Any car you either cannot or will not drive is no car at all. What you have is a 2 ton knickknack. Scott over at cold war motors youtube channel started building a daily driver by combining 3 cars into one. He wasn't even sure he was going to paint it. But it took 4 years to do it (with lots and lots of other projects in between) and then one thing after another, IIRC, it took months to do all the stainless (it's a 60 Fury loaded with stainless trim).... and it turned into a really nice car. Now it looks great in his garage. Gets driven 5 times a year.
I perfer vintage wheels and tires rather than putting 19 or 20 inch modern rims with low profile tires. It sorta like putting a mini skirt on grandma. Love your show, Kiwi.
@@brucenichols540 A set of 17" rims with lower profile tires will help the car handle better. But when you get up to 20" rims and bigger is when they start getting ridiculous. The price for the better handling is a worse ride because you'll feel every little pebble on the road. I'd rather have the 15" rims and tires for the better ride quality and QM better traction with the extra side wall than the little bit better handling and less traction from the lower profile tires. That car would look way better with the SS rally rims instead of the Corvette rally rims on it.😎👍
I have seen the exact same problem.. A construction worker had a 74 or something Trans Am. Lots of bling. Those pot metal or whatever distributor hold downs are junk. I heard this mess and as he was a young fella, I offered to look at it. I didn't have a replacement but |I had a roll of black tape so I fixed that problem. Timed it by ear and adjusted the Q-jet and idle..Next day he came to work saying that little car never ran so well. Just that easy.
That is a common issue as well as the advance weights and advance mechanism in the distributor being sticky if it's older then take it apart clean it up curve it for quicker advance and make sure your getting all of it 35 deg at say 3000 rpms and lock it down makes do difference what base timing is don't even look at that it could be 20 deg or even more sometimes that's irrelevant as long as it starts well and sounds happy and your getting full advance that's when you'll get the best milage the best response and the engine will be very very happy most people do not do this and they leave so much on the table they are always focused on base timing and idk why 😢
@@glennmanchester5696 takes more time to put 10, 20, 30 marks on the balancer or more money to buy a dial light. Also takes more understanding of how it all works and works together, or doesn't to verify the advance function and set total timing like that.
What a fun car to tool around in. I too like them with just a bit of use, I'm too nervous when they're perfect. Can't say I've ever seen a distributor that loose before - holy mackerel. Thanks for taking us along, greatly enjoying your content ~ Chuck
Back in '96, I had a 69 4 door Chevelle with a 250 somebody converted to a floor shift. One day after school, it locked both levers as it was worn out. I got underneath the car and unlocked the levers manually but started rolling as it was on a slight grade. I'm lucky I got out from under it in time. One of my favorite $500 cars
I had an English Mk 3 Zephyer floor shift that would do that on the down shift to second. Back wheels would lock up instantly and you'd slide to halt. I quickly learned not to do that😬
I bought my first car when I was 15 (1976). It was a real 69 Chevelle SS 396. It had a Muncie M-21 4-speed and the original 12 bolt rear end with 4.11 posi. Back then people didn't clone cars... No this car certainly isn't a true SS car. There are plenty of tell tale signs even just looking at it in the video. I can picture what this car was because I've seen a lot of them... It was a VERY tired and VERY rough Malibu. The paint job and body work is absolutely horrible but it's shiny and I do like the color. The big block that is in it reminds me of the low compression 454's that were in the late 70's GM pickups. Very weak. Being a Malibu it probably has 3.08 gears and that certainly doesn't help matters... That said, the two most important things are that the owner likes it, and that they don't try to screw someone and pass it off as a true SS car if they try to sell it... If the owner truly believes that this is an actual SS car, they need to start doing some research. My gut feeling is that they already know it isn't, but I've been wrong before. I hope that the owner didn't buy it in this condition from someone that claimed it was an SS, and they paid a lot more for it than it was worth because they didn't know the difference.
