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    1. #1
      Join Date
      Feb 2013
      Location
      Ft Worth, TX
      Posts
      186
      Country Flag: United States

      1970 Chevelle Pro Touring Build

      The Chevelle has slowly transformed from a basic restoration into an all out pro touring build so I figured I would share my progress here. If you want to see my original build thread on Team Chevelle to get a more in depth look you can click this link:

      http://www.chevelles.com/forums/showthread.php?t=346452

      I bought the Chevelle in January of 2010 when I was 15 and I originally planned on patching up the rusty areas and throwing in a rebuild 350/TH350. As I started tearing into the car, I quickly realized that I had stumbled into a tougher project than I originally thought. I ended up replacing both quarter panels, the doors, fenders, trunk lid, rocker panel, rebuilding the trunk floor, patching the driver's floor pan. I also discovered the frame had been split, twisted, and rusted through in multiple areas. However, I wasn't about be discouraged so I dove right in. I rebuilt a 1970's era 350, found a set of original disk brakes, and picked up a set of Eibach lowering springs. Those were going to be the extent of my upgrades but after doing a lot of research and looking at other builds, I decided I wanted to follow more of a pro touring theme. I picked up a 2001 LQ4, a T56, and 4th gen Camaro disk brakes. I practically threw the car together over the next two years so that I would be able to drive it before I graduated high school. I ended up driving the car to the last day of my Senior year so I guess that counts . I'll discuss my future plans for the Chevelle after I post some progress pictures.

      As a young kid with no experience, I barely inspected the car before I dropped my hard earned $1800 on it. Lesson learned!




      The floor had been previously "repaired" with tin and rivets.



      There was well over an inch of bondo on areas of both quarter panels.


      As you can see, the frame was toast.




      Goodbye, locked up 305


      Started assembling my newly machined 350
      1970 Chevelle: 6.0 L96, T56, Strange 9 Inch, Ridetech Coilovers, Wilwood brakes

      1978 Firebird: 6.0 LQ4, T56

      2007 Sierra 2500HD LBZ


    2. #2
      Join Date
      Feb 2013
      Location
      Ft Worth, TX
      Posts
      186
      Country Flag: United States
      Gotta love living on a farm!


      Found an straight, rust free frame on the Team Chevelle classifieds



      The rear upper control arms were rusty and twisted so I bought a pair of UMI arms. I think this is what originally gave me the pro touring bug




      After getting the frame assembled I dove right into body work. (Keep in mind that I had absolutely 0 experience before this. I just figured it out as I went.)





      1970 Chevelle: 6.0 L96, T56, Strange 9 Inch, Ridetech Coilovers, Wilwood brakes

      1978 Firebird: 6.0 LQ4, T56

      2007 Sierra 2500HD LBZ


    3. #3
      Join Date
      Feb 2013
      Location
      Ft Worth, TX
      Posts
      186
      Country Flag: United States




      After I decided to go with the LQ4, I picked up a Caprice gas tank. It fit with just a little clearancing of the frame. I rebuilt the trunk braces so they would be taller than they originally were. This allowed me to tuck the taller Caprice tank into the frame rails.



      The LQ4 was from ebay and it had 210000 miles on it. Once again, I'm not quite sure what I was thinking but I went for it. When I tore into the engine, I could still see the cross hatching on the cylinders so I took it to the machine shop to be cleaned up and installed new bearings, rings and gaskets.






      1970 Chevelle: 6.0 L96, T56, Strange 9 Inch, Ridetech Coilovers, Wilwood brakes

      1978 Firebird: 6.0 LQ4, T56

      2007 Sierra 2500HD LBZ


    4. #4
      Join Date
      Mar 2008
      Location
      The Piedmont Triad, NC
      Posts
      373
      Country Flag: United States
      God luck with the chevelle. I know one of mine is that bad too, going to be a long project
      67 LeMans Convertible
      67 GTO
      69 Camaro Build Thread https://www.pro-touring.com/showthre...ost-Money-quot
      70 Chevelle 400 4spd
      70 Chevelle

