Rusty the 1970 Chevelle

[Ackattack]

After several years of discussions with the boss (aka wife), I finally got a chevelle. I had joined a facebook group for chevelle's a while ago, and in the beginning of March, someone posted a link to a craigslist ad for a chevelle for sale in upstate NY. So I called the guy, talked to him a few times, and made the deal. Then I had to arrange shipping....what a nightmare. After 5 weeks of trying to get it picked up, I finally succeeded.

A few days later the car arrived.

Here's what I got. A 1970 Chevelle Malibu, straight 6, turbo 350, power brakes, power steering, white interior, and lots of rust! Hence the name Rusty.



From this angle it doesn't look too bad.

And it does have a complete engine:


But there is A LOT of rust:





So my son and I rolled it into the shop, removed the seats and the new floor pans it came with and did some vacuuming/cleaning.

Yesterday (Day 1) we began the teardown:

[Ackattack]

If you've followed my other truck builds, you'll know that I'm a fan of fuel injection. I've had a TPI 350 72 GMC, TBI 350 69 (No Buck), 5.3L LS (Bruiser), and of course 12V cummins in my 97 CC (mechanical fuel injection FYI).

Rusty won't be any different. Right now the plan is another LS engine. Right now the engine is far off, so we'll see what comes along. Since this is going to be my "wife's car" she wants an automatic. I really liked the drivetrain in my G8 that I had a few years ago for cruising. It had a 6.0L (L76 IIRC) and 6L80E. My one complaint about it was how slow it would down shift when you got on it, but that can be improved on with a little programming. After the engine goes in, I'm really thinking of putting a turbo on it, but we'll see how the budget is doing at that point.

I'll do some suspension upgrades. I'm doing some research on what works for these, but it looks like upper control arms with taller ball joints in the relatively budget way to get these to handle.

Out back, I'll need to upgrade from the 10 bolt (especially if I go turbo). Not sure what I'll do there. The thought of a ford 8.8 sounds interesting, but I'll need to do some more research to see if that will work out.

Additionally I'll go with bucket seats, A/C, I'm thinking a cowl hood, maybe 18/20 for wheels.

Not sure on color. My wife likes green, so we'll see.

Progress for tonight: I'm going to sell the 6 cyl out of the car. I figure a running engine is worth a lot more than a non-running engine, especially one that hasn't run in 20+ years. I grabbed a battery, changed out the positive battery cable connector and hit the starter. The engine turned over, so I went ahead and changed the oil. I ran a piece of hose from the fuel pump to a small gas tank and tried to start it. The engine cranked over pretty good, built oil pressure, but wouldn't start even spraying in some starter fluid. I put a spark tester on it, and it nothing. So it looks like I'll need to do some more tinkering with the ignition system. So....too be continued!

[nuke1]

Sounds simialr to my chevelle for he wife, great start to the car, now lets see some teardown pics!! hehe

[nzc10]

Thats awesome man! Reminds me of my restoration on my 69 charger it might need some work but you own it , can't wait to see some progress

[Lokin4AReason]

nice looking project ... also noticed the 71/72 rear bumper in the trunk ( or am I wrong .. ?? )

at least another one will be saved =0)

[Ackattack]

Originally Posted by Lokin4AReason

nice looking project ... also noticed the 71/72 rear bumper in the trunk ( or am I wrong .. ?? )

at least another one will be saved =0)

good eye. I actually like the 71/72 bumpers better, but I want to make it "right" so I'll look for a different one at some point. This one will be trading stock

I have the motor mount bolts left to remove and the engine/trans will be ready to come out. Its amazing how fast you can prep an engine to be removed when you have no intentions of reusing any of the stuff (I guess I did not cut up the wiring, but all of the hoses I figure were junk anyways). I'll have to get some pictures.

[Ackattack]

Been working on the chevelle a little more.

Got the engine and transmission out:






and we got most of the interior out:


I took a half a day off of work to go get the car inspected by the highway patrol and then to the tag office to get a title in my name. I did not get a title when I bought the car, as NY doesn't do titles for pre-72 vehicles. I was a little worried if I would have issues, but luckily I got through it without any issues. I do have to title it as a "non-highway" for now. When I get it up and running (in a few years) I'll have to take it back and have it inspected again to get it back on the road.

[Low Elco]

Cool! Hope you enjoy sheetmetal work!