The next phase in the car’s life was not
all that good. I moved on from the publishing world in Detroit for Chrysler.
During that time, my four-wheeled toys stayed locked up in storage, waiting for
me to have more time to spend with them. For the Chevelle, that moment came in
2010. The rust that was buried under layers of body filler was starting to show
through, and I wanted to have the paint and bodywork done professionally.
That’s when I met the father-and-son team of Tony and TJ Grzelakowski. They had
two businesses: Advanced Body & Color, which does show-quality paint, and
ABC Performance, which has a line of performance parts for Chevelles.
After tossing ideas back and forth with
Tony over that summer, I launched into a frame-off rebuild of the car. I was
enamored with the idea of Pro Touring, so the goal was to build a modern
version of a late- ‘60s SCCA Trans-Am racer – a little bit of Smokey Yunick’s
Chevelle mixed with touches found in the current crop of Pro Touring cars. The
sheet metal would be smoothed and cleaned of all extraneous trim, letting the
classic lines of a ’66 Chevelle stand out. It would sit as low as possible
while fitting maximum tires in the wheel wells. The wheels would be a classic
five-spoke deign with sandblasted centers. I wanted the car to look simple,
something that just about anyone interested in muscle cars could relate to. I
had Darell Mayabb pen an illustration that put the combination of my and Tony’s
ideas a single visual roadmap.
With more than a little trepidation over
taking apart a car that had been my mechanical best friend in this exact form
for so long, I spent a weekend removing every part I had installed over the
past 20-plus years. I laughed more than once remembering all times I had pulled
engines, dropped trannies to change clutches, and left behind things I meant to
go back and fix later. When I finished taking it apart, what was the same set
of frame rails, roof, floor and quarter-panels that Mike had given to me so
long ago. I hauled all of the sheet metal and the frame to Strip-It-All, where
it was blasted of all past sins. The raw parts were then delivered to Advanced
Body & Color, where Tony and TJ went to work installing a host of new sheet
metal from C.A.R.S. Inc. and National Parts Depot.
Tony
and TJ installed ABC Performance mini-tub and frame boxing kits on the stock
chassis. This was just before the body and chassis would be mated together for
the last time.
I
got really good at swinging the LS3 in and out of the perfectly painted engine
bay while making modifications to the oil pan for steering-linkage clearance.
The Holley pan was made for ’68 – ’72 Chevelles, which have more clearance than
the early cars.
A
Tremec T56 Magnum six-speed was a natural choice for this car because of its
strength and great gear ratios. I used and installation kit from American
Powertrain that included a hydraulic-clutch conversion, a flywheel and clutch,
a Quick Time scatter shield, and a Hurst Shifter.
I’m
pretty fond of the strength and versatility of a Ford 9-inch, so using a Moser
bolt-in for my Chevelle was an easy choice. The ABL tub kit uses a stock-width
axle and doesn’t require you to relocate the control arms.
There
were plenty of nights and weekends spent like this. I really like clean
appearances and worked hard to make sure that everything that shouldn’t be in
plain sight wasn’t.
In addition to replacing sheet metal and
making the gaps better than any stock Chevelle ever was, Tony and TJ shaved the
bumper bolt, filled the huge rectangular openings in the stock front bumper,
and shaved the windshield wipers from the cowl (the car hasn’t had working
windshield wipers the entire time I’ve owned it, so why start now?). Tom welded
together two people grilles to create one continuous design across the front of
the car. There’s a lot of OE trim missing from the car’s exterior, which
escapes most people’s notice, but it’s often what’s not there that makes one
car look better than another.
With
the wheel lips right at the top of the fender opening, the car looks low and
clean, it’s usually only those following me on the road or track me on the road
or track who notice that the car is mini tubbed, sitting on 335/30ZR18
BF-Goodrich g-Force T/A KDW tires.
With the body perfect, Tony laid down coat
after coat of a custom PPG blue that looks as good under florescent lighting as
it does in broad daylight. The paint was done on New Year’s Eve, just four
months after the car was dropped off at Advanced Body & Color. We
celebrated briefly. Then it was on to the chassis and ‘cage.
We decided we could build a top-performing
chassis using the stock frame and components Tony makes through ABC
Performance. The key was increasing overall stiffness, so Tony started by
welding in one of his frame-boxing kits, which use CNC-laser-cut plates to turn
the open-C-channel frame rails into boxed sections, making the chassis four
times stiffer than stock. He also installed his mini-tub frame kit, moving the
rear frame rails inboard to make room for 2-inch-wider meats. The frame was
coated in Eastwood Satin Extreme Chassis Black.
The body was mated to the chassis using ABC
Performance solid body mounts. Even though an automaker will spend months
figuring out the right durometer hardness for body bushings for optimum ride
quality, I don’t think most hot rodders can tell the differences between
rubber, polyurethane, and solid mounts, given all of the vibration our cars can
produce. However, the additional stiffness gained through solidly tying the
body to the frame is a difference you’ll feel at the track. The addition of a cage
welded to the body and frame further shortens the argument. Speaking of cages,
Tony bent and welded one that connects all the key suspension points on the
chassis. He also tucked it as far out of the way as possible to minimize the
hassle of living with a ‘cage in a street car.
I
love driving to an event, unloading the trunk, adjusting the shock settings,
and hitting the track! Among the pro drivers, I’m usually mid-pack, which I’m
completely satisfied with. During open-track days, I take evil joy in passing
owners of brand-new Corvettes and even the occasional Viper.
I
had a blast in 2012, hitting as many road course and autocrosses as I could.
The car ended up weight 3,736 with me behind the wheel, with a 52/48 percent
front/rear weight bias. The all-aluminum engine certainly helped with that.
