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65 Chevelle Drag Car Build

17K views 82 replies 21 participants last post by  JBoggs 
#1 ·
I've been posting pics and such in other threads so I thought I'd start one and not pollute others..

New to the site, no really new to drag racing.. BUT I will be the first to say there's always something to learn..

After owning a fox chassis mustang 13 years, and getting VERY tire of it.. I sold it to a friend of mine,and have decided to do another car..

I had a buddy who street raced a 65 El Co many many years ago.. and I've always loved the front ends, but wasn't too into the truck thing.. SO I went out a found a good base to start another build.

I guess I'll keep this running as I progress through its stages.

current config:

136 car, nothing overly special.But had a solid frame underneath it, and was a race car that hadn't been hack up with some backyard 4 link or ladder bar..

Fiber glass:
Fenders
Doors
Hood
Bumpers

Windows:
All Lexan

Front suspension:
All stock with a manual disk conversion

Rear suspension:
Jegs non adjustable control arms
Air bag
Unknown type shocks

Rear:
Narrowed 12 bolt 35 spline axles w/ wilwood brakes

Cage:
10pt mild steel. I believe should cert to 8.50

When I sold my mustang I kept all the electronics, the entire drive train (BBC/2spd th400) and the rear coilovers. So I have those for this car.

Plans are to go 25.3 with the car.. keeping it stock suspension.

So I guess this can be a running thing as I progress.
 
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#40 ·
Since my car is in the body shop, and I don't particularly remember the kind of room there is under the cowl panel.

Does someone have a pic they could post of that area.. This is under the cowl vent area between the hood and windshield.

I want to mount a couple things in there. I'm looking to mount a nitrous purge solenoid, and also a couple racepak analog boxes which are roughly 1"x 3" x 4" (height/depth/width)

Thanks!!
 
#41 ·
Well... I've been thinking about having a street car.. and what it would take to maybe switch mine back to street duty.. and it's pretty much a write-off in that regard. I've been messing with drag cars for a good number of years at this point, I guess it's all I know.. but I have having a pull..

SO I started looking and wouldn't you know.. I found a car, and it was local.. and was pretty much exactly what I was looking for in regards to getting something going as a street car.. So I went and looked today, and made a deal.. So... Anyone wanna help decode this thing??

Got me another 65 chevelle, but this one's a super sport!







 
#42 ·
AND!!!!!!!! I was able to pick up the stuff that my buddy brought back up from GA from TRZ motorsports..

I now have most of the suspension stuff for this phase of the project..

This is A-arms for coil-overs, steering shaft kit, bump steer kit for stock steering, removable steering hub, rear dbl adj unpper and lower control arms, and rear spherical housing bushings.

 
#47 ·
Thanks, it's got a stock stock 350 in it, down to a cast iron intake. lol It does have a set of headers, HEI and an edelbrock carb. I just need to get some basic stuff squared away, and I'll start cruising it on nice days.

Much prefer the original rare SS color only.

1965 Chevelle Paint Codes

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I do like that maroon, but I wasn't the one who painted it. I liked the fact that all the metal had pretty much been replaced. I got it home over the weekend, and upon closer review.. she needs lots of TLC, but the bones are good! I haven't messed with something so simple in a LONG time!!!
 
#49 ·
Well, it's been a bit longer than I posted a while back.. and things changed a little BUT she has color.. After going back and forth, from just priming the new rear shet metal, to going straight flat black, to flat black and keep the red stripes, to now.. finally.. going straight white..

I moved some pics over to show a little bit of progression, and please excuse the pic quality, the camera on the painter's phone is horrible!! lol

less quarter



New quarter (it did get all the sheet metal on the back)



Primed and ready for the booth



In the booth



And all done... next a cut and buff and get the new trim on it.

 
#50 ·
Looks good!!

Your painter is about 500 times faster than most. A buddy at work just got his car back from paint after 18 months. Soooooooo many stories of body shop jail.
 
#52 ·
That's impressively quick. Quickest paint I think I've ever seen. :)
Thanks!

