Been havinga bit of trouble sleeping (or falling asleep rather). Too many things on my mind (selling the home, looking for another car, thinking about my Chevelle resto)...

And it came to me...

I have a '66 SS hardtop, but the original engine is long gone. I was going to restore ist 'stock', even have some stock steel wheels with dog dishes. Stock exhaust, correct casting 396, and all the factory performance stuff (L78 parts, heater delete, radio block off, manual steering and brakes, no console but buckets, stock high-redline knee knocker tack, etc...

BUT, I also wanted to build a nice PT '66 Chevelle... The big problem is that I'd also like to have something different (different year Chevelle or maybe a different classic car).

Now, thanks to my lack of sleep, I have decided to go in a new direction...

I am thinking of "restoring" my car to look "stock" except the wheel/tire/brake/suspension stuff...

I will probably go with the same wheel/tire combo as my convert (Vintage V40s, 17X9.5 with Nitto 555R 275/40-17s and the Kore3 C5 Brakes... I'd like to do the SC&C Stage 2 in front, and Edelbrock uppers/GW Spherical lowers in the rear. Might stay with rear drums (but 11"?). Lowered slightly...

Engine compartment: Stealthy, looking stock except the dual reservoir master cylinder (still manual), manual steering, and a black painted aluminum radiator. debating between stock exhaust and headers...

Still "heater delete", but I'd like to try an put a Vintage Air A/C unit in (stealthily, with the hoses going through the firewall as far to the outside as possible (routed through the fender). I'd like to run the factory L78 Idler pulley, and maybe be able to place the A/C compressor below that (out of the way).

Inside would also be "stock" and spartan. IF I run an aftermarket trans, then I'd adapt the stock shifter handle... A/C should be well hidden... Hidden stereo too...

And a very large displacement block. The outside of the block is the same regardless of what size bore or what size stroke it has :D

yeah, that's the way it seems to be done more and more these days.
might be good enough to get you in PHR..

That sounds awesome. Another way to go might be a sleeper Nascar/SCCA vintage racer look with the black painted wheels or the same wheels you have on the vert. I've seen a few lately and they look great. The rest of your build is what I have done to my 66. The only difference is I put a killer stereo system in to enjoy cruising.
Don't kid yourself....No matter how you go now, you won't sleep until its done!

I'm in the same boat with my SS... I've always thought I'd do that car 100% factory stock appearance, but the more I think about it, the less I think I'd enjoy the car if done that way.

I really want to build an LSX/6-speed car, but it seems like that would be a sacriledge (sp?) in an original big block SS car. The other problem is that I want to build a car way more radical than my Malibu, but show-quality, which my Malibu will never be. Again, I'd really hate to start cutting on a solid original BB SS car.

Then there's the part about how I don't like SS emblems on extremely modified cars... :o

...so my thoughts are similar to yours, build it in a mild Pro Touring style, but so that other than the wheels and brakes, it could pass for stock to the untrained eye, and by limiting the brakes to a 12" setup to squeeze them into a 15" wheel, I could run stock looking 15" wheel vintiques with bias-ply tires if I want it to pass for "stock" at most shows, and run 17s with a performance tire when driving it hard. :)

Of course, if the car wasn't plagued with being an original SS, my ideas would be far more exotic. :D

Tony, one word for ya Dude .......... Lunesta :yes:

I am hoping to go the same route. Bench seat, auto, plane jane looking with a BB.

Hopefully Lunesta is cheaper then Ambien. Got a prescription for that while we did'nt have medical. The stuff was 5 bucks a pill. Heck, a bottle of Wild Turkey will do the same job for a week, for the price of three of them.:D

Sleep??? What is that??? With a baby in the house sleep is not possible. I'm not even going to think about how long that is going to put my Chevelle plans on hold. Poor old Chevelle is sitting in the barn with an inch of dust on it.

Sleep??? What is that??? With a baby in the house sleep is not possible. I'm not even going to think about how long that is going to put my Chevelle plans on hold. Poor old Chevelle is sitting in the barn with an inch of dust on it.

I have has this Chevelle sitting since 1985!!!

I have a 4 years old and a 2-1/2 year old, so time is tight (which is why I have been looking for a "temp" cruiser)...

I have has this Chevelle sitting since 1985!!!

I have a 4 years old and a 2-1/2 year old, so time is tight (which is why I have been looking for a "temp" cruiser)...

I still have my El Camino but I need to do some work on it like replace the inner fenners (plastic) and battery tray alone with a list of other things.

My Chevelle has been sitting over 4 years and the only thing working on it is the spiders. They have made a nice little appartment complex in it...

I just keeping thing "One of these years"... Hopefully I have it done before my 3 month old baby daughter starts driving... :eek: