PROJECT 1969 Chevelle Uni Body

[NWEBER540]

I've been building this car for about 2 years now ill give some backround info first. I have owned it since January 2005, I went to Tennessee to buy it after seeing it on Ebay. I had been
looking for a replacement for the 69 Chevelle that I had before this one that was totaled on Christmas eve. I scrolled right past it thinking i couldnt afford it. After going back to the
ad and talking to the seller he wanted 16,500. I had just turned 19 at the time and scraped up every dollar I could to buy it and ended up having to barrow 1500 to get it. My Dad and
I left the next day to go get it, we got about a half hour away from the owners house I called him to let him know we were almost there. His reply was that someone was there to buy the
car right now but he said he would wait for me and give me first shot at it since i drove down from NJ. When I walked in the garage the car was up on a lift. We walked under it checked
it all out for around 5 minutes and told him it was sold he asked if we wanted to hear it run and it didn't matter either way. The car was so clean not even a pinhole or trace of any rust
at all or any prior repairs either. I bought it as a complete car to use as a driver while finishing a long term street rod build I was working on a (1946 Chevrolet pick up an air bags 9 year build) started that one when I was 16. The Chevelle had a 396 and turbo 400 that didn't last too long, I needed more power and I put a 540 and 4l80e in it lowered it a lot and did some suspension upgrades and better seats. One winter I got bored with my other build and decided to repaint this car I belive winter of 2007. I continued to drive it and make small changes and upgrades. My 46 build was nearing completion and the 540 and 4l80 were intended for it so I swapped in a 502 and a six speed I had laying around. A few months later I wasn't enjoying the stick in the car as much as I did the automatic so over the winter I swapped a 200r4 into it and added vintage air. I finished putting the car together a couple of days before the first RTTS event. After that event It was over and I was hooked and started working on a plan in my head of what I wanted to do to this car for the next 2 years. I then decided it would be better to sell this one and start over. I had it for sale about six months and found a buyer that flew out of California to see the car, he loved it and left a deposit, he was to come back in 2 weeks to complete the purchase. The week he left the deposit I was leaving for the Columbus OH good guys show with my dad and my 1946 Chevy. He didn't want me to sell the car and persuaded me not to sell it over that trip even after I told him if I kept it it was getting cut up. Upon returning home and thinking some more it wasn't really worth selling and trying to find a new car to use. My mind was made up it was a week after returning home from Columbus and I haden't heard from the buyer, I decided to give him a call and break the news to him but he was in a position where he was no longer able to purchase the car anyways so it was mutual and I refunded his deposit and got to work a couple weeks later. This was mid august 2012 and the plan was to have it done to take to ocean city md in may 2013. The in initial plan was to cut the floors out get the car about 5 inches lower keep the same drivetrain and add corvette style suspension. I left a lot out there as I built a couple other cars in between there also but enough rambling you get the idea.
The car is mostly complete now except interior and I'll be updating this thread until I get caught up.

Before the build












A couple current pics







The Beginning removing the body from the chassis
I only have a one car garage so I get creative I started by un bolting the body from the chassis raising it up and lowering the chassis enough to get 2 metal supports under the body to be able to support the body on the sides of the chassis then lifting it higher and support the sides and roll the chassis out from under it

[NWEBER540]

Built a frame table out of 2x4 and 2x2 steel under the body

First wheel choice






Beginning to brace and weld to table









Removing the inner rockers to prep for the new rails



Clean factory rockers






Setting in the engine and cutting the firewall for the engine set back ended up with a 6 inch set back and move it to the right side 3/4 inch to help offset the weight of the driver








Biulding the front rails all tig welded and ground smooth




Starting to mock up the front suspension after looking at the wheel position with the car this low and noticing the hood hinges would hit the tires I decided to move the front wheels forward 1 3/4 inches it then made the wheels look like there in the center of the wheel well and helped with the hinge clearance

[NWEBER540]

Finished cutting out the rear wheel tubs and cutting higher into the body for more clearance



Creating the new arch


Lots of burnouts in those wheel wells



Outter wheel houses all cut out and cleaned up.


Starting to construct the rear frame rails, also moved the rear forward 1 inch from factory location to center it in the wheel opening with the car this low . Kept the rails tight with the rear to optimize trunk space I like to drive this car and have plenty of storage space to take on long trips .


Flattened out the pinch weld and welded to the new main rail




Making up the brackets to weld to the rear. May not be the 100% correct way to use a mill but have to use what you've got




Crossmember for the upper 4 link bars

[NWEBER540]

Somewhere around this time a friend of mine stopped by to check things out and I was showing him the new double adjustable Afco coilovers I just got and he said they're nice but the car is so low youll never crawl under it to adjust them. Which sparked an idea that I had seen done on a car at a good guys show, a cantilevered suspension with the coilovers in the trunk. This ended up being one of my favorite parts of he car.

The initial cardboard template while trying to figure out how to build it.


My aluminum template and the freshly plasma cut steel

[NWEBER540]

I wanted to have an X in the frame I may have taken it to the extreme.








After the whole rear frame section was mocked up and tacked together I cut it back out to get access to build the wheel tubs easier.










All welded up and back in place The wheel tubs were welded to the lip of the quarters cautiously, I built the whole car WITHOUT re painting the body the only panel repainted was the rockers and the underside of the car.










Getting started on the sheet metal work

[NWEBER540]

The first time on the ground trying to decide on weather or not to buy the HRE wheels off a friend of mine

[PhilR]

That's the one that got away. The original car is still the best combo of color, top, wheels and stance I've seen on a Chevelle. The update is looking even better, keep 'em coming!

[NWEBER540]

That's the one that got away. The original car is still the best combo of color, top, wheels and stance I've seen on a Chevelle. The update is looking even better, keep 'em coming!