Yes, I've had my run in with body shop prison. Really more of body shop nightmare, the guy did more damage than anything else, that's how I ended up using this guy. But really he had it WAY longer than he did my mustang.

It's funny.. when I dropped it off, I asked him what his timeline was, and made the cardinal sin of saying "I'm not in a rush" for it. At the time, I was just going to have the sheet metal hung, and that's it. I was going to let it sit until I was ready to have the new cage burned in, and then worry about paint.. He said no worries, I'm ready to go.. I'll have it knocked out in 2 weeks! lol And the first two pics are ones he sent me within 2 days of dropping it off.. then it just stopped.... and it sat. That when I was ok.. I'll just put it together with the stuff I have and play while I put money together to put a real chassis in it.. that when putting it back together came into focus.

But all in all, I'm glad it's getting done, he does killer work!
 
#53 ·
Looking good man, I like white on the earlier Chevelles. :thumbsup:
 
#55 ·
The car is now back in my possession, I drove out to get it Sunday. It was nice to see it again.. lol



All new rear stainless.. (and a fake SS at this point)




The wheels that came with it


Some wheel options: Thoughts??







Finally took a closer look at the trim tag... She was a cool color out of the factory!

 
#56 ·
Getting the car back in my hands and seeing it...

I'm thinking messing around "old school" color scheme wise...

I may suck up the extra weight and put chrome bumpers on it. And for the interior, do the seat cover, headliner, package tray, and sail panels in red. Carpet, and lower panels in black...
 
#57 ·
Stay with the old school Welds. Not a fan of the newer style wheels.

Get some Wenol and polish them up!!!
 
#59 ·
The car "should" be going under the knife over the winder.. but not to get fully done..

Front suspension and steering, and rear suspension.. carbon should be installed, but the basic cage won't be touched for now. The big block is being sold, I'm going to put a little sbc in it to mess around in some SB/NOS/28's shootout stuff that's picking up around here.

Question: I don't remember the length of mine, and I haven't pulled them out to measure.. But those that are running rear coilovers what length are you running, and do they end up in the trunk?

Also, what kind of weight loss have you guys seen by switching to rack&pinion and lightweight brakes?

What kind of anti-rolls are you drag guys running, and what kind of power are you making? Are they mounted up in the trunk?

I've been looking at maybe doing a below the axle piece, but not sure if that's the direction I want to go..
 
#61 ·
Good to hear your are making progress!

Switching from 4 wheel drums (11" in rear) to Wilwood "street type" vented rotors in front and race rotors in the rear was a ~70 lb reduction. TRZ steering column and AutoFab rack was around 35 lbs IIRC. TRZ front control arms was ~35 lbs.

Look up "Offroadr" on here. I've added my weight reduction stuff to his thread the last year or so. Getting ready for some more.

Can't help on the coilovers.

Only running a HRPartsNstuff bolt on anti-roll at 915+ HP, but leaving off the footbrake.......for now. About to update the trans. and install a transbrake in the next few weeks.
 
#65 ·
Thanks for the interest! I did the same thing with my old car.. I should have a far more direct route this time. I made enough mistakes on the last build.. I'm sure I'll still waste a little money even on this one.. but it will be way less than last time..

On that note things are changing.. as they always will.. But really.. I think I'm going to be biting the bullet and have it go in for major surgery..

In seeing what my list was lookin like to the chassis guy.. I was really to the point where I "may as well" do the rest... I'm not changing what I was going to do.. just the timeframe in which it's getting done. The car will be well built and very safe.

I still need to hammer out some details with the chassis guy on cost and things... But I think when it goes in, it will come back as a stock suspension dbl frame rail 25.3 car, with their "max light" approach.. It's a big car.. need to get Light.

More pics to come.. I can't WAIT for the front brakes to get here.. The brakes as a package are 14lbs lighter than strange drag brakes!!! Everything is just under 20lbs.
 
#67 ·
Glad to see someone making progress on their build, gonna be sweet when finished :thumbsup:
 
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