'67 Chevelle Concours wagon, bring it back to life
 

Not a Musclecar by any means, but some here have shown interest, and being a '67 Chevelle I'm all in!

I bought this wagon from the original owner's son in 1990 and drove it home from Palmdale CA, added a quart of oil and had a blown tire in Montrose CO.
Having spent its life in a rural high desert environment it was loaded with sand everywhere and had a tough as nails film of dirty scum. That film acted to protect some nice finishes once removed. What it doesn't have is any rust, anywhere, beyond minor surface rust. As you can see the paint is chalked out and the woodgrain is toast.

A top trim level Concours wagon, the first year woodgrain was applied to a Chevelle, options are L30 327/275 with Powerglide and CA smog. PS, PB, A/C, power tailgate window, AM/FM radio and front bumper guards. What it doesn't have, and seems odd for top trim level, is roof rack and no option dog dish caps.

I will post more on bringing this wagon back to life and making it the best it can be. - Bill W

A total of 6,299 Concours wagons were built, including six cylinder, 283, L30 327, and extremely rare L79 327.

I had not done anything with it since 1990, always bypassed by other Chevelle projects, but it's time! The plan is, thorough cleaning and degreasing, making it roadworthy and dealing with some eyesores while keeping any painting to a bare minimum.

Awesome - thanks for sharing, looking forward to following along.

That is really cool.

I look forward to learning some of your tips and tricks.

Ha, Pretty Close to Milner's Deuce plate... THX 138
Love the Wagon !!

Gary

This advertising pic shows a Concours more typically equipped with full wheel covers, a roof rack, and rear air deflector. I am happy that mine has none of them!

67 Wagon...
 

I have history with Chevelle wagons, beginning with an AHRA Super Stock, record holding and championship winning '66 300 Deluxe in the '70s. My racecar narrowly missed being a COPO '69 Camaro, but that's another story.

Next was the first '67 Concours, loaded with about all available options including shoulder belts and speed warning, but terminally rusty. It was my DD for four years, parted it out in '82.

Then a '72 Concours, my DD for about four years in the mid '80s.

The first two were purchased for $400 each, the '72 for $800.

I drove the blue Concours to the Nomad Convention in Gatlinburg TN in 1979 (??) and hauled parts to Bloomington when I used to set up there, when Bloomington was still at the fairgrounds. It got interest even then.

Great car! My '70 SS396 Chevelle came out of Pearblossom, CA. I'm still finding sand/dust in the frame rails every time I drive it.

Love your wheel choice on all the wagons Bill. The roof stripes on the drag wagon are awesome. What engine combo did you run?

Compared to you Darryl, also James G, Tim S and Tim G and other true survivor preservation experts here I'm not sure there's anything to be learned from me!
But thank you for the confidence. And as Wilma suggested, the plan has been to keep it simple, and make the best of what it is while preserving as much as possible. - Bill W

Oh Boy for sure!! As I think I've cleaned everything thoroughly I find more of it. Better than finding rust though!!

The drag car was a 331 (327 .030.), 010 block with spacer bearings to use small journal crank, BRC pistons with .080 top ring, angle plug heads with legally allowed port matching and bowl clean up, 14-1 compression. Crane solid roller, .720 lift, don't remember duration specs. TH 400 with 8" convertor, 5.38 rear. 1/4 through the lights, 7,800 rpm.
7.20 1/8th mile, 11.30 1/4.
I originally planned on going 396 but the 327 worked so well I stayed with it.
If I had raced another season I'd have had to go Powerglide, they were just coming into favor at that time(1976).

The roof stripes were inspired by a nationally known '57 2 door wagon stocker at the time, Scott Shafferoff maybe??

You shouldn't include me into that elite group of folks. I'm just a dumb ole TN redneck.

67 Chevelle Wagon
 

Bill.....very neat wagon love that all the smog is intact. Lots of L 30 Ca. cars

This Concours wagon is original metal in excellent condition except for the pass side fender, which is a used OEM from another car, painted to a fairly good match but no trim.

First priority was to get it up on stands and clean the underside. I didn't spend a huge amount of time under here, mostly just a good pressure wash. Fremont was very generous with overspray on the floors! Note the welded muffler on the original factory dual exhaust system still in place.

Next came dropping out the front suspension, here's where the cleaning became more difficult. The OO was religious about lubrication, the original ball joints and steering linkage are in great shape, but the build up of grease mixed with dirt was hard as concrete and had to be literally chiseled off followed by hot tanking control arms and steering linkage at the machine shop. Very nice original finishes were exposed from under that grime!

Upper-inner bushings were replaced, wheel cylinders rebuilt, and horseshoe spacers under the front springs to level ride hight up a bit. Multiple seals were replaced in the Powerglide to dry up leaks.

I opted for a 1 1/8" front sway bar and a GM rear bar in the interest of controlling body roll.

Up next, interior.

----What a cool 67! I respect your decision to keep this long roof original, but it would be a knockout with paint and new vinyl wood.....Bill S

67 Wagon...
 

Stick around Bill, I think you will like what's coming....

