1972 Chevelle: November 2017

Day 216 - 7/19/13 Drag racing

One of my high school friends talked me into drag racing at the Portland International Raceway today. I was incredibly slow...I cannot remember the times, but it was probably closer to 16 seconds in the quarter mile. Also, that's probably the last time we do that with this drive train. I felt like the transmission died a little inside, but we had fun doing it!

Green light, go!

Day 215 - 7/16/13 Rear suspension revamp

I've been wanting to update the suspension all around, but more than just shocks. It's time to do the rear control arm bushings, and while we're at it, install an oem rear sway bar from a Monte Carlo I picked up.

We tried multiple methods, from drilling to burning the bushings out. Drilling seemed to be the most effective way to get the old bushings out.

Since we're installing a rear sway bar, the lower control arms need stiffening up. You can buy 'drop in' spacer/plates but they're cheesy. So we sleeved the bolt holes and welded flat stock on the bottom side to make them more robust.

Time to paint them. I taped off the rear sleeves so you can see the gold zinc finish from the back of the car, because why not.

Upper arms in with the new bushings

Everything going back together, bushings in the arms, sway bar, and the new springs I just put in as well.

Ready to lower back down and test drive

Day 214 - 7/14/13 New rear springs

Today I installed my new rear lowering springs! The original ones we clamped were ghetto and saggy, so it was time to get some proper springs.

Proper 2 inch drop Eibach progressive springs

Rear springs on these A-bodies are a breeze, just take the lower shock bolt off and lower the rear end down with a jack. Until next time.

Day 213 - 6/11/13 HS parking lot

As my senior year comes to a close, thought I'd get a picture of the parking lot at school. Surprisingly, there's quite a few older cars along with mine.

Tyler's Dart was MIA that day, so he drove his mom's Jetta.

Day 212 - 6/10/13 Blackout

In case anyone was wondering, I don't like white letter tires. What's even worse is when they're visible from the back side. So to fix this, it's time to black out the letters with a gnarly sharpie.

Ahh, much better

Have to do the rears too!

Day 211 - 5/8/13 PTW Show

This morning we headed over to Portland, for an annual car show at the Portland Transmission Warehouse. They've been putting it on for many years, and I've been taken to it many of my years, and always wanted to take my own car to it. Well, this year I got to do just that!

Pre-staging at home

Parked and ready for the show

It was pretty sunny!

Until next year...

Day 210 - 3/13/13 No more racecar

I've been daily driving the car since late summer, and since then there has been no door panels or carpet in it. I decided it's probably time to put at least put in the old front door panels so the glass doesn't get banged up anymore.

My Grandma made me a seat cover out of vinyl until I get the seats redone.

Original under paper taped back on.

The original panels had seen many seasons and the vinyl had since unpeeled from the bottom, so I tried to aluminum tape it down for now.

Installed!

Day 209 - 3/4/13 Sway bar bushings

The front sway bar end links and center bushings have seen better days, so we replaced them with energy suspension polyurethane bushings to tighten up the front end.

Before

Installed!

Day 208 - 2/6/13 Wheel fitment

Rear quarters needed some more working, and my trusty hammer fixed that right up!

The pinch seam on this side is quite weak already, so having them rust from cracked paint is not a concern. The key was just not pushing the angle of the lip too far.

Drilled new screw holes further out to prepare for the cut to the molding. Trimming down these moldings is a cleaner method rather then trying to roll them as well.

New 215/65/15 Cooper Cobras and Ansen center caps from Summit installed up front.

All done with fitment (for now...)

Day 207 - 2/4/13 Testing...1 2 3

I managed to borrow a tire with the sizing I'm looking for to get it mocked up in the front. On the front 7" wide Rallies there was a 235/60, but it's a little wide with the slots and being lowered. Decided on a 215/65 for the 7" slots up front, should give plenty of clearance.

Also, we resealed the body seam on the cowl, seemed to be the thing to do before the molding goes back on.

Installed! Just need to order front center caps and Cooper Cobras to match the rears and I'll be dialed.

Day 206 - 2/2/13 New wheels!

I've been wanting to get a different set of wheels, preferably 15s, and with a more aggressive backspace. Well, I found some while visiting a friend and he gave me a good deal on them.

Working at a tire store has it's perks, got the rears swapped over on lunch break. Went from a 255/60 on 8' wide Rally to 8.5" slots.

Day 205 - 1/18/13 Wheel opening moldings

The Christmas season has come and gone, but it's time to install the new wheel opening moldings my grandparents got me! The quality and the fit of them out of the box is amazing.