So I've had this car sitting in my garage for almost two years now. I'm thinking of getting to work on it. I need to buy EVERYTHING but the body. Its an original 69 Chevelle SS body. I bought it because I LOVE these cars but don't have a clue where Im going with it. Anyone here have knowledge with these cars? I googled for some Chevy Forums but found TONS of em'. Anyone here know about these muscle cars? I need to know what are the pro's and cons of buying a 396 4-bolt, Crate Engine, or a 350 or something. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Best scenario is to make the car look as original as possible but drive and handle like a modern car, establish a budget and start researching suspension, brake upgrades etc. imo crate motors are a good way to go, nothing less than a 396 maybe a 427, Legendary is good place for interiors, find a good shop that does restos if possible, start at the bottom, chassis, suspension, brakes then drivetrain, interior and finally bodywork and paint, good luck.

 

Well put Eric... This should be one Hell of car when done..

 

You left out Auto Electrics

 

Funny that you say that. I had a '69 Chevelle SS with a 396 and I have really been thinking of it a lot lately. It was totally stock, all original, and in great condition. Although it didn't handle or brake too well, I have regretted selling it for several years now. Total original look gets more attention by the truly knowledgeable. Good luck with the build.

 

I love musclecars... You found a gem I plan on finding a 67 mustang gt500 to build up one day..Yearone yearone.com has tons of parts for muscle cars.. classicindustries.com For the engine build up.edelbrock.com These are good sources..Good luck and post pics

 

Why do that, DASH, when you can buy a brand-new 2007 Mustang GT or GT500 that, except for the chrome bumpers on the '67 vs. the body-color ones on the new car, looks almost identical on the outside? And the new ones, of course, despite the still-live rear axle, have far better engineering. Old cars like that not only require constant maintenance but also, with carburators and breaker-point ignitions, often don't have reliable cold-starts and warm-ups.

 

I grew up in the 60's and early 70's with muscle cars. I know the specs on them pretty well, but don't consider myself an expert on restoring them. I do know some things, however, about their restoration. In general, the GM muscle cars like yours are easier to restore because of their better, higher-quality Body by Fisher and interior hardware, which was noticeably better than the MoPar and Ford/Mercury bodies. The Dodge/Plymouth muscle cars, despite dramatic looks and colors, were some of the most difficult because of their very low factory quality outside of the durable powertrains.

On your Chevelle SS, you have several engine options if you want to restore it. Most of them were built with either 4-barrel 350's or 4-barrel 396's, although there were some 427's built and, later, sometime in '69 or '70, a huge 454 became available. The 454 was more of a torque monster than a high-end HP king, and, from my memory, had a lower redline than some of the other SS engines. If you really want super-HP and super-torque combined, consider dropping in the 435 HP Corvette 427 with the triple-deuce (3 two-barrel) carbs.....but they can be difficult to adjust and keep the the linkages up correctly.

Whatever engine you choose for your Chevelle, I highly recommend one with hardened valve seats....I think that is the only way they sell them today. Those engines, originally, were designed for 100-octane leaded gas, which went off the market decades ago, with the new emission requirements of the early 1970's. Today's 93-94 Octane premuim gas, and a little retarded spark timing, will (marginally) keep them from pinging, but the lack of tetraethyl lead in today's gas doesn't do the valve seats any good. Hardened valve seats compensate, to an extent, for this...as do additives in today's gas which replace the lead.

Also, the engine is only part of the issue. You also have to have a transmission that can handle the power. Most Chevelles, like their sister GM mucsle cars.....Pontiac GTO's, Buick GS's, Olds 442, etc.....and some non-GM muscle cars as well, used Hurst components and shifters for the 4-speed manual transmissions, and the automatics (when offered) were usually beefed-up versions of the excellent GM Turbo-Hydra-Matic 3-speed. The manual transmissions usually had a pretty heavy clutch, though......so I don't recommend them if you have leg or foot problems.

See my comments above to DASHOCKER, though.....these old cars require a lot of maintenance, chassis grease jobs with every oil change, and, unless retrofitted with electronic fuel injection and ignition systems, can sometimes be a pain in the a** on cold starts and warm-up.

Good luck.

 

The 67 is my dream machine. The most beautiful car Carrol Shelby churned out imo.. The new Stang does not compare.. As far as the live rear axle ( a mustang trait), a coilover suspension can be added, along with a beautiful polished pieces to stiffen the chassis .. That is the beauty of a build up. Does Eleanor ring a bell

 

No arguements there.....probably a toss-up between that and the Shelby AC Cobra. The AC, though, for most drivers, is too wild and primitive.

 

Great input guys. My neighbor across the street is a Buick Master Mechanic. He always has at least 3 old cars sitting in front of his car. Today he has a packard, jaguar and his 62 wildcat in front. He wants to keep my car completely stock while my other buddy who just finished his 66 nova want me to do something totally wild. Im in the middle like Indio suggested. I was thinking of putting a 427 in there by my neighbor told me that its REALLY heavy and would take much more to stop the car and what not. I would like to replace the drum brakes for rotors. I would love to go with a 396 from a 69 and have the engine rebuilt. I know I'm all over the place with this thing. I am definitely not trying to cut corners here though. I would plan to keep this thing forever. Luckily for me, and other chevy owners, there seems to be a plethora of parts to restore this girl. Unfortunately for us Chevy owners due to a rise in interest in these cars it's going to be kinda pricey.

I dont even know what color to go with either!!! Daytona Yellow is an original color for this girl. I was even thinking about a nice orange. Lipstick red always does these cars right. Maybe even a nice Copper or Tangerine. Im really leaning a Charcoal Grey. Not sure about the ralley stripes. This thing did have a Tonneau Cover. DECISIONS DECISIONS.

I'm glad that there are a few of you out there that know about these cars. I turn my head for classics. I brake for these things.

 

Don't know much about the Chevelles. All I know is, I went up against one when I was running at a 1/4 mile track. I had a 91 Pontiac Trans Am with some bolt ons and NOS. The Chevelle SS I went up against had a 454 with straight pipes and no mufflers, damn thing was so loud it drowned out the sound of my car. We lined up, the tree went green, I mashed on it (that was really stupid) cause I had madd tire spin and it ended up costing me valuable time. I ran an et around the low 14's. The Chevelle ran a low 12 at well over 130.

I wanted to go up against him again but we never got the chance to pair up again. The best time I ran that day was 12.11 at around 125, not bad for a 4000lb+ car if ya ask me

 

Though, of course, you can go with any color you want, for authenticity, I'd go with one of the factory originals. You mentioned copper......... GM, in the late 60's, had some classy copper, burnt-orange, brown, and olive colors. I'm not good at computer-scanning and posting photos, but check with a local body shop...they can show you some original color chips.

My personal favorite muscle-car colors were the 1970-71 Dodge Plum Crazy/ In-Violet purple metallic and Tor-Lime Green colors...but they, of course, would probably look out of place on a GM car.

 

Classic red with black stripes or sliver with black stripes Chevelle SS is the way to go... Have you seen Funk Master Flex's 1970 Chevelle SS? I saw it in person at his celebrity car show in Atlanic City NJ back in 2004.. Original looking beast with a monster 454.. Most of his replica oe parts came from classic industries

 

Yes, red ones are nice, but the most popular color that I, personally, can remember on them, (and I was in high school and remember them brand-new) was dark green with white stripes.