will be driven like it was built to be. (hard) I cant see owning a car like this and not driving it.
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12saki
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posted November 23, 2002 08:02 PM
I have 70 montecarlo SS454 ,had a LS6 70 Chevelle. That 502 is a great engine just remove the pan and get rid of the iron chips that seem to be in every big block crate engine i have bought. 67 and 70 were the best Chevelles.Looking foward to picts
bg
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Y2KZX12R
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posted November 23, 2002 08:59 PM
Edited By: Y2KZX12R on 23 Nov 2002 21:18
These are some more recent pics of a few weeks ago. The frame had some rust around 4 of the body mounts. I had to repair them before setting the body back on to do sheetmetal alignment work in the trunk.
Both front floor pans are replaced.
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ZHooligan
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posted November 23, 2002 09:05 PM
The 502 should be a butt kicker. Nothing feels quite like a big block. Probably be mostly tire smoke but what kick!! What I recall as the biggest issues in the days of the 396 was that they (chevy) ran some really low gears aka 4:46's and 4:11s and such. The 70 mile an hour speed limit and 4:56 gears did not make for longevity!
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Y2KZX12R
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posted November 23, 2002 09:24 PM
Yea I've heard stories about these crate motors being "dirty".
Yea, with 567 ft lbs of torque it should pull hard if it can hook up.
I had 4.56's in a 66 nova with a 383 small block making 535 hp on pump gas. That car didnt miss a gas station!!
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ZHooligan
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posted November 23, 2002 10:14 PM
Must of been wild to drive. Mucho fun!!
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swft
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posted November 23, 2002 10:17 PM
The thing I liked about my nodular nine inch under my 68' mustang, I could drive around all week on my 3.10 gears, then pop the trunk at the track, pull out the 4.88 spool, and have it swapped out in less than half an hour.
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zx1012r
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posted November 24, 2002 06:30 AM
Y2K, Will you adopt me? I have a 1970 LS5 SS Chevelle (gold w/black stripes I bought in '86)) that I drive regularly to work,play etc. when the weather is nice. It is a good looker at 10 feet or so but is going to need a resto soon. It is very tough to dive into a resto as I know it will be years before it is done and I enjoy driving it. Also having a four year old and only one bay make it tough to remove the frame for the might as wells. What you only have 3 bays? You can leave your 12 parked next to mine at my house while you work on mine with that welding ability of yours(wink). Being only two towns away you can come visit any time!
I work in parts at a Buick Pontiac dealer in Danbury-let me know if you need any assistance with parts. There isn't much available anymore but you never know. Where are you getting the 502 from? Usually the big dealers can get better deals than I can and some of the performance parts have to be bought through a "GM Performance Dealer". I think the closest ones are on Long Island.
I must say having a wife that is into these things is awesome. How could I ever sell my chevelle when it's in all of our wedding pictures? There is nothing like taking my son out in the beast. "Go faster dad. Make that thing on the hood go up!"
My wedding in Vermont
Our honeymoon w/friends on Mt. Washington
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Y2KZX12R
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posted November 24, 2002 06:36 AM
Yea it was "wild" all right.
The 9" ford rears are a nice setup. A poor mans "quick change" rear.
I built a T-Bucket in 1980 and used the chevy rear 55-64 that is the same design. I also had several "pumpkins" with varrious ratios that I could swap like that.
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Y2KZX12R
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posted November 24, 2002 06:48 AM
Nice chevelle! It looks like its a solid car.
Thats the problem with a frame off restoration... you find alot more trouble spots than you thought you had on the car. I'll be done with the car in april. If all goes as planned.
Thanks for the parts offer. I have 98% of what I need allready. Youre right thou, there isnt much available from chevrolet anymore. I bought everything that was available from chevy when I was wrenching at a chevy dealer back in 1985. Its all been discontinued now. There are some chrome pieces that they are getting $300 for that I paid $36.48 for. But the good thing is that they are reproducing more now then ever before.
The quality of the repro parts is getting as good as the NOS stuff and some times its better.
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sailusvi
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posted November 25, 2002 03:20 PM
Hey man thats the BEST year for the chevelle....IMO
Looks like your doin it "RIGHT"! Good job...... wish I had the time, my 3 favs are the 1967 Olds 442 conv, 67 ss chevelle, and 55 nomad wagon.
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Y2KZX12R
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posted November 27, 2002 09:58 AM
Yea, an "off the frame" restoration is the only way to restore a car 100%. Its a huge task to under take but the final result is a 100% brand new car when its done. In many aspects it will be better than when it left the factory in 1967. I agree on the 67 and 70's being the best looking.
