Chevelle66

My name's Deva!: confused: (dave-ah)..daves fine too ..
I'd like to first off thank everyone who ive been in contact wih the last week. Since joining and from my first time on here every one has been so friendly and helpful its great to have a resource like this at the tips of your fingers!
I'm 29 live in northern California near San fransisco.. I started out working on cars shortly after getting my first truck at 16... (rolled it a week later!lol)
Now I am about to graduate a from the local jr college with my vocational certificate in auto collision repair.. I am also working on getting my I-CAR certification as well. I worked in a small town garage when I turned 19 and have always worked on cars in all aspects but mainly only working on classic cars (chevelles,camaros,impallas,etc) and mainly chevy's (gm).
Anyways long story longer I have 2 projects ...My 66 chevelle (396 4 psd 12 bolt ) being transplanted on to a shortend 66 el camino frame (stiffer platform) since ive always been old school in my muscle cars its getting the 396 and the muncie ive built (for now???)
Well my second projects (which lead me here) is a 72 camaro i couldnt pass up buying when a friend needed $ and only had the camaro to part with..
Well i recently started thinking with the current gas prices and with wantin to actually drive my camaro (without having to sell blood to buy gas!) as a semi daily driver while i finish my chevelle ... I need a newer fuel injected small block and and over drive trans!
Well i traded a motorcycle i had the other weekend for an Ls1 and 4l60e out of a wrecked 02 camaro the other day .. So I guess Im gonna learn about the wonderful world of modern technology (about damn time! lol)
So ill be absorbing all the info and experience I can from all of you!
Thanks and I look forward to meeting everyone on here!
If you need any tips or help with body work im always happy to contribute!
From panel replacement to candy coat paint jobs!
Deva~

3.8SFITURBO

iTrader: (10)

Hello! Welcome! Nice Camaro!

khaos288

iTrader: (9)

shoulda gone t56!

still ought to get way better mpgs tho

Chevelle66

Thanks a lot! I swapped the motor in after buying it,painted the engine bay while i had it out (6 different colors of paint/primer under the hood + inches of grease,dirt ,oil) The bodies fairly rust free I'm aiming for a round of body and paint by next summer! LOL with my luck itll be torn appart with a half finished ls1 swap ! Thanks again for the welcome and compliment!


Yeah if I had bought the engine / trans instead of trading it for a my beat up ninja I would have only settled for a 6 speed manual! But traders cant be choosers! I'm still pretty stoked though ..the camaro was a factory TH350 car so ill just retain the stock horshoe shifter which i actually kind of like....
The engine has a claimed 38,000 miles (looks clean enough to be accurate)
has over 200 psi in all cylinders with less than 10 psi varience.
The trans although an auto has 0 miles on a full rebuild with kevlar clutches ,new tci 3500 stall speed converter, (thinking ill sell it and get a saturday night special type converter ) since economy is a goal and the engines stock(ls1 from 2002 camaro)Im thinking that this converter would probably just waste fuel and attract more unneeded attention from the man??? .. lol apperantly my camaro already screams "pull me over1"... (at least according to the sheriff who pulled me over practically in my driveway on my return trip from buying the car)
Any oppinions?
Thanks again guys and gals!
Id gladly trade for a t56 if someone wants a built 4l60e

Zosickness

Howdy. Nice ride.

Chevelle66

Thanks for the welcome! Itll be nicer with my ls1 in it!

bigblock4-speed

Cool ride.. I have a 70 bigblock 4-speed camaro myself. They are neat.. i bet a ls1 would be neat in one! Welcome and goodluck!

johnLs1camaro

iTrader: (28)

hey man awesome to have you hear and im going through a 70z28/ls1/a4 swap right now..it gets crazy at times but its a been a blast good luck with the swap

MrElectric03

iTrader: (71)

Cool car man. My Dad actually lives in Lodi and has a 73 split bumper all primered black. Your chevelle sounds awesome too. Im in the middle of restoring my 68 Firebird 400 4 speed 12 bolt. Welcome to the site...there is alot of really smart people on here to share their experiences.Post up some pics of the chevelle!

chry*bmb

Hello there! Welcome aboard...

I may have a newer gen car, but I am truly a classic car dreamer. Always worked on them in high school with my grease monkey guy friends on the weekends and that's what I miss. LOVE the Camaro. Some day I'll get my hands on a '69 Camaro and maker her mine...

Keep me update on your "projects" please...

