Test fitting rear air bags. You would think if you buy a brand new frame and specify the exact suspension being used that it will bolt together nice and easy. Not the case, the brackets Art Morrison put on the frame don't allow the suspension with the bushings installed (supplied by Art Morrison) to slide in. Jeff had to machine down the bushing to make them narrower which will also limit the ability for the end to rotate. When we looked at it there doesn't look like there will be any binding though. Also the lower stand offs weren't the correct size and Jeff also had to machine those to be able to fit the Ride tech bags...buying new doesn't mean easy sometimes I guess...
Checked ride heights and suspension limits, It doesn't look crazy low from the side when the suspension is fully compressed but you can see the front cross member for the frame get's very close to the ground :surprise:
Checking location and placement of the Accuair Endo VT tank and compressors, the trunk will have a false floor in it to fit misc things to keep it looking clean.
Test Fitting the seats to find out where they need to be placed for me and the height. The front seats need to come down a bit and the rear seats need to come down a lot on the back rests. The seats (front and rear) are super comfy though, they are from a 2006 GTO.
And a video of Jeff speaking about said powder coating:
01-10-2018
Jerems
Jeff has started finish welding the body on the chevelle and making some brackets for the firewall. Which included the cut out to make clearance for the high pressure pump on the LT4
Well we are long overdue for an update!
A lot has been going on, and Jeff got a lot done on the car
Here is a video of Jeff continuing on the Firewall doing some metal shrinking:
Then he moved to the interior to do the DBW pedal mount and pedal box
Replacing the Dutchman Panel:
Shaving Drip Rails: (Did I mention a lot of work has been going on? haha)
Frame: Jeff got the frame back from powder coat and start assembling, it's starting to look pretty badass, got the Driveshaft shop driveshaft installed, brakes, brake lines, fuel lines etc.
Also got 90% of the other power coating done, a lot of black, ended up coating the stock LT4 manifold, heat shields, and cylinder heads in a high temp black coating as well to keep things looking good under the hood.
Side, rear quarter exhaust on a 1966 Chevelle is not as easy as I thought it would be!
Jeff had to get creative to make it work. I was back and forth with this idea and was debating scrapping the whole thing and doing dumps instead.
We ended up going ahead with it, he installed the 3 inch exhaust to the tips, then covered the 3 inch pipe with a 4 inch pipe. The inside of the trunk he made the compartments you see to enclose the whole thing from the trunk area.
Only time will tell if it will all hold up, finger crossed but Jeff did some great work on it so I’m sure it's going to be a reliable system.
PAINT…It’s finally time to put some colour on this bad boy. I had a custom House of Kolor colour mixed by Jim Hetz of Hetz Studios, took about 3 rounds of samples for me to choose a colour and I ended up choosing the very first one he made haha. Funny thing about that too is the first one he made was a mistake, he used the wrong clear coat. Originally I was going to go with flat paint, which is what I asked for in the samples but he ended up sending me the glossy ones…he sent me a new batch with the flat klear and I just ended up falling in love with the glossy clear!
Anyways here is a couple pics of it in the paint shop and a video of Jeff touring the shop with the owner
They finished the firewall first so Jeff can mount the body back on the frame and send it back for final paint and gapping…
The colour turned out exactly the way I wanted, dark in the shadows but bright in the sunlight! It’s very orange but that’s what I wanted, super happy with the way it turned out. They also got the bed liner put on the bottom of the car too.
A video of Jeff picking up the car, getting it put back on the frame and getting back to the paint shop in 24 hours...He also put the air suspension through a cycle so you can see the car through its height range
04-13-2018
1965_SS
Making lots of progress! Looks great. Thanks for the updates.
04-14-2018
Bob in St. Louis
Fantastic!
05-31-2018
Jerems
Getting closer to full colour
Car is moving along in paint...not as fast as we would have liked but moving forward never the less. The car is now primed and should have it Lizard skin done now. Next steps is jambs and final colour!
Jeff Also released some videos for working on the cowl and one of the re-production trunk needing to be widened to make up the gaps it was leaving...Also one for creating the spoiler on the trunk...check them out!
05-31-2018
Motown 454
The car is looking great I've been watching Jeff work on the car in his videos, The color looks Killer!! It's going to be Sweet when it's all painted. Keep the updates coming.
10-02-2018
Jerems
A little (A lot) behind on updates. Car is moving quickly but it has to keep up the pace to make SEMA on time....
First off Paint, is done, and it turned out exactly they way I wanted...good transition with out the metalic look. Best way to see it is the video below:
To say, "That is very cool", is a massive understatement.
10-02-2018
Jerems
Jeff continued to work on the trunk to finish the false floor. The compressors and amps will be mounted below the false floor. And obviously, the air tank is mounted half and half.
The upholster has been doing his magic as well, he got the foam for the back seats formed up, center console started. We had some initial issues with the speakers sitting in the front kick plates, as you can see from the photos the speakers are too deep. Upholster will form the kick plates to make up the space.
Thanks! It's been a long road...I'll be happy when it's over though.
10-02-2018
Jerems
Moving Forward
Jeff's also been hard at work at the most tedious part...wiring.
Working on finishing up the exhaust for the trunk area:
Also got the vent windows done, side glass is in, last week the car was with the painters to get the final cut and buff done on the paint, then off to upholstery to finish up...then wiring wiring wiring!