My 69 Chevelle NASCAR Project

[shortrack]

I did this first chevelle in 1985......all steel body.....this was 1983 when I started, there was no such thing as dropped spindles.....wanted to lower the car for a cup look......ended up signifigantly cutting the springs and having the bodyshop remove the the fenderlipscut out some sheetmetal and re attach the fenderlips for stock tire/lip clearance......the car looked pretty good but it wasnt really low enough......I had an 81 trans am steering box and big front sway bar in it, original 250 hp 350, T-10, 275/50/15 t/a's on all 4 corners VW Rabbit GTI seats and a fiberglass big block hood....huge Alpine stereo (for the day)......took it too some autocrosses did pretty well for what it was......was about the same as some 1980 Z28s that were also running......huge crowd favourite though....it sounded great.......got caught in a freak Sept snow storm......with the big tires slid immeadiatly off the road and basically totalled the car........

[shortrack]

fast forward 20 years......a PILE has happened.....built this shop, lots of room for a car and want to build another.......more of a racecar , all the good chit and right down on the ground

[shortrack]

bought a 69 chevelle.......man is it rough.....originally a yellow 307 malibu......want to turn it into something like these but with a full interior and probably a/c using an old roller Cup car chassis.....minimum 450 smallblock hp and maybe some squeeze.....with a quickchange I'll just run a 4 spd.......the car will see street duty scaring people off the road and show and shines for sure but it will see track days as well at nearby Mosport Park, some autocrosses and for sure some King of the Hill's at the local shortracks......most of these cars come with set up notes......roadrace?.....page 3.....1/2 mile bullring??.....theres about 3 or 4 in there.......with almost limitless built in roadside adjustability, lots of power and HUGE grip the car will be tough to beat.......

[Tiger]

cool project, will you modify it to run on the street?

[shortrack]

cool project, will you modify it to run on the street?

it will be a street car for sure.......and yeah the tires will be hanging outside the body like above car which has 14" wide tires on all four.....OH YEAH!!!.....the white car above is a Limited Late Model (LLM) with a 65 chevelle body on it istead of a Monte carlo or Fusion, Intepid or whatever......it has the stndard modern LLM set up under it....... (you guessed it!!) a 2nd gen Camaro front clip (sound familiar?) with all the standard racecar/PT stuff like big brakes, tubular A arms, quickchange etc......this setup has been in use for years.

one HUGE question that this car answered for me was the wheelbase question......I measured my 69s wheelbase and came up with 111", the stock 65 chevelle above in stock form will be the same......the WB on a stnd stock car is 105 and that is what the white car is......Ive been wondering about having to lengthen any chassis I bought but after seeing the car above Im going to do the same as this guy did......eff it!!....we'll go with 105 and adjust wheelwells accordingly.....doug

[shortrack]

heres a 2002 110" ex Cup car I found yesterday, more suitable than the usual 105-6 inchers, really the one Ive wanted......owner said it will need rotors, O ring kit for the Wilwood brakes has no pod in the 9 inch although he's got lots lieing around......... it will roll, brake,steer etc......has seat, gauges, pedals, everything........ he ran into the back of someone on a restart, mushed up the front end sheetmetal so he cut it off so his guys wouldnt hurt themselves as it is currently used as a pit stop practice car......he was going to fix it up and run it but that chassis is no longer used in Cup so there is alot of really nice Ist line ex Cup cars for sale to run in ARCA......told him about the project and he thought it would be "really cool" and would like to help me out as much as he can, said the guys at his shop thought it was cool too......$2500

I have a friend who has ran all the typical shortrack 3 link coilover cars, his fam has been racing for decades......when Craftsman truck first started he ran......Martinsville, Richmond, Darlington etc......(btw he figures it cost them 30K per race all toll!!......family owns a big Constuction Co)....anyway, he said the truck arm chassis is the one to get, not as high tech on paper as some designs but as a package it flat out works........he said "Doug, that chassis is SOOOO forgiving, I couldnt believe it when I first got in it......you see those guys dicing at 170 in mid corner at Atlanta and you think those guys are just unreal but its the chassis......if you can get one thats what you want........"

