My Chevelle Is Getting A Makeover!!
 

Hey guys! Well the time has come for me to take my 72 Chevelle to the shop. My shop guy told me he can get me into the shop in two weeks. So this is a little mini-build update on the install of my 408 stroker LS 6.0 & T56 Magnum. Here are a few shots of my parts so far. I still have to buy a few odds and ends, such as my clutch, rocker arms, etc. The heads are in the machine shop being ported, polished and assembled with Ferrea stainless steel valves and Comp Cams dual springs and titanium retainers. The pic of the motor is it still in the crate. Don't want to open it until assembly time to keep the crap out of it. Some of the parts in the pics include a Speartech harness, SLP double roller timing chain, a Quicktime bellhousing, Comp Cams hydraulic roller lifters, ARP fasteners and a GM conversion oil pan to clear the Chevelle cross member. Look and enjoy. :unibrow: :unibrow:

A few more, plus a shot of the car.:willy: :willy:

Very nice man. Sounds killer.
Keep us posted.:thumbsup:

Will do. It's gonna be a few months process because I'm gonna shave the firewall while the motor is out and I have to modify the tranny tunnel. I'll update pics as I go.

Car looks great.....very exciting at the stage you're at with many of the parts on hand and headed to the shop. Keep us posted.

nice set up you will have their. One thing is that a lh8 (h3) pan if so it will hang low past the cross member.

Please keep us updated.

I hope not, because that is what was recommended for a Chevelle or any other muscle car for that matter. We'll see.:thumbsup:

Marcus,

I'm putting a T56 in my 442 clone as well after I get that rear end.
Cutting the hump seems to be the easiest way and then rewelding it back in place.
I love the build layout, it's lookin sweet. All those parts would make any man jealous.

I've put a 2004 GTO LS1 / 4L60e in my 78 Baldwin Motion themed Camaro.
It's a project to say the least.

Ace from Chicago.

Sounds like a nice setup!

Small update....
Went by the machine shop today and took a couple of pics of the heads. They are just roughed in right now. They are not polished yet. They should be finished and fully assembled by the end of the week. Hopefully, shortly after I get the heads back, I can get the engine to my engine guy and get it assembled.:cheers:

i love when the big brown truck drops cool stuff off.....:yes:

You have some sweet parts there.

Looks sick!:wow:

Cant wait for the first video.

I still have yet to put mine up.

Keep us posted on the progress

Well guys, here's a quick update. Here are some pics of my baby on it's way to the shop to get it's transplant. The teardown has already begun. With the motor out I decided to go ahead and shave the firewall. Also, if you noticed I have Baers 6-piston, 15" Extreme kit on the front. While I'm at it, I'm going to go ahead and put the same 6-piston, 15" Extreme kit on the rear and put a 9" in place of the 12 bolt. I'll keep ya'll updated as I go along.:lateral: :woot:

Got the rear end out of the car and began shaving the firewall. I will order the 9" next week & the Baer brakes. Also, will begin test fitting the LS motor and T56 Magnum to fab up the tranny tunnel.:thumbsup:

Very cool. She's on her way to being a better car.
Keep us posted please.:thumbsup:

Looking good, it will be a nice ride when your done.

Here are a few shots of the engine being test fitted with the T56 Magnum. Fabbing up the tranny tunnel. This is not my new motor. This is an extra LS 6.0 I have that is going to go into my '68 C10 when I get around to working on it. The 408 stroker is still in the crate waiting on me to get it assembled. I'll get around it to getting it over to the machine shop soon to get it assembled.:thumbsup:

thats looks good. Is jim at Killer ridez doing all the work?

Yeah, how'd you know? He's the only one I allow to even touch my car.

I like it, looks like you are well on your way.

The transforrmation is coming along. Here are few pics of the tranny tunnel getting fabbed & modified for the T56 Magnum and driveshaft. Next, is to finish up shaving the firewall and get it painted.:lateral:

A few more after test fitting the shifter handle and welding up the shifter ring.:woot:

Looking good!

Are you planning on a console?

Yeah, I'm gonna drive the hell out of it this summer and that will be my next upgrade next winter. A console along with a custom dashboard to go with it. Thanks!:thumbsup:

Funny -- I was designing this same tunnel "mod" around the TKO 600 in my buddies 55... But since it has an Art Morrison chassis -- and there's NO WAY to get the tranny out of the car without pulling the motor... I wanted to be able to "service" the shifter from the top.... so went with a "flat" piece that I can remove and be able to get the whole shift mechanism out. That and he already bought a "factory" precut carpet...

