64 Chevelle Malibu SS, Art Morrison, LS3

[GEARBOXGARAGE]

Well we're off on another adventure with this 1964 Chevelle Malibu SS. So far the project plans include an Art Morrison chassis equipped with JRi shocks and Wilwood brakes, GM Performance 525 LS3 w/ 4L70 Trans, Full Vintage Air system, American Autowire harness, Rick's Tanks RestoMod tank w/ late model Camaro fuel module, and a Flaming River steering column. We will be sharing more pics regularly so follow along for the progress on future postings.

[Zoomin]

Familiar formula, but I love watching these builds anyway.

[GEARBOXGARAGE]

Parts have been showing up regularly and we are well under way with the tear down. ABC Performance mini tubs will be installed to make room for more grip in the rear. A complete Vintage Air system with the Front Runner LS3 drive accessories was selected to keep things cool. A Flaming River column and an American Autowire Highway 22 kit are in their as well. We went with a Rick's RestoMod tank with a late model Camaro fuel module, pretty slick setup. The new GM F-body Oil Pan kit was selected for fitting the LS3 into the Art Morrison chassis. New sheet metal is arriving as well for correcting the "in-floor" ventilation. More to come so stay tuned.

[GEARBOXGARAGE]

The floor pan assembly came in last week along with some various patch panels. The Be Cool radiator is on order and should arrive by the beginning of next week.

[rohrt]

subscribing

[GEARBOXGARAGE]

The Be Cool radiator arrived this week. We will begin the mock up phase in various areas soon.

[cbpldc]

Looks likes its going to be a nice project. Can't wait for more updates!

Chris

[GEARBOXGARAGE]

Good news, Art Morrison sent us some pics of the chassis being finished up and should be ready for ship very soon. Here are a few of the pics they sent.

[Fahrenschnell]

I need one of those for my 64.

[Rantheman]

Very cool keep us updated I love chevelles

[GEARBOXGARAGE]

A few more pics came in last night from Art Morrison. The chassis is out of the jig and being assembled. Sounds like it will ship by end of the week and we should see if very soon!

[GEARBOXGARAGE]

Started doing some clean-up on the firewall. Here's the first patch we put in to cover the stock wire harness openings.

[GEARBOXGARAGE]

The Wilwood brakes and Strange Axles & Center Section arrived. The Art Morrison Chassis is ahead of schedule and should arrive Friday! Can't wait to see it in person and start mocking things up.

[MOREHORSEPOWER]

Can't wait to see more photos of this ride !!

[GEARBOXGARAGE]

Started prepping the axles and the Chassis arrived. Getting some quotes together from a couple of Powder Coat places and then assembly and mock up can continue.

[1965_SS]

Nice!!!!!!!
Can't wait to see it come together.

[csouth]

i don't have an AME chassis, but from my experience I probably would have gone with a different oil pan for even more crossmember clearance. Should be really nice when this all comes together though!

[GEARBOXGARAGE]

i don't have an AME chassis, but from my experience I probably would have gone with a different oil pan for even more crossmember clearance. Should be really nice when this all comes together though!

The GM F Body pan is one of 2 recommended pans by A.M.E. The second is the Holley 302-2 pan. On a factory chassis, the Holley would be a better choice, but the GM LS pans are a much better casting and preferred when able to utilize them.

[tommycomfort]

looking forward to following along!

[nathankershaw]

Stunning!

I think you can safely say there will be ZERO flex in that chassis!

Awesome project!

[csouth]

The GM F Body pan is one of 2 recommended pans by A.M.E. The second is the Holley 302-2 pan. On a factory chassis, the Holley would be a better choice, but the GM LS pans are a much better casting and preferred when able to utilize them.

Gotcha... If you plan on tracking the car, you may want to consider a the trap door baffle by Improved Racing... Its cheap insurance for the stock pan.

[Jerems]

Looking forward to this, subscribed.

[GEARBOXGARAGE]

Gotcha... If you plan on tracking the car, you may want to consider a the trap door baffle by Improved Racing... Its cheap insurance for the stock pan.

This is more of a high-end street car. Probably won't see track time, but thanks for the info. I'll note that for future reference.

[Jerems]

Parts have been showing up regularly and we are well under way with the tear down. ABC Performance mini tubs will be installed to make room for more grip in the rear. A complete Vintage Air system with the Front Runner LS3 drive accessories was selected to keep things cool. A Flaming River column and an American Autowire Highway 22 kit are in their as well. We went with a Rick's RestoMod tank with a late model Camaro fuel module, pretty slick setup. The new GM F-body Oil Pan kit was selected for fitting the LS3 into the Art Morrison chassis. New sheet metal is arriving as well for correcting the "in-floor" ventilation. More to come so stay tuned.

