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Team Chevelle Member # 243
Please allow me to introduce myself. I am Jesse Robertson, a fellow Team Chevelle Member, #243 (Jesse66Original) and I would be honored to tell you all about my 66 Chevelle.I would like to take this opportunity to thank my wonderful wife of thirty four (34) years for all her support, for without her I would not be writing this article.
I enlisted in the US Air Force in March of 1962, and my first duty assignment was Bitburg AB, Germany. I purchased my Chevelle prior to leaving Germany, and upon my return to the states, I picked it up from Bingham Chevrolet Company, Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, NY on April 24, 1966. I have been asked numerous times why I did not buy a SS 396? The world was much larger in 1966 than now, and since I had been gone from the states since 1962, I was very much out of touch with cars. However, since 1957, I have been a very loyal 283 / SB guy. So, when I special ordered my car, I selected a Chevelle Malibu 2 door hard top, tropical turquoise with two tone fawn interior, bucket seats, console, 4 speed transmission, 283 CID, 220 HP motor with factory duals.
The ole' girl has much sentimental value to our family. In fact, when our two daughters were born, they were brought home from the hospital in this car. I also drove it as a daily driver for the entire twenty six (26) years I was in the Air Force, with the exception of Vietnam and Iceland. My brother, John Robertson, who lives in Mobile, Alabama, was nice enough to store the car both times in an enclosed building. I was assigned to Holland in 1976 and shipped the car over also. Our family toured Holland, Germany, Austria, France, Luxembourg, and Belgium in the Chevelle. However, after about two years, I realized having shipped the car to Europe was a mistake, and I shipped the car back early to my brother who stored it again until my return to the states in 1981.
In 1986, I decided to take my Chevelle off the road, place it on jack stands, and store it until both of our daughters were out of college and married. In November of 1988, I began a frame-off restoration project.
The car has 140,000 original miles on it, and the 283 was getting tired. I asked my daughter to get on the Internet and type in "Crate Motor". What a blessing when she stumbled on this wonderful site, and she found Skip Cain's restoration section. What a great person with tons of Chevelle knowledge. One on one, he helped me so much, and I will ever be grateful to him -- may he rest in peace. I tried to go step by step per Skip's articles, stripping and sanding the frame and finishing it with POR-15, removing all the old under coating (what a job), and painting the entire under carriage, and detailing the engine compartment. With the body off the frame, I figured it would be a good time to change out the gas line. Interesting note here...The car came with a 3/8" fuel line, which is normally for SS 396s. All the ball joints, springs, shocks, upper and lower A-frame bushings, sway bar bushings, center link, idler arm and tie rod ends were replaced. The rear end upper and lower control arm bushings were replaced along with the wheel bearings, seals, and the pinion seal. The entire brake system was replaced also with OEM equipment.
I removed all the original interior, including the dash and restored the interior in the original two tone fawn colors. This included painting the dash and metal window trim, replacing the head liner (with a tier original pattern), seat covers, arm rest and carpet. I used PPG vinyl dye on the seat backs, console and original door panels. Really came out nice. However, just to be on the safe side, I ordered a set of front and rear door panels, in case the dye job goes away in the future. I would like to make mention here that I was very lucky, and did not have to replace any body sheet metal, floor pans, or trunk pans. I detailed the trunk and replaced all the door, window, and trunk seals.
Since I always desired more motor, I had to make a decision to stay original and rebuild the 283, or do otherwise.
So I did otherwise, and installed a new GM 350 CID/300 HP Crate Motor with an Edelbrock Performer 600 Series Carburetor on an Edelbrock Dual Plane Manifold, and I really like the performance. The exhaust system comprises of DynoMax Super Turbo mufflers with aluminize pipes. Since I am a bit older now than when I ordered this car in 1966, my wife talked me into installing a Vintage Air System, and I hope that was a good decision. The A/C installation required upgrading the original radiator to 3 tube new radiator, fan clutch, and fan shroud.
I am running 15 x 7 rally wheels with new rings, and disk type center caps. All four types are BF Goodrich P215x65x15.My Chevelle is equipped as follows:
Thank you for letting me tell you about my Chevelle. I always look forward to checking out the Feature Car of the month, and I cannot tell you how much this site has helped me since I worked alone most of the time, and this was my very first restoration project.
- Two Tone Fawn Bucket Seats with Console
- JVC AM/FM Radio/Tape Player
- Vintage Air Conditioner Sure Fit Series
- 350 CID / 300 HP GM Crate Motor (PN#12356644)
- Edelbrock Performer 1406 Carburetor
- Edelbrock Performer Dual Plane 7101 Manifold
- HEI distributor (GM PN# 1104067)
- Center Force One Clutch
- Muncie M-21, 4 speed with a Hurst Competition Shifter
- 3.08 Gear (stock)
- Dyno Max Super Turbo Mufflers with Aluminize Pipes
- 15" Rally Wheels
- BF Goodrich Radials, 215x65x15 Tires
A photo background of Jesse's 1966 is available here.
Team Chevelle would love to feature your Car on one of our future monthly articles.
To take part, send a few quality pictures to us and as much information as you can (we LOVE reading about Chevelles!)
Note: preference is given to submitted photos, unless you have access to high quality scanning equipment, we would prefer to do the image work and touch-ups.
or: Al McKenzie, Box 231, Creston, B.C. Canada, V0B-1G0
