70 Chevelle build on a college budget

[lsx70]

little update from the weekend



I have the car where I want it as far as street tuning, next up is a couple pulls on the dyno. hopefully in the next couple weeks I'll get it on the dyno.

The next upgrade I need to do is brakes. The car is a factory disc brake car so it currently has front disc brakes and rear drum. I was going to upgrade the rear to LT1 Camaro rear disc but after making a few street 1/8 mile passes while tuning I think the car might need some better brakes than that. I'm considering going to a c6 corvette setup or an aftermarket baer/willwood setup. Any suggestions on which way to go?

[csouth]

It you're on a budget, the C6 brakes would be a cheaper and reliable option. I ended up getting the front and rear calipers for my Nova project for $250

[SPLATT71MC]

If that's what you can do on a college budget, I'd like to see what you can do with a bigger budget. Car looks great by the way.

[lsx70]

It you're on a budget, the C6 brakes would be a cheaper and reliable option. I ended up getting the front and rear calipers for my Nova project for $250

where did you manage to find those? I was looking at some c6 zo6 kits with the 6 piston in the front but I can't seem to find any calipers anywhere. I may decide to settle for the z51 calipers or the base c/c6 calipers and upgrade in the future.. who knows. Car projects are never really done.

If that's what you can do on a college budget, I'd like to see what you can do with a bigger budget. Car looks great by the way.

thank you sir! I appreciate the kind words! I took a few years gathering parts but I wanted to do it right the first time. Although this is a college budget (just graduated from my first 4 year degree and starting now on 2 more years) I have access to a lot of things that many people don't (paint booth, hoist, shop to work in and all the tools I would need). That definitely makes the job easier.

[ProTouring442]

Lookin' great! Very impressive!

[lsx70]

Lookin' great! Very impressive!

Thank you sir!

[ryeguy2006a]

where did you manage to find those? I was looking at some c6 zo6 kits with the 6 piston in the front but I can't seem to find any calipers anywhere. I may decide to settle for the z51 calipers or the base c/c6 calipers and upgrade in the future.. who knows. Car projects are never really done.

I know that my car is lighter thank yours, but I'm running the C6 Z51 rotors and C5 calipers (They interchange with C6) and that setup works amazing. I've considered "upgrading", but to be honest I think anything else would be marginal for street driving.

[Dc2x4drvr]

Great build, I love the stance.
What is your crossmember clearance?

[lsx70]

I know that my car is lighter thank yours, but I'm running the C6 Z51 rotors and C5 calipers (They interchange with C6) and that setup works amazing. I've considered "upgrading", but to be honest I think anything else would be marginal for street driving.

I really appreciate the insight, I sent an email to Tobin at kore3 and he agreed that for a mainly street driven car the z06 calipers are overkill. The other kits are also more budget friendly

[lsx70]

Great build, I love the stance.
What is your crossmember clearance?

It’s not much lol, I have the coilovers cranked to max stiffness in the front but I’m sure on certain bumps it would bottom out. I’ll get a picture of the clearance in the morning

[csouth]

where did you manage to find those? I was looking at some c6 zo6 kits with the 6 piston in the front but I can't seem to find any calipers anywhere. I may decide to settle for the z51 calipers or the base c/c6 calipers and upgrade in the future.. who knows. Car projects are never really done.

I got them from AES Corvette parts. They always have a set and are usually free shipping. They also have an ebay store. aescorvettparts.com

[lsx70]

Great build, I love the stance.
What is your crossmember clearance?

I got them from AES Corvette parts. They always have a set and are usually free shipping. They also have an ebay store. aescorvettparts.com

Thank you sir! I’m definitely considering going for the corvette setup, but I also can get a good deal from the local speed shop on a Wilwood kit🤔 decisions decisions

[ryeguy2006a]

Best budget rear brakes for your car will be the 98-02 Fbody rear brakes. Search up LS1 rear brakes. They only require a small shim between the flange and the backing plate and are a direct bolt on. You get a really nice PBR caliper, 12" rear rotors and an integral parking brake. I'm running the C6 Z51 13.4" front, the LS1 rear brakes, a 1" bore Master Cylinder and an 8" dual diaphragm brake booster. My setup is balanced really well and will slow the car down in a hurry.

Kore3 sells a C6 rear brake assembly that uses basically the same setup if you wanted to go that route too.

Another good place to look for brakes is Flynbye. I bought his aluminum front hubs and they were a really nice pieces. My only complaint was while they came with the upgraded 1/2" wheel studs, they weren't long enough to bolt up to my wheels with the rotor installed. I ended up getting a set of 1/2" wheel studs from ARP and pressed those in.

[esp68camaro]

Your ride looks great! hopefully I can find a chevelle project in my budget soon this year.

[jaybee]

Awesome car and you worked hard to being it in on a budget. I'd be proud to have that car.

[Alwhite00]

Car looks great. Great job. I like the wheels you are running more than what you are looking to replace them with. They look great.

[lsx70]

Well I haven't been on here much as of late so I should really give you guys an update to how the car is doing. I finished the car in about mid august 2021 and enjoyed it for the rest of the summer, here in NS we usually get salt on the roads starting around the end of October so the car was parked for the winter by early-mid October.








some finished pictures of the car


a friend of mine took these cool rolling shots!

so plans for the Chevelle this year are mainly to drive it and enjoy it! There are a few small details I need to get to including charging the A/C and moving my ECU and radio memory grounds to a dedicated always on ground. The brake upgrade hasn't happened yet, mainly due to the cost, besides the brake kit I will also need to do new wheels at the same time because of the limited tire to quarter lip clearance I currently have. every rear brake kit i've seen so far will move the wheel out about 1/4-1/2 an inch which I just don't have room for with this backspace setup. the plan there is to eventually get a wilwood or baer 6 piston front and 4 piston rear setup with a set of wheels that will work. The other thing preventing me from doing the brake upgrade is another project I have started, I'll get a build thread going here soon and don't worry the Chevelle isn't going anywhere. Next up on the chopping block is a 1956 bel air 2 door post, something I've wanted for a while so it should be fun!

[72cutlassS]

Good thread and nice car. I may have missed it but what tire and wheel sizes did you end up going with? no issues turning at that height?

[lsx70]

Good thread and nice car. I may have missed it but what tire and wheel sizes did you end up going with? no issues turning at that height?

the fronts are 18x9 with a 255/40/18 (I may be wrong on the aspect ratio but its definitely a 255) and the rears are 18x10 with a 285/40/18. so far no problems with turning but I only have around 1500 miles on the car

[Motown 454]

The car looks great, the engine bay looks sweet!