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My '70 SS454 build


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  • 1 month later...
  • 4 weeks later...

Thanks Randy and Steve.

Well, I've been doing some of the body work and block sanding on the SS. Also, I've finished cleaning and sanding the floor pans and trunk, top and bottom. I primed and painted the top of the floors several weeks ago, and I've primed the inner trunk. After work this evening, I pushed the shell outside one more time and rolled her over on her side to shoot Nason chassis black on the bottom side, the cowl, and the firewall. I used 2 quarts over the black primer. Turned out a little more glossy than I was expecting. This pic was after the first coat.

Dan

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Build/Design a tilter and try testing/tilting it with a SS454 body atop it for the first time….. priceless. Not something I would like to try. But I guess you are a well calculated designer since all seemed to work well. Great job on tilter. Should make the work on the underside of the body more bearable. Working on your back isn't any fun when all you burn, scrape, eastwood wheel, wire wheeling off etc falls in your face, lap etc. ….. all while trying to keep your safety goggles from fogging up so you can see what your doing. Ohhhh the good times!!

 

Great job!! Anxious to follow your progress.

Dan

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Thank you to each of you. smile.gif I really appreciate all of the kind comments I've gotten from all of the members on this forum. THE FGMCC IS THE BEST! I spend far more time on this site than any other.

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I like the body jig your using to hold you car. 

 

The tilter worked out really well. I should have built it before I did any of the undercoating removal. I considered building a rotisserie, but it would take up too much room in the garage.

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You could eat off of it.

 

It's been hot enough a few days lately that I could probably fry an egg on it.

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Build/Design a tilter and try testing/tilting it with a SS454 body atop it for the first time….. priceless. Not something I would like to try.

 

Dan, I understand and appreciate your concerns, but with my more decades of experience than I'd like to admit, building the tilter wasn't that complicated. A little background on me. I'm professionally a construction electrician (mostly industrial), a machinery mechanic, a certified welder, and also a fabricator; but just another hobbyist when it comes to autos.

I've been doing final body work and block sanding on the SS shell, but it doesn't look like I'm going to have much more time to work on the car this year. Between having scheduled overtime at work and our bowhunting season coming up real soon, not to mention I just took on another job for a guy restoring his stainless trim for 2 '57 Chevy 150s and a '55 Belair, the SS will have to wait some more.

Dan

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Don't feel bad Dan, after 6 months of mad work on my 70 SS last year, it was put on permanent hold for my 57 and to get my Grandpa's car painted. Its now stored in the direct middle of my new garage that's a 2 stall, but with care 3 cars go in just fine. And with improvements to my other 2 nicest cars I want to do, and working for myself now it may stay in the center waiting for a while, oh and yeah my 57 still needs WOOOORRRRKKKK too. LOL

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 5 months later...

Thanks, guys! wave1.gif

I have a pile of suspension parts and other brackets prepped and ready to have powder coated, along with the frame. I got a quote to have the bare frame sand blasted and powder coated for $350-$400. That seems reasonable. I've been able to restore some more of the smaller parts this winter. I'm trying to make the best of the poor winter weather, and limited time and funds. I've just about completed a list of all the new parts I still need to buy. :nutz: Just recently, I've been buying some small parts, mostly hardware, on ebay. Most have had free shipping, and are either cheaper on ebay or aren't available from my favorite supplier. Locating parts, managing a list, and ordering/tracking parts is a job in itself. I've put together a large order to Classic Muscle, but haven't placed it yet. I get a 10% discount on my next order, and free shipping. Some more overtime pay would help, or a great lottery ticket.

Dan

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It all looks great Dan.  You gonna have fun putting all the parts back on the chassis.  It's like building a life size car model.  Just without the glue, haha. - Dave

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Wow, this is an awesome thread! Great pictures too! The level of detail and quality of this build is outstanding. This is going to be one super nice SS. Im looking forward to seeing the end result. Great work, good luck with the build!

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Wow really great stuff.  Looking good.  Know it takes a lot o time and money but your car is going to really be a stand out.  Later RJD

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Hey, Dan, I was reading through your thread (incredible work, BTW) and noticed that your '70 SS was at Pappas Chevrolet in KC MO for awhile beginning in June '70.  Interestingly, it was undoubtedly there at the dealership when I bought my first new '70 Monte from Pappas in July that summer!

 

I didn't even know they made an SS model (or I might have been all over that one!) until a couple years later (after they stopped making them).  At the time, I had just come home from my second IBM training class and my wife was working then so we needed a second car.  I had always driven used cars in high school and college so I was just looking for my first new car.  

 

They showed me the "Demo" model that their Sales Manager was driving at the time.  It was a 402/TH400 car in Autumn Gold with a white vinyl top, bench seat, sandalwood interior and lots of power options - I didn't even look at or consider anything else - just bought it and loved it!  We were just out of college, poor as church mice, had good jobs but no credit - thank goodness for Morris Plan that made loans to "high risk" clients (at even higher interest rates!).

 

Your SS is going to be really special when you're finished restoring it - hope to see it some day!  in the meantime, keep the photos and progress reports coming.  Thanks for sharing.

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Thank you, guys.

Dennis, thanks for the history. That's pretty cool that you were at the Pappas Chevrolet dealership in July, 1970, while they had my car. I thought it was odd that this car didn't sell until June of '72. Another very odd thing about it is that the build sheet and the title search show it was shipped to the Leeds plant in K.C., instead of to a dealership. I've checked with the guys at the Chevelle forum and nobody there has seen a build sheet showing shipping of that type. My paperwork shows the original sticker price on this car was $5269.80, and the original owner used GMAC financing for the purchase.