I bought my car at 15 (1975) also. It was a '66 Mustang with a 289 and 3 on the floor (Really quick for what it was) and I did a few suspension modifications for handling (I'm not much into the "Drag" thing I've always been more "Point A to B, fast as possible"). The ONLY car that ever beat me was one almost exactly like yours. I think that was back in 1977 or 78. The dude handed me my a## in short order.
You know, it's a funny thing. People our age couldn't wait to get that driver's license and car and get out on the road. Kids nowadays are scared to death to drive. My oldest granddaughter didn't get her leaner's incense until she was 18 and it took her three tries. Her younger sister is now 17 and has no inclination at all to even try. Their younger brother is the same way. Man, I couldn't wait. My dad taught me to drive a stick when I was 10 (He was going to Viet-Nam and wanted me to be able to in case of emergency). I could have passed the written test, and possibly the driving test when I was 12. On my 15th birthday, I was waiting at the Georgia State Patrol's door, chomping at the bit, waiting for them to open. Same when I turned 16, so I could "Speed Legal" and drive by myself.
As Bob Hope before my time would say, Thanks for the memories. The 68 Chevelle is my favorite. Yes I'm on those hot guys that likes to 68 Chevelle in the 68 charger over there 69 counterparts. In both cases it's because of the tail light treatment. I've got a four-door 68 in the barn. Also I can remember my dad welding a bit more nubs onto the back side of that hole down for the distributor on the old Chevys. Also a good friend of mine American is 396 cowl induction Chevelle. Oh it was a 1970 model if I remember right. Feel free to correct me on that. Like I said Thanks for the memories and this is a fantastic beautiful car 🚗. Just the way it is, at the end of your segment. 👍👍👍👍👍
I’ve seen more than enough of these videos to know that if the cars red, you best beware. Having said that, the red looks fantastic in the video, and the black pin stripe is a nice touch.
69 is my favorite Chevelle, but 68 a close 2nd. I like the 69 tail lights better. A neighbor had a 69, purple with black vinyl top. Really sharp looking. He didn't take all that good of care of it. It got parted out, and the rest eventually went to the junkyard. The car I would have most liked to have had, even though there are many I love.
'68 Chevelle was the first car I ever owned! I bought it for $800 after working and saving up for several months. It was a great car. Rust finally did it in. That's definitely not the original upholstery. I'd bet that car originally came with a bench seat and a 307 engine. I'd also bet it's not originally a SS model. SS models had a console and a floor shifter and a different steering wheel. Its still a beautiful car, it's just not a Super Sport. Back in the day, SS hoods and emblems were dirt cheap. I put them on mine too!
Way back in my day the 68 & 69 Chevelle seemed to have the best weight transfer for the big block engine...the 69 had better/bigger taillights but the 68 had vent windows giving better door glass tracking? You could actually 'own the zip code' with one of these big block Chevelles...the only drawback was everytime you got in it - it needed gas
That Chevelle sounds nice! That should have a Turbo400 trans, and it looked like the vacuum hose for the trans modulator may not be hooked up to manifold vacuum. If it's ported vacuum, that could cause the trans to not downshift properly. Oh, and thank you for being a left-foot brake kinda guy. It is annoying when people say 'you can't do that!'. To which I say: 'do you use your left foot to walk, or are you that uncoordinated?'