[shortrack]

put down a deposit on the orange number 0 car above ......will be heading down to Charlotte next week to pick her up......Im stoked!!!

Im back.....what a trip!.....Andy Belmont (the guy I bought it off of) is a great guy.

here she is.....!

[69Nova]

Sick! Defintly keep this thread going. My kinda car for sure.

[shortrack]

thanks andrew.......got my stock roller sold for a G whenever i get the body off......it has a 12 bolt disc brake (orig yellow malibu sc 307, not ss) guy wants it for a gto.....help offset some costs.....can sell the seat out of the racecar too......ill have padded touring seats.....stock repop black interior with carpet and sound deadener,stereo and hopefully air I'll use a painless wire kit


itll be a driver maybe a 3g paint job......I want a alum quick change eventually instead of the 9 inch (less wieght & ez ratio changes) and just run a 4speed......500 ish hp smallblock....carb.......motor for sure will be something lying around the engine builders shop (stock car guy......go figure!)and a 355 no doubt.....prob not a dry sump.......theres always motors there that can be bought.......guy gets out of the sport, divorced etc........john would have built it originally.....hes a man of his word if he says "its good".......then its good......he had a motor there out of his paved super late......they made a rule change and he cant use it now, not even as a back up........ask him about it....."YEAH its F'n for sale!!......cheap!!".........doug

[shortrack]

oh, heres what Im starting with......and yeah I know about the "phantom" front end........its had quarters..... under viynal roof is "not great",glass good, cowl good, couple of small holes in floor, trunk pan bad, doesnt matter I wont be using either of them anyway....... rockers appear good.......front fenders,rad support that came with it not usable past mock up.....ill get a glass hood.

[Fesler built]

We were going to use a Art Morrison frame for our project but the customer has decided to go a different way, if you need a cool frame let me know

[shizzy]

Love the idea. I had a 75 Monte a few years back I wanted to do the same thing to.

[shortrack]

Love the idea. I had a 75 Monte a few years back I wanted to do the same thing to.

Hey......theres a 74/5 parked in a driveway on the way to my sisters.......been there about 3 yrs now......its all there even orig hubcaps......more than once Ive been going to stop in......!

[cheapta]

This is a great project. There was a guy on the PowerTour East back in 98and 99 that had a 57 Belair done dirt-track style-giant tires sticking out of radiused fenders. The car was really rough but the concept was cool.

[Johnny Blaze]

I just saw this and it reminded me of your project.

http://www.racingjunk.com/post/11393...agia-Howe.html

[NOT A TA]

Looks like a very cool project! Keep posting progress.

[shortrack]

back from Mooresville.......15 hr drive non stop one way......this thing is cool.......willwood 6 pistons up front 4 piston out back......sweet 14:1 box......worlds most baddazz exhaust or what!.......everything is sooo rebuildable.......oh yeah.....in the pic of the chevelle above, the stock suspension with those 15" tires and slicks gives me a framerail hieght of 13"!!......the racecar is 6....she's coming down

[shortrack]

I just saw this and it reminded me of your project.

http://www.racingjunk.com/post/11393...agia-Howe.html

that thing is badazz......!

[shizzy]

Awsome! looks like a killer setup. I never really thought of just stiking a stock body on top of an Old Cup car like that. its going to save you lots of fab time. Also since it seems around here the first two areas to go on a car are the floors and the fender and quarter lips, that would be a good use for an otherwise too far gone car as most of the rusted areas would just be trimmed out. Keep the build pics coming!!

[Dragonsnake]

I really like your First Chevelle .Looks racy as he....

And using a race car chassis is clearly usefull.Proven components that work..