TC member #4523
I drug this 68 Chevelle Post out of a field for $500 - There was basically nothing left of the car but the shell & doors.
After about three parts cars that were acquired I had enough parts to make one whole car & sold the rest of the parts on EBAY & through local listings - 
I basically had a FREE 1968 Chevelle Post to restore. Once I had a plan of attack of how I wanted the car to be set-up & my goals for the final outcome, the fun started. I decided I didn't want to clone it as a Super Sport, but I wanted it to have the Super Sport look & handling characteristics.
I purchased the car pretty much stripped to nothing, so putting it back together as a numbers matching car never crossed my mind. I did all the work myself and that includes all sheet metal work, body work, paint, interior & everything in between. Once I got done messing around with acquiring enough parts to have one complete car I started stripping the main project down to nothing. Every last nut & bolt was taken off and then I started bead blasting it down to bare metal to see what I had to work with.
It turns out the floor boards were not worth trying to salvage, along with the rear quarters being completely rotted out and full of mud. This Chevelle didn't have a front clip when purchased but the doors surprisingly were very solid, and needed very little dent repairs. One of the 68 El Camino's I acquired for parts had a new floor pan installed, so with minor fabrication I was able to use it and save a few dollars. I wasn’t so lucky with the rear quarter panels though, and had to purchase new ones.
While I was spending the dollars for sheet metal, I went ahead a purchased a whole new front clip with Super Sport hood, complete rear quarter panels & trunk pan assembly. At a later date I also decided to replace the trunk lid (not shown in pictures) due to seam rust along the edges.
After getting all the sheet metal installed and welded in, (don't worry I set it down on the frame & NEW body mounts to get all gaps lined up correctly) I realized that the outside body work was going to take a bit of time so I focused on getting the inside re-sealed to prevent rust from forming. After that my next major challenge was the windshield frame as it was totally rotted out along the bottom rail into the dash / firewall assembly. I ended up scrapping the idea of fixing the rust issue, and cut the whole thing out, and used another good assembly from one of my parts cars. I had taken pictures of the body work process, but it seems they up and vanished, so I apologize for not showing the process.
I had never done interior work before in my life so that was quite the learning experience. Pictures do not show it justice as it turned out GREAT! Since I didn’t have any of the original stuff, I went ahead with bucket seats out of a 71? Chevelle & just about everything is new inside. This includes the door panels, headliner, seat skins, carpet kit , dash pad, window moldings / rubbers, - yadda yadda - you should get the hint.
Here is the heart of this old Chevrolet. I went with the blacked out look on this BBC just to be different from all those who have done chrome everything. You are looking at newer style Big Block 454 valve covers on an older block to achieve the blacked out look without painted valve covers. The 454 engine and 400 transmission I ended up using were a 1974 truck assembly with 10,00 miles since being rebuilt on both units.
I had a 1968 Chevelle “ED” Code 396 block sitting around, but decided against it due too finances not allowing for a proper rebuild. Since the 400 trans was a truck unit with bolt on yoke, I had to modify the rear output shaft to allow for the car slip yoke to work properly.
( Just a side thought - In case someone was wondering if its possible to use a truck 400 transmission or not )
Power is transfered through a 1970 12 bolt rear end with boxed lower control arms / factory sway bar and 3.31 gear set.The reason I raised the shock locations up a bit was for the ride height that I wanted to achieve by using new taller coils for a SS El Camino. I tried a set of new coils, supposedly for a 1968 396 SS, but it seemed the rear end of the car was taking a squat. Rather than using air shocks, I decided to try a stiffer spring for the "truck" application SS El Camino, and it turned out to be the look I was hoping to achieve.
This was a low budget restoration... if you haven't noticed, but all key parts that needed attention got it by sand blasting the frame and repainting it. I replaced all front end bushings, steering components, rear end bushings, and everything else in between to make this car reliable and functional.
Please NOTE: Pictures were taken before final cut of clear coat and buffed out, and before spot painting undercarriage after re-assembly. Once I accomplished that, I completely detailed the 68 Chevelle POST to make it LOCAL show worthy when finished. I have the plaques to prove it turned out 'decent' :) I wish I would have thought to take pictures after completion, but finances forced me to sell it in a hurry, before the big market crash.
I have great pride even though I wasn't able to keep it for the fact that I saved a complete rust bucket 68 Chevelle POST from the CRUSHER. NO CLASSIC CAR is too far gone, with a little work and determination any car can be saved without spending outrages amounts of cash.
For more photos please visit Glenn's site at: http://www.dzbv.com