Buddy had one silver, black Top and interior SS 396 four speed, creamed out the passenger side, but it still ran fine, and he didn't have to worry about scratching it anymore lol, just kept driving it like he stole it ha ha 🤣
I had a friend of mine who had a 69 Camaro with the 307 engine and it had the large 2bbl Rochester carburetor (which I would say was added). The car ran well (3spd trans) but needed a rebuild so his father who was an accomplished mechanic rebuilt it for him. Well, my friend had changed to a 4bbl set-up and had an Accel dual point distributor in the car. Another buddy borrowed the distributor to see how he would like the Accel set-up, and this fellow reinstalled the distributor in my friend's car, but he did not install the distributor clamp properly. Instead of fitting the clamp over the base of the distributor he had jammed it against the base of the distributor. On the drive back to his house my friend's 307 just locked up and what happened was the distributor walked up out of its base and the oil pump driveshaft became disengaged losing the oil pressure, but the engine stayed running. The fellow who had put the distributor in could not understand how that could have happened until my friend's father showed him on his car how that could happen. Every time I install a distributor on an engine, I check to make sure I have not made the same mistake
138 in the vin I believe but don’t recall where in the vin. Either way topside and driving it’s a great car ! The show stoppers never get driven ! Rather have cars that are fun and look the part ! lol. Take care 🍺🍺
Looked like that dizzy hold-down had a slotted hole for the bolt. I've seen those before. Might be curved wrong allowing the thing to slide back on the bolt, even when significantly tight. I'd replace it with one with just a regular hole in it, and a bolt with a built-in washer. Take care, Kiwi!
How was the air filter element? With the amount of backfiring was it sooted up? I had a VG Valiant 245 hemi running like crap on me and it would backfire through the carburettor and drink fuel. When I checked the element with a torch I could not see anything through the paper. Changed it out and it was much happier and better on fuel. Good job Kiwi
Mr. B. Here ! 🍩☕️👀😎👍. You know how I feel ; Used car, Dist was mess with . I do not under stand why a loose Dist is a acceptable ? ? ? Nice job . ☕️👀😎👍
Awesome, I'm building a '68 Skylark with a 454 and TH400. I'm getting pretty wound up over getting it together to drive, and like seeing Chevelles with automatics.
Making it Chevy powered ? I know I would too the Buick motors are great but expensive anymore and Chevy parts are way more abundant a fresh 454 even stock depending on what heads on it will push that skylark around quite well a turbo 400 with a good firm second gear shift will make for a lot of head turns lol have fun w that would love to see it ..
If I were to run across a 455 Buick, that didn't need a complete rebuild, I would have been happy to go with one. Fantastic torque, and much lighter than a BBC. However, I happen to have a rusty '74 C20 with a great drivetrain, that needs to go into a better home, ie; the Buick.
Years ago my buddy wanted a real ss chevelle. We looked at many "clones" before finding a " real deal" ss. It was a 66 with a transplanted 468, and the original 4 speed. We took it to the Turkey rod run, in Daytona one year . He got standing ovations for his "burn outs" along the road in the evenings. Not sure if thats still allowed these days. Lol
Nice car. Not perfect but nice. I hope the bottom is also nice. I have a thing for 1968-1972 Chevelles. I used to own a 1971 Chevelle "Heavy Chevy", which was basically a graphics package on a base model Malibu. 350/4 speed. Cowl hood, but no actual cowl induction. Rally wheels, no trim rings, hood pins, black grille. A "fake" muscle car for those who couldn't afford the insurance on an SS. Still a very nice car. Wish I still had it. I traded it for a '76 Corvette. One cool thing about Chevelles is they are a full body on frame car, which, at least IMO, is the proper way to build a car.
My 76 J10 will backfire out of the exhaust. When im rolling at speed. Or idle itll pop a tad. But this is mainly due to massive amounts of exaust leaks. Prior owners (duel exhaust) leaks at both manifold flanges. All the pipe connections. As the clamps arent tight enough.. The oxygen getting into the exhaust is burning unburnt fuel causing the poping. I could probably adjust the mixture screws to make it leaner to lessen it. But it wont stop it. My issue is im having massive amounts of heat soak and vapor lock when i shut the engine off.. rerouting the fuel lines away from all exhaust and insulating them helped as far as driving. But once shut off.. and turned bsck on 10 min later... itll die until i manually prime the bowl
I put over 200k klicks on my 1997 Lincoln Continental. I drove my dad's 1966 Fairlane and never went back to old cars again. My Conti restricted to 200kph/125mph, air ride in rear, 6500 rpm all day long, 27 mpg US combined. Radar stealth. Seating for 6 and room for all their luggage. Tranny not that bad, as the car broke the right front axle shaft, and my Wife was plowing snow to her work at the zoo with one wheel drive.
