Paul spent 24+ years as a mechanic in the Army and he owned and restored several cars over the years, but because of constant moves to other countries and deployments, he never managed to keep any of them long-term. Once Paul retired from the Army, he set out to find a Chevelle that he could daily driver from now on, and after a lot of searching, he found a 1966 Chevelle at a classic car shop in the Chicago area.
Unfortunately, Paul’s Chevelle ownership didn’t start out so well. Advertised as a body off-frame restoration, the car did not meet those expectations. For starters, the Chevelle wouldn’t start when it was trying to be driven off the trailer, it kept shutting off. So Paul told him to go ahead and pull it directly into the garage. He also noticed that the trunk lock was missing, it was lying in the road. Paul started checking to see why the car wouldn’t run, vacuum advance hose disconnected from the distributor. He then noticed that the PCV hose from the valve cover was not connected to its proper location either, so he reconnected it. Now the car fired up and ran.
It goes on from there. The engine that was said to be rebuilt, isn’t properly cammed. Inside this 4-speed car, he noticed that there was no parking brake pedal and release assembly. Paul looked under the car and there were no parking brake cables except for the cables hanging out of the rear brake drums. The heater didn’t work either. Under the hood, he saw the heater hose was kinked and not allowing coolant to flow and Paul also found that the thermostat was not opening either. Grey non-GM seatbelts for the front seats were improperly mounted to the seat mount rails. The driver’s side seat was mounted on passenger side seat rails which places the seat adjuster between the seat and the shifter console. The shifter boot was torn in half. It just goes on from there. But Paul was determined to get his Chevelle in tip-top condition!
Since Paul’s first career was as an automotive repair technician, he’ll just have to suck it up and make the car into what it was supposed to be. Even though it was advertised as that. He’s been working on it nearly daily since he got the car last January. Paul has done a lot for the Chevelle! Vintage Air AC, seatbelts, seat rails, carb, exhaust manifolds, parking brake assembly from the pedal and release to the rear drums with stainless steel cables and hardware, body-to-frame mount bushings, door weather striping, shifter boot, plugs, ignition wires, door hinges, wiper blades, seat back bumpers, trunk lock, glove box door, tie rods, brake pads/shoes, dual chamber master cylinder, brake booster, proportioning valve, air filter, rear diff gasket and seal, battery, carpet, power antenna, stereo and speakers, basically Paul’s touching every inch of the car! It will be great when Paul’s finished he says, but he shouldn’t have had to do this much in the first place…can’t say we disagree. Best of luck Paul!
