The stiffened chassis became the foundation
for Tony’s complete front and rear bolt-on suspension. The front uses
adjustable upper control arms, eliminating the need for alignment shims and
increasing clearance at the headers. The shorter upper A-arm and taller spindle
reverse the camber curve when cornering to keep the tire tread flat on the
ground for excellent handling. Tony also installed a 11/8-inch splined sway bar
with adjustable end links so the effect of the bar can be tuned for various
tracks. The rear suspension uses ABC Performance upper and lower control arms
as well as chassis braces to strengthen the factory control-arm mounts. The
upper arms are adjustable to make setting the pinion angle easy. We used Viking
Performance double-adjustable coilovers at all four corners. This let me get a
really low stance without giving up ride quality or handling capability.
When it came to the brakes, I mixed
traditional and non-traditional thinking. I went mainstream with the bigger is better
philosophy, choosing Baer 14-inch rotors for the front and 13-inch in the rear
with six-piston calipers at all four corners. I broke tradition by skipping the
power-booster, instead using a 11/8-inch bore, cast-iron master cylinder from
CPP. I don’t like the disconnected feeling that often comes with a vacuum brake
booster, and this particular unit retained a muscle-car look under hood.
Admittedly, I have to really stand on the brakes when coming into a corner hot,
but for regular street driving, it’s very natural feeling.
In between self-taught lessons on
installing the Chevrolet Performance 6.2L LS3 engine, I worked on assembling
the interior, wiring everything with a Painless Performance harness, installing
the Flex-a-lite aluminum radiator add electric fan, and fiddling with hundreds
of other items. Everything adds up in time. For example, it’s easy to gloss
over the fact that installing a Flaming River master on/off switch will take a
few hours to do cleanly. And to hide an MSD ignition controller under the dash
might require disassembling the wiring harness plugs to route the wires through
a reasonably sized hole.
Several friends helped during this 13-month
total makeover. Chris Kill spent many evenings and weekends doing whatever was
needed, including bending all of the brake lines and plumbing a Hurst roll
control that I have yet to use. Fellow Chevelle enthusiast Aaron Oberle
installed most of the FAST EZ-EFI fuel injection. Tony and TJ came over several
times to install the bumpers and frontend trim, and they helped hoist the
Tremec transmission in and out a few times as I sorted out the clutch
components.
I was nervous when it came time to fire up
the Chevelle and drive it for the first time in its new form. I had driven the
previous version for 15 years. I knew every sound and recognized every feeling
transmitted through the car. This was the same car, yet it was completely
different. The apprehension didn’t last long, as I grew accustomed to having
loads of power on tap and handling that’s surprised more than a few owners of
late-model Camaros, Mustangs, and Corvettes at open-track days. Even though the
car feels much different than it did before, I look forward to decades of
cross-country drives, racing, and generally getting to know this new version of
my old friend.
The
trick to fitting five-inch Stewart-Warner gauges in a ’66 Chevelle is using a
bolt-in ABC Performance dash. The gauges had the look I wanted, and a rack of
toggle switches with aircrafts completes it. Air conditioning would have been
nice, but I wanted to keep it simple. Same for the lack of a stereo.
The
interior sets the tone for this car more than any other part. The low-back vintage
Kirkey race seats look like they’re right out of the ‘60s. The steering wheel
is a Grant 143/4-inch racing wheel on a Flaming River tilt column. I deleted
the back seat for a full-race look and covered the entire floor with Daytona
Weava carpet from C.A.R.S. Inc.
Splatter
paint makes the trunk look stock and hides that Tony Stretched the wheel tubs
2inches to swallow the massive 335/30ZRR18 rear tires. Since doing this
project, stamped, wide wheel tubs have become available from ABC Performance.
The Optima Redtop and Painless fuse box are mounted right above the rear axle.
The
goal was to make the engine look as traditional as possible, so the Chevrolet
Performance LS3 crate motor was used with a carbureted intake manifold. Chris
Kill painted a pair of Holley coil covers and a 14-inch aluminum air-cleaner
assembly in Mercedes Diamond Silver Metallic, then gave them a grained look to
emulate spun aluminum. The wires and hoses required for a fuel-injected modern
engine are all completely hidden.
FAST
EZ-EFI hides where most people assume a carburetor resides. Keeping the engine
looking tidy was no small chore. There are more wires hidden under the intake
manifold runners now than the car previously had I total under hood. The FAST
ECU is hidden behind the passenger wheel well, while the remote reservoir for
the clutch master cylinder is behind the driver side. The feed and return fuel
lines snake down the back of the engine along with the MSD ignition harness to
control the eight GM coils.
The
ABC Performance front suspension bolts onto the stock mounting points. The
upper A-arms are adjustable, making alignments shim-free. Tony recommended
450-lb-in. spring rates for the front and 200 for the rear. The sway bar is a
splined 11/8-inch bar with adjustable arms, allowing for increasing or reducing
the applied force.
Charlie
Thurman at Superior Radiator machined flat caps for the Billet Specialties Mag
G wheels for a late-‘60s look. The front tires are 265/35ZR18 BF Goodrich while
the Baer brake setup includes 14-inch rotors and six-piston calipers.
What I’d do differently
First, a Positive: I’m very happy that I had top-quality paint and bodywork done. The
car looks outstanding, and I don’t have to make any apologies when I park in
front of someone’s house. I also don’t have people asking to buy the car
anymore, thinking they can steal it for $3,000.
Pedals:
Instead of using stock pedals, I’d definitely mount a Tilton or Wilwood
swinging pedal assembly with integrated clutch and bake master cylinders under
the dash. The stock brake-penal ratio is awful, and I’m sure that I’m not
getting all of power I could from the Baer brakes. After marker pedals also
would have also eased the challenge of converting the mechanical clutch linkage
to hydraulic. Naturally, the difficulty would be fitting the new pedal assembly
under the dash, but with the car completely taken apart, this probably would
have been just as easy as the work I did adapting to the stock pedals. Finally,
this would have removed the last components from the firewall for an even
cleaner look.
Trick Plating: I’d skip the cobalt nickel-plating on the bumpers and trim. It
created the desired look of contrasting a dark color with the bright-blue paint
while retaining the reflective quality of chrome, but the dark layer is paper
thin, and in less than a year, it has worn through. The car would have a
completely timeless appearance if I had these parts chromed instead. That’s
important for a car I plan on keeping and not redoing for a long, long time.
Cooler Steering: I learned at my first road
race that I desperately needed a power-steering cooler. The fluid reservoir was
230 degrees F after 15 minutes on track! I installed a Flex-a-lite cooler and
dropped the temperature to 170 degrees at the next event.
Coils vs. Coilovers: The last thing I found that needed changing was the coil springs.
The first set of conventional coil springs sagged inconsistently, requiring
some funky adjustments to level the car out. This also made me question their
true spring rates. I swapped out the coils for Viking Performance
double-adjustable shock and high-travel and high-tensile steel springs.
LS Swap:
it’s still a tough call on the LS swap versus a conventional small-block. I
would probably still choose this engine again, but I’d be much better prepared
mentally and financially for what it would take to install it,
Roll cage:
The ‘cage is the last one that I’m not sure about. There’s no arguing that it
adds significant rigidity to the chassis and is a smart decision for any car
that goes on the racetrack. And Tony did a great job tucking it out of the way
as much as possible. But a ‘cage is a ‘cage, which means access behind the
front seats is next to impossible for an adult, and you deal with the bars
every time you get in and out of the car.
