Blast from the past, 70's style

[HobbyMan]

Ever driven a SS454 chevelle? I have, as of yesterday. I hope you have had or get that opportunity. My friend rebuilt his 71 chevell last year and we took it out yesterday. THe motor shakes the sh** out of the car. It has an outo with a shift kit. If you use more than 3/4 throttle from 0 to 30, the rear end will break loose and slide. THat with short headers on it reall makes this car kick a**. I LOVE CHEVELLES!! His neighbors hate the car and you can guess why. He is now becoming a Mopar guy so we spent today tearing down two 1967 440's. One of those is going into his charger. Suprisingly, after sitting 15 yrs with 2 gal of SAE WATER in them, the cranks were in good shape. Anyway, I just was wondering if anyone owns or has owned a chevelle or EL from the late 60's and early 70's. What great machines!

[motoman]

Yeppers Hobby.....................64 Goat that ran 13quarters and drove to work every day..............69 Camino SS396, 4:11 posi, bangin' a 4-sp. that was my bike hauler............those were the days of REAL muscle. Used to lay a $20 on dash of either car,anyone who could grab it before I hit fourth could pocket it. Only lost one $20...........but long arms helped.

[HobbyMan]

WOW. I think that says it all

[TADracer]

I've had the muscle pleasure!

I am lucky as I owned a very nice (and now rare) 69 Nova SS 396. Jet black with a 4-speed and 3:90 rear gears. I used to street drive it and bracket race alittle with this car.

BUT, my real muscle was a 1969 Dodge Coronet 500....426 HEMI Super Stock conservatively making well over 500 HP. Jere-Stall headers with 4" x 18" long tuned collectors, Torqueflite 700 transmission with oversized bands and clutches, 3500 RPM stall speed B&M torque converter, B&M gate shifter. Boyd Breaux from New Orleans built, blueprinted and balanced the block with a hard chromed crank, clevite bearings, reworked and hardened rods. Heads were kept mostly stock because of the class rules. Crane cam, springs and retainers and a competition valve/seat grind. Moroso oil pan with high flow oiling system and out back were a set of 5:13 gears and a Detroit locker spinning M&H Racemaster 10 1/2" slicks. Front tires were Moroso skinny drag tires. This car was always flirting with the NHRA SS/DA national record (back in the days when competition was based on records and not indexes).

Then.....I got married and we all know what happens then! Cars gone, trailer gone, spare motor gone. I shudder to think what all this would be worth right now. Sigh.

[John]

Back in 74 I bought a 69 Chevell ragtop, with a 307. Replaced that with a 327. Went like stink for a 17 YO kid. In that same time frame, senior year of HS, I had a cousin with a 70 Chevelle SS w/ the 454. Awesome ride!
In '05 I got rid of a 69 El Camino that had a blown engine. It was just a garden varyity 350w/a Quadrajunk. I replaced that with an Edelbrock 625 cfm, w/ electric choke... much nicer. I bought it in ragged out 95, and spent a bunch of time straightening the body, and doing a drum to disc brakes coversion. I re-did the interior with a new headliner, and recovered seats, reconditioned dash and pad. The fuel milage, 11, was killing me so I parked it in '01, and bought a Chevy Corsica, 25 mpg.
I have driven some hot cars in my time. A 67 Charger 440 6 pak, 70 Camaro z 28 LT1 350, 69 Vette LT1, 69 Goat 400 and a Hemi powered Dodge pick up.

[confish04]

OK !!

Here i go & show my age !

Back then i had a 1970 Dodge Challenger 340 6-pack w-auto that i dragged raced in NHRA F/SA & ran 12.30`s all day, 71 Dodge Charger 440 4bbl w-auto, & the fastests of the bunch a 68 Ford Torino 428 4-speed & 66 Dodge Coronet 383 4 bbl w-auto & 4.56 gears . Man i wish i still had at least 1 just to sell at Barret Jacksons car auction.

