1965 Chevelle SS
 

I picked up this 1965 SS a few years ago. I drove it a couple of years and then started tearing it apart and doing a few things to it. It's an original SS with protecto-plate. It's got about 90,500 original miles. The previous owner rebuilt the original engine, along with a turbo 350 trans. The original 10 bolt is in place and up front the previous owner added disc brakes. It also came with an aluminum radiator with electric fan. The interior has been completely redone. The previous owner also added the rims and tires.

My plan is to upgrade everything except for the body and paint. That can come much later. There is some rust, bondo, dings and dents, but I'm focusing on all the mechanical things first.

Bought a GM crate LS3 525HP engine and T56

Got this hydraulic clutch setup from Bowler.

These cars are one of my favorites,I will be following along with this build:thumbsup:

Engine out and front clip off

Factory A/C taken out

Seats, carpet, dash out

Great project!!!

Awesome! The car looks well taken care of.

Looks like a solid start for your project!

Nice looking car , great condition.

Overall the car seems pretty decent. It still has the factory quarters on it. I know the passenger fender has been hit and is full of bondo on the front point area. So at some point in the future when I do body and paint I will deal with that. I will probably paint the interior floor/trunk and bottom of the car since I will be doing a new trans tunnel and smoothing the firewall.

If anyone is going to LS Fest West in two weeks, let me know, I will come say hi to you:hello:. I will be there.

I figured it was time to finally get a lift and basically blow all my rim and tire money:lol:
I had a Mohawk System 1A installed yesterday, made in the USA and very nice!!!!!
Now I can finally do some real work the easy way.............
In this pic the arms on not all the way down.

I wasn't getting the parallelism I wanted from the bellhousing so I had it machined flat. I'm now getting a max of .001" parallel all around to the flywheel. I also took the front flange/plate off my new T56 and mounted it to the bellhousing so I could check the true position of the center bore to crank. That came in at +-.0045" or .009" total. Just within the spec of .010" so I don't need to install offset dowel pins.

Got the Speedtech oil pan installed.

After going to LS Fest West for three days and watching all the action, I made the trip up to Speedtech and picked up my new Extreme frame:)

Thanks to everyone at Speedtech, it was great hanging out!!!!!!!!

Nice lift! Everything looks great.

Making some progress getting the chassis put together. Ron Sutton/Ridetech shocks w/ Draco springs. I'm waiting on some parts that are on back order :mad:

That frame sure looks great,love these cars:thumbsup::thumbsup:

Looks awesome Todd!

Thanks everyone! I'm finally getting a little progress on this car.

Awesome, I can't wait to follow along!

Love this type of build...great foundation to start with:popcorn2:

Small update after a little while. I got the frame pretty much built up now.


I installed the Speedtech/Dutchman floater rearend. Waiting on the rear brake caliper brackets, then I can install the Corvette parking brakes. I had Speedtech take out the 12MM studs on all four corners and put in longer ARP 1/2" studs. The StopTech rotors and the Forgeline RB3C Concave rims are on there for mockup for measuring overall width to make sure everything will fit to the body and just because I wanted to see it all together!!! All four rims are 18X11 and I will be putting 315's on all four corners. I did satin black on the inner hoop/spokes and transparent smoke on the outer. I like how the transparent smoke looks....no polishing all the time here!

I got the body of the car on the rotisserie. Plans are to clean it up and either paint it chassis black or rubberize coating of some sort. I was looking at the Eastwood products. What are your thoughts on this? I don't have the funds to do body and paint right now, even though it needs it, so I'm just going to do the underside for now and clean it up. I will also smooth the firewall, install the Speedtech tunnel kit, and install mini tubs.

When I took the body off the factory frame, I found what was left of the old build sheet. Real SS, 13837 :) I also have the original Protect-O-Plate.

Sweet rolling chassis. What are your wheel specs?

Nice chassis ! I would sand, spray black SPI epoxy then Black Raptor liner. It looks good and cleans up way better than undercoating.

Great project. And nice lift!

Chassis and wheels look awesome! Especially the wheels :cool:

Very impressive chassis:trophy-1302:

Thanks! I will look into that.

Thanks! The lift is definitely nice to have!



The chassis is way cool:cool:, I like it! I just can't wait to drive it. Love the rims :thumbsup:



:thankyou:

Front: 18X11 8" Backspace
Rear: 18X11 6.5" Backspace

315s all around is going to look mean! I love it.

Finally got the engine and trans together and mounted in the frame.

Mocked up the Ultimate Headers............really nice!!! That is the brushed finish for those wondering.

Lookin' good Todd!! Have you got a time frame to have the body on it?

Man that rolling chassis looks sweet!! I bet you can't wait to set the body back down and button things up.

The brushed finish on the headers looks great!