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Team Chevelle Member # 998I'll outline the car's history below, but first I should tell you about the slight modifications from stock it currently has. The ONLY modifications are boxed rear lower control arms, a rear anti-sway bar, a much larger front anti-sway bar with urethane bushings, Carrera gas charged adjustable shocks and obviously the 69 SS wheels and Eagle GT tires. In purely stock form the car has the drive train to perform with the best of them, it just did not have the handling capabilities to do so. For show purposes all stock parts will be reinstalled (control arms, correct front anti-sway bar, wheels/tires, shocks). I also have a dry reproduction tar-top battery I intend to use for shows.
I am the third own of this numbers-matching L79 car. It was originally ordered with a limited number of options (see enclosed copy of the original sales receipt) in Plainview, Nebraska by a pair of brothers who intended to race the car. Even though Plainview is about 2-3 hours from where they lived, their uncle was a Chevy salesman in Plainview so they bought it through him. With the car intended for serious use, they asked the dealership to install chrome reverse wheels and wider tires upon delivery of the car. In fact, I do not believe the car was ever driven with the original narrow wheels and hubcaps it was wearing when delivered to Watson Chevrolet. The car was built a few days before Christmas and was delivered in January. Since the L79 was only announced in late 1964, it would appear the first owner did not wait long after the announcement to order this car.
It may be one of the earliest L79 Chevelles built. That may account for a few discrepancies such as it having all tinted glass even though the order form and cowl tag clearly state it is to only have a tinted windshield and that the posi was to be installed at the dealership. The coding on the 12-bolt axle states it was built as a positraction unit but the writing on the order form clearly state it was to be retrofitted at the dealership. It IS a posi axle and has the earliest casting date I've ever seen on a Chevelle 12-bolt axle carrier. Maybe production problems of the new line of axles caused some problem to be sorted out upon delivery.
The original owner never got around to racing the car. Since he took delivery of it in the dead of a Nebraska winter, it probably only saw limited high performance use for some months. By the time summer rolled around, the first owner had been tapped on the shoulder by the local draft board and the car landed on a car lot in Silver Creek, Nebraska on consignment. It sat there most of the summer. The second owner knew the first owner and his brother and wanted the car himself, but he had just started a family and he passed on acquiring the car at first. He saw the car on a daily basis and it began to test his mettle a bit. The day he was told some spoiled 16 year-old kid was trying to convince his dad to buy him the car, he went to the bank, got a loan and got his favorite car of all time.
This owner logged 138,000 miles on the car between 1965 and 1972. The car was his pride and joy. To keep harsh winter salt at bay he washed the car religiously during the winter. The car was his daily transportation and was even driven to Texas for a family vacation. In the summer of 1972 the car was parked in front of his home in Grand Island, Nebraska when it was rammed by a large Oldsmobile piloted by a drunk driver. The driver was basically unhurt but the special Chevelle was a mess. The car was pushed over 150 feet and into the center of the neighbor's lawn. The driver's side tail light was now about even with the rear window of this rust-free beauty. The insurance company did not feel they should have to pay to fix such extensive damage on a seven year-old car with so many miles on the clock. This owner could not stand to see the car totaled so he kept the car and a small payment from the insurance company which would never come close to paying to fix the car.
He never could bring himself to part with the car but with a growing family he also could never get the car fixed. The car sat in his garage, lovingly covered and kept in fine running condition until 1981! A friend of mine heard about the car and decided to try to buy it and part it out. I had met my friend in the process of trying to restore a non-numbers-matching 65 SS and he asked me if I'd be interested in getting some parts off of it. I had fallen in love with the idea of owning an L79 car so I said I'd take the engine and drive train for my project. But when I saw the car for the first time, it was clear I had to have the whole car. We worked out a deal and the mangled L79 car became mine and my previous project car became a parts donor.
The car received an NOS passenger quarter panel, an Arizona salvage driver side panel and trunk floor and a frame from a California SS car my same friend had also acquired.
I later also acquired another 65 L79 parts car from the previous owner of my maroon car. The L79 parts car had tons of rust and a cracked block so it was past saving. I had all the parts, now all I needed to do was to rebuild it! The first restoration took a little over five years. It was my first engine rebuild, my first restoration and the greatest single accomplishment of my life. I showed the car for about 3-4 years and won a good number of first place trophies. When I got my first third place trophy, I decided to pull the motor and clean things up a bit. Well, one thing led to another and I ended up starting a second frame off restoration to address all those little things I was never completely happy with from the first time through. My friends thought I was nuts and maybe I was. Of course in the middle of the project I met my wife, we got married, we bought a house, the house needed work and so the project got pushed aside for the most part though progress was made albeit very slowly. With my 20 year high school reunion pending this past summer, I figured it was time to damn the torpedoes and get the thing done! Where did 15 years go. I can't believe it took that long myself.
I learned a lot from the first resto and this time through I poured so much detail into the car that it is truly impressive if I do say so myself. For historical photos from 1966, to paperwork, to detailed photos of the entire restoration process, you may want to visit my web site at:
www.geocities.com/motorcity/flats/8627/Every item on the car is refurbished original if possible. As one example, the interior door panels are the originals. They do show some slight wear which does not show in the photos, but considering the age and life the car has led they are in amazing shape. Original panels look so much better than even the best reproduction. Every single piece of the car was evaluated for condition and replaced, refurbished, replated, repainted or otherwise made new again. Only accurate reproduction parts have been used on the car when necessary. From the correct Opti-Kleen bottle and cap to the radiator cap, a set of vintage T3s, the correct rear speaker cover and spring tags (the last two of which I made myself), this car is overflowing with original style details. You can even see the "EC" crayon marks on the valve cover in some of the photographs. The engine is the special thing about this car and has received a good share of my detailing attention.
The car is Madeira Maroon with the white interior. It sports deluxe seat belts with retractors. In addition to the factory SS gauge package, the car has a rare factory tachometer. The L79 cars got a version of the tachometer with a ridiculously low 5600 rpm redline. (283s and 327s got a 5200 redline. When the tach was installed the required-equipment clock was displaced so Chevy made up for it with a funky top-of-the-dash clock. This one still works and keeps time! The required-with-the-L79 four speed is told what to do by an original Muncie shifter, great looking but not quite a Hurst. The reverse lock-out is a nice feature though. The car was ordered with the comfort and convenience group which included a day/night mirror, two-speed wipers and windshield washer. The washer fluid is wiped away with original Trico arms and blade keepers. The original wiper motor and master cylinder are still with the car though both have been thoroughly rebuilt. The original AM pushbutton radio pulls in signals from the rear fender antenna and belts out the oldies through rebuilt original front and rear speakers. This car was meant to look great via the SS package, but other options were left behind to keep it quick and to the point. No power steering, air or power brakes were ordered. It's not clear, but power brakes and air conditioning may not have been available options on early L79s. The original order did include larger 7.75x14 inch tires and heavy duty suspension components.
The L79 brought along a long list of unique features so let me outline them a bit.
The L79 mechanically is the same 350hp 327 that had been available in Corvettes already. The motor features a forged crankshaft, 11:1 pistons, large head valves with 2.02 intake valves. Since Chevy was still using the small combustion chamber heads in 1965, the valve pockets received a relief cut to allow air to flow cleanly around the larger valves. (I can provide a photo of this machining touch if you would like.) The head casting is exactly the same for 1.94 valve heads and 2.02 valve heads, only the machining is different. The valve train received chrome valve tips, a high lift, long duration hydraulic cam capped off with a cast aluminum medium-rise manifold with a 535cfm Holley carburetor. The distributor has an advance curve unique to the motor with stiffer springs and heavier weights. Transistorized ignition was available but my car does not have this option. The cooling was fairly standard on my car (not the heavy duty optional stuff) but the L79s got a slightly larger radiator compared to other equally equipped 327 powered cars. The exhaust manifolds would seem to be the engine's weak point since they are standard 327 items, but with the L79-required dual exhaust 2-1/2 inch head pipes and 2-1/4 tail pipes not too much restriction is created. These motors will easily wind up to and past 7000 rpm with no problem. The 8-inch balancer helps keep things under control and the fan clutch helps insure a few more ponies make it to the ground. These engines received unique chrome touches to the distinctive dual snorkel air cleaner, valve covers, vacuum advance line, dipstick, dipstick tube, oil fill tube, oil cap, fuel lines and GF-90 fuel filter bracket. The fuel is brought forth via the original AC pump which contains unique internal valving to match the Holley's needs. The fuel is routed from the rear through unique-to-the-L79 7/16-inch fuel line.
Larger photo of engine compartment.Other details I have not yet mentioned include, correct color coded paint dabs on the rear axle, front hubs, steering box and steering link king nuts. The alternator and starter have correct part numbers and date codes and the alternator has original style stamp markings on the unit and on individual diodes. All suspension and drive train components are either correctly painted semi-gloss black, left bare cast iron or received correct forms of plating. The gas tank is a new unit left bare zinc galvanized metal. The fuel line and brake line clips are correctly painted drab green. The wiper motor case, master cylinder and cap, voltage regulator cover, horn relay cover, steering box, latches, hinges, engine brackets and components are all either painted, given the correct bare metal look or correctly plated. The distributor still wears it's correct L79-specific part number tag, the rear axle has the correct posi lube warning, the trunk lid displays the proper jacking instructions and posi warning and all other body and engine stickers have been replaced. No mechanical component has been left untouched and the front wheel bearing hub even sports the correct static collector to keep the radio working static free! The 3.31:1 rear gears and wide ratio transmission were checked out and refreshed, but left otherwise original. All the trim was replaced with NOS items, not reproductions. There are more and more details I could list but this letter has grown long enough!
I have also tried to collect all the original shop manuals, sales brochures and magazine ads for this year and model. I guess you could say I'm obsessed, but the proof is in the pudding and the car turned out great. When the car was on the road after the first restoration I did manage a few quarter mile passes (three to be exact) which netted a best of a 15.16 so I'm confident it could be a mid- to low-14 car with a little practice and tuning. It could be downright quick with a more serious gear ratio and/or some head work.
Sincerely,
Rich Cummings, ACES #1670
Waverly, NE
