Chevelle updates

[VintageMusclecar]

Well, I guess it's time for another update.

The car is essentially de-bugged save for the speedometer issue which will hopefully be resolved within the next few days. The L60 Goodyears went bye-bye last year since there was no friggin' way they were going to cope with the 496 and were in all honesty a dangerous liability.

In their place now resides a set of Hoosier 275/60/15 Quicktime street tires. I can now give the car more than 1/2 throttle w/o sending the rear tires up in a haze, and I can pull away from a stop w/o unintentionally chirping the tires. I'm sure the neighbors (not to mention the local constabulary) will appreciate that.

There's still a minor bit of carb tuning to to in order to rid the car of a final little bit of lean "lurch" during in-town ~1500 rpm driving in 4th gear.

(...who said you couldn't run a 256°/264° @ .050 cam on a 108° LSA on the street with any manners?...)

As to when the next update will be and what news it will consist of...who knows. At this point I just plan to drive it whenever I can and enjoy it as much as "life" permits. Paint & body probably aren't going to happen...at least not any time in the forseeable future. I do hope to get it to the track sometime soon, but again it all depends on what life brings.

Even if this is the end of the road for progress on the car, at least it was fun getting there. I hope some of you enjoyed the journey with me.

[mockingbird812]

Eric - it sounds like you are making some good progress. Thanks for the update, but...

[VintageMusclecar]

The car still looks the same...like the south end of a north-bound mule.

It just has a pair of these on the back now (sans the shiny wheels).

[VintageMusclecar]

Well gang, it appears another update is in order.

As of today, the car is scheduled to go to the body shop early next week for de-rustification. The actual de-uglification is still a ways off, but more on that in a moment.

Long, boring saga condensed down to the essentials...the car which was advertised by the dealer as &quot;no rust <span style="font-style: italic">ever</span>&quot; turned out to be a tetanus infection on wheels waiting to happen.

There wasn't an intact panel on the entire car...if it wasn't rusty, it looked like someone had went at it with a ball peen happer and filled the voids in with Bondo afterwards.

Don't ask me how I got to the point, but as it turns out, the car needs everything from the doors back. The filler panel between the windshield and the cowl panel is shot as well. Luckily the dash appears to be OK, but we won't know for sure until the old panel is out.

At this stage in the game, I would've been better off if I would have bought a totally rusted out P.O.S. for 1/3 of what I paid for this &quot;rust free&quot; example...I would've wound up replacing most of the same panels anyways. [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/rolleyes.gif[/img]

Live and learn I suppose.

At any rate, the car will be going into very capable hands next week to begin the panel replacement process. As of now, the car will be receiving a new 1 piece trunk floor, inner &amp; outer wheelhouses, rear body panel, drop-offs, quarters, and a deck filler panel along with the previously mentioned cowl repair panel.

Due to budget constraints (among other things) I'm unable to complete the bodywork &amp; paint part of the job at this time, but at least the car will <span style="font-style: italic">actually</span> be &quot;rust free&quot; once this part of the job is finished. My hopes are that by next spring I will have enough saved back to finish the bodywork &amp; paint and finally wrap this project up.

No promises, but I'll try to post a few progress pics as the panel replacement job is performed if my schedule will allow.

Something to consider--when this job is done, the only panels originally on the car when I bought it that will be remaining will be the roof, firewall, inner interior structures, the rockers, and about 75% of the front floorpan (the doors are still an unknown at this point).

Not too bad for &quot;rust free&quot;, huh. [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/thumbsdown.gif[/img]

One thing's for certain...this frame-off restoration will be a 2-in-one for me...my first, and my last.

More details as they become available.

Eric

[mockingbird812]

Thanks for the update Eric. Keep a stiff upper lip and keep us posted. Good luck!! [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/beers.gif[/img]

[Xplantdad]

I feel for you Eric...that never should have happened. Glad that you have the right frame of mind about all of this... [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/beers.gif[/img]

[Ngtflyr]

Eric,

Glad I could contribute to the cause!! [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/beers.gif[/img]

Dave

[njsteve]

It's &quot;rust free&quot;. You just didn't see the comma between the word &quot;rust&quot; and the word &quot;free&quot;.

&quot;guaranteed rust, free&quot;



But seriously, you're doing a great job. Keep up the progress. It will be worth it one day. [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/beers.gif[/img]

[lwkitt427]

HANG IN HERE BUDDY WE ALL HAVE BEEN WHERE YOU ARE AT ONE TIME OR ANOTHER, BUT WHEN IT IS FINALLY DONE AND YOU CAN LOOK BACK AND SAY I SAVED ONE, JUST DO THE MISTAKE THAT ALOT OF US DO ID SELL IT IN A WEAK MONMENT ONLY TO WANT IT BACK 6 MONHTES LATER, ONLY SELL IF YOU ARE GOING TO LOSE YOUR HOUSE OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT OR IF YOU TRADING UP FOR A CAR THAT YOU KNOW HAS BEEN DONE AS NICE AS YOURS

[VintageMusclecar]