Hey Phil hope you've been doing well, Enjoy the updates

[Kcrain]

I have a 69 chevelle that's very similar to your starting point. The wheels the stance small block with tune port and 700r4 just make for a clean driver but your going to the extreme and it looks great bring on all the pictures you have and more. Keith

I've been building this car for about 2 years now ill give some backround info first. I have owned it since January 2005, I went to Tennessee to buy it after seeing it on Ebay. I had been
looking for a replacement for the 69 Chevelle that I had before this one that was totaled on Christmas eve. I scrolled right past it thinking i couldnt afford it. After going back to the
ad and talking to the seller he wanted 16,500. I had just turned 19 at the time and scraped up every dollar I could to buy it and ended up having to barrow 1500 to get it. My Dad and
I left the next day to go get it, we got about a half hour away from the owners house I called him to let him know we were almost there. His reply was that someone was there to buy the
car right now but he said he would wait for me and give me first shot at it since i drove down from NJ. When I walked in the garage the car was up on a lift. We walked under it checked
it all out for around 5 minutes and told him it was sold he asked if we wanted to hear it run and it didn't matter either way. The car was so clean not even a pinhole or trace of any rust
at all or any prior repairs either. I bought it as a complete car to use as a driver while finishing a long term street rod build I was working on a (1946 Chevrolet pick up an air bags 9 year build) started that one when I was 16. The Chevelle had a 396 and turbo 400 that didn't last too long, I needed more power and I put a 540 and 4l80e in it lowered it a lot and did some suspension upgrades and better seats. One winter I got bored with my other build and decided to repaint this car I belive winter of 2007. I continued to drive it and make small changes and upgrades. My 46 build was nearing completion and the 540 and 4l80 were intended for it so I swapped in a 502 and a six speed I had laying around. A few months later I wasn't enjoying the stick in the car as much as I did the automatic so over the winter I swapped a 200r4 into it and added vintage air. I finished putting the car together a couple of days before the first RTTS event. After that event It was over and I was hooked and started working on a plan in my head of what I wanted to do to this car for the next 2 years. I then decided it would be better to sell this one and start over. I had it for sale about six months and found a buyer that flew out of California to see the car, he loved it and left a deposit, he was to come back in 2 weeks to complete the purchase. The week he left the deposit I was leaving for the Columbus OH good guys show with my dad and my 1946 Chevy. He didn't want me to sell the car and persuaded me not to sell it over that trip even after I told him if I kept it it was getting cut up. Upon returning home and thinking some more it wasn't really worth selling and trying to find a new car to use. My mind was made up it was a week after returning home from Columbus and I haden't heard from the buyer, I decided to give him a call and break the news to him but he was in a position where he was no longer able to purchase the car anyways so it was mutual and I refunded his deposit and got to work a couple weeks later. This was mid august 2012 and the plan was to have it done to take to ocean city md in may 2013. The in initial plan was to cut the floors out get the car about 5 inches lower keep the same drivetrain and add corvette style suspension. I left a lot out there as I built a couple other cars in between there also but enough rambling you get the idea.
The car is mostly complete now except interior and I'll be updating this thread until I get caught up.

Before the build










A couple current pics







The Beginning removing the body from the chassis
I only have a one car garage so I get creative I started by un bolting the body from the chassis raising it up and lowering the chassis enough to get 2 metal supports under the body to be able to support the body on the sides of the chassis then lifting it higher and support the sides and roll the chassis out from under it

[NWEBER540]

Some more sheet metal work getting started on putting the firewall together


Starting to shape the new tunnel

[NWEBER540]

Cutting into the front fenders for tire clearance and starting to make the cardboard templates for the front wheel wells




Top of the yellow tape is the cut line






The removed portion








The front wheel wells are all constructed of 1/16 aluminum

Lots of clamps holding it all in position to get it tacked together


I used the angle iron to help hold the 2 pieces at a 90* angle while tack welding together


You can see the bushings in the frame here for the splined speedway engineering sway bars


Closeout panels to keep everything out of sight This portion of the inner fender will later become the resivoir for the heat exchanger for the whipple supercharger

[driveit]

wow...

[andrewb70]

Interesting build. With all that X bracing under the trans and exhaust how will you ever be able to service anything?

Andrew

[NWEBER540]

Interesting build. With all that X bracing under the trans and exhaust how will you ever be able to service anything?

Andrew

The car has been on the road since the beginning of summer. Everything is set up to be removeable, I can have the trans out in an hour (it was out a couple time at the beginning of the year), The exhaust has a joint half way through the tunnel that you can access through the openings in the frame then you pull the front half of the exhaust out and you can drop the trans straight out

[andrewb70]

The car has been on the road since the beginning of summer. Everything is set up to be removeable, I can have the trans out in an hour (it was out a couple time at the beginning of the year), The exhaust has a joint half way through the tunnel that you can access through the openings in the frame then you pull the front half of the exhaust out and you can drop the trans straight out

Thanks for the clarification. It was hard to make out from the pictures whether the bracing was removable or not.

Andrew

[NWEBER540]

Thanks for the clarification. It was hard to make out from the pictures whether the bracing was removable or not.

Andrew

None of the bracing is removable. The bracing goes around the trans, the front half of the exhaust is removeable then the trans will drop out between the bracing

[19,69camaro]

You have put an insane amount of work into this thing! Keep it up it looks great

[NWEBER540]

Filling in the fire wall also added some sheet meal around where the fender bolts to the firewall to hide the mount

[blade]

great work! Can't wait to see the rest of your build pics.

[NWEBER540]

Working on the custom console and dash insert













Getting started on the fuel tank and close out panels