Our 69 Yenko Chevelle restoration
 

The restoration chapter begins on this rare Yenko Chevelle by Musclecar Restoration and Design

I finally got a chance to sit down and put together many photos of the progress of our Yenko Restoration. We work about 70 hours a week on customer cars and then the rest of the night and weekend is spent working on the Chevelle. Thanks to Jamie Cooper, Joe Griffith and the rest of their crew at Super Car Restorations who have worked tirelessly to get this car in paint for its photo shoot sometime in early January. I cannot thank those guys enough for what they have done for Annie and me. There work is second to none. My resto tech and I spent a weekend at his shop recently sanding the interior floor pans and trunk area and I learned in a very short period of time that there is a reason why body and paint is not cheap when done correctly. It is horrendously labor intensive and high in material costs.
We would also like to thank the dozens of people that have been extremely helpful with technical information, sending us memorabilia and parts and to those that sold us parts with many of those being below what they could have sold them to other people for. We are very grateful for the help from all of you. With rare exception our vendors have also been great to deal with as far as parts supplies and took much interest in being part of the restoration. It was the first time I ever asked for a major break from our vendors in over 35 years of purchasing so I guess maybe it was due.
As you may remember from the original post this car was in excellent condition despite how and where it was stored. We were blessed to find a very solid body and chassis though there was a fair amount of body and frame damage from the accident though nothing beyond saving. I expected the worst when I pulled the urine and feces soaked carpet but amazed that there was absolutely no rust anywhere on this car. As of this date, the floor pans and interior are painted; the rest of the body is about 2 weeks away from being in paint. The chassis is almost completed with drivetrain with only a few parts to be found, restored and installed. There have been many challenges with this car. The biggest one being that I realized, I know a lot about 1970 Chevelles and know squat about 69’s. The other issue was keeping focused to the fact that this is a 69 and NOT a 70. When you have 7 1970 Chevelles in the shop and that is about 90% of your business you tend to forget when you are working on a 69 as you have 70 on the brain.

The belly pan and trunk area was extremely solid as was the rest of the car.

Depending on who you talk to the original owner came out of a bar one night while drunk and proceeded to have an encounter with a guardrail which swung him around and then hitting the drivers side. The damage though considerable was actually very straightforward to fix with no major structural damage. All we had to deal with on this car was cosmetic and no rust issues what so ever.

Here are several shots of the body progress. We not only had a great original body to start with but since it was in such pristine condition we were able to replicate everything we found from decal placement, caulking color and placement, primer colors, oversprays, tape lines, etc. We agreed and insisted that we restore this car pretty much exactly how it was found with regards to those items. Obviously the fit and finish will be much better than original but all other facets of the restoration will be duplicated. Jamie and Joe have understood the importance of those details and that is why they are not only doing the body work and paint but why their business is growing rapidly and is why all of our customer's body and paint work is done by them.

One quarter panel needed to be replaced as well as the driver’s door. For unknown reasons the original owner cut a large hole out in the driver’s quarter as if to access the window regulator though the inner door panel was also removed making easy access to it anyway. No idea why. Both rockers had sustained minor damage due to an encounter with a ditch so Jamie and Joe worked their magic and pulled those areas back into shape as well. Other than that the body was mostly virgin and required only minor massaging.

Note: The red overspray is not because the body was repainted but because that the body is riding on a donor frame while the original was being straightened. The frame is actually off a 70 Chevelle as noted by the rear wheel axel hump.

Work continued day, night and weekend at their shop. I cannot say enough about their dedication to this project and goes above and beyond. It was of the utmost importance to use NOS or GM parts only on this car and that all spot welds and other tell tale assembly line techniques were used. I might add that both MuscleCar Restoration and Super Car Restoration go to the same length on every car we do, not just this one.

I located a front clip in Minnesota of all places which was in remarkable condition needing only some minor work to most pieces. The header had to be replaced and I had to find a good GM donor SS hood but all in all we had some very solid parts to start with. Thanks to our good friend Luis Caceres-Rivera for delivering a donor door I found on the east coast. He drove from his house in Maryland to Jamie and Joe's shop and hand delivered the door. I believe it was a 6 hour drive for him. You certainly know who your true friends are when the offer up their services like that.

All hands were on deck to keep this project on schedule with everyone at the shop lending a hand. Even Jamie's wife shelly pulled several late night shifts and was with us almost the entire weekend that my resto tech and I went there to help sand. Enough cannot be said about their dedication.

Something I learned the hard way. There is a reason why a true restoration shop charges what they charge to do these pristine body and paint works of art. The amount of labor is mind boggling. Jim and I spent almost two full days sanding JUST the inner interior panels and floor after all body work had been completed. That was around 32 man hours JUST sanding a small area. The material consumption was also a eye opener.