My neighbor has three of these cars all cowl induction hoods all Big Blocks 2/4 Speed cars one automatic. Got a red one a blue one and a green one. But he still can't outrun my 66 Pontiac GTO
To me this one is preferable to a concourse quality show car. Other than getting it running right, the only things I would say need improvement are it could use a new windshield and the trim could have the paint cleaned off. But even with those minor things remaining I would be happy to drive it.
Yeah nice looking car doesn't matter if it was original or not. It's got what it says it has. I go to this car show every Thursday night. There's a guy there that's black Chevelle convertible. Really nice looking car. He had badging on it for a 396. He had the hood open and I'm not the best of judging motors but I know what a 396 looks like and it says the guy that's not a 396 and he laughs. He had a 383 stroker in it but he still had the badging on it for a 396 and I said well. Why didn't you get badging for 383 never got an answer out of him. He wasn't impressed that I knew what he was trying to pull off but it's his car. So what I guess 👍👍🙂🇨🇦
Dana "60" Glass. A true '68 SS Chevelle, the first five digits should be 13837. Nice car. Nothing wrong with 4 wheel drum brakes, especially manual drums. Never had problems stopping. Betting rolling off the line at the drag strip. Leave disc for the newer stuff, or if it came that way from the factory. My opinion.
On the odd occasion I get asked to time something like this I trust nothing, pull #1 plug, find mechanical TDC, go from there. Too many Chevy timing marker positions, slipped balancers are also common.
It should have more than that it seems to me any big block should light the tires up from a dead stop like that if I had to guess I would say that old hei. Needs some attention in the way of a curve kit and being stock it would love advance in quick most of the time I've come across an older Chevy they always have ignition timing issues making them a bit of a slouch as you say and that Edelbrock carb is not helping matters one bit they are great and simple but a good old q jet with the small primaries make for amazing throttle response way better gas mileage if you stay out of it and when you get in it way better than an Edelbrock full throttle response with a little TLC that could really be woken up I guarantee it !!
My brother got a 68 El Camino SS396 for high school graduation. 325 hp, 4-speed, 3.55 posi. I became its caretaker when he went to basic training. It was significantly faster than this Chevelle.
I always thought that it was funny how some of these cars were ordered. My 69 chevelle is a malibu with power steering, a/c, power windows, but manual drum brakes. Why wouldn't they go ahead and get the power brakes is beyond me.😂
When you get that engine and drive train squared away, that is one Bas-Ass car. My cousin's husband has a maroon 1970 SS that he purchased new when he got back from Viet-Nam. He will not sell it to anyone that is not a trained driver because the car is way more than most folks can handle. Honestly, I don't think that he will ever sell it, period. With four adult males on board, the thing will pull the front end off of the ground in all four gears and will be going well over . . . well, might better not say but it's cotton pickin' fast when he hits fourth gear and beyond. Tears-in-your-ears fast. He also has a 67 that is almost as fast, and they are both one owner cars. The 67 was, and still is sometimes, his daily driver. The '70 is his "Play Purdy", nothing fancy on the outside, interior maybe slightly better than most that age, but pop the hood or look underneath and you can tell where he spends his time. Not much chrome and no bling, just pure, clean business. It's the original engine and you could eat off the durn thing. No leaks, no rust, just business. He has tinkered on that car for as long as I've known him, and that car purrs like a lion and can roar like one, too. I believe that you have gotten yourself an extremely nice project car.
