My 66 Chevelle P/T build

[Roger Poirier]

I'm a believer... Nice thread. Excellent work so far. You might as well do it right the first time. Good luck.

[old66tiger]

ridetech is a wise choice. Top quality parts and great support staff. Britt and Bret are always there to answer questions and they are continuously testing their parts. I want to get their rear coil over and the front sway bar, but I am broke with my conversion.

I have talked with DSE on a few things and the level of customer support is no where near as good as ridetech. Besides, DSE coil over setup is a hybrid deal and those things ride ROUGH in comparison to the Ridetech stuff.

[MMcMasters]

ridetech is a wise choice. Top quality parts and great support staff. Britt and Bret are always there to answer questions and they are continuously testing their parts.

I think so too, I can't wait to start on the chassis.

Mike

[MMcMasters]

The stars finally aligned and something went right today. I called to order my mini tub frame kit, larger inner wheel houses and boxing plates from ABC Performance and Tony let me know he was having a one day only sale (Cyber Monday) and I got 15% off of my entire order. Saved quite a bit of money which pretty much made my day

Mike

[64G-lark]

Nice looking car Mike. Tom F. is a great guy and has helped me a lot. When you get ready to do engine mounts, headers and oil pan I have figured out a combination that works well for A-bodies. I will be watching along.

[Yelcamino]

Mike,



I have the VHX gauges in my C10 with a 4L80. I haven't had it on the road yet, but Dakota told me the same thing, I only need the two wires (it's also in the instruction manual). Once I actually drive it down the road, I'll let you know if it works.

Thank you Herb, I appreciate it.

Mike

Mike,

FYI... I test drove my C10 last weekend and the speedo did not work. I'm going to double check the wires, maybe I missed something. If the wiring looks right and still doesn't work, I'll probably get Dakota's GPS interface and be done with it.

[MMcMasters]

Mike,

FYI... I test drove my C10 last weekend and the speedo did not work. I'm going to double check the wires, maybe I missed something. If the wiring looks right and still doesn't work, I'll probably get Dakota's GPS interface and be done with it.

Man that is disappointing Herb, I appreciate you keeping me up to date. The old truck is sure looking cool !!!

[tommycomfort]

Mike,

FYI... I test drove my C10 last weekend and the speedo did not work. I'm going to double check the wires, maybe I missed something. If the wiring looks right and still doesn't work, I'll probably get Dakota's GPS interface and be done with it.

We're using the VHX stuff in both the wagon and 66 with electric signal T-56s and after getting the pulse programmed right they both work great. Sam is our wiring and Dakota Digital programming expert. He's also the one that calls for tech help when we're both scratching our heads...

[MMcMasters]

Last night I took care of a problem area that wasn't discovered until I removed all of the tar paper from the interior floors. I couldn't see the problem from underneath because it was located right over the top of the floor brace which runs under the rear seat at the body mount. At some point a previous owner had filled this area with a large amount of silicone to seal the rust hole up.It baffles me that someone would do this but it's fixed now. Here is a picture of what I removed from the hole and a picture of my repair.





My order from ABC is scheduled to be here tomorrow so I plan on to start installing the new tubs this weekend. I'm a little nervous to cut out good wheelhouses but being able to stuff a 335 tire in there will be worth the effort. This will probably end up being a couple weekend job for me because I have never done it. Although it seems pretty straightforward, I'm still pretty nervous.

[Auto Rod Technologies]

Nice project,, the work looks pretty good so far..

I don't personally do the wiring in my shop, but we have done a few American Auto Wire kits now, and they guys in the shop seem to really like those kits. So we have stuck to them.. You may have to do a little wiring you're self but it's pretty basic stuff in comparison to other kits we have used.

[Yelcamino]

Man that is disappointing Herb, I appreciate you keeping me up to date. The old truck is sure looking cool !!!

Yeah I was a little bummed but I'll get over it... the GPS unit will arrive today! and thanks, the truck is turning out to be a fun driver!

[Yelcamino]

We're using the VHX stuff in both the wagon and 66 with electric signal T-56s and after getting the pulse programmed right they both work great. Sam is our wiring and Dakota Digital programming expert. He's also the one that calls for tech help when we're both scratching our heads...

Tom, my Chevelle and El Camino have older Dakota dashes and the speedos work off the TKO signal generators. For some reason the VHX doesn't see the 4L80 signal. Since it only needs two wires and polarity isn't an issue, it should work but it doesn't.

