By Tommy Parry
Not impressed with the power or the handling of this big land yacht, Kevin sought to sharpen this heirloom. This Caprice originally belonged to his father, and he’d kept all the original features: 396/Powerglide, vinyl top, bench seat, drum brakes & whitewalls. Only the paint had been changed.
With the aims of putting the car on the Hot Rod Power Tour, he started his first phase of development. This included 700R4 transmission, 4-wheel disc brakes, 2″ drop spindles, 1.5″ drop springs, Hotchkis suspension, a new exhaust, and 17″ wheels.
Those modifications were enough to carry it to the Power Tour in 2003 and 2004, but its brief moment in the sun ended soon after. For the following decade, it didn’t evolve. Family obligations and life took precedence.
Once his kids became a little older, Kevin found himself with a few more weekends free. He began the second phase of development by buying a L92/6L90E combination, selling the 396, then with the help of his friend Terry, started cutting into the floor to make room for a six-speed automatic. Soon after, they stumbled upon rust along the rear window channel, which in turn leaked into the floorpans and trunk pans. This second phase was bound to be a little more labor-intensive.
After mocking up the 6L90E transmission, they realized it hung just a little too low for his liking; the air ride suspension didn’t allow for much clearance. Rather than cut even more of the car to bring the transmission higher into the body, he took the tidier, less destructive approach and bought a 4L80E.
Getting everything to fit in the front end took a few weekends and a bit of profanity, thrown wrenches, and head scratching. The Ridetech suspension, AGR steering box, and Flaming River steering column, and modified engine mounts came next. The factory mounts were moved backwards, cantilevered off the crossmember with 1/4″ plate, and gusseted for strength.
They then modified the Hotchkis LCAs by drilling a hole through the center under the perch and bolting the bags to the Hotchkis bars. Underneath the 17” Cragar Forged SS wheels, he added 13″ front brakes from Performance Online, and at the rear, he chose CPP 12″ rear discs.
The Caprice then sat through a two-year hiatus, and when Kevin returned to it, he addressed some of the cosmetic issues. After primering the shaved firewall, he decided to peel back the crusty glue on the vinyl top. Using some of that adhesive remover and Scotch-Brite in a stuffy garage might’ve killed a few brain cells, but it certainly helped expose the original paint. Don’t fret—he’s not planning on keeping his Caprice looking like a squad car for long.
The one upside to the COVID crisis is that Kevin is now free to tinker more of the time. Underneath, he shot the car with Eastwood DTM Epoxy primer, then painted the frame with Eastwood Extreme Chassis black. After many hours spent prepping, he covered the floors in Lizard Skin and one coat of ceramic heat shield.
Enlisting the help of his brother Bob, the heads were removed from the L92 Escalade engine to make way for a valve job and a COMP VVT cam. He also grabbed a set of LS9 head gaskets and Holley valve covers that eliminate the coil brackets. To fit the Caprice chassis, the LS3-sourced Pacesetter shorty headers had the original collectors chopped off and replaced with Hooker units.
There’s still a great deal in store for this inspiring build. If you’d like to keep tabs on Kevin’s progress—something which is ramping up in these strange but strangely fruitful times, you can visit his detailed build thread here.