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kawachan
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posted November 27, 2002 12:03 PM
One of my dad's good friends has a 67 SS 396 ?? I think. His wife used to drive it by when I was in high school. 4 speed on the floor, red with the factory wheels. Now it is sitting out under a shed with a blown motor and it don't look like it will be fixed any time soon. I have tried to buy it four or five times, but his wife says NO!! Maybe one day I will catch him in a bind. At least somebody will use it if he ever does sell it. Last time I saw it, there was a bunch of chairs and some other stuff on top of it. I about croaked.....
Nice car you have there Jim!!
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sailusvi
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posted November 27, 2002 01:33 PM
Kawachan, I'll buy that rascal right now......offer her 5 grand for it........I do hope you are able to buy it some day, stay on it.
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bigju
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posted November 28, 2002 12:38 PM
Coming from a Chevy family my dad and his brother. I have 2 things to say one is that looks like my Z28 in the first picture. Second I hate you!!! I want a chevelle, Ohhhh you make me sick why can't I have a car like that. Really thats going to be a joy to own and drive when you finish. Best of all your doing it right the first time
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kawachan
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posted November 28, 2002 07:11 PM
I think I need to ride down there this weekend and check it out again.......
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Y2KZX12R
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posted November 29, 2002 04:36 AM
Edited By: Y2KZX12R on 29 Nov 2002 04:38
Hey, if you keep hounding them for the car they might give in !!
Bigju, I'm just hoping I can get it done for spring... next fall I have to start MY project. I Have a 1992 Chevy Lumina Z-34 that I'm putting a Corvette LS-1 engine and 6 speed stick in. Its going to be black with black wagon wheels with a full tube chassis and cage. Basically a street legal winston cup car but with a Pro charger and intercooler pushing 14 PSI. This combo has made 630 hp on pump gas on the dyno. Should be a fun project.
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oldkawboy
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posted November 29, 2002 05:25 AM
Jim,
Speaking of sleepers...Last month at Bristol's street fighters night (no slicks) a mid-eighties white, rusted Toyota truck stages and we can't even hear it running so we figured it's no small block. It has white wagon wheels with small tires and it blasted off a 11.70
Come to find out it had a late model twin turbo Toyota "6" in it, talk about a money maker!
Are you going with the RamJet or carbureted 502? Kinda wish I'd went with a 502 instead of rebuilding my 454 (461 now)
Dan
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Y2KZX12R
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posted November 30, 2002 05:02 AM
I'm using the zz-502. (carb) The ramjet is too tall to fit under the hood without some kind of scoop or cowel induction hood etc. Too bad because I hear the driveability is fantastic with that unit. I've seen one on the dyno and it ran stronger than the carb below 2800 or so. The VE at peak torque was close to 110%.
The ZZ-502 is rated at 502 HP (flywheel) and 567 LBS FT torque. It should run strong in the chevelle. It'll need some street slicks to hook up thou.
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r21xz
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posted November 30, 2002 01:07 PM
A good friend of mine is into that stuff,Did a couple Chevelles .Prob. had some useful stuff still lyin' around.Let me know if i can help ya.
jeff
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Y2KZX12R
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posted December 03, 2002 06:06 PM
Cool, thanks r21xz
How about a 4 speed console?
Or about a factory black 3 spoke steering wheel?
Or a set of pulleys for a big block, prefferably deep groove?
Or a set of 3.31 gears?
Or rear boxed control arms?
Rear sway bar?
Front 1-1/8" sway bar?
15 degree muncie gears?
Radiator fan?
Power steering pump?
Thanks
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r21xz
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posted December 03, 2002 06:33 PM
Y2K,your the heat blanket dude? A bud of mine asked "what's the aluminum foil for?" lol
I just left a message with Chevelle guy,I'll let ya know what he has left.I know he still had a double-bubble hood off one.
Jeff
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ba
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posted December 03, 2002 08:18 PM
I feel out of place!!!
I don't have a Chevelle, but I have a 69 RS Camaro that I bought in the desert! (29 Palms to be exact, isn't that the Mojave desert?)
Anyway, it already has a Currie, 31 spline, Ford 9" rearend with an aluminum centersection, 3.89 gears and a TruTrac/Diamond Trac posi center section.
Also has some special Tri-City Competition multi-leaf springs, with a forward offset that alleviates spring wrap-up. (ala early 60's Mopars)
Frame is back on, underside sandblasted and painted, all new glass waiting in storage.
LS1 and 6 speed ON THE WAY!
I know it isn't a Chevelle, but it's all I got and I love it!! 
Y2K, ya know what, I had the exact same rusted out Body mounts!
You're doing a top-notch job there, can't wait to see more pics as things progress!
PS. Nice 70 SS Chevelle up there ZX1012R.
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