Alan, I have to agree, that is one clean engine compartment. It is nice to hear that you got to take her for a drive, no matter how you got her started. I can't wait to see what you do with the C-cab.

No, it starts with the key now. :D Pretty much the only things not hooked up to the harness are the lights. Since I don't have separate ground wires for the parking lights or tail lights, I want to wait until it's painted to finish it off. I didn't want to put the lights in and the bumpers on, just to finish wiring it, so I could take it back apart to paint it. This week is supposed to be nice, so I'm gonna get nuts on making it white. Once I get color on it, the rest should fly by to get it done. I want it completed by June 1. It may end up going to BJ or Leake over the summer. We'll see.

Today I got the roof stripped down, a few rusty spots welded up in the windshield track and a coat of primer on the roof. I need to locate new clips for the windshield trim and get the glass glued in. Once I do that, I can move it to a friend's shop for final prep and paint. It looks like my June 1 goal could very well happen.

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The primer looks funny because my pressure regulator took a dump and I couldn't get a pattern on my gun to save my butt. I hope to have it down at my friend's place by the early part of next week. ...It looks like another round of parts I have to order to keep my deadline. .....It's only money, right?

Its getting closer .

The wife threatened me with divorce if I SELL the Chevelle. How's that for strange? She says getting a house can wait a little while. I AM NOT to sell the Chevelle. I always knew she was special. :D

New glass will be here Thursday. Windshield clips will be here Friday. I hope to have it at my friend's place the early part of next week.

Don't set your glass until the last thing. Much easier to do any work on the car with the glass out. The front and back glass was the last things I did to my car. Also test fit all your moldings for the windows now. If you need to do any work around the window to make them look good, now is the time to do it.

Ray. Thanks for the heads up. I didn't really do anything to windshield frame, so it should be ok. All I did was fix a couple small rust holes in the bottom of the channel. The rear glass will be the challenge. The filler panel was replaced before I got the car, so I'll take special care to make sure everything fits. I already did some panel alignment back there, but I have more to do before I glue the glass in the back.

I got the passenger side door done today. I got the four paint jobs stripped off and the mud work done on the door and rocker. I just have to strip and resurface the driver's door and hood. (the gold areas)

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Remember GM didn't fit things all the great. That's why check everything, trim pieces, bumper alignments, etc. Once paints on it it's to late. Looking good. Looking forward to seeing some paint on it.

Yeah Ray, I know that all too well. It took 3 hours to get the sheet metal in the front lined up. I have a good gap around the windshield (at least I do with THIS windshield) I'll make sure the new glass fits, too. The rear glass is the tricky part. The opening itself looks ok, but gap is a little funky. I'll have to play with that a little to get it the way I want it.

This ain't my first rodeo, either. I've replaced all kinds of quarter panels, roofs, floors, etc. This won't get final primer until it's ready. I'm moving along on it, but I'm NOT rushing it.

Check out some of my other stuff when you have time. This is my shop's FB page.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Perfo...9195?ref=br_rs

Another thing to consider. This was a whole car when I got it. All the parts were already on the car and lined up. I shouldn't have to do major surgery to get it back together. The really nice thing about this car is all the panels except for the passenger side fender and the rear filler panel are original to the car and in nice shape.

This was great, but a kick in the teeth at the same time.

I finally found the same tach I had in the first Chevelle. Since Sun got bought out, it's next to impossible to find a actual Sun tach. Well, I found one today! Woo Hoo!


I found it in an antique shop. ......I feel old.

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I feel kind of old looking at that picture too. Quite a few of my past cars had one of those mounted to the steering column with a large worm gear clamp.

HA!! ...and that's where this one will be tomorrow! I can't wait! :D

I got the new glass dropped off for the Chevelle today. Another piece of the puzzle.

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....I also got the tach mounted and most of it hooked up. I kept getting interrupted while I was working.

The pieces of the puzzle are looking good .

Well, I was hoping to have a picture of the working tach to show everyone. The Sun tach is shorted and doesn't work at all. I got an off brand tach that looks like the Sun piece. I had to take that all apart and fix the selector switch before it would work at all. (and it was brand new in the package) It still works a little flaky, so I just ordered a new Moon Eyes tach and maybe, just MAYBE, ...that will work like it's supposed to. :mad:

I got my new Mooneyes tach yesterday. I was all excited to open it and check it out. I was REALLY disappointed to find out I spent $70 on a Taiwan tach. Don't we make ANYTHING here anymore? :(

I've also been getting the run around on my windshield clips from the supply house here in town. First, it would be three days. That turned in to a week, then it was two weeks, now it's another two to three weeks. I just broke down and ordered the kit from Ground up. So close to driving this thing and I can't catch a break.

