68 Chevelle LQ4 W/4L80E Build

[spitfire980]

Well, here it goes...

Im mostly a euro car guy (92 Mercedes SL300-24 Brabus, 98 BMW 750 and a 83 BMW 633) but had a 76 vette that i used to drive from time to time before i sold it and i wanted to get my hands on a chevelle, camaro or a nova. Spent months on ebay looking for a project and got this, 68 Chevelle. Its perfect candidate for an LS swap. Got it for 1k and another 1800 shipping it to my part of the world and here she is

Ebay Auction pics





30 days later, arriving at 3am and seeing it for the first time






Lifted it up and thankfully its a clean frame with a bad floor panel


Ordered P-S-T body mounts and new hardware and while i wait, separated the body and sent the frame to the sandblaster


A quick grind to the frame to see what im dealing with


The resting place of the body till i locate fenders, rad support, hood and other bits and pieces and ship them out to my part of the world


Fast forward a couple of months, i gathered parts and shipped them. Frame got sand blasted and blistein shocks installed that i picked up cheap off ebay
Before and after:

[spitfire980]

After that, i installed the full UMI package which included front and rear sway bar, upper and lower control arms, frame braces and Polyurethrane differential bushing. Not bad for a first timer working on muscle cars and finishing in 5 hours.




Im also going to install the front end rebuild kit from P-S-T along with the body mounts. In the mean time, i have managed to get my hands on a donor truck. LQ4 with 4L80E. The plan is L92 or LS3 heads and Holley Hi-ram along with autokraft oil pan and dirty dingo motor mounts.

The block in question


The donor truck


Fast forward a couple of more months:
Good news and bad news

Bad news: the shop where the car is getting the work done hasn't been paying salaries for the past 4 months so all work has halted to a screeching stop and I need to start hunting for a competent shop that knows what they are doing.

Good news: I started paying the body guy on the side to get some tasks done so I got him to install the AMD front floor panels, patched the rear floor panels and installed a dynacorn front lower cowl panel so officially the car is major rust free!

Now, im lost what my next plan of attack should be?

Option 1: Paint the bottom of the car, spray primer on the body and interior quickly to avoid any more rust and install dynamat on the interior and install a Auto American Wire update kit (basically get the car ready body wise until final paint)

Option 2: Mate the frame to the body and start installing the LQ4 and 4L80E, install the fuel tank and plumbing and all that's required to get the car running (get the car turn key ready but the body is still bare)

Or what you have done or will you do if you were in my shoes?

Also, mounts should i get? im guessing tall and narrow?



This one is the correct one?
http://www.energysuspensionparts.com...sp?prod=3.1117

also, for tranny crossmember, since my car didnt come with one, im thinking of going with this one
http://www.summitracing.com/int/part...elle/year/1968

[spitfire980]

The garage where the car was being worked on, hadn't paid the salaries in 4 months and was closed by the Labor Court. I had already agreed with a new shop that when my salary comes, ill tow the frame and the body and they can start from where they left off. I come to find this paper stuck on the door of the garage while my BMW E24, Chevelle frame and parts and the Mercedes R129 Pano roof where still inside totaling over $22,000!!.



I call the manager and he simply says deal with it, the owner of the garage is ditching my calls, emails, messages and even a visit to his office was useless. I had to go to court and open a case for them to open the doors so i can get my stuff but the case is still pending. I was passing by the garage one day and noticed the back employee door was open. I walked in to find 2 workers practically living in the garage, I paid them 30 bucks each to flip the frame on its side and slide it out of a regular sized door! along with my pano roof and all the chevelle parts but the E24 is still locked in.

Called a crane to take the body for sandblasting then primer



Primed up, there was a small holes in the center of the trunk and at the rear quarters...no biggie but surprisingly no major rust!



Donor truck having the LQ4 and 4L80E taken out then selling the truck for scrap



Stay tuned for more updates!

[WSSix]

Welcome to the site. Nice project and plan you have going on. Are there many American muscle cars over in the UAE? Good luck getting your BMW back.

[spitfire980]

Originally Posted by WSSix

Welcome to the site. Nice project and plan you have going on. Are there many American muscle cars over in the UAE? Good luck getting your BMW back.

Thanks! there are here and there but you rarely see resto/mods. All you see are muscle cars fresh out of the container, slap on a plate and you are good to go! im going a different route with this one.

[spitfire980]

Its been awhile since i updated you guys so here it goes,

Took the block apart to see what im dealing with:




and found some rust in the cylinder walls and cam




So i had 3 choices,
A) go 4.030 over
B) replace the block
C) put new sleeve jackets

I tried option B and 3 different blocks from 3 different shops were just as bad or worse so i went with option C since its the most cost effective one

I also ordered comp cams, flowmaster 814116 Headers (1.75 inches, ceramic coated and polished) and managed to find a set of LS3/L92 heads from west coast racing heads for $545!!

The cam i went with


New oil pump, new seals all round, new piston rings....pretty much new everything


My R129 Benz getting an X-pipe, resonator delete and magnaflow muffler installed in the background


Heads installed, still need to get a holley hi-ram though








Still need the LS3 offset rockers though


Its almost a shame to cover up such beauty

[spitfire980]

I asked the current garage to check on the status of the body mounts since the previous garage said the only installed 4/8 because the bolts were missing (complete bull****) only to find out that the only installed the front 2 and not with the correct number!! Installed the remaining body mounts that i ordered from P-S-T along with a new set of bolts and called it a night.

The autokraft pan and dirty dingo sliders did wonders, there is plenty of space between the crossmember and the pan. The 4L80 fit with no issues and no contact with the body floor. There was even more space after all 8 body mounts were put in place!

anyways, enough rambling...here are the pics





Plenty of space left for that sweet holley hi-ram!


Autokraft oil pan to crossmember clearance


The big boy 4L80E in with no major problems and still some space to spare

[Rick D]

Looking great, sorry to hear about you issues with the other shop, man 4 months with out paying?? That's crazy!!

[tubbed69]

Very nice project,good luck and keep the updates coming.

[spec134]

Nice build. Very similar to mine. Glad to see you were able to find another shop to help.