    5. #5
      Join Date
      Feb 2013
      Location
      Ft Worth, TX
      Posts
      186
      Country Flag: United States
      More sheet metal work












      1970 Chevelle: 6.0 L96, T56, Strange 9 Inch, Ridetech Coilovers, Wilwood brakes

      1978 Firebird: 6.0 LQ4, T56

      2007 Sierra 2500HD LBZ


    6. #6
      Join Date
      Feb 2013
      Location
      Ft Worth, TX
      Posts
      186
      Country Flag: United States
      I bought a complete brake LS1 Camaro brake setup and rebuild the calipers


      Chevelle vs Camaro rotors










      I had to clearance the control arm mount for the parking brake lever.
      1970 Chevelle: 6.0 L96, T56, Strange 9 Inch, Ridetech Coilovers, Wilwood brakes

      1978 Firebird: 6.0 LQ4, T56

      2007 Sierra 2500HD LBZ


    7. #7
      Join Date
      Feb 2013
      Location
      Ft Worth, TX
      Posts
      186
      Country Flag: United States
      It was great seeing the car come together for the first time in two years.







      Harness is out of a 4th Gen Camaro


      I copied the canted radiator design from the 4th Gen Camaros



      Parking brake is out of a Subaru Legacy (I work at a used Subaru dealership, so I have lots of access to Subaru parts)

      1970 Chevelle: 6.0 L96, T56, Strange 9 Inch, Ridetech Coilovers, Wilwood brakes

      1978 Firebird: 6.0 LQ4, T56

      2007 Sierra 2500HD LBZ


    8. #8
      Join Date
      Feb 2013
      Location
      Ft Worth, TX
      Posts
      186
      Country Flag: United States









      I picked up a set of GTO seats and decided to use the rears as well.


      1970 Chevelle: 6.0 L96, T56, Strange 9 Inch, Ridetech Coilovers, Wilwood brakes

      1978 Firebird: 6.0 LQ4, T56

      2007 Sierra 2500HD LBZ


    9. #9
      Join Date
      Feb 2013
      Location
      Ft Worth, TX
      Posts
      186
      Country Flag: United States



      And this is how the Chevelle looked when I drove it to the last day of High School. It was loud, ugly, and smelly and my friends loved it! That is still one of my favorite experiences in my life!







      1970 Chevelle: 6.0 L96, T56, Strange 9 Inch, Ridetech Coilovers, Wilwood brakes

      1978 Firebird: 6.0 LQ4, T56

      2007 Sierra 2500HD LBZ


    10. #10
      Join Date
      Feb 2013
      Location
      Ft Worth, TX
      Posts
      186
      Country Flag: United States



      I found a 12 bolt rear end with a 2.73 posi on craiglslist for a steal. I installed it as is but I'll be upgrading it in the near future.


      I enjoyed the car over the summer and then for the 4 weeks before I went off to college I sanded the body panels and sprayed some epoxy primer. It'll be wearing the primer for a while.




      I had a chance to get some better pictures during Thanksgiving break.





      1970 Chevelle: 6.0 L96, T56, Strange 9 Inch, Ridetech Coilovers, Wilwood brakes

      1978 Firebird: 6.0 LQ4, T56

      2007 Sierra 2500HD LBZ


    11. #11
      Join Date
      Feb 2013
      Location
      Ft Worth, TX
      Posts
      186
      Country Flag: United States
      The driveshaft would rub the tunnel whenever I had a passenger in the car so over Christmas break I cut it out and rebuilt it





      I also rebuilt the rear of the floorpan for more legroom




      1970 Chevelle: 6.0 L96, T56, Strange 9 Inch, Ridetech Coilovers, Wilwood brakes

      1978 Firebird: 6.0 LQ4, T56

      2007 Sierra 2500HD LBZ


    12. #12
      Join Date
      Jul 2012
      Location
      Traverse City, MI
      Posts
      574
      Country Flag: United States
      This looks like its going together pretty well. How did you mount those rear seats?
      Project thread - https://www.pro-touring.com/threads/...ouring-Project
      IG - @tc_chevelle


