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70 Chevelle build on a college budget
Hey guys,
This is something I've been wanting to do for some time! I think the project is far enough along now that I have a good amount of pictures and information to share.
First a little about me and about the car. The car is a 1970 Chevelle originally from California, it was originally a Mailbu but I have since taken some steps towards making it an SS clone.
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The car started out gold but is now in dark grey epoxy primer and has been for the better part of 10 years, which is about how long I have owned the car (somewhere between 10-12 years but the exact details are a bit fuzzy). Now 10-12 years might be quite a long time to own a car and I agree, but I'm sure some of you are looking at the title and thinking college budget? Owned for 10+ years? something isn't adding up. Well actually it is, I have owned the car since I was 9 or 10 and I'm now 21 just finishing my bachelors degree in university. The car was/is a father and son project that we had finished for the time I was 16. In that finished state which I'll call stage 1, the car had a 350 with some better heads, a 3/4 race cam and an edelbrock torquer 2 intake. This was all backed by a th350 trans with a shift kit and switched between a 12 bolt posi with 4.11:1 gears and a 10 bolt posi with 3.08:1 gears with mainly the 10 bolt in for the last few years for easier highway driving.
Now onto stage 2 of the build. The idea here was that I wanted a car that would be a decently fast drag car and also be able to cruise on the highway. So I started thinking about an overdrive transmission. That researching led me to the 4L80E, something strong enough to hold some power and still overdrive (no 6 speed for this car because I couldn't bring myself to cut the mint California floors). I began reading about LS swaps and I thought it would be cool to do something that is super uncommon in my area. I stumbled across a cube van (2005 GMC Savana 3500) with a 6.0L and a 4L80E for a good price and snapped it up.
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After a quick test to make sure the engine ran and the trans went through all the gears, we got to work!
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The engine, transmission, wiring harness and ECU were pulled out for the project.
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With some help from my girlfriend we got the engine cleaned up!
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Next it was time for some upgrades. I switched from 317 heads to 243's, new main and rod bearings and a Tick Performance SNS stage 2 cam
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A little more help with lapping the valves
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And installing the new springs
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I also picked up a few pieces for later. Hooker headers, Holley/hooker motor mounts and trans crossmember
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I was planning on running a trailblazer SS intake but I decided to run an Edelbrock Victor Jr intake and Holley 4150 style throttle body to try and make the engine look a little more at home in the Chevelle engine bay. The engine then got a nice coat of Chevrolet orange.
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