Wicked, Blacked-Out 1972 Chevelle Shreds Tires with LS3 Power: Track Time Tuesday Presented by the All-New Nitto Recon Grappler™ A/T
Deliciously dark LS-swapped 1972 Chevelle sounds and goes every bit as good as it looks.
It’s hard for some to swallow, but the truth is, most old muscle cars just aren’t terribly fast by today’s standards. At least in stock form. Do a little work under the hood, and you can make a classic piece of American iron just as quick as anything out there, whether you go with an old-fashioned carbureted engine build or swap it out for a more modern LS powerplant. In the case of this wicked 1972 Chevelle – the subject of a video from AutotopiaLA and this week’s Track Time Tuesday presented by Nitto – a fortified LS3 is the choice of motivation.
Fans of some NFL teams may not love the color combination, however, since the silver and black combo is a nod to the owner’s favorite club – the Las Vegas Raiders. Regardless, those shades look killer on this 1972 Chevelle, especially since just about everything is blacked out, from the wheels to the trim to the smoked headlights.
Peek under the super clean exterior and you’ll find a pretty basic LS3 build that’s been treated to ported heads, a BTR stage 4 camshaft, and an MSD two-step line lock for easy burnouts. The modern mill cranks out over 500 horsepower to the wheels, which is plenty to light up those rear meats and have a blast out on the street. The mighty motor is backed up by a Tremec TR-6060 six-speed manual gearbox and a rear diff stuffed with 3.90 gears.
Meanwhile, the suspension has been upgraded with a full BMR tubular setup, Bilstein shocks, and Wilwood brakes with six-piston calipers up front and four-piston units in the rear. The owner opted to forgo the popular coilover route with this old Chevy, however, instead keeping it somewhat old school. However, the wheels are decidedly modern, one-off custom pieces from Divide Wheels.
Those wheels are wrapped with sticky Nitto NT05 tires measuring in at 255 up front and 305 in the rear. According to the owner, those tires hook up well in spite of this Chevelle’s extra power, but he obviously isn’t afraid to light them up at a moment’s notice, either, courtesy of that line-lock setup. The owner says he does it for the “little kids,” so it’s definitely cool in our book.
Overall, this classic Chevelle goes every bit as good as it looks, and sounds amazing in the process, too. And while there are quicker and faster cars in the world, we’d rather be behind the wheel of this fun machine than most of them.
Join the LS1Tech forums now!
