Words: Tommy Parry
After buying this Chevelle sight unseen some six years ago, Bart was mostly pleased. Aside from an unsightly tach on the dash, he had a nice selection of goodies to play around with. Clean paint and an impressive level of cleanliness left him happy, but it was short-lived; the car was only superficially pretty.
Among the aforementioned parts were a 396 motor, a roller hydraulic valvetrain, Keith Black pistons, an Edelbrock Performer RPM 8.5cfm carburetor, an Edelbrock Pro 2.0 intake, an Accel Performance Distributor, Accel Hi Temp Spiral Core plug wires, Headman ceramic coated headers, Flowmaster 50 Series dual 3" mufflers, an MSD ignition system, a Holley Performance fuel system, a Camaro’s power steering system, a Hurst Shifter and a 4" Cowl Fiberglass hood with locking pins.
After closer inspection, he noticed how poorly the car been put together. There was overspray everywhere, the core support had corroded from exposure to battery acid and there was a hideous patch job on the transmission tunnel. He realized the beauty was only skin deep, and a simple nip and tuck wouldn’t be enough to meet his standards.
First, Bart took the massive tachometer off the dash and mounted it alongside the rally gauges in a more discreet location. Then, after replacing the carburetor, he started to sort out the handling with a set of BMR 2” progressive drop springs in the rear and polyurethane bushings at all four corner.
The roadholding improved considerably, and to keep himself upright, he fitted a set of Cipher seats with three-point belts. Complemented by TSW Snetterton wheels wrapped in 295/35/18 ContiSport Contact 3 tires, under which he mounted Cadillac CTS-V brakes, the car was quickly transforming into a bonafide pro tourer.
Handling well was high on the list, but so was having a sumptuous cabin. Inside, he replaced the rear bench with that from a G8 GT, devised some panels to help it fit, and retrofitted the dash with a set of Speedhut GPS gauges.
Now the car was stylish and agile, he figured he could modify the motor to the improved platform. To suit his hankering for more power, he picked up an LQ4/4L80E. It was in a sad state, so he rebuilt it with DSS Racing pistons, PAC springs, an Elgin camshaft, BT pushrods, LT4 conrods, flex fuel injectors and a standard truck intake. He rebuilt the transmission, then capitalized on the new powertrain performance by swapping gears from 3.31 to 3.73. The acceleration was outrageous.
Again, he needed to modify areas to complement an improvement in another area. More acceleration needed better body control and grip, and so he went with one of the best Viking coilovers - one of the best packages around.
He’s got plenty more on the list, as this build is just beginning. A new power steering pump, new wiring and a few loose ends are currently on his to-do list. As the snow has melted and the weather’s improving in Minnesota, he’s sure to get plenty done in the coming months. If you want to follow Bart’s inspiring build, you can view his thread here.