Ok, back to Mike's thread...

[MMcMasters]

Well I started on my mini tub yesterday and I made fairly good progress but uncovered yet more rust under the rear most body mount. Looks like the trunk pan or at least a portion is getting replaced.

My goal today was to make this:



Fit in here



I spent more time than I care to think about drilling spot welds and separating the original inner wheel house. Then it was cut, fit repeat the rest of the afternoon. I didn't want to cut too much so I took my time. By the end of the day, the new tub fits very good.

These tubs aren't as intrusive into the back seat area as I thought they would be.
I did have to cut the seat back brace where it attached to the old tub but it was pretty easy. It's in place now with clecos and clamps and ready to be welded in. I'm out of weld through primer or I would have had most of it finished today.

I'm sure the other side will be easier since today I was pretty much flying by the seat of my pants on this first side. I have never done this so today was all trial and error and learning as I go.







Sorry about the picture quality, my son took these with his phone.

Mike

[MMcMasters]

I mentioned earlier about finding rust under the body mount. I had stripped the bottoms of the floors and the trunk pan looked pretty good. Of course I couldn't see what was hiding under the body mount. After removing the mount and finding so much rust, I couldn't believe it didn't show from inside of the trunk.


Well I soon found out why. The inside of the trunk was coated in GM spatter paint and looked to be in great shape. Well the spatter paint was hiding the fact that someone had hidden all of the rust with a layer of fiberglass. I pulled up a bunch of it, just came out in large strips so I'm sure there is more. I'm just going to plan on putting a new trunk floor in and call it a day.


Everytime I think I'm close to being done with the floors, something else pops up. It's all good though. At the least, I will be confident the car will now be solid and good for years to come.


Mike

[Yelcamino]

Mike, one last FYI on the speedo... I got the GPS unit installed over the weekend and it works great! In addition to providing speed, it has a compass, altimeter, and it updates the clock.

[analyte]

I mentioned earlier about finding rust under the body mount. I had stripped the bottoms of the floors and the trunk pan looked pretty good. Of course I couldn't see what was hiding under the body mount. After removing the mount and finding so much rust, I couldn't believe it didn't show from inside of the trunk.


Well I soon found out why. The inside of the trunk was coated in GM spatter paint and looked to be in great shape. Well the spatter paint was hiding the fact that someone had hidden all of the rust with a layer of fiberglass. I pulled up a bunch of it, just came out in large strips so I'm sure there is more. I'm just going to plan on putting a new trunk floor in and call it a day.


Everytime I think I'm close to being done with the floors, something else pops up. It's all good though. At the least, I will be confident the car will now be solid and good for years to come.


Mike

Our Chevelles must have traveled through the same shop, lots of fiberglass on my trunk pan as well. As stated, when you're done you'll know it's right.

Nice work!!

Kerry

[MMcMasters]

Mike, one last FYI on the speedo... I got the GPS unit installed over the weekend and it works great! In addition to providing speed, it has a compass, altimeter, and it updates the clock.

That's good news!

[MMcMasters]

Our Chevelles must have traveled through the same shop, lots of fiberglass on my trunk pan as well. As stated, when you're done you'll know it's right.

Nice work!!

Kerry

Amazing what some people do..Why not just fix the problem instead of hiding it

[csouth]

I mentioned earlier about finding rust under the body mount. I had stripped the bottoms of the floors and the trunk pan looked pretty good. Of course I couldn't see what was hiding under the body mount. After removing the mount and finding so much rust, I couldn't believe it didn't show from inside of the trunk.


Well I soon found out why. The inside of the trunk was coated in GM spatter paint and looked to be in great shape. Well the spatter paint was hiding the fact that someone had hidden all of the rust with a layer of fiberglass. I pulled up a bunch of it, just came out in large strips so I'm sure there is more. I'm just going to plan on putting a new trunk floor in and call it a day.


Everytime I think I'm close to being done with the floors, something else pops up. It's all good though. At the least, I will be confident the car will now be solid and good for years to come.


Mike

My front floor pans were the same way, probably from a window leak because the door seals were bad. Since the floors were rusting from the inside/out, I didn't see it when I bought the car and looked at the underside. When I removed the carpet at the end of the summer, it showed its ugly head under the foam...

Keep up the good work, its coming along nicely.

[MMcMasters]

Thanks Chris, I appreciate the encouragement.

Mike