Track Day events with A Body chevelle?

[ls1says]

Hey all,


I'm just curious if anyone takes their chevelle's out religiously to track day events? I'd love to hear more about your setups and videos if possible.

[416velle]

YES and i really wish more people would make their chevelles fast! But its time consuming, excrutiatingly expensive, and takes some engineering.

I spent the last 2.5 years building my 69 Chevelle to be a contender. Autocross will be my main cup of tea, eventually I'll delve into road course when I find my balls.

The nitty gritty of absolutely everything is on my build thread, but heres the notable stuff:
Iron block 13:1 compression stroker LS (roughly 550whp), Spec 2 disc clutch, F-Body T56 (bronze fork bushings, serviced synchros, still the baby 27spl output shaft), Millerbuilt Floater Ford 9" with aluminum yukon housing/trutrac/3.89 gears, 14"/13" non-power wilwood brakes, UMI front suspension, jeep cherokee steering box, speedtech spindles, ridetech TQ coilovers, ABCPerformance sway bar, UMI lower rear arms on a fabricated 3-Link/Panhard bar, Hellwig rear sway bar, 18x11 wheels and some 315/35R18 Falken RT615K+ meats, and a little 6 point roll bar. It weighs 3300 even, fiberglass hood/bumpers+brackets/deck, and removed inner fenders. Highly recommend an aluminum block.

My very first outing in this car just 2 days ago I had the fastest time of the day in the CAM-C class by almost a full second. This was my fastest time out there.


The car was pretty fast out there. It was about 3 seconds slower than a 73 camaro that had the kitchen sink of bad-to-the-bone thrown at it (3000lb even, LS2/T56magnum/full speedtech suspension/engine lowered 1 inch and shoved rearward 7 inches/perfect 50/50 weight distribution). It was my first autocross event in 2 years. Take that the way you will, either some of his mods didn't matter, he wasn't driving it to the "complete" potential, I have a pretty quick car, or multiple of those.

The first thing the owner of the 73 said when he walked up to me was "when I first saw your chevelle there I thought either theres gotta be a lot done to it, or its not that fast".
Hes not wrong. Its hard to make a chevelle quick, the 3 main things that hold the A-body platform back are weight, the 4 link rear suspension, and your budget.
Its doable to make them quick but it takes a LOT of weight-conscious modifications, a back-half/rear suspension overhaul, and a LOT of time/labor/money.
I'd be happy to answer any questions you've got.

[Hotwire]

Hi. My name is Jeff(22 jumpstreet tone). I have a problem.

I'm the idiot trying to make a 64 4 door do everything, but nothing spectacular at the same time while keeping budget so my wife doesn't kill me in my sleep.

This is the junkyard dog your mother warned you about and your friends laugh at.

Uhaul box truck LQ4 low compression 6.0L
Tahoe flex fuel 33lbhr injectors
LS6 intake
Elgin 1839P cam (220/224, .575" lift, 112 LSA)
Tanks Inc FI tank, great for no fuel starvation but horrible for fuel coming out the vents
Hedman 1 7/8" primary 3" collector long tube coated headers
Hooker VR304 mufflers
2005 GTO T56 (TUET-2066)
LS7 LUK Clutch w/ Tilton master and speedway motors quick bleeder setup
3.73s w/ Eaton posi
Crown Vic aluminum 3" aluminum driveshaft
Chinese $146 front lower tubular control arms (global west gen 1 knockoff w/ 0 caster improvement)
SPC adjustable upper a-arms
CPP 2" drop spindles
Proforged 0.9" upper and 0.5" lower taller ball joints
moog replacement factory rate springs front and rear
KYB Gas-A-Just shocks
Hellwig 1 5/16" front sway bar w/ custom frame bracket retainers
SC&C front frame brace (HIGHLY recommend, best improvement vs $ spent)
CPP billet hubs and junkyard LS1 "big brake" upgrade (pulled off 2002 V6 camaro, same as V8)
Hydroboost setup off same tahoe the injectors came off
2003 S10 ZQ8 quick ratio steering box (think same as Jeep Grand Cherokee)
1980 Corvette master cylinder (1 1/8" bore)
speedway motors adjustable rear upper control arms
used BMR Suspension solid lower arms w/ heim joints
unknown used rear sway bar
UMI rear control arm reinforcement frame braces (made a difference)
UMI rear shock tower brace (can't tell any improvement)
2002 Camaro SS 17x9 wheels running 255/45/17 Nitto 555s
junkyard 2007 Nissan Maxima power buckets



https://youtu.be/ZQk2RT3G-uQ?si=uGo_zhFYsiRuFiA-

[chevelletiger]

YES and i really wish more people would make their chevelles fast! But its time consuming, excrutiatingly expensive, and takes some engineering.

I spent the last 2.5 years building my 69 Chevelle to be a contender. Autocross will be my main cup of tea, eventually I'll delve into road course when I find my balls.

The nitty gritty of absolutely everything is on my build thread, but heres the notable stuff:
Iron block 13:1 compression stroker LS (roughly 550whp), Spec 2 disc clutch, F-Body T56 (bronze fork bushings, serviced synchros, still the baby 27spl output shaft), Millerbuilt Floater Ford 9" with aluminum yukon housing/trutrac/3.89 gears, 14"/13" non-power wilwood brakes, UMI front suspension, jeep cherokee steering box, speedtech spindles, ridetech TQ coilovers, ABCPerformance sway bar, UMI lower rear arms on a fabricated 3-Link/Panhard bar, Hellwig rear sway bar, 18x11 wheels and some 315/35R18 Falken RT615K+ meats, and a little 6 point roll bar. It weighs 3300 even, fiberglass hood/bumpers+brackets/deck, and removed inner fenders. Highly recommend an aluminum block.

My very first outing in this car just 2 days ago I had the fastest time of the day in the CAM-C class by almost a full second. This was my fastest time out there.


The car was pretty fast out there. It was about 3 seconds slower than a 73 camaro that had the kitchen sink of bad-to-the-bone thrown at it (3000lb even, LS2/T56magnum/full speedtech suspension/engine lowered 1 inch and shoved rearward 7 inches/perfect 50/50 weight distribution). It was my first autocross event in 2 years. Take that the way you will, either some of his mods didn't matter, he wasn't driving it to the "complete" potential, I have a pretty quick car, or multiple of those.

The first thing the owner of the 73 said when he walked up to me was "when I first saw your chevelle there I thought either theres gotta be a lot done to it, or its not that fast".
Hes not wrong. Its hard to make a chevelle quick, the 3 main things that hold the A-body platform back are weight, the 4 link rear suspension, and your budget.
Its doable to make them quick but it takes a LOT of weight-conscious modifications, a back-half/rear suspension overhaul, and a LOT of time/labor/money.
I'd be happy to answer any questions you've got.

I have pretty much everything you have done except the 3 link,doing an ly6 6.0 swap now,but after buying my 09 z06 I'm thinking of selling it. Food for thought we crazy abody peeps.

[416velle]

Understandable. FWIW you can get away with not doing anything crazy in the front suspension. Its the rear that needs all the attention, oce the 4 link is gone then you automatically have a possible contender.
Whats unfortunate though is an aftermarket full chassis makes chevelles STUPID heavy. Were talking 3600lbs without driver for a speedtech car, add 200lbs to that if you keep metal hood/bumpers.


if going faster is your cup of tea then thats a fair conclusion, selling your chevelle.
BUT….theres something so wrong that its right about having an older muscle car that feels modern, regardless of whether its “competitive” or not.