I've talked to 3 of the 5 previous owners. The 5th owner, Heather, bought the car from her brother, Steve, who lived near Ottawa, KS, and he got it from his friend, Garrett. I found papers in the car with the names and addresses of the second and third owners. I had a very pleasant talk with the second owner, Norman, who lives in Olathe, KS. He told me the original owner, Glen, had been a friend of his. He said Glen had been a regular at the local drag strip and mostly raced a V8 powered Chevy Vega. We think Glen probably pulled the Vega with the Monte, since the SS had a trailer hitch on it when Norman got it. Glen passed away with brain cancer, but Norman didn't remember what year that was, and he got the car after Glen's death. Norman bought it in 1995. It was stored in a garage that belonged to Glen's aunt, and the title was still in Glen's name. The cylinders in the 454 were rusty and it had a stuck piston, but the rest of the car was very nice. He said he had too many old cars at the time and didn't get around to working on it before he needed back surgery. He had to sell all of his collectible cars in 1998 to pay medical bills.

Garrett lives not far from Ottawa, KS, and was also very helpful and was glad I had called him last year. He said he has a couple collector cars and a classic truck he shows from time to time. He also said he had wondered what happened to the SS, after he heard Steve had sold it to his sister. Steve only had the car about a year and a half. Garrett said the Monte was in great shape when he got it from Norman and he had also gotten a 396 from Norman that was suppose to be a good motor. He hadn't done anything with the car yet when his friend, Steve, said he needed a car, so he sold it to him about 8 or 9 months after he got it. The two of them put the 396 in it and it ran good, but not for long. They then beat the pistons out of the 454, had it bored .030, had the heads rebuilt, and Garrett reassembled it. I told him it has a '71, 4 bolt main block with '69 heads and a steel crank. He seemed a little surprised about the crank being steel, and said he and Steve had decided to use the domed pistons it currently has. I told him I've rebuilt it again and put a roller cam in it, stainless valves, hardened exhaust seats, etc. He said it was suppose to be the original motor when he got it. It seems Glen must have built this strong motor and installed it. Only Glen and God know what happened to the original motor. Garrett had found a 15 second time slip in the console and we figured Glen must have put the SS on the track at least once. I told him the car still has the factory 2.56 posi in it. I told Garrett the passenger side fender had been replaced with an NOS one and hadn't ever been painted when I got it. He said that was likely done by Steve after he lost touch with him, since it was all the same color when he had it. He asked me if I'm going to repaint the car gold, and I said no. He said if it had been a color that his wife liked, they'd probably still own it. I'm glad she didn't like it!

 

Dan

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Just finally read this thread.  Love the pictures of your project.  My next project is the interior and I want to switch to bucket seats with a console with the "airplane shifter" (read that description on a "72 SS Monte project for sale - got a good laugh out of that) .

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  • 4 months later...

Progress is painfully slow this year and I've spent little time on this forum in the last 3 or 4 months. My daughter bought her first house and I've been helping with the remodeling projects. She has an illness and has been in the ER and hospitals a dozen times already this year. And on top of that, my brother drowned while on vacation in Colorado in June. A huge shock to all of us. He was a bachelor and had no Will. I've been helping Mom and Dad with getting all of the legal paperwork and the estate taken care of. My gosh, what a mess of forms and phone calls to deal with, and all immediately after the worst phone call parents and siblings can get. Do your family a big favor. Create your Will and update it when needed. He had many material things that have to be liquidated and that's a big, time consuming job.

I've spent a little time on the car when I've really needed to escape the craziness of life. Mostly spending time searching for parts and creating a wish list. I took some parts in a couple weeks ago to be powder coated and got them back today. More powder coating will be done soon.

 

Dan

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Hi Dan,

 

So sorry to hear of your loss.

Hope your daughter is doing well.

Thoughts and prayers for you and your family.

 

Very nice work on the Monte!

It's nice to have something to take your mind off of things.

 

One of these days I'll have to hop in mine and drive up for a visit.

Heck, I'm getting almost 13 mpg, won't cost that much for the trip. :whistle:

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Dan,

  Catching up on your thread and getting excited for you regarding your progress to date …… only to read your last post.

 

Sorry for your loss.  Sudden and unexpected.  Hopefully at the time I am posting this your daughters health has already progressed in a positive direction.  You are in our thoughts & prayers.

 

  Thanks for the heads up to all.  Protecting your assets nowadays is key.  Here in NY once your estate value goes .01 cent over 1 million ( with NY priced homes, 401K's, savings (yeah), cars and other valuables it is possible) your heirs are taxed at I believe 45% estate tax.  Have all of your assets transferred & owned by a trust and your heirs as its benficiaries.  Did it a few years back and now have piece of mind.

 

  We will still be here when things settle down a bit.  Family first.

 

Dan

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Thanks for the kind words and prayers, fellas. It's much appreciated.

Dennis, it would be great to see you again and to see your car.  I'll send you a PM and maybe we can get together sometime before the snow flies.

Dan

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  • 1 month later...

I had the front anti-sway bar powder coated clear. I had the rear one done in semi gloss black and I'll pick it up tomorrow, when I drop off the bumper brackets.

I blasted 2 of the 8 inch Rallys and painted them this evening. 2 more to go.

Classic Muscle had a 10% off sale and free shipping Labor Day weekend, so I placed a big order with them. I still need to get some things from The Parts Place and Inline Tube. Then I'll only need to buy the fuel tank, headers and exhaust, aluminum radiator, and a few small items I've undoubtedly missed.

Dan

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