1966 Chevelle...Code name "Danger Zone"

[Later-A-body]

Great job on the project. Nice to see you including your family in the build.

[Motown 454]

It came out nice and it looks like the crew is ready for action!

[wyattroa]

Great job on the project. Nice to see you including your family in the build.

My wife, then girlfriend helped me build the mustang that is pictured earlier in this thread. The kids just love working on it. for a while they couldn't do anything due to welding, but now they are ready. The wife loves going to car shows, she just knows the cost associated with classic cars..lol

It came out nice and it looks like the crew is ready for action!

Thanks very much. My youngest who is 3 loves working on this car. He rolls his own toolbox out to the garage almost everyday. He always asks what we are doing to the chevelle today..

- - - Updated - - -

Alright, so I have heard the ridetech spindles have a tendency to rust after some time. The last thing I want to see when having new parts on a car is rust, even after driving it. So I painted them last night before I went to bed. I think they turned out pretty decent. I ended up getting the wrong spring rates for the front coilovers, but Josh at ridetech is taking care of me. Should have the new springs in a week or two, and then the assembly of the front suspension will start. Should be fun starting to put things together.

[wyattroa]

I have to say, those steering bolts were the hardest bolts I have ever had to take out in my entire life. Heat, impact gun, and PB blaster did not touch it. I had to use a sledge hammer to knock the bolts out. Lots of swearing, but they came out. Here are some pictures of before and after paint. Will get them on the new spindles tomorrow. Also, here are some pictures of the ridetech setup in front. The coilovers are not installed yet as I am waiting on different springs. I have to also find a new bolt for one of the lower control arms as the bolt came with some crushed threads. I am also missing all the hardware for the rear coilover setup. I have all the brackets, just no bolts, nuts, or washers. I am happy with how the color of the spindles turned out.

Also, I have small block motor mounts, the ones that attached to the frame. I have read mixed opinions on if these can be used with a big block or not. Any opinions? I would like to get these installed soon as I feel they will be a pain to do later on.

[wyattroa]

Holy **** my wife loves me. As a fathers day gift and graduation gift my wife bought me these! I just recently finished getting my bachelors degree and my wife wanted to celebrate it. I was a paramedic/fireman who had a career ending back injury and it always was on the back of my mind that I should have finished college. Well I decided to do so and have been doing classes, which turns out to be pretty difficult when you are a stay at home dad with three boys who are 6, 5, and 4. I had initially planned to gift myself a new rear end, but this is perfect. I love the color!

[Josh@Ridetech]

Congratulations on graduating, Robert! Keep us updated on the build!

[wyattroa]

Congratulations on graduating, Robert! Keep us updated on the build!

Thanks for the help again this past week. Will keep you updated.

[tommycomfort]

Also, I have small block motor mounts, the ones that attached to the frame. I have read mixed opinions on if these can be used with a big block or not. Any opinions? I would like to get these installed soon as I feel they will be a pain to do later on.

Nice score on the brakes! I can tell you beyond a shadow of a doubt that you can use the small block motor mount towers with a big block. I also heard it both ways and people speaking like experts so finally compared the two styles. Slightly different, but mounting dimensions are the same.

[wyattroa]

Nice score on the brakes! I can tell you beyond a shadow of a doubt that you can use the small block motor mount towers with a big block. I also heard it both ways and people speaking like experts so finally compared the two styles. Slightly different, but mounting dimensions are the same.

Thanks for the information. Will be using them now, cleaned them off and gave them a fresh coat of paint today. Just have to get some new bolts and nuts for it.

[wyattroa]

Alright, motor mounts are mounted back on the frame after a good clean and paint. Next up was the front suspension. I got the new springs in from ridetech to handle the big block. Man was putting that front sway bar in a pain in the ass. Here are some pictures, nothing special. Tomorrow I will put the front brakes on, I have to run to the store for some new bolts. The ones provided are way too long for the bracket mounting to the spindle.

Also, does anyone know how to tighten the top lock nut on the coilovers, when I go to tighten it, it just spins the shaft in the coilover.