I'm still hoping to have it done by June 1st. I'll just have to hustle when I get the clips in.

I've been sidelined lately with a really bad back, so the work I've been getting done is big stuff. I did score a set of original 327 fender emblems from a friend of mine. They were dirty and faded like most of them are these days, but after a little polish and some model paint, they look pretty darn good. Check it out....

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I'm trying to find little things I can do to keep progress rolling forward. If my back heals up soon, the car is going to jump forward very quickly with progress.

I feel for you on the back problems ,mine has been giving me fits the last 2 months but I have not been able to give it a rest yet.

Mine's been jacked up for about a month now. This weather is not helping. Every third day it rains and I can't catch a break. I had to stop since I couldn't walk yesterday. :( Through the miracle of modern chemistry, I feel decent today. I just have to take it easy for a couple days, then light duty for a week or so. .....that should be easy in a metal fab shop. :rolleyes:

On the upside, I got my new windshield clips today! Woo Hoo! :D

After much tweaking and shimming and adjusting, I got my windshield glued in today. Now I just have to repeat the process for the back glass. .....gettin' closer!

Keep on plugging along .

Rear clips in. Rear glass glued down.

.....on to the exhaust system. :D

What have you got planned for the exhaust? Are you going to copy what you had 20+ years ago? Or going with something else?

...Sort of copy. I'm going to build my own mufflers. (because I do that now instead of buy them) I have stock manifolds like the first car and it'll have 2 1/2" pipe like the first car, the only huge difference is this car will have tail pipes instead of side exits in front of the rear wheels. The engine and the mufflers will give this car a little more aggressive note than the first car had.

You know, sometimes I wonder why more people don't build their own mufflers. The straight through, preforated core design flows well and is painfully simple. Are you going to incorporate and X or H cross over?

No. Separate duals all the way back. I do a few different style mufflers. These flow really well and give it a nice aggressive tone. I can't wait to get them on the car. It doesn't take much to get the exhaust to quiet down.

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I left my welding helmet at my buddy's shop so I had to weld them together with my eyes closed. (That's why the welds aren't very good)

I'm kind of curious as to why you wouldn't take advantage of an X or H crossover?

I have never seen anyone make their own mufflers ,how cool is that ?

Thanks, John.

Carpoor. I have exhaust manifolds and smaller pipe on an engine that should really be breathing. I'm absolutely NOT looking for peak performance out of this car. If that were the case, I would have set the car up completely differently. It's supposed to be as close to the car I had in high school as I can get. I'm pretty sure Hooker super comp headers and 2 1/2" pipe with a X pipe and Flowmasters would give an extra 40 horsepower. ......but that's not what I want. I want my car from high school.

Totally understand, I just see too many "stockers" pick up from a well-designed X pipe set up. I too am rocking stock manifolds on my 72', I have a mandrel bent 2.5 system with an X crossover. I don't expect it to be mind numbing fast, just trying to eek out every last bit without headers, a radical cam, aftermarket heads & intake manifold, etc, etc...

True duals have a very different sound than the ones with an x pipe. It's a little rattier sounding, I think. I like that sound.

Very true, my Monte Carlo has a distinctive, almost rasp to it. My father's green 72' SS 454 had an H crossover, it sounded more refined - despite having chambered mufflers vs. the turbo mufflers on the Monte. My 2000 Z28 had 3" duals with an X, it had a specific ring to it in the upper rpms. Cannot wait to hear how my car sounds. Blowing through stock manifolds, 2.5" mandrel bent system with an X, Summit turbo mufflers, Pypes stainless replica SS tips.

Please find a way to post a sound clip or two of your car when the exhaust is done.

Will do. That was already in the plan to let you guys hear the new exhaust. :D

Well, here you go! The video is horrible, and it doesn't do the sound justice. These mufflers make the car sound amazing. I love the tone in them. They have a slight ring when you turn it up high, but from past experience, that will go away as they get broken in. I'm extremely happy with how they sound.

http://s129.photobucket.com/user/ear...tml?sort=3&o=0

That sounds pretty Badass .

Thanks John! A set of tailpipes and it's ready for state inspection. I should be on the road in a week or two.

Vid isn't working for me, guess I'll try later. ::shrug:: I was all excited to hear it too.

Maybe you need a photobucket account to see it? I'll post a video to Youtube when I can get it outside and get a better video.