One of the big jobs we took on for Beach Hop this year was Charlie’s 71 Chevelle.
After selling his old 70 Chevelle at this year’s Kumeu Classic Car & Hot Rod Festival, Charlie purchased this 71, which he had been eyeing for several months on Trade Me. Within hours of the new car arriving at Charlie’s address in Meadowbank it was loaded onto our trailer and making its way to our workshop in Silverdale.
Over the next 8 weeks the car underwent quite the transformation, including full panel and paint and an engine swap, before heading to Charlie’s mechanic for tuning, trans rebuild, and ride height adjustments.
This wasn’t just a quick flip either, we had upwards of 5 guys working on the car, stripping trims, welding holes, and getting every panel perfectly aligned ready for a custom jet black paint job. In addition to working over the body, we also took on the LS1 conversion, as well as all the necessary adjustments to the engine bay.
The car then went on to feature in issue 170 of NZV8 magazine, click here to read the full article.
1966 Chevelle Malibu – Specs
| Owner | Charlie |
| Engine | 5.7-litre Holden Commodore LS1, Cathedral port aluminium heads, 1.7:1 rockers, Walbro in-tank fuel pump, stainless 15⁄8-inch headers, twin 2.5-inch exhaust, Flowmaster mufflers, Badlanz electric cut-outs, Northern Rad aluminium radiator, twin electric fans, OEM ECU |
| Drivetrain | GM 700R4, Auto Trans 2500rpm stall converter, ATI reverse-pattern manual shift, Corvette servo, Beast shell, Alto Powerpak 3-4 clutches, 12 bolt diff, 3.73:1 ratio, Posi head, 3.5-inch driveshaft, 1330 universals |
| Suspension | Classic Performance Products (CPP) two-inch drop spindles, QA1 adjustable coilovers, 350-pound front springs, Hotchkis Pro Tour sway bar and links, 12.7:1-ratio 800-series steering box, Hotchkis triangulated four-link, HQ super-low rear springs and shocks |
| Brakes | CPP remanufactured booster and master cylinder, stock discs and drums |
| Wheels & Tyres | Front: 22×9 inch Asanti Black Label wheels with 245/30R22 Delinte Thunder D7 tyres Rear: 22×10.5 inch Asanti Black Label wheels with 295/25R22 Lexani LX Twenty tyres |
| Paint | Custom Jet Black |
| Exterior | Custom Front Fpoiler |
| Interior | Aftermarket Seats Custom Retrim Budnik Steering Wheel Shaved Column Horseshoe Shifter Autometer Pro Comp Gauges Kenwood Audio |
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