'67 Chevelle build- couples therapy

[NOPANTS68]

I've been working on this '67 Chevelle for a couple months now. My wife wanted a Chevelle and when this one came up for sale on this very forum- we jumped. Inspired in part by Liz Miles, she wanted to dig in and learn as much as she could. Yeah- I'm lucky. Some of our friends don't get it, but it's fantastic therapy for us. I'm learning patience- she is letting her creativity run wild. The car's style is totally dictated by her.

The car was posted up on this forum last year around Christmas and we snagged it from the second owner on New Year's day. It had been sitting in a barn in San Luis Obispo since 1988 and had all of the original documents intact including the protecto plate and service guides. It had a 327/4 speed/12 bolt and didn't run due to a fried Mallory module. I dropped in a replacement, injected oil into the cylinders, changed fluids, and popped it off. Turned out to be a pretty rowdy little 327.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Mw9N8dM2Lk

We tore it down,removed the 9 dead mice, and sent it out to get media blasted. The left toe board and package tray were rusted, but the rest turned out to be in excellent shape with only two previous paint jobs. She and I have replaced the rusted areas with new steel. Yesterday we installed a smooth firewall from ABC Chevelle parts (fit perfectly) and am moving on from mock up to panel alignment. We snagged a built 396, a Richmond 5 speed, and a 621 bellhousing for drivetrain. The 12 bolt will get rebuilt, chassis will get the full PT arm/spring/sway bar treatment, Kore 3 C6 Z06 brakes, Vintage air, good stereo, Ferrari red paint, and buckskin leather guts. Hope you all enjoy!

[R67Chevelle]

DAVE!!!! HEY what you doing with my car? For anyone whos reading this thread, I was the previous owner for 1 month shy of 24 years. It was my first car, first hot rod...

Dave and his wife are some of the nicest people I have met. Dave bought it from me and picked it up on 1/1/2011. I actually cried when he left with it (okay Im 42 an Im a baby.. it outlasted my marriage).

Dave, looks great and your wife is doing a great job. She is definately a keeper I have to update my signature, since now its yours. Thanks so much on the email updates. Keep in touch...

Blessings,
Alan

[camcojb]

great story. 67 is my favorite year for a Chevelle. I had a very similar one, original paint that I sold. Kicked myself for that one, would have been a fantastic project.

[NOPANTS68]

Thanks Alan and Jody. The car is moving along well now. I just finished all of the mock up yesterday and am moving it into the bodyshop next week. I'll post up more pics as we get the tin straightened out.

Jody, that car looks identical to hers. I think that interior is called bright blue or something and the exterior Marina Blue. I think that combo was pretty common. The more I work on this car, the more I like it. Full frame cars sure make life easy sometimes.

[Ricochet]

Looks great Dave!! Nice to have a supporting wife. Looks like we are both fortunate! What a great project for the 2 of you. Look forward to seeing it around once done!

[Rybar]

Cool Chevelle, that is my favorite year. Lucky for the supportive wife and solid project

[camcojb]

Originally Posted by NOPANTS68

Thanks Alan and Jody. The car is moving along well now. I just finished all of the mock up yesterday and am moving it into the bodyshop next week. I'll post up more pics as we get the tin straightened out.

Jody, that car looks identical to hers. I think that interior is called bright blue or something and the exterior Marina Blue. I think that combo was pretty common. The more I work on this car, the more I like it. Full frame cars sure make life easy sometimes.

they also ride fantastic, lots of fun to drive. You're going to love this project.

[POS71RS]

Oh man... I love 67 Chevelles.

And now I'm upset that I missed this one, cause it was under my nose!

Sounds dumb to say, but this reminds me of 'the one that got away' when I was a teen. It was a 67, real SS, yellow, with also a 327, 4 spd, and 12bolt rear. The owner told me the 396 was probably obtainable too. I think it had the same bucket seats...

I couldn't gather up the cash to get my hands on it, and I couldn't sell my Camaro fast enough to get it. But one of these days.. I'll have a 67 Chevelle!

[NOPANTS68]

Thanks Brent, Ry, Jody etc. for the nice words.

Got the trunk lid fitted last night and getting ready to assemble the front sheetmetal to set some bodylines. I also have to cut the a/c line bulkhead into the new firewall this week. I'll be ordering some metal to metal and filler in a couple days to wrap up the patches and firewall.

FWIW, I did a ton of searching for the Richmond 5 speed install in this particular tunnel with little info found. After a little wrestling, it slid right into place where the M21 once lived. The only two mods required were moving the shifter hole back and inch and dropping the mount on the stock trans crossmember down about 2 inches. Otherwise it fits like it belongs there. No tunnel mods were needed and the bellhousing and linkage have tons of room around them for servicing.

[56pickup]

Awesome project! Cant wait to see the end result!