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After letting his prized Chevelle go, it comes home for a major overhaul
The Bowtie bug bit William "Bill" Brett at an early age. By the time he was in high school, young Bill followed his affliction and sourced out a needy Chevy to use as a basis for a father/son project. It didn't take long for a rebuildable '70 Chevelle to be on the other end of a tow hook, heading straight for the family's garage.
The eager 16-year-old knew what he needed from the start. "I wanted
to build a beefed-up A-body that would not only get me back and forth to
work and school, but also be able to rip up the back skins if need be,"
says Bill. And "need be" was certainly a code phrase for "necessity" in
his eyes. So, his $250 prize was wheeled into the workspace and the
metamorphosis started.
Luckily for Bill and his dad, the car had good bones. The original
Cranberry Red/black gut car still had some passable parts, like a
bulletproof 12-bolt out back stuffed with 4.10 gears. The body was a
different story. A lot of the sheetmetal was replaced on the Chevy,
including the hood, fenders, trunk, and quarters before finishing the
bodywork and giving the Chevy a new black skin "We then built a stout
350 small-block and added an M22 Rock Crusher to the mix," says Bill.
The project carried on for over six years under Bill's possession while
being driveable for most of that time.
However, in 1994, things
changed when Bill entered the Pennsylvania State Police Academy. With
that huge lifestyle shift came some necessary changes. Bill realized
that, unfortunately, he had to sell his prized Chevy to help fund his
journey forward into the world of law enforcement.
Once Bill graduated the academy, he started working as a Pennsylvania
State Trooper out of a barracks in eastern Pennsylvania. Soon after
that he got married and started a family. The chance of having an
"extra" fun car was now out of the question for the foreseeable future
while Bill obtained more appropriate "family friendly" rides for his
garage.
In 2009, things changed again and Bill was finally able to
scratch that two-decade itch and bought a usable Nova to play with.
Soon after that purchase, the Nova left the property and a cool Chevelle
appeared in the family driveway. That was all in good measure, but what
Bill really wanted was his old, trusty Chevelle back. Luckily for him
that opportunity was about to happen.
A Sight for Sore EyesIn 2010, Bill received a tip
that his original Chevelle was in a body shop near his home. "The guy
didn't want to sell it immediately, but we kept in touch," says Bill. It
was in surprisingly good shape, but missing the engine and trans, and
more importantly, the title. The following year the owner agreed to sell
Bill the car and, luckily, he found the original title in the hands of
the previous owner's ex-wife. Once the Chevelle was back at home, it was
put in storage while a game plan was brewed.
In 2012, the
Chevelle was wheeled into the garage, stripped down, and put on a
rotisserie for metalwork. Once it was sandblasted, Bill didn't need to
hear the bad news; it was right there in front of his eyes. "It was
covered in rot," says Bill. He decided to take a course in body repair
at a local vocational school while he cut away at the body. Soon, he had
replaced the firewall, floors, cowl, and front-end pieces, while
perfecting his newly learned welding techniques.
Soon, the frame was out being powdercoated, after being boxed and
fabbed to handle a Ford 9-inch rear and coilovers. He decided to make
room for some big meats out back so a mini-tub kit was installed, along
with replacing the inner and outer wheelwells, trunk pan, and full
quarter-panels. For a custom touch, a '70 El Camino front bumper with
switch-back turn signals was sourced and added to the build. The bills
started to pile up so Bill took a break before finishing the car.
Unfortunately, during that time his dad passed away, which shut down
work on the car for the foreseeable future.
After some time off,
Bill finished the bodywork and took another class at the vocational
school, this time for automotive painting. Then he got a big break. "My
friend Dave worked for Sherwin-Williams and I was lucky enough to be
able to use their facility (and paint) to refinish the car," says Bill.
However, due to his friend's retirement the following year, he had to
finish the doors, trunk lid, and hood at home. Nevertheless, the Tuxedo
Black paint came out exceptionally well, and Bill even had his dad's "My
Sin" logo from his hot rod emblazoned on the trunk.
Next, the behemoth 598-inch big-block from Tri Star Engines out of
Baldwin, Wisconsin, was installed in the engine bay. It's built with a
Dart Big M block, fully forged Scat rotating assembly, Howards
valvetrain, and Dart Pro1 cylinder heads. This Dominator-fed build is
backed by a TREMEC T-56 Tranzilla transmission coupled to a Ram clutch,
which feeds power back to the aforementioned Ford 9-inch rear built by
Spraker Racing out of Mooresville, North Carolina. It's loaded with 3.70
gears and spin Detroit Locker 35-spline axles. Ceramic-coated 2-inch
primary American Racing headers get rid of the spent gasses. Altogether,
this massive mill pumps out a hefty 850 hp at the flywheel.
The
chassis was built up using a Speedtech Road Assault front suspension kit
with Viking adjustable coilovers. Out back, UMI supplied the adjustable
suspension components to dial the ride in just right. For stopping
power, Bill chose Wilwood 14-inch rotors and six-piston calipers up
front, installed on Corvette hubs. Out back, similar-sized rotors are
clamped by four-piston calipers. For a little bling, Bill decided to let
Billet Specialties supply the wheels. He chose the Sprint Concave Deep
model, 19x9 front and 19x12 rear, to fill the wheelwells. They are shod
in Hankook Ventus V12 evo2 rubber: 245/40ZR19 and 325/30ZR19,
respectively.
Bill needed help finishing up the build so he took the Chevelle to
Anderhart Speed in nearby Ivyland, Pennsylvania. There, proprietor John
Lenhart helped by finishing up some of the important pieces to this
muscle car puzzle. Further fabrication was completed, the exhaust
fabricated, and the electrical issues were figured out. The interior
came together as well. TMI seats were added, along with a Paul Atkins
custom dashboard, Classic Instrument gauges, and a Kenwood DDX374BT
stereo. A Restomod Air Haymaker II custom A/C unit keeps the climate in
check inside the cockpit.
Once the interior was finished, Bill and John continued to tweak the
car. More electrical work was needed as well as getting the fuel
delivery to work just right. By the summer of 2018, the Chevelle was
back on the road and performing the way it should. It was a long road,
but Bill didn't cheap-out on any of the work, which, in the long run,
makes for a much better final product.
Like any great build, Bill
has a laundry list of people to thank, which starts with Dave Ketner,
who helped him out with plenty of the bodywork process, along with Ron,
Dan, and Terry from Middle Bucks County Vocational Tech School who
helped out in the early stages of the tedious bodywork. Also, Bill
thanks Bill Hughes of Tri Star, Tony from ABC Performance, Steve from
Rockland Standard Gear, and Jen and Emily for help with the interior. A
final shout-out goes to both John Lenhart at Anderhart Speed for helping
close out the finishing touches on this killer Chevelle, and wife,
Christine, for her unwavering support during the build.
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