Lol can’t complain when you find a smoking gun like that, I thought the same when you got into it seems to be a bit of a dog I’m sure you could do some fuel tuning but I’d guess for their use/purpose it’s runs great
@@kiwiclassicsandcustoms9160 I kinda got that from him too. You POLITELY ask him to take that Vid down ,,then he stopped coming around. You wouldn't be the first bridge he has burned. Sad, But life goes on my friend,and you got a good thing going👍
Hi, i can answer for Kiwi as a fellow kiwi but I would say probably a big block Chevelle, people don't realise but until the mid 60s NZ imported US cars as the high end cars, we got heaps of US Ford's and Chevs, plus Pontiacs etc, later in the 60s the Australian cars took that over but there were still heaps of muscle cars imported until the early 70s, Dodge Charger 440s, Mach 1 Mustangs, Mercury Cougars, Plymouth GTXs, Chevelles , Camaro's, Pontiac Firebirds, 454 Corvettes etc, that's why we have such a love of American cars here
@@norryone Thankyou Norry for you reply ,much appreciated,off topic BUT after near 40 years marriage my wife is taking me on a holiday to beautiful New Zealand ,i cant wait
That is interesting how Tennessee are using two letters on the plate that most other states don't use at all. (I and Q incase you didn't know what I meant.)
@@kiwiclassicsandcustoms9160 Years back, Neighbor had a 74 pick up with the 454. Came over to borrow the trailer to haul it home after it threw the second new starter on the ground! Ask me to see what was the issue. Took the cap off the dist. and it wouldn't even turn by then. Took off the front pulley and cover, no plastic teeth left! Cleaned out what I could of the debris, and new gear and chain. Before I closed it up, I started the motor and the camshaft was bad on two cylinders, no lift on the exhaust. So put in a can set as well , also we welded the starter nose back on to use it. Ran good for years last I heard. I strongly feel that many of the flat lobe cams was the result of the newer oils having changed the additives and no protection for the older camshafts. I now use heavy duty diesel Rotella in my old engines now and so far no issues.
Probably has a bad balancer, Chevys are infamous for spinning on the rubber, throws the marks way off. Looked like factory hold down, but missing lock and flat washer, or too long bolt. Hei not original either, which will not run right off of original coil feed. The hei takes a straight 12 volts, original feed is resistor wire.
Trim is Fugly, and old very basic retrim. Needs more timing I feel. Not a hatefull car however. Except for non assisted drums. What were they thinking?
Well sir I can see by the differences the car is a clone SS. Now that is to the owner but when the owner tries to sell a car to an unsuspecting individual who doesn't know any better, I would have an issue with that. My brother was looking for another Camaro (he had a 67 and then sold it). Well, this fellow had a 69 Camaro for sale and he had it advertised as a SS Camaro. Well, the only thing SS about that car was the grille. It was a plain jane Camaro with a 307 and a Powerglide and drum brakes all around. When I informed the fellow that it was not a SS Camaro his reply was that he was selling if for his boss (yeah right) and he would have to check with his boss as to whether the car was a SS Camaro or not. Well, my brother bought the car anyway as the body on the car was in exceptionally good shape (the rear window was not rusted out as per usual). Of course it makes no difference to me whether the car is an actual SS as I would not be buying it if it was for sale, but it is a driver and it could use a power disc drum setup for better stopping.
There seems to be a few signs that the engine is not original to the car among those including the transmission fill tube, distributor hold down, kick-down not working and off the line it seemed to bog down and not rev up very quickly. And missing the wiper motor?? why??
@@kiwiclassicsandcustoms9160I still think it needs more timing and a look at the advance weights and such a curve kit etc they get sticky or stuck even very very often on the hei distributor set it by ear I can never get a timing light to work on those old ones w who knows what balancer on it if it starts good and doesn't ping keep advancing it till she's really happy
I've also been told that the vin doesn't tell you if it's a legit SS. 🤷🏼♂️. That's why I don't get into it. Seems there's so much misinformation out there..... not saying your wrong just saying I don't know😎👍