To the right is what the Chevy looked like right after I bought it. It is a factory 138 (SS) car and was painted white at some point in it's history. When I picked it up it had the usual junk installed (speakers, crappy shifter, band-clamp-tach, aftermarket wheels, etc.). But the vehicle initially looked sound (I should have looked much closer). And in truth, the body wasn't the worst in the world (at least the roof and hood were good). I had to put in a trunk pan, repair the front fenders, patch the floor, and put in all new rear quarters. So to avoid having an all too boring list of pictures of what I did to the car, I'll just keep it short and sweet. The whole thing took about 2.5 years to get it on the road and then another year of reworking the engine, transmission and rear end after my first engine builder did less than stellar work -- I went to HiTech Motorsport in Elk River, MN to get it done right.
And now some shots of the results. All new interior, exterior and motor work. The custom made center console insert holds the additional gauges that typically hang off the bottom of the dash. I didn't like that so I made a steel insert for the gauges as well as the brake line lock. Engine bay changes include a FiTech fuel injection system, power brake booster, front brake line locks, and Dakota Digital cruise control system, and a set of ceramic headers. Other mechanical mods include a baffled gas tank with internal fuel pump, Yukon gear limited slip, front disc brakes, blue tooth hidden radio and amp with hat shelf 6x9 speakers. The paint color is back to factory original Marina Blue. I did keep the interior black, but the fender tag says this car was originally medium blue. 50/50 for me on the decision. A lot of people go with black, and the blue would have been different, but man -- that's a lot of blue.
The story. Like many 50+ year-old cars that have become collectors to one degree or another, this vehicle has a little bit of a story to it. So in 2005 or so I decided I wanted to do a full restoration. I dipped my toes into a few partials earlier -- The white Honda Civic, Dad's Mercedes, the '72 Chevelle, and the '74 CJ/5 -- and I now wanted to try a complete automotive re-do. I looked around for a while and came across this Chevelle in 2006 with the keen eyes of my friend Joe, who spotted this car in his old neighborhood (he had that C10 Pickup mentioned in this website). It took me until 2007 to work a deal with the owner and he sold it to me. But not before sharing a picture and this story. The picture showed the white Chevelle sitting in the middle of a large concrete pad with absolutely nothing around it. Turns out the Chevy was parked in the garage of a house where a tornado came though. It swept the house off the foundation but left the Chevy in it's original location in the former garage -- now simply a large concrete pad. The rear bumper was pulled out, and the glass and paint were scratched, but nothing was smashed or broken. Amazing. Since the glass wasn't in horrible shape, I decided to reinstall it after the new paint job to assist with telling this very story sometime in the future. Just wish I could have kept that picture from the previous owner.