Chevelle66

Swwwwweeeeet!!! I love 1970 camaro's! .I know the 72 is to most identical..and im happy to have it at all! The first car i ever restored was a friends 1970 formula 350 firebird (over 30 axe holes in the vehicle!) (Yes AXE HOLES!!) Then about a year later i started working at a local "vintage car restoration shop" ( i use these terms loosely ) The first car i saw as i walked into the body shop was an all original (except for uprades like 4 wheel baer disks,17" tourqe thrusts 2's) 1970 1/2 Z-28 RS lt1 4 speed car !!!! I fell in love! Im to this day very good friends with the owner of the car as i was the only reason the car came out of the shop in beautiful condition (boss was a hack! ) Anyways im rambling ill post a pic of it when i finished it!
Thanks for welcome and encouragement! (hold on to that bbc 4 speed car!...or sell it to me! ) All you guys n gals are great!



Hey thanks bro! Sounds like maye youll be a great go to guy for help on my swap! Along with everyone else on this site! In the couple weeks ive been here ive absorbed so much its insane! I a so rethinking the first gen sbc and the mark 4 bbcs and their gas guzzling nature and considering finding lsx's for the chevelle and my 75 4x4 (if i dont sell it after 8 years ( )
So how far are you on your swap? Id love to see pics! thanks! Deva



Hey ! Awesome it sounds like u 2 have some sweet rides too! I wish my car was an rs but hey it was 2500 $ minimal rust (rust free would be the term sellers would use! lol!!! ) Cali car that drove 100 miles home the night i bought it! DID I MENTION IT HAS A FRESH 3.42 12 BOLT!!! POSI!
It needs some work but hey ... lol so do i!
I actualy am trying to do my chevelle and camaro up (have both running ) by November when ill turn 30! (had chevelle for 6 years never drivin it)
I made good progress over the weekend on my chevelle!
When i got it it had no motor or trans (had a 396/4 spped trans in my garage which is why the guy sold me the car for $800)
Ok now is where it got sticky ... the car was "high boy'd (more like boy they were high!!! ) Solid front axle from an early chevy van.... leaf springs ... front and rear!!! The thing sat as high as my 72 C-30 tow truck when i dragged it home !
Needless to say after having that much Arch welding done to the stock frame rails that frame was useless (especially for a 4 spd big block car!!)
So ater much research i grabbed an elcamino frame (factory full box perimeter frame,same as station wagon) but its 3.25 inches longer than the 2 door &4 door frames... So this weekend i got out the tram gauge ,tape measure , sawzall ,220 mig machine and a bunch of paper for notes and measurements! After some intial measurements .. frame was bent .. not too bad a lil diamion and kick up ... puled out 10 ton porta power ... thought ... hurt head thinking ... starting straightning frame ... got it to 1/16 of an inch within specs (was taught in collisin repair school that 10 mm or 3/8" is within specs ... Im a perfectionist !
So i then braced where i was cutting (back section of rear frame rails between rear body mounts(where rear bumper attaches to the second rear most body mount (basically the frame is longer where the gas tank mounts hence a larger capacity tank in wagons and el caminos ... skipping ahead i cut the frame removed 3.25"s used removed section to make an insert te realign fram while fitting it ...
Well i finished it up on sunday! looks great! every measurement within 1/16th of an inch! (pretty good for my first frame section ever!)
ill try to add pics!


Hey Michelle always nice to hear from a lady!

Your car is sweet! (lol for a new car ...jk its very nice new or old! )
Yeah i miss tinkerin on cars like the old barely outa school days (got kicked out a high school after 4 months ... they wouldnt let me take auto shop so i didnt wanna stay!)
Now i work on cars everyday ... its hard to spend my free time doing it daily ... my gf leaving me sure seems to free up some time though!~
check in every once in a while and ill gladly keep u filled in
Im in the parts collecting phase for the camaro .. I want to have as many of the components as i can before i start as the car runs currently ... chevelles in ... wel the onky parts on it are the pass door and trunklid ... lol ill get some pics for eveyy one soon though!
thanks everyone!
Deva~

Chevelle66

hers some pics of one of my best friends from high school's first car that we completed in august 07 Its a 1976 chevy vega wagon that he and his dad swapped a ild 350 small lock into along with a th350 (also mildly built) it really gets up and goes! Well it was origally hugger orange ... It was my oppinion to stick with the stock color to a degree... after a little searching i found it in the house of color nova orange basecoat spanish gold candy and 6 coats of HOC clear! Not too mention hours of taping off for flames over the basecoat ... airbrushing .... pin striping ... pics do this car no justice!

The first pic is at my house after alost a year of body work ,five lug conversion and a posi build .. i had jammed the car in pieces in driveway!
In the first pic had just reasembled it .. i then posted pics through the painting process ... the 3rd group is the car at our last car in San Rafael Ca.
The last pic is my camaro same show! ... well the camaro's all go no show!
Hope you guys enjoy my early morning ramblings with pics!
Good night!

Chevelle66

no love on the pics huh ???