Neglected to mention, while the suspension was all apart and again after it was back on the ground, I did multiple sessions of degreaser, scrubbing, pressure washing to remove layers of grease and oil build up on the engine and trans. Now I can see orange paint!!

Hopefully you can find that front passenger side trim for the wood and deck this thing out in wood again.

Nice base to work with here

67...
 

:biggthumpup::biggthumpup::biggthumpup:

Interior.
Out comes the steering column and drop the dash. Thick layers of dust under here! Blow it out, then cleaning with Simple Green and lots of towels, blow out the heat and a/c ducts etc. Replace the toasted dash pad with a proper colored dark red one from my stash. Clock is sent out for repair, install a dash speaker and the AM/FM works!!:biggthumpup:

Lube heater control cables and replace broken levers. Aluminum Brightener bath for ash tray, other stuff that escapes my memory right now.

Put it all back, everything works, whoo hoo!!
Chrome polish on column levers chrome, and using red interior paint left over from my maroon SS convert, fix steering wheel cracks, paint and clear.

An unusual feature, this car is a 10B Fremont and has the very early '67 production steering column under dash cover. Later cars don't have this cover or the dash panel provision to mount it. I have a 10C Leeds car that doesn't have it.

67....
 

:biggthumpup::worship::worship::worship:

WOW, that dash and even carpet look amazing

----Being a stone long roof slappy I am loving every bit of this. I have never in the last 50 years been without a wagon. They are necessary and yet so endearing! Looking forward to your future endeavors as I can't stop thinking about how nice the convert is!!!....Bill S

Thanks to all who are following along and enjoying this thread!!

More interior.

With the dash all done it's time for more cleaning. I did mention cleaning didn't I??? Clean, clean clean....

With Both seats out the carpet was pulled for a professional cleaning, it turned out fairly well in spite of some wear under the driver's feet. The front seat needed new covers, since Legendary doesn't offer covers for a wagon/4 door, (no split back) my upholstery guy ordered three yards of red vinyl and built covers incorporating the original heat pleated back side and matching the pattern of the original. Two arm rest pads were also covered with this vinyl.

The rear cushions are in nice shape, I cleaned them (and the entire interior) with Adam's Products Interior Detailer (Thanks Dan and Dave!).

Surprisingly, Jani offered to put the seat belts in a mesh laundry bag and run them through the washer, they came out pretty nice. Note that they are optional Deluxe belts.

Moving to the rear....

Mostly uneventful back here. The spare tire well cleaned up well (when's the last time you've seen a well with no rust??). The cargo mat, while intact, is an eyesore, so I have a rubber mat that will cover that area. The jack being in a protected environment has survived very well, with just a light cleaning. The spare wheel also cleaned up nice, note the body color overspray through the slots. The tire of course is a repro.

Now, it's time to raise the hood.....

This a great thread Bill. Congrats on another wonderful Chevelle project... told you this would win the forum over ;)

Never doubted you Dan, and thank you!

Jumping to real time without giving too much away it was a good day today!

The rear power window operated but was a bit sluggish. Since it had to be removed to access tailgate trim fasteners it's time to freshen up. The regulator it self required only a light cleaning and lube, but the motor was the crustiest mess I've encountered on the car. Fortunately it was clean on the inside.

I disassembled, blasted and painted the motor housing. After polishing the armature and brushes, lubed, reassembled and adjusted the motor and gear box assy. Reinstalled and the window now buzzes up and down like new. Lubed latches etc while there also.

To round out the good day my new neighbor and the local A/C wizard came by to bring the A/C to life. Thirty years ago the A/C got me home from CA with two cans of R-12, but hadn't ran since.

Duane brought along a new Delco dryer (he knows me well!) with a Made In China sticker on it :rolleyes2: I had set up with two 25' flex hoses to pipe exhaust outside (7 degrees) while running in the shop (70 degrees).

My cousin gave me a full R-12 canister a few years ago because it was obsolete for his farm equipment.

After evacuation held steady, time for a charge. Soo, I learned that the A/C control switch isn't sending power to the A/C clutch, worry about that later, jumper the clutch and away we go! The POA valve was a little stubborn but with a few light taps and a little patience with oil circulation, it was blowing 40 degrees a standstill idle.

A good day indeed!!

----Bill,,,Gave me a big chuckle when I saw that window motor. Looks good now. Congrats on the AC!.....Bill S

Awesome! And Love those real paint valve covers peaking through too

Thanks Bill! The rest of the car screams high desert 15% humidity, so why did that motor look like it went down on the Titanic?? :dunno:

Thanks Dan, lots of nice finishes were hidden under a half Century of grease and grime!

Bill, the early AC systems pull the full clutch load across the switch. Common for the switch to arc and foul up. Best to install a relay to take the load of the switch.. I did this on my 67 Chevelle and 68 Acadian and it fixed my issue. Learned this troubleshooting on my 68 Acadian... installed an NOS switch and only got about a dozen uses before it fouled out. Been fine since adding the relay.

NICE to have R12 !!

Awesome job on the wagon!!

67...
 

I love that it’s not getting painted and you’re keeping the patina.