66 Chevelle - basket case

[wyattroa]

Well I went out and bought a 1966 Chevelle. The car is a rolling shell as of right now, but Ill update the pictures of what has been done so far.

My goals for this car are pro-touring, street, and cruising. I plan to yank a LS motor from a junk yard and throw it in there. I am not sure yet on a transmission. Really leaning towards a t-56, but I know the wife would probably want to drive the car too since she will be helping me wrench on it. So it might end up with a 4L80e in it. I am going to be buying parts a little at a time and building this car. I know I won't be finishing this car in a year, or even 2 for that matter, but it will be mine and something I hope my kids, wife, and myself will enjoy.

My plan for suspension is to do coil overs all the way around, upgrade the steering box to a jeep grand cherokee, and to fit 295's on the ass end of it. I was thinking of doing the mini tub, but 335 tires are more expensive and I have a feeling I would be going through them fast. I know 335's look amazing from the back. Maybe that will change, who knows.. It currently has a 10 bolt in it, but unfortunately it the weak 8.2". So I will be on the hunt for a used 12bolt or ford 9".

I had planned on buying a car to do a ton of work on, but everything in my area, Chicago, is just horrible. The cars around here are literally falling apart from rust and their prices are too high. I went to see a 66 chevelle that had the suspension collapsed on it, no trunk floor, no floors inside, rust everywhere and they wanted $4,500 for it. No thanks.

I also plan on doing the body work and paint. It will be a big job as I have never done this before, either way, I plan on doing everything I can.

I found this on the west coast, all original body panels on it. The frame had been taken to a shop and it was confirmed to be straight and true. I had it shipped back to me.

There are so many nice 66 chevelles on here. I have read through there threads and am blown away. They are the reason I have started this. I feel there is a wealth of knowledge on this site and from what I have seen the other chevelle build threads do, I think I will be in good hands for help.

Going to have some posts in a row updating everything I have done, which isn't much.

Here are some pictures to get started. The first car is a mustang I built when I was 18, I am now 32. That car is long gone, but damn it was fun. It had a 347 stroker with a BDS 8-71 blower on it. It turned a few heads..lol
















Here is how it sat when I got it.

[wyattroa]

Picked up a front since I was missing one.

[wyattroa]

I ordered the ABC Smoothie kits yesterday around noon. I had it in hand in under 24 hours..That is awesome. Want to smooth it out.

[wyattroa]

We took the body off the frame last night, a bigger job then I had anticipated. One jack could go high enough, no engine hoist, pretty sure my rafters wouldn't support the body either. Took some time but we got there. Still working on the firewall..Slow but sure, been sick a bunch.

[wyattroa]

Well, picked up the hellwig frame FX kit. I started taking down all suspension components. We were able to get them all off yesterday. This way when I finish putting the kit on I can send it off to be powder coated. My welder is 110/220v welder, I don't have 220 in my garage so I will be borrowing my neighbors portable generator to do the welding with 220v. My youngest son who is 3 asks me to work on the chevelle with him all the time. Here are some pictures from yesterday, he even has his own tool box. I have to check it every time we leave the garage since I know he will put my tools in his tool box.

Not sure I will get much done as its currently feels like -8 outside. I need to live where its warmer.

[wyattroa]

Side note, this thing must have been blasted through a field or something. The amount of crap I found inside the front crossmember is insane. I had to use a hammer and chisel to knock it all out, also used my drill with a foot long bit on it. Here is a picture of the crap that fell out, not even all of it.

Beer can for reference.