Rick's page
THE PETS
Chevelles
1965 Corvette
Motorcycles and Track Days
The Corvette Build- Drivetrain and Interior
The Corvette Build- Wiring and Final Assembly (Phase 1)
The Corvette Buildup (Phase 2) chassis conversion
More Corvette Phase 2 progress
Corvette Phase 3 Final Assembly and Glamour pictures
1949 Mercury Woody Wagon project- Part 1
Chico house
Mercury Woody Project- Part 2
Mercury Woody Project- Part 3
I believe cars are more than "a way to get from point A to point B". Cars should be fun. Sometimes I get carried away.
Here's my '68 Chevelle wagon. It started out innocently enough. I wanted a "daily driver" that had some character, and could haul my bikes around inside where they'd be safe. Things got a LITTLE out of control. I wanted to build an "SS" themed wagon. That meant having enough motor to back up the image. I found a nicely built 400 c.i. small block and added ceramic coated headers and 2-1/2" exhaust. The brakes and suspension are full Pro-touring style. It has 13" front, and 12" rear cross-drilled rotors and a Lee close-ratio and revalved steering box. The front suspension uses Savitskie adjustable A-arms with Howe tall balljoints to allow positive camber in turns. It's got Eibach performance springs, Bilstein shocks, urethane bushings front and rear, large sway bars, boxed rear trailing arms with an Edelbrock stiffening kit. I kept the original 10-bolt rear, but added 3.73 posi gears with a 700R4 overdrive transmission. That gives the car excellent acceleration and still keeps decent gas mileage. I added a cowl induction hood, and shaved the rear door handles before I had it painted and had the SS stripe kit done. It has an oversized aluminum radiator, a Lincoln Mark 8 electric fan, and a Delta Current Control fan controller. The car can sit in 100 degree heat, with the (factory!) A/C running full blast, and never go above 195 degrees, it's great. People really get a kick out the old wagons, and this one really is a blast to drive.
The interior is nicely done with updated gauges built into the dash, and new seats and a full carpet kit, including the cargo area. It's designed to haul bikes and the mutts.
Here's the 1970 Chevelle convertible I'd owned since 1991. I just sold it in April '09 to start on a new project, a 1965 Corvette. It's on the next page.
I updated the front and rear suspensions about two years ago. The car REALLY handles and stops nicely now. It now has Hotchkis springs, Bilstein shocks, SPC fully adjustable front upper A-arms, Howe tall upper and lower ball joints for improved camber. It also has a Lee revalved, tight ratio steering box. It has factory sway bars front and rear, and full urethane bushings though out. The rear also has Edelbrock tubular upper trailing arms and stiffening arms.
The brakes are 13" Baer fronts with 11" GM discs in the rear. Wheels are 17X8 fronts and 17X10 Boyd Coddingtons with Goodyear Eagle F1 tires.
Sample Photo 8
The interior was my own design. I had to relocate the console to work with the new transmission. I used Cerullo seats (Great seats!), and then made my own door panels, installed the stereo, and had Almeden Upholstery stitch up the rear seat and door panel coverings.
Sample Photo 10
I fabricated my own dashboard. It took me almost one year to finish this. This was all before the new "plug and play" bolt-in dashboards came out. Dashboard work is NOT fun, but the results justified the effort.
Sample Photo 12
Of course, it ain't a muscle car without some muscle. It's a .020" over 454 with aluminum Edelbrock RPM oval port heads, RPM Air-Gap intake, 750 CFM carb, with a sizeable Clay Smith solid lifter cam, crane Gold roller rockers, 4 bolt mains, forged steel crank and connecting rods. According to the "desktop dyno" it should be close to 540 HP and 540 lbs of torque.
It's backed up by a Tremec 5 speed and 12 bolt posi rear with 3.42 gears. All I need now is traction.
In April '11 I put a new engine in the wagon. It's another 400 cu. in. small block, but this one is a totally different beast from the last one. Forged crank and internals, AFR 195 heads that flow a LOT of air, a solid lifter ca, Victor Jr. intake manifold, and Holley 750 really wake this motor up. Everything is matched for 2,000-6,500 RPM. Where the prior engine was running out of steam at 4,500 RPM, this one is seriously coming to life.
I had the transmission beefed up to handle the extra horsepower while I was at it.
I added a little chrome to spruce up the engine compartment and cleaned up and painted things to show better.
Wagon update Aug 2010. My old back hated the bench seats, so I selected some REALLY nice "leatherette" material to match the interior, and had Cerullo make a set of seats. Then I pulled the back seat and had it stitched to match, then installed a stock center console and floor shifter. It's way more comfortable, and the seats are outstanding.
