I am having second thoughts about what I want to do with this car. Several people constantly remind me that a factory 300 HP L48 4 speed car is kind of rare... and that SS 396,"tributes" are a dime a dozen.

I know where the original engine is, the hard part will be prying it out of the hands of the owner.

Found a 69' Chevelle 350, going to look at it Thursday... hope it is what I need. Wish me luck...

427 yenko tribute :)

Originally that's what I wanted. (COPO) But, like I said... the more I toss it around - I feel doing the car 99% like it rolled off the assembly line would be really cool. I'm going to delete the vinyl top and do away with the two tone paint.

Here's a close relative to my car:

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images...ront34web.jpg/

Shaun I am sure that you have had many people who are will to tell you what you should do to your car. You need to decide for yourself what is going to work for you. Sure it would be nice to have an all original car, but have you talked to people who have done it and the expense of finding those original parts? It can also be pricey to do it with a bigger motor, with a nice paint job, with a new interior and so on and so on.

Your car is going to be a reflection of what you want. There are so many people who are willing to help you and answer questions. You just need to do it the way you want because you are the only one who will be going home with it at night.

I totally agree with Ms Grumpy.
Do what you want. Others want you to build it so they can buy it cheap and sell it high. Let them build their own cars. It is a scam and a game they play.

Mine is the epitome of what shouldn't be done. Clone, wrong color, Stripes on a car that didn't come with them, 10 bolt, No numbers matching anywhere. 69 chrome on a 68. Mopar shifter. It is what i want. Period.

Purist can say what they like to insult me. In the real world I already tired of saying it isn't for sale EVER. And it isn't even done yet.

If you just take your time and do a good job putting it together. It is a car show every time you stop for gas. I got people coming from all over to see what i done already. People I haven't seen in years. One of dad's friends from overseas in the service. He was visiting mom and Dad. He came with mom 25 miles just to see it. Words out here Randy building another Rag. Number 26 in a long line of these cars I have had.

It ended up being an HR coded LM1 350, but I bought it anyway because the price was right. Going to try to barter with the owner of my original engine. If I can't make a trade, I'll have to locate a set of cylinder heads to make this one what I want.

Super stoked right now! Called on a craigslist possibility... scored a set of the correct 041 casting heads I needed and a 69' 4 bolt main HA coded block! (HA = Chevelle L48 300 HP with manual transmission)

Well said !!

I too built it the way I wanted. Mine is not a numbers matching car, it has bits and pieces from other cars but it is what I wanted. But I will say that I am always humbled by the people who stop to check my car out. I have won awards that have shocked me because I see the beauty in other cars. I will say that the last award from the NOCC show really, really surprised me and means a lot because it was voted on by other Chevelle owners.

Are we still meeting in Ocala at some point next weekend??
I'm going to meet up with Eric early next week and pickup that A/C stuff you bought from him.
I'll transport it all down to FL...attending the NPD All GM show next Saturday. I'll be staying at the Holiday Inn Express on Hwy 40 in Silver Springs...Friday afternoon thru Sunday morning.

Sure thing Bill, I have it marked down on my calendar. Thanks again.

Pm'd ya my cell number...

Sounds like that NPD show is a big one down south.

The one I attended two years ago had over 600 vehicles.

I am 99.9% sure I will be getting the original engine back this Thursday. Spoke to the PO today and he seems like he would like to have the 350 engine I bought a few weeks back. If it goes down, I will stick it in the corner after I take what I need off of it. (intake, carburetor, distributor, etc.) I figure why risk grenading the orginal short block and cylinder heads?

I'm sure some wonder why go through the trouble... the partial VIN will help verify the car. Doubt I'll ever sell it, but to me it's pretty neat to have the "born with" parts.

Picked up the engine out of my car today... it was in vain. :(

The partial VIN on the front pad does not match my VIN. And has a HN suffix... B body 300 HP 350 with a TH350.

On a high note, it does have a 1111499 distributor. I'll most likely sell it to help pay for some more parts. Also has 186 casting heads some people are after.

Been casually looking for a flat hood, missed out on a really nice one last month. :( I didn't think it would be so hard to find one. Don't want to sell my SS hood until I find what I need.

I'm replacing the hood on my '72 with a soon to be purchased 2" cowl one if you're interested...
Rust free AZ hood but has hood pin holes.

Thanks Bill, but I need a hood for the 69'. I have an original CI hood for my 72'.

Picked up an air cleaner, bell housing, and flywheel today. I'm lacking a starter and carburetor, getting very close to having all of the right parts.

Still up in the air about a transmission, m20 is cheap enough and what came factory. But an m22z would be better with the factory 3.31 gears out back. Might be worth the extra money for the added acceleration and not having to mess with worn out old parts.

What size carb are you looking for ? I kept the carb from mine when I put the EFI on it. Hardly any time on it, and we were hanging on to it just in case David decided to pick up another project car. But we will be moving and I told him that we just need to sell the parts we have.

It's a specific Quadrajet, I found a few... just need to buy one.

It is highly likely that the car is getting a 427...

I blame Tony. ;)

Picking it up tomorrow. 69' "512" block, 69' "291" square port heads, etc. I have a set of 4.56 gears on the shelf, might as well go all out.

Now yer talkin! I am a fan of the 427 from way back. I don't know about the 4:56 gear though. I ran that ratio in the Nomad for a couple of years. The first 1/4 mile driving was fun, but that got old quick. I ended up with a complete Moser with 4:10 ratio.

I'll deal with the gears, I have a late model truck with overdrive and cruise control when I want to go long distance. I want the experience of solid lifters and steep gears.

Finally got it on an engine stand this past Tuesday.

looks like fun
my version of the 427 was with L88 style pistons, cam, springs, valves, 850 carb
had both M21 or 3550 tremec OD transmissions
big mix of gears 4.88, 4.56, 4.33, 4.11, 3.73..
liked the 4.33 best with the M21 and a 225hp shot of nos...:p
liked the 3.73 best with the OD 3550tremec 5speed.:D
idle @ 1400rpm, pulled hard to 7600rpm:beer:

Looks like you're in the direction. Any update on your project?

Been really busy trying to get my 72 ready for paint. Right now plans are to do rust repairs this fall. But, we'll see...