[randy]

Had a '70 Chevlle SS396 in '77. I can still hear the FOOOMP of the secondaries opening when I floored the throttle and the front end would lift like a plane taking off. The only thing that has ever come close to reproducing that thrill is my XS.

[Pat Kelly]

74 Fiat 128 sedan with a stock 1400cc engine. Would chirp the tires in all 4 gears. Took it off-roading and got it stuck. 3 of us lifted it out.

[Czekus21]

When I was a kid, our neighbor had a 68 GTO. He did that to me ( 10 bucks on the dash ) I couldn't grab it.
My cuz had a 70 442, Same tripp.. Those day's were in your face, Bad to the bone, pure muscle. Kinda XSive, Like our bikes
Tuned right, XStream, hold on tight, rip your arm out of the sockets, stupid fast.

[mro]

“I Can’t Drive 55”

My brother still has one of these (since 1970)
1967 Shelby GT500. (worth over $100,000 now???)
He raced it for years, and has since restored it to all original.



In 1993 my brother was working on Sammy Hagar's Shelby here in Hayward. Turns out that Sammy is a very cool dude. Got a call from my brother and he asked if my wife would like to meet him. My wife was a BIG TIME rock fan. She got to hang out with Sammy for a little while and he took her for a ride in his Shelby too

mro

[trbig]

My dad always had fast cars. His favorite was probably a '68 Roadrunner that he had for years. His last hoorah before he died in 2000 was to take my step mom's car... a big square boat of a car 72 Grand Prix, and BUILT a 455 motor for it. It would run 12's with street tires.. but was VERY tall geared. You couldn't get out of second in the quarter mile. It was pretty awesome to goose the throttle.. I don't know what all he'd done to it but the whole car would twist when you did it. The motor had to be solid mounted and chained down... it kept breaking motor mounts.
My childhood dream for some reason was always to be able to drive a car 200 mph. Don't ask me why?? With my step mom one night (Dad was at work... bouncer at a topless bar.. lol) We took it for a joy ride. The speedo went to 165. I romped it on a regular road and hit 145... then out on the freeway.. It hit the 165 mark EASILY! Step mom was a little tipsy.. so she was laughing the whole time.. Anyway.. I asked my dad if I could borrow it for my senior prom.. I was going to try to hit 200 with it that night. He sold the thing about 3 weeks before prom! I was so mad... but probably saved my life! lol.

These little Hondas and such are making HUGE horsepower now.. the big blocks just can't compete. But... to me, you just can't compare to the raw sound, feel, and torqueiness of the big blocks. Yeah, the hottest imports will beat them...but they are just missing something... The sounds of their turbos off-gassing and nitrous... just doesn't do it for me even though the speed is there..

Tod

[HobbyMan]

RANY- I am very jealous
TADracer- My friend does has a yellow Coronet with a 440. He has spent the last 4 years rebuilding cars.
My favorite is his chevelle. They sure don't make cars like that any more.

[DiverRay]

In the late 70's, when I bought my first XS1100, I had a '66 442 convertible. It was that metallic gold, with a white top and interior. I know it was fast, but as the speedo only went to 120, so I don't know how fast. In my high school day's, I helped my dad shoe-horn a Buick Wildcat 445 drive train into a 1952 International Harvester 1/2 ton pickup. looked like a POS, and would do an honest 140 MPH!! That was a FUN truck to drive.

[kimrpaige]

Ahhh Yes,

Buick Wildcat 445, 401 CID "Nailhead" 325 HP and yes 445 ft lbs of torque!!!!!

And then the Wildcat 465, 425 CID, dual Quad, 465 ft lbs torque. And what a pretty engine too!!!!

[HobbyMan]

I prefer a six pack to dual quad. I wish I had dual quad on my boat 454. I am going today to look at a 70 SS El Camino. I am hoping for a 396 over the 454( gas milage) I hope they don't want a lot for it.