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I have always loved cars. As a kid I built model cars and collected Hot Wheels.At 17 years old, I got my drivers licence. My first car was a 1964 SS Chevy Impala with a 2 speed Power Glide, and a 283 engine. My best friend totalled this Imapala, so I got another one and totalled it myself. You know being young and all. My brother was always talking about a 1970 Chevelle SS, and finally bought one. He let me drive it, and I fell in love with it. After that, I always wanted Chevelle, but could never afford it.
One day a friend of mine told me he had a Chevelle for sale, and I had to take a look at it. It was a Malibu, but it had the 'SS look'. I bought it on the spot. This Malibu had a white interior, which I feel does any car justice.I had the car painted and bought Rallys for it. I was very happy with this Malibu until someone raced their car past our house. I sold this Malibu and bought a 1971 Malibu, which I just loved, but my sister borrowed it and ended up totalling it. At that point I gave up on the Chevelles and bought a '86 Monte Carlo, which I still have.Everytime I seen a Chevelle on the street I would stare at it and dream of owning another one. As luck would have it, my nephew knew of a '71 SS for sale. His boss owned it, and wanted to sell it. We drove over to take a look at it. I thought it was a Malibu because it didn't have the built-in tach and gauges. He had found the build sheet under the seat, and it proved to be a SS big block car. His boss had been drag racing it and had a 3 speed shifter, 456 gears and a 454 with an 850 double pumper, 30 over and 3000 stall converter. It came with a bench seat and other options. A deal was struck!
I took a lot of that stuff out, because I wasn't going to race it. I put it back together with the money I had saved. I was able to find bucket seats and a console for it. It was an original green car, but I had it painted pearl green with 'Viper' silver stripes. I wanted to show my SS, so replaced the bushings with new polyurethane bushings. What a nice difference in the ride. The engine, transmission, and rearend were rebuilt. I had the bucket seats reupholstered and installed new carpet, and door sills. I regretted not doing a frame off, but the money was running thin.
I just love my 1971 SS Chevelle and enjoy participating in shows, driving it to church and cruising on Sundays!
-----------------------------------Details:
- 454 bored 30 over
- 3:08 ten bolt rearend
- 400 Turbo transmission
- Small cam
- 427 steel crank
- 750 double pumper carb
I saw some 'bad spots' starting to show up, so I had the car redone again, going through every step listed on Team Chevelle.
The shop did a great job, just the way the TC guys described it.
This is what it looks like today with metalic green paint and champagne stripes.
Thanks to Team Chevelle for all the body restoration tips! Anthony D. Bonds
Great Mills, Maryland
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