[wyattroa]

Made some progress today. I got the front suspension buttoned up, brakes done, and steering linkage on. Was a fun day to work on the car. Won't have many updates coming as I want to pay off some of these bills. My hope is to have it has a rolling chassis come winter. Its fun putting stuff back on the car, especially new shiny stuff.

[1965_SS]

Looks great!

[Motown 454]

SWEET! I love it!

[wyattroa]

Looks great!

SWEET! I love it!

Thanks to both of you. I really am loving this build. I know it will take a while to complete, but I hope to enjoy every minute of it. My wife just found me just sitting in the garage spinning the rotors..lol...

[wyattroa]

Not much to update here. It was a cool moment for me, I put all the seats in the car just to see what it would be like. I sat in the drivers seat which was a great feeling, nowhere even close to that point, but it was great to do. Also let my wife and kids sit in the car. My kids didn't understand where they would sit. Pretty fun stuff.

Can't thank you enough Rodney for those seats.

I was also able to get the body on the rotisserie yesterday. It just amazes me that 4 bolts hold that entire body up. On a side note, my wifes Honda Pilot had a close call yesterday. I was pretty windy here in town and her car was parked on the street. The neighbors tree across the street decided to come down and came within a foot of her car, it could not have come any closer without it hitting it.

[Motown 454]

That tree could really ruin your day

[wyattroa]

Been a while since I last posted an update. I have done some work and ran into some problems and fixed those problems. I ordered a ford 9" rear that was shortened by an inch on both sides. First time it came in, the housing was missing the fill and drain plug. Second time they sent the replacement the ears were bent on the top of the housing causing all kinds of issues. Fourth time they sent it the brackets were wrong. Finally I was able to get the housing back without issues and installed, they did powder coat the rear for me for free though. All these issues took from November to May to get taken care of, so incredibly frustrating. I also picked up a center section with an trutrack posi with 3.89 rear gears.

I got the matching rear brakes from Baer which came with their own issues. First, they sent me the rear brake kit for a 10/12 bolt even though the paperwork said for a ford 9" after waiting for them for close to 2 months. Then it took another month for them to send out the new stuff only to find out the left out the caliper brackets. Took another 2 weeks to get those. The rear brakes are 4 piston 13" rotors. I ran into some real-estate issues. Since the rear was narrowed by an inch on each side some bolts were fighting each other for room. I ended up making a T-bolt to bolt the ridetech rear bracket to the rear end.

For Christmas I got each of my kids something for the chevelle. This way they could each have their own time working on it with me. They loved this. I also got the riverside floor pan for Christmas. The floor wasn't bad, but I figured I have easy access while its on the rotisserie and might as well replace it. The kids helped install the rear sway bar, the rear shock tower brace from UMI, and spherical bushings on the rear end.

I have decided to go the LS route for the car. I was going to do a BBC, but its just not in the cards. I picked up a gen V 454, but it would need a ton of work. The guy previous to me left coolant sitting in the cylinders. It would need to be bored out a bit with new pistons. It would be dumb to re-use the rods then and would get new rods. Have to be balanced, new intake, water pump, distributer, oil pan, headers, serpentine drive, carb or EFI, cam, roller rockers/ lifters, and heads. After calculating everything it comes out cheaper to go the LS route for me. As I have to buy all the cooling and Fuel system anyways since the car came with none. With this I purchased the hooker 1" forward motor mounts and replaced the bushings in the clamshell mounts I picked up used.

I also bought all the brake line fittings and decided to try my hand at running brake lines. I used nicopp 3/16 brake lines and think they turned out damn good for my first time bending and flaring. This stuff is great to work with. This is pretty much where I am at now. Wheels are on order and should arrive at the end of August.

[wyattroa]

Here are some more pictures. Also got this Chevelle sign for my birthday.. Have to find a place to hang it.

[wyattroa]

The boys and I. Also cleaned the garage a bit..

[1965_SS]

That sucks you had all those problems!!!!
Progress looks good though
Oh yeah, if you need an ABC performance rear frame kit let me know. I have one brand new in the box I'm not going to use.
Also new DSE box.