    13. #13
      Join Date
      Feb 2013
      Location
      Ft Worth, TX
      Posts
      186
      Country Flag: United States









      I also started building a custom dash and console that I designed





      1970 Chevelle: 6.0 L96, T56, Strange 9 Inch, Ridetech Coilovers, Wilwood brakes

      1978 Firebird: 6.0 LQ4, T56

      2007 Sierra 2500HD LBZ



    14. #14
      Join Date
      Feb 2013
      Location
      Ft Worth, TX
      Posts
      186
      Country Flag: United States


      1970 Chevelle: 6.0 L96, T56, Strange 9 Inch, Ridetech Coilovers, Wilwood brakes

      1978 Firebird: 6.0 LQ4, T56

      2007 Sierra 2500HD LBZ


    15. #15
      Join Date
      Dec 2004
      Location
      California
      Posts
      793
      Country Flag: United States
      Hey man the project looks awesome. Great progress in 2 years. If you ever need parts for you car and you are having trouble finding stuff there are several restoration shops in the area. I used to live in the Wilkes-barre area and I worked at FTIG so I am somewhat familiar. Good luck with the rest of the build!

    16. #16
      Join Date
      Jun 2010
      Location
      Georgia
      Posts
      2,215
      Country Flag: United States
      darn cool looking project!

    17. #17
      Join Date
      Dec 2010
      Location
      Windy City, IL
      Posts
      272
      Country Flag: United States
      You are an inspiration to ALL GM A-body owners, who can learn much from your skills & project! GREAT JOB!!! NICE CAR!!!
      '70 GS Stage 1 https://www.pro-touring.com/showthre...-1-project-car
      Restoration blog: http://1970buickgsstage1.blogspot.com/
      '70 GS 350 convertible
      '70 GS 350 hardtop
      '70 Skylark 4 dr post

    18. #18
      Join Date
      Feb 2013
      Location
      Ft Worth, TX
      Posts
      186
      Country Flag: United States
      Quote Originally Posted by Barrrf View Post
      This looks like its going together pretty well. How did you mount those rear seats?
      The back rests have hooks on the back so I will just make points for them to slide into with a bolt through the brace in the bottom of the back rest. For the bottoms, I'll have to come up with something since I cut off the GTO mounts. Ill just have to weld brackets onto the frame of the seat.
      1970 Chevelle: 6.0 L96, T56, Strange 9 Inch, Ridetech Coilovers, Wilwood brakes

      1978 Firebird: 6.0 LQ4, T56

      2007 Sierra 2500HD LBZ


    19. #19
      Join Date
      Feb 2013
      Location
      Ft Worth, TX
      Posts
      186
      Country Flag: United States
      I guess I should take a minute to introduce myself. I am a freshman mechanical engineering major at Texas Christian University. I am in Air Force ROTC so if all goes as planned I'll be commissioning as a Second Lieutenant after graduation. I have done every bit of work except for machining the engine myself and I have taught myself everything I know. My father is not involved with working on cars but I have gotten advice from my grandfather who used to restore VWs. I have loved every minute of working on the Chevelle and I certainly plan on building more cars in the future.

      This summer I will be working on the suspension and interior of the car. I plan on blowing it back apart and boxing the frame and possibly reworking the rear suspension. I will also be shaving the firewall and drip rails and cleaning up the engine bay. I would like to get most of the interior done but I plan on taking the Chevelle to school with me next year so I may end up running out of time. I am going to have a lot of suspension related questions as I make my plans so I will be asking them here or in the suspension section. I'll try and document my work better in the future so that other A body owners can get ideas/solutions for their own builds.
      1970 Chevelle: 6.0 L96, T56, Strange 9 Inch, Ridetech Coilovers, Wilwood brakes

      1978 Firebird: 6.0 LQ4, T56

      2007 Sierra 2500HD LBZ


    20. #20
      Join Date
      Sep 2011
      Location
      Altamonte Springs, FL
      Posts
      38
      Nice job! Project is coming along nicely.

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