Project: Chevette Turbocharged Ecotec...

[Steve Firebird]

Looks like a great project. My brother restored a 1979 Pinto and was talking about a turbo engine out of a SVO mustang or maybe a 302 for it down the road. Could you use some of the suspention off the Solstice that you got the engine and seats out of?

[dafabricata]

Could you use some of the suspention off the Solstice that you got the engine and seats out of?

I pretty damn sure the width would be way to wide. The Chevette is very narrow. It would be nice though. I'd like to run a 16"-17" up front and 17"-18" rear, and definetly at least a 7" wide front and 10.5 rear.

[twosaturns]

just an idea- the vdub guys in england are into smaller wheels, and it works real well on a small hatch. a gti look sgreat slammed on 14s, even 1st gen rabbits look great w/ the stock 13s. think 8 spoke empi wheels, like on an old school mini. the chevette is so small, I wonder if a 17" will look too cartoonish. I would love to see 15" rallys on there, w/ real low profile rubber, slammed of course.
but, like I said, just an idea

[dafabricata]

Yeah...18's & 19's may be a bit too big. I really don't like 13's or 14's just a bit too small.....

Got the door panels and rear panels cut out. I need to make pods for door speakers and some more detail to break up the flat panel.
The dash was also painted "Satin Black" krylon plastic fusion paint along with all interior plastics. I need to rewrap the top part of the dash or buy a new top dash. I also test fit the Solstice GXP seats and there is limited room for the trans tunnel. At least more of the interior work is out of the way. I'll make it work.....

[Kenova]

First off, thats a damn cool project you have there. My bone stock '77 Vega looks more threatening that that little Chevette.
As for the new drive train, you have no idea how close you came to having some serious competition on the bidding. I saw that engine and trans and thought it would be perfect for my Vega, but soon realized I'd never be happy until I've stuffed an eight in one.
Have you decided on a rear end yet? I'm thinking a Mopar 8 3/4 with an aluminum center would be plenty strong enough and light to boot (although a little pricey).

Ken

[Frank Grimes]

best project car on here for sure!

[dafabricata]

best project car on here for sure!

Thanks for the compliment, but my pockets are not very deep and it's just me on this.....I got lucky on some major components and it will really be a bit difficult to get the suspension and brakes worked out. I will find a way though....

I plan to move the engine/trans back slightly to distribute the weight a bit better....gotta do wheelies in the ECOVETTE!!!
The firewall will be moved back and the entire floor has been removed....(up to the rear seating area). I am trying to get every possible detail sewn up before all the chassis details get it the way....(which they will). My budget has almost been exhausted and I need to make EVERY attempt to conserve on the remaining components.
Heres some pics of the start of the dash and a few others....

[SatisTraction]

if the budget is tight i would not be so fast to ditch the front suspension. the right springs and shocks make a lot of difference!!! on the rear i would look into a ford 8.8 rear. many come with a factory clutch type locker and they are cheap!! rear disk are easy to come by and they can take any abuse you throw at them. I had one in a 8 second mustang. all i did was add a spool, 31 spline axles, and a preload cover!! if you get one out of a lincoln LSC they already have big disk!!!

[Tony_SS]

You're making great progress on this thing..Keep up the good work!

[ponjohn]

Some more info on the vette in the background...please.

[SatisTraction]

how about a Civette? this is one cool car!!

http://www.ls1tech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=730443

[dafabricata]

Some more info on the vette in the background...please.

Thats one of my 78 year old nieghbors cars. He is selling it to a friend of his. A guy brought it to his house over 20 years ago, and wanted some work done. Well, the guy was never to be heard from again for about 10 years.....then one day stopped by and appologized for never following through and gave my nieghbor the title for the inconveniance. My neighbor is one of the coolest most knowledgable men I've ever met. He has raced almost every class of car out there....He raced for 35 years! He built his own Indy car WAY back in the day and says he still has it in one of his MANY barns or garages. He also claims to have the first car that (I forgot who) built.....(some famous drag racer from before my time)....I'll try and get a name, I recognized it but forgot who) It would really be interesting to see how many cars he actually has.....hell, he owns over 30 houses!

[TonyL]

Wow. When you start a project, you dont mess around do you? Nice seats. Whered you get them and how much were they? If you don't mind me asking.

[dafabricata]

Wow. When you start a project, you dont mess around do you? Nice seats. Whered you get them and how much were they? If you don't mind me asking.

I really want to get as many little things done as possible....my garage is not heated and its really starting to get a bit chilly here in Michigan.

I bought the seats off Ebay on auction for $250 for the set! They were out of a NEW car. Apparently the seals on some of these Solstices and Skys were bad and the interiors were flooding when it rained.....so the cars were scraped.
Send me a PM and I'll give you a # to the local salvage yard that deals with ONLY late model GM cars & trucks. I know they have more.....they'd look sweet in the Corvair!
The seat demensions are: 39" tall---20" wide----25" front to back.

[chet]

project is looking cool! How about the front suspension off a Miata? they make great track cars and should be close in width?

[dafabricata]

Thats a good idea! I'll have to get some measurements and figure it out...

I did a few more things yesterday....sanded and painted the hood grills and used some old rusty perforated steel scrap from an old water heater for some grill detail......

I also sanded and painted one of the taillight bezels. The chrome was pitted, peeling and rusted. They will be silver.
Also made the Ebay purchase of a few GXP emblems.....don't know if it will stay.

Heres some pics................................

[Z06killinSBF]

This thing is totally cool. Keep it up.

[curly]

Who would have ever thought to see a Chevette on here? You have got a cool project going... please keep the pics coming!

[terryr]

Didin't the Fiero use basic chevette front suspension? And the Lambo kit car builders have parts to put big brakes and coilovers on them.

[SPECWARSQUID]

Didin't the Fiero use basic chevette front suspension? And the Lambo kit car builders have parts to put big brakes and coilovers on them.

Here from Wikipedia on the Fiero:

Suspension design
The front end of the car is a wider direct derivative of the Chevrolet Chevette.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiero

Awesome project.

Shay
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Semper Fortis