65 Beaumont Third Time's a Charm

[car_guy]

Hello again everyone. I've recently come into the possession of a 65 Beaumont in mid project stage. As the title suggests, after failing to finish my 70 Chevelle, and 70 LeMans due to one reason or another, this is my third attempt at an A-body. This time its gonna stick! The car has a far better start then the previous two projects.







The quarters, trunk floor, and outter tubs have already been replaced. Although its wearing Chevelle quarters, and they did not install trunk drops for some reason. The inner tubs need a little work, and there is some small patch work to be done on the floor under the rear seat. The front end steering and suspension is stock, but all new, and the front portion of the frame has been painted already. Its got re-built drums on all 4 corners. Should stop on a whole block worth of dimes, haha. Its got a freshened up 67 sbc (302/327/350 casting 3892657) with 462 casting camel bump heads, backed up my a Muncie 4 spd. I'm not really sure of the extent of the internals, but all the paperwork is with the car somewhere. One weird thing I noticed is its been retro fitted with cable operated clutch with ford like quadrant under the dash. The firewall has been painted (PO had plans for gm red). Other items included re-upholstered split bench, and rear seat, new carpet, headliner, door panels, and some new boxes of sound deaden matting. All the glass is good in the car, and 90% of the trim is in pretty nice shape. The doors however would need skins at the very least, and the front fenders are tough. The entire front end sheet metal has been sandblasted and ready to work. The rest of the car is poorly sprayed in epoxy/black primer. The car also came with a set of 15x7 / 15x8 rally's, so the first thing I had to do was test fit the corvette rally. They are pretty much a no go, and rub the quarter lips with the 26x10 slick they are wearing, but there is room inside.






I'm usually bad with going a bit manic with my plans. So for now I'm going to TRY and keep it sensible, and plan it well enough I don't end up doing things twice over or worse. One thing I'm mulling over is to mini tub it and run stuff some decent tire in this thing I can say the direction I'm going for would be something to this effect.



For now, the first thing I want to focus on though is getting the body done. That's a tough one for me, as in the past that's usually where I loose interest. Then we can start building and assembling from there. Hope to keep the updates flowing and have some fun with this!
Aaron

[MOREHORSEPOWER]

Just stick with it !! You can do it !!

Here is my sons 64 Chevelle

[RMMiller]

The Beaumont would have had Chevelle quarters from day one wouldn't it? All of them I have ever seen (never laid eyes on a 65) were just standard Chevy with the exception of grille, tail lights and interior. Either way it's a cool car and I would love to have one!

[Rolling_Thunder]

Always liked the Beaumont and Acadian cars... nice project

[car_guy]

The Beaumont would have had Chevelle quarters from day one wouldn't it? All of them I have ever seen (never laid eyes on a 65) were just standard Chevy with the exception of grille, tail lights and interior. Either way it's a cool car and I would love to have one!

Thanks! Ya they are pretty much the same. The Beaumont has (probably calling it the wrong thing here) gills in front of the wheel opening. Not sure if its just trim, or if there is some sort of incorporation into the quarter also. I've never seen one up close. I could be wrong but I think the tail light opening is different between the two also.

[car_guy]

[QUOTE=MOREHORSEPOWER;1188733]Just stick with it !! You can do it !!

Here is my sons 64 Chevelle

Thanks! That's a killer color on your boys chevelle.

- - - Updated - - -

Thanks!

[car_guy]

So speaking of crazy ideas (already I know). I always thought the wheel opening in the quarter would look better if it was raised a couple of inches. If the wheels and tire and stance is right, stock can look great. With the wrong wheel/tire/stance it can look goofy. I know this is sort of playing with fire. I have not seen any pictures of this being well executed either IMHO. Here is my best ms paint chop skillz of a raised opening (picking on this blue Chevelle again). What do you think? I kinda like it. Not sure if I'm brave enough to do it though...I could potentially wreck a new set of quarters, lol

[car_guy]

Always liked the Beaumont and Acadian cars... nice project

Thanks!

[RMMiller]

So speaking of crazy ideas (already I know). I always thought the wheel opening in the quarter would look better if it was raised a couple of inches. If the wheels and tire and stance is right, stock can look great. With the wrong wheel/tire/stance it can look goofy. I know this is sort of playing with fire. I have not seen any pictures of this being well executed either IMHO. Here is my best ms paint chop skillz of a raised opening (picking on this blue Chevelle again). What do you think? I kinda like it. Not sure if I'm brave enough to do it though...I could potentially wreck a new set of quarters, lol

Nothing crazy about it, done right most would probably never know it was done. I'm in the process of doing something similar to my Maverick, I really liked what some others have done so i must have it on mine! It needs a bit of reshaping and refining but I'll get it worked out.

