I bought my 69 SS in 1972 with $1800 leftover college money. The car was built in Atlanta and has always resided in NC and SC. It was a bench seat 3 on the floor. I was the second owner. It's first 3 years were pretty rough but she has had good care since. I drove it from 72 to about 1980 then put it in storage in my dad's 6 car garage. It stayed there 23 years until my son and I pulled it to SC in in 2003 and replaced the 396 with a 454 crate motor and Richmond Super T10 4 speed.
I retired in 2017 and decided it was time to fix up the Chevelle. It is a survivor and I probably should have restored it, I still had the original engine and tranny. But it is not a rare car and restomodding is more my thing. So I pulled the Chevelle to SC again in February 2020, this time with my 65 Chevy.
I am a Corvette fan and have had a C3, C4, several C5's, a C6 and currently a C7. My favorite Vette ever was my 2008 C6 the best driving car I ever have had. So I had the notion to merge a C6 Corvette into the Chevelle and create a Corvelle. The stance and all exterior will be stock SS Chevelle except wheels and tires of course. The mechanics and electrics would be all C6 as much as reasonably possible.
In June of 2020 I bought a 2005 wrecked C6 Corvette on COPART with 41K miles in running condition. It was in very good condition before I believe it was stolen and wrecked.
A friend used a wrecked 2011 Camaro SS for his 72 Camaro, engine, trans, dash, console, A/C, Sat stereo, seats, door panels, wiring but couldn't get the IRS in the 72 for some reason so left the live axle, what's your plans?
You arent going to butcher that chevelle with corvette parts are you? Engine/Trans is fine. Please dont try to put it on a vette frame with the vette dash. Big mistake in my opinion.
Yep Chevy ruined the Chevette name long ago. I wish they hadn't.
Shovelrick. Well that was my original plan until I realized what was involved in using the transaxle and how it would wreck the Chevelle body. So I went with a Ford 9 inch with Floating rear axle with Corvette hubs. I'll post that later.
You arent going to butcher that chevelle with corvette parts are you? Engine/Trans is fine. Please dont try to put it on a vette frame with the vette dash. Big mistake in my opinion.
I read this and it sounded like you were going to use everything. You also mentioned how good a C6 handled.
"So I had the notion to merge a C6 Corvette into the Chevelle and create a Corvelle. The stance and all exterior will be stock SS Chevelle except wheelsg and tires of course. The mechanics and electrics would be all C6 as much as reasonably possible."
This would have been interesting to follow with the IRS.
This is a subframe I am working on to install C5 differential and suspension in a 66 Corvair. I used the Vette frame rails.
I am building a mid-engine. You would have more of a challenge with the front engine/mid transmission configuration.
I'm with TR on that, academically speaking. I'd do a coil over rear before the transaxle I 'd think. Chevelle aint no " monocoque" design. I'd think you'd end up with a some sort of custom frame w/ honeycomb structure you 'd be bolting the old sheet metal to. ??
With all the aftermarket suspension kits available for Chevelles these days I see no need to chop one up to stick a vette chassis underneath. Doesnt make any sense to me.
With all the aftermarket suspension kits available for Chevelles these days I see no need to chop one up to stick a vette chassis underneath. Doesnt make any sense to me.
I'm with Smitty on this. It's your money/your car. But as for me, I had two cars with IRS, and I wasn't impressed at all. A 73 Vette, and an 05 GTO. I liked the LS2 engine in the 05 GTO, (especially after I installed a Magnuson TV1900 supercharger in it), but neither car handled that great. I realize that neither one of those cars were like a C5 Vette but it seems to me that any time you put some real power in front of an IRS, your straight line off the line traction will suffer. My 05 GTO had a tendency for wheel hop too. I was at a 530 HP level with it, which isn't even all that extreme.
The 9 inch Ford rear is a better idea for some good potential for straight line traction.
I'm with Smitty on this. It's your money/your car. But as for me, I had two cars with IRS, and I wasn't impressed at all. A 73 Vette, and an 05 GTO. I liked the LS2 engine in the 05 GTO, (especially after I installed a Magnuson TV1900 supercharger in it), but neither car handled that great. I realize that neither one of those cars were like a C5 Vette but it seems to me that any time you put some real power in front of an IRS, your straight line off the line traction will suffer. My 05 GTO had a tendency for wheel hop too. I was at a 530 HP level with it, which isn't even all that extreme.
The 9 inch Ford rear is a better idea for some good potential for straight line traction.
A forum community dedicated to Chevrolet Chevelle owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about restorations, builds, performance, modifications, classifieds, troubleshooting, maintenance, and more!