Looks good! Nice work!

Wow! That Chevelle is just stunning what color is that? Its beautiful! Im considering pulling my big-block and going the same route so Im watching your build with great interest! A engine swap like this would make my car alot lighter in the nose, as well as alot better on mileage.:thumbsup:

Nice progress its moving along well it looks good.

I found this color in the paint book at English color. It took me several trips and several paint sprays to see if I liked it. IMO, picking a paint color is the hardest thing to do on a resto. But anyway, this is an original GM paint code from 1990. It's called Blue Metallic I think. Thanks!:cheers:

Very nice. Keep us posted. Should be killer when complete.:thumbsup:

Hey Marcus,

I'm just curious about how they made that shifter center section ??
Did they fab it up to a specific template or sizing like that for a reason??
I've seen other guys do a squared hump on the center tunnel.

I'm just askin cuz I gotta do my 442's T56 install and I have to do tunnel mods as well.
BTW you live in pretty damn nice neighborhood judging by the other houses. :hail:

- Ace

Hey who's doing your work? I would love to see your car. What part of Dallas are you in?

Ace, they asked me if liked squared or round. No specific reason really. I just thought just like you said, most people do squared so I thought I would try round to go with the whole driveline theme you know. I mean, the tranny is sort of round, as well as the driveshaft is round, so why not contour the floor the same as the driveline, huh?:question: As far as tunneling it as far back as I did, I did that for space of the driveshaft because with the four-corner coilovers my car is lower than normal ride height so that allowed me more space for the driveshaft to travel up & down while hitting bumps and stuff when driving. Otherwise it was too cloor to the floorboard. As far as the neighborhood goes, I like it. It's kind of outside of the city limits which is more quiet and serene.:woot:

Jim @ Killer Ridez does my work. He's a great guy and really knows his stuff. I also have '68 C10 swb at his shop that he is working on for me too. I live in the far east part of Mequite. Where are you? Here are a few shots of the C10 he's doing for me. It will have front & rear Corvette suspension, Dana 44 IRS and shockwaves on all for corners with a 6.0 LS & T56 Magnum as well. Build thread will start sometime next year although I'm working on it now little by little. These pics are of the stock crossmember removed and the Corvette crossmember being fabbed & fitted:thumbsup:

A small update guys and the little brown delivery truck dropped my Currie 9" rear end off too. My shop guy is just finishing up the fire wall and a little setback on the tranny tunnel. After I posted some pics of the tranny tunnel getting fabbed up, fellow boardmember GregWeld made a good point that I overlooked. I forgot to make a provision to access the tranny shifter. Therefore, the shop had to go back and make a way to access the shifter for future service. Otherwise, I would have had to drop the tranny just to access the shifter.:thmbsdwn: :thmbsdwn: Thanks GregWeld for bringing that to my attention.:hail: :hail:

Pics of the new rear end. Out with the 12-bolt and in with the 9". It is a Currie 9" with Torino housing ends and 31 spline axles. I'm ordering an aluminum center section from Strange. It should be here next week along with the rear 15" Baer brakes. I'm debating if I should paint the rear end to where it matches my paint code exactly or powdercoat it to the closest color of blue to my paint I can find. Powdercoating will be more study and resistant to chips and certain oils.

Very cool. Nice transformation. Should be killer when complete.
Keep us posted please.:thumbsup:

Alright guys, I'm not gonna be up and running as soon as I thought. I have decided to powdercoat my frame. I mean, hey, since the rear end was already out and the motor and front clip was off, all was left was the front suspension and four body mounts were left to take off. So why not, huh? The frame was powdercoated black about 7 years ago and I thought I would freshen it up and change the color to graphite grey. Also, some parts showed up yesterday too. But, as they say, "What can go wrong, will go wrong." :censored: I got my Strange center section in and upon taking it out the box to admire it's beauty I noticed the pinion yoke bent and chipped as if it had been dropped. I immediately called the company and took some pics of it and emailed it to them. They said they will mail me out a yoke overnight, ASAP. My Baer 15" brakes showed up too. I know, I know, I don't need 15" rotors on the rear. I figured since I had 15" on the front, I might as well show off and put 15" on the rear. LOL!! :woot:

Pics of my parts and the damaged pinion yoke.:woot:

She's coming along very nicely. Good call on the powder coating the frame.
That sucks about the yoke, at least they are going to send out another one ASAP. Keep us posted.:thumbsup: :cheers: