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The car was originally purchased in 1986 in Dallas, Tx from an add that simply read "67 Chevelle for sale". It turned out to be a real SS 4-speed car with a very tired small block. After driving it home in the rain, about 175 miles with only 4-gear (no clutch either), I began planning its resurrection. The suspension was completely rebuilt first. The car was then towed to a body shop to have the sheet metal done. Meanwhile, I was getting the parts together to rebuild a 396 I found from another 67 SS donor car.
The engine is actually out of a '69 SS and it bored .040. Since the
car was to be a daily driver, a mild Competition Cams kit was installed. A
.040 over balanced crank/rod/piston assembly from PAW was used. Topside,
the heads were modified for unleaded fuel. The Edelbrock, 3310 Holley and
Accel dual-point topped it off. Hooker headers took care of the exhaust.
All chrome pieces available at the time were replaced (grille, side trim,
etc.) while others were replated (bumpers, taillight housings etc.). Since
I also owned an '85 Buick GN at the time, the interior was redone in the
same silver/black cloth colors over the stock seats and the truck was
recarpeted at the same time. The custom wood dash was added in 1992 and
houses 7 AutoMeter gauges, while a VDO electric speedo and GM Bowtie Monster
tach are mounted underneath. Since April of that year, I've kept a daily
log of the mileage and the car has seen 32,000 very reliable miles and
averaged around 11 MPG. In its 10 years, the brakes have been replace once
and one broken rocker arm replaced. It's been very reliable indeed. The
car is pretty much a daily driver except during Oklahoma ice storms.
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