I have the same frame on my 66 I'm having built. Question for you, what model of restomod tank did you go with? It fits in the narrowed frame rails?

I thought the only option was going full blown custom Ricks stainless tanks.

[MrBlonde]

There's a lot to be said for taking a pathway that's tried and true, particularly if you want less hassles and best value. Being the trailblazer comes with a cost.

[GEARBOXGARAGE]

I have the same frame on my 66 I'm having built. Question for you, what model of restomod tank did you go with? It fits in the narrowed frame rails?

I thought the only option was going full blown custom Ricks stainless tanks.

I questioned them about this when ordering the chassis. They said that a factory tank will fit the chassis, so I ordered the Rick's Restomod tank that is about the same size as a factory tank, except has the 5th Gen Camaro Fuel module in it. You do raise a good question and I'll double check the tank size tonight and let you know for sure..

[GEARBOXGARAGE]

Prepping the frame for powder coat. The humidity was crazy last week and caused some surface rust to start sneaking in so we had to clean the surface. Just about every spot that some had touched the bare metal, you could see rusty fingerprints. We scoured the surface with scotch-brite pads and lacquer thinner to get it clean. We'll go over it once more with wax and grease remover immediately before taking to coating.

[Jerems]

I questioned them about this when ordering the chassis. They said that a factory tank will fit the chassis, so I ordered the Rick's Restomod tank that is about the same size as a factory tank, except has the 5th Gen Camaro Fuel module in it. You do raise a good question and I'll double check the tank size tonight and let you know for sure..

I appreciate that, thanks. I'm hoping it does fit, saves me some money! haha.

[GEARBOXGARAGE]

I appreciate that, thanks. I'm hoping it does fit, saves me some money! haha.

Jerems, I measured the stock frame and the A.M.E. frame and they are the same inside width in the gas tank area. Approximately 38" inside frame rail to inside frame rail.

[Jerems]

Jerems, I measured the stock frame and the A.M.E. frame and they are the same inside width in the gas tank area. Approximately 38" inside frame rail to inside frame rail.

Well, that is excellent news. Looks like I'll probably be going the same way you did with the tank. Thanks again!

[GEARBOXGARAGE]

The chassis came back from Powder Coat on Monday afternoon, so we started right in Tuesday morning with the assembly. Brake lines are mounted, front suspension, steering and brakes are assembled, and the rear end housing is hung. We'll start off next week with the rear end assembly and brakes, then back to cleaning up the firewall on the body work.

[GEARBOXGARAGE]

The chassis assembly is pretty much complete. We set the Engine and Trans in and are planning out fuel and Trans cooler lines and more body mods will continue next week.

[Jerems]

Looking good, are you using the stock exhaust manifolds? Will it work the chassis?

[MOREHORSEPOWER]

Updates Please ??

[KB Camaro]

awesome build, subscribed.

[MichaelUser]

The GM F Body pan is one of 2 recommended pans by A.M.E. The second is the Holley 302-2 pan. On a factory chassis, the Holley would be a better choice, but the GM LS pans are a much better casting and preferred when able to utilize them.

Looks great. I hear ya, but for the record the Holley Pan is super nice. I sold a few and was able to show a c*stomer and we were both surprised how nice of quality it was. I mean the old days of aftermarket casting didn't apply. Holley can't keep them in stock.

Thanks

[GEARBOXGARAGE]

Been pretty busy on some other projects so I haven't had time to do some updates. I will try to get some posted up later this week.
;;

[67-f85]

Its looking good might have to stop in to the shop and check things out.

[GEARBOXGARAGE]

It's been a while since our last update, but i finally was able to download some pics off of my phone. We discovered a bit of a trans clearance issue so i made up a tunnel piece to fix the problem. This gave us a ton of extra room above the bell housing and also provided room to route the cooler lines.

Here is the before:
134234

Here is the roughed in piece:
134235

The fit is getting closer here and cleaned up:
134236

Clipped in and almost ready to weld:
134237

[GEARBOXGARAGE]

We also mocked up the front fenders and inner aprons for a final check up and some minor trimming around the upper control arms. We'll also be holding the hood in place with some nice billet pieces from Ring Brothers.

[Motown 454]

The car is looking great! I love the new frame.

[MOREHORSEPOWER]

Lookin Good !! 64 is like a drug need to see more !!