Stock


Modified

[Rockin Rod]

Unless you are a purist that mod would probably go unnoticed and it also looks a lot better.

[car_guy]

Nothing crazy about it, done right most would probably never know it was done. I'm in the process of doing something similar to my Maverick, I really liked what some others have done so i must have it on mine! It needs a bit of reshaping and refining but I'll get it worked out.

Stock


Modified

Unless you are a purist that mod would probably go unnoticed and it also looks a lot better.

Those are my thoughts too. If its done tastefully, and its looks subtle, then most may not even notice...unless your parked beside a stock one. I was waiting for the " why would ruin a good car like that" sort of reply, haha. I'm on the fence but ready to fall on the other side. Just worried my metal skills may not be up to the task.

[car_guy]

I found another 65 Chevelle, but with the wheel opening raised already. I don't really like the shape of it, and I also think its too high. Things I'm afraid of if I try to pull this off. I think about 3" below the body line could pass for appearing stock.

Here it is before chopping the image


After chop


The wheel arch from a 66-67 chevelle would almost be the perfect shape if the rear edge is angled a bit more.

[RMMiller]

Those are my thoughts too. If its done tastefully, and its looks subtle, then most may not even notice...unless your parked beside a stock one. I was waiting for the " why would ruin a good car like that" sort of reply, haha. I'm on the fence but ready to fall on the other side. Just worried my metal skills may not be up to the task.

I highly doubt you would get the "why ruin a good car" on this site! There is a build where a nice AMX was cut up and becoming an unbelievably cool car and nothing but support for the project has been posted. As far as skills, what do you have to lose? I haven't done much in the way of fabrication but I read what I can and take my time. So far so good and really, worst case I have to hunt up replacement sheet metal, worth it to me to see if I can pull it off.

[Arctic_Ragtop]

Nice to see another '65 Beaumont on here. I like the way the rear fender covers part of the tire on mine, but your drawings do look good. If it's done right it could look great. Keep the updates coming, looking forward to this one!

[car_guy]

Nice to see another '65 Beaumont on here. I like the way the rear fender covers part of the tire on mine, but your drawings do look good. If it's done right it could look great. Keep the updates coming, looking forward to this one!

Thanks, its great to hear from another Beaumont owner. Your rag top looks awesome by the way.

[car_guy]

I got up the nerve to chop up a quarter last night! I ended up raising the wheel opening by 3.25". The good news is the rally's fit with ample room now. I think a 275/60/15 would be no sweat on the vette rallys. I want to to test fit some rubber off my brother in-laws camaro to see if it looks right in the wheel well (17 " wheel/ 27.19" tire). Its hard to tell in person if I raised it enough, compared to the pictures I chopped. I think it could go up a another 1/2" or so, but I tossed the front fender on, stood back, and took some pictures. Lots of work to do yet, re-shaping the rear of the arch, and re-working the inner tub. I'm happy so far though.


tape lines, marking things out, car on jacks with the diff hanging down.


no turning back now!










For comparison;
From what I can find on the web, the Chevelle has a 255/50/17 on 17x9 wheel in the rear which is just a hair over 27", versus my test tire 255/60/15, which specs out pretty much the same.



Another ms paint chop of finished look????

[RMMiller]

I like it, a subtle but huge difference.

[car_guy]

Making some progress. Started burning in the wheel opening in its new location last night.

[car_guy]

As if there aren't enough drivers side pictures of the car already!

As promised, I did manage borrow/steal a wheel of my brother in laws 70 Camaro. Much to my surprise the car swallowed it up no problem. Looks like there is really no need to mini tub the car now. This is a Billet Specialties split spoke 17x11 with 5.5" b.s, with a 295/45/17 mickey thompson et street radial. There is 1" from the wheel to the inside tub/frame, and I can still fit my hand around the outside of the tire to the quarter (technical I know). The tub measures 13.25" wide to the inside lip of the quarter right now. Whoohoo!











Okay, now I will go back to making some noteworthy progress next, Lol. As you were.

[813Demon340]

I like your wheel opening mod, looks good! Keep up the great progress!