Hellwig 68 Chevelle Build

[Dave@Hellwig]

Here’s a look at whats going on with our latest project. We will be displaying the chassis at the 2013 SEMA show with a number of new products from Hellwig for GM A-Body applications. We are starting with a low mile 68 Chevelle that is still wearing its original paint. The body will be separated from the frame so that we can prep the chassis for the show. After the show, the chassis will be displayed at several events in the first half of 2014 while we prep the powertrain and body. Here's a few pics of the Chevelle before we tear into it.



This vehicle is almost completely rust free. Only rust visible is some pinholes in the lower front fenders. Here's a pic of the floor pans.



The Weld Racing RT-S 71 series wheels and Mickey Thompson Street Comp tires are a good fit for this car. We are running 245/45R18 on the front on 18x8 wheels with 5.1” backspacea and 275/40R18 on the rear on 18x9.5 wheels with 5.6” backspace. . We couldn’t wait to get them on the car for a test fit before we tear it apart.





We will be including the following components on the chassis of this Chevelle:

Baer Brakes - 14" rotor 6 piston calipers front 13" rotor 4 piston calipers rear

Currie - Track 9 axle with 3.70 gears and Detroit True Trac differential

Speed Tech - ATS Spindles

SPC upper and lower control arms with Howe Ball joints from SC&C

SPC performance springs

ridetech adjustable shocks

Borgeson Delphi 600 steering gear

Pro-Forged tie rods and steering linkage

Hellwig Pro-Touring sway bars

The Curries Track - 9 axle is looking good just sitting on the jackstands. With the Baer brakes installed we had to put it under the car for a test fit.



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The rear axle and brakes look so good its tempting to just put it back together and take it out for a ride. But we have a deadline to meet so its up on the jackstands and ready for disassembly.



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[Dave@Hellwig]

front clip is off and ready to remove the powertrain





We should have the frame off by the end of the day today. We have a lot planned for this chassis as it will be receiving our new frame reinforcement kit. This kit will widen the frame rails to 5-1/2", add an extra body mount to the center floor support and fully box the center section of the rail. Adding the extra width to the c channel will add significant stiffness over just a flat plate. Below are some prototype photos of the kit that will be installed on this chassis

[Dave@Hellwig]

Finally got the frame back from sandblasting. Nice and clean and ready to work on.




Looks like GM didn't do us any favors on the weld quality.



Its glued together with an extra helping of weld spatter.



Yikes!! The weld is supposed to join the two halves together!?!?! Of course this was built in the 60's so who knows what the welder had for lunch.


Looks like we'll be spending some time making the welds structurally sound before moving on to the rail mods. If it survived 45 years with welds like this, its going to be a whole lot better when we get done with it.

[RodZZilla]

Nice canvas to start with. Can't wait to see more.

[AusMarty]

Wow, very clean.

Hey - they had to cut costs to keep up with Ford. LOL!

[Nicks67GTO]

Hey Dave. I asked about this kit over on chevelles.com but i hardly post there so ill continue it here.....

Iv'e got my 67' GTO frame at the shop right now being checked out. I was planning to box it right away when it came back but i might wait if this kit will be available soon. Do you have any ideas on when the 64-67 frame kit will be available for purchase? Will a crossmember be coming with the kit??

[Dave@Hellwig]

Nicks67GTO - The 64-67 kit is going to be somewhere in the Feb-March timeframe. In order to keep the cost of the kit down, we provide brackets to re-use the stock crossmember. We are looking at somewhere around $350 for the whole kit.


THe frame is getting its welds redone. I'm about halfway through it now. After re-welding the factory welds, its starting to look much better now.

[Dave@Hellwig]

Got the frame reinforcements fully welded in. Just started to mock up the suspension. After we mock up everything, I'll get the transmission crossmember welded in. Here's a few pics with more to come shortly once we get all the parts installed in the next few days.




Installing the rear axle. These are just mockup control arms. We will have custom adjustable upper and lowers with Curries Johnny joints in the final installation. Also the long awaited Ride Tech Shocks will be featured shortly.


Shop photo:

[BLACKLIST]

looking good so far. keep the updates coming.

[85coupe50]

Very nice...

[Dave@Hellwig]

Got all the pieces bolted on for a test fit before paint and to lay out our SEMA booth. Everything is fitting together pretty well. Still need to add the transmission crossmember before it goes to paint but its getting VERY close to being done - at least the chassis.







In the front we have our adjustable front sway bar with the new end links from Chassisworks. These are really nice pieces and are a modular design, so you can update an existing sway bar with a low deflection, modern design with up to 30 deg of articulation. The package from SC&C with SPC arms, Howe ball joints and Speed Tech AFX spindles and steering arms rounds out the front suspension nicely. Steering linkage is provided by Pro-Forged and the steering box is a Delphi box from Borgeson.







The Baer Brakes and Weld RT-S wheels make a very nice package







Here's a few shots of the rear with our new control arm braces and our adjustable upper and adjustable lower control arms featuring Currie's Johnny Joints . We updated our adjustable rear pro-touring bar with Aurora Rod ends. Also the new ridetech HQ shocks are installed.








Next up is to take everything apart and send it out for paint while I catch up on everything else that's been stacking up around the office.

[protouring70]

Looks good so far!

[Buryingthesun]

This project is being done properly, great build so far!

[MrQuick]

nice bars, can't wait to see how the extra mount works with the body on it.

[Dave@Hellwig]

Here it is ready to go to the big show in Vegas. From here it gets vinyl graphics on the frame to show off our new frame reinforcement kit - its called Frame FX and it will make its debut at the SEMA show. After graphics it gets loaded on a trailer for Vegas.



Track 9 axle and the new ridetech shock. Adjustable Upper and lower control arms by Hellwig. And our pro-touring RSB



Our new chassis braces and adjustable rear control arms in this shot



Up front is a Hellwig adjustable FSB featuring Chassisworks new end links. Baer Brakes, ATS spindles, SPC control arms and Ride Tech shocks





A view of the front with the fwd chassis brace from SC&C installed



The Baer brakes really set off the Weld Wheels. I am very impressed with this package.



Ready for the big trip

[Dave@Hellwig]

It's official. Frame FX for 68-72 Chevelle Coupe applications is released. Part number is 11100 and we have the test data as promised.



We tested three configurations on the same frame. Stock open c-channel, Stock c-channel boxed with a flat plate, and finally, with Frame FX installed. The flat plate was removed from the frame before the Frame FX kit was installed. The results are as follows


Stock Open C-channel 12890 in-lb/deg

Boxed with Flat Plate 20341 in-lb/deg 58% improvement over stock

Frame FX installed 30082 in-lb/deg 133% improvement over stock