[MOREHORSEPOWER]

123

[GEARBOXGARAGE]

The body is back off the chassis and we're cleaning up the firewall and massaging a few tight spots from the bell housing. The doors, fenders, hood and deck lid are off to the paint shop and getting the first round of prep. Here's the current progress on the firewall.

We will be using a Vintage Air unit, so the factory heater hole has to go. We're cleaning up a bit of rot in the process.
135051

The patch panel roughed in...
135052

Tacked in place...
135053

Welded up and blended in.
135054

[MOREHORSEPOWER]

Keep it up !!

[GEARBOXGARAGE]

So it's been a while since our last update. The Chevelle has been off to the body shop getting the quarters, floor pan and trunk pan and ABC Performance Mini-tubs roughed in and now it is back for a final mock up before everything is welded solid. Here's a few pics from this week's progress.

[Fahrenschnell]

Did those quarters include the taillight surround?

[GEARBOXGARAGE]

Did those quarters include the taillight surround?

No they didn't. The factory taillight surrounds were rotted out, so we used a reproduction piece for '65 tail lights, which the owner liked better. They don't make a repop for the '64 tail light panels, not exactly factory, but neither is the rest of the car...

[Fahrenschnell]

Thanks for the reply. I guess I am just going to reconstruct mine from scratch.

[GEARBOXGARAGE]

A quick update on the Malibu. The panels are just about all finished up on getting welded in solid. The ABC Performance Mini-tubs are in and almost finished up as well. We met with the interior quy and now have a pretty good plan laid out for that. We will be modifying the factory dash and making our own gauge cluster to mount some Classic Instruments All American series. We'll post some more updates in the coming weeks!

[MOREHORSEPOWER]

LOOKING good !!!

[GEARBOXGARAGE]

It's been a while since our last update. While Greg has been getting everything fully welded in and the underside is coated in Raptor Liner, I've been busy getting caught up on a few other projects... The first coats of primer are on the body (I'll try to get an updated pic of that next week) and should start blocking it out soon. After a brief meeting with the interior guy, we came up with a modified dash layout. I have it roughed in and did some test fitting today. A couple more pieces to make, a little hammer and dolly work and add some Classic Instruments gauges we should have that finished up and then re-installed. Here are a few pics to get you through for a while.

[454bug]

Great combination and work!

I'm a big fan of the '64-'65 Chevelles.. One of my high school buddies had a '64 SS. We blew the motor up hotroddin' around town it it. He got so pissed, he took one of his dad's bulldozers and buried it (along with a 4-door '66 Nova) on their property... I would love to have that car today to do what you guys are doing with this one!

Keep up the great job! :cheers:

[Blitz]

Follow a fellow 64/65 build. YES, of course

[beater65]

We blew the motor up hotroddin' around town it it. He got so pissed, he took one of his dad's bulldozers and buried it (along with a 4-door '66 Nova) on their property...:

Talk about overacting....lol

[Kory 88Iroc Lt1]

In for updates.

[GEARBOXGARAGE]

The Chevelle project is back in the schedule after coming back from paint and we finished up a couple of other projects. The owner went with a modern version of the old '60s Frost Green color, it's called Gingerale. It looks great with the body lines! Here's a pic of us getting reacquainted with the project.

[Motown 454]

It looks great! I love the body style. I can't wait to see more .

[wfo guy]

Now we're cookin! :)

[badolds]

What is the backspace on those front rims? cabinet grade?

Dan

[1965_SS]

Looking good!!!
Happy B-Day! :cheers:

[GEARBOXGARAGE]

Looking good!!!
Happy B-Day! :cheers:

Thank you!:twothumbs

[GEARBOXGARAGE]

It's been a while since the last post but it's a slow process doing all of the final assembly work. I think we are on the home stretch though! Here's the latest on the '64 Chevelle project. Should be going to get the interior done very soon. The Trans cooler lines are done in 3/8 stainless and wrapped in DEI heat sheathing up to the front of the LS3, then -6 Fragola line to the trans cooler on the Be Cool radiator. We ended up changing direction on the dash layout and decided on Dakota Digital for gauges. The Dakota Digital equipment is wired, along with the Vintage Air unit. Front sheet metal is on and wired up the headlights this weekend.

[Motown 454]

That' s a pretty car! Nice job.

[GEARBOXGARAGE]

After getting the interior finished up earlier this summer, the owners of the Chevelle have been out enjoying their car and getting some attention at a few local shows. He's a few pics to share.

[andrewb70]

Mike,

The car turned out awesome!

Andrew