Note on the deck lid, this shows and is often argued that the decklid was in fact installed on the car at Fischer Body when it was painted. Same for the door hinge area.

More primer work.

The frame was very nice, solid and fairly pit free. Other than the frontal damage it was a great piece. Much work went into replacing the front horns, repairing some other bends and straightening the frame but all in all well worth the efforts. The cost to repair and paint this frame was far more than some are willing to pay to have their entire car painted in total man hours and materials but it was a must and no corners were cut.

The originality of the chassis was incredible with all original suspension components, shocks, exhaust, tags, inspection paint marks, brake shoes and pads, wheel cylinders, etc. Nothing had been replaced on this car and ALL were restored other than brake and fuel lines which were replaced as well as obviously the exhaust system. All the tags and ink stampings were reproduced for the car. Not an easy or cheap job but the over the counter reproduction pieces just don't cut it.

Some interesting things to note here;

orientation of the engine mount bolts in the frame. Baltimore cars are known for mounting the hardware with the nuts and washers on the top side unlike many of the other plants.

Front coil spring decals and placement.

Original dust shields on center link and tie rod ends.

Note lock washers placed behind the stop nuts on the upper control arms which is not how most were done.

The orientation of the rear shock bolts.

The types of brake and fuel line brackets used on both sides. Sometimes you will find an open on one side and a looped bracket on the other.

The original shocks were dated the same in the front as well as the rear. These are presently going thru an extremely expensive restoration and will be brand new when completed.

Looking really good. What kind of Spot Weld machine are you using to replicate those nice welds ???

Awesome work, can't wait to see more, thanks.

Jamie's crew restored the frame to the finest of details. We then picked it up and started the assembly and restoration of the components process.

After straightening, the frame went into epoxy primer and then all the scrapes, minor pitting, gouges, etc were repaired. NO repairs were made to any welds to dress them up or remove wire and was left completely original in that respect. After all bodywork was completed it went into final paint.

That's what I'm talkin' about. Nice progress!!!!

While Jamie was doing the frame we worked on other the chassis hardware so as to try and have it ready when the frame came back to us. This was taking place during deer hunting season and a very busy restoration schedule so needless to say I did not get to spend much time in the woods this year.

With regards to inspection marks, we were very careful to preserve everything on the car we found, even the orange paint marks on the rear brake lines that I have been told by some was never done. This is likely the third or forth car I have seen them on so they WILL be going back on.

The spindles were covered in paint marks and were a real mess compared to others I have seen. They were duplicated exactly the same.

All of the original hardware was laid out, documented and photographed. In the rare instance that anything had to be replaced, it was replaced with the exact same piece from GM such as the pinion bumper and some of the chassis bolts.

The steering gear was completely photo documented and restored and rebuilt back to it's original state. The original owner had gotten ahold of a can of black spray paint early on in the cars life and put a flash coat over everything in the engine compartment. Hence the reason for the black paint on the steering box. Note the outline of a decal that was once there. I have no idea what it was and nothing I have researched has come up with anything. I almost see a yellow stamped "DL" on 1970 boxes but found no signs of any stampings on this box. The box was bead blasted to bare cast iron, treated and sealed and all machined surfaces were remachined.

Great photo details.:biggthumpup:

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Awesome stuff, thanks for sharing such details!
:beers:
~ Pete

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As said earlier, all of the suspension was original to the car so rebuilding and restoring them was paramount rather than to just replacing them. Great care was taken to preserve and document everything. Note the orange markings on the calipers.

The rotors were original and were within tolerances so we brought them in and turned them ourselves. This was we were able to put the correct cut on them as well as turn the outer edges. We also blasted and then dressed up and/or remachined all the machined surfaces on the rotor hubs.


The backing plates were original and in remarkable condition. Unlike what most people think, they are not zinc plated but rather are stamped from a sheet of galvanized steel. Normally we have to replicate this using several different paint methods which is very labor intensive but were able to save these. The backing plate decals were custom made and not store bought.

Wow Rick. These are some excellent details. Thanks for sharing. I was going to ask if the calipers had an orange mark on them. You just answered that question.

You've got some great momentum going on this project, keep up the good work. She's going to be a beauty!

Phil Woj.

Thanks for sharing the progress, looking forward to seeing more.

While Jamie, Joe and crew focused on the body, we focused on locating parts, researching what we had and how it was originally and then restoring those parts to the finest of details. While I did much of the restoration work with a little help from my tech (doesn’t work nights or weekends), Annie helped with locating parts, tracking orders, keeping a log of all things in a nicely laid out binder and working hands on in the shop whenever possible. She was adamant about taking part in the restoration so I am seeing to it that she gets her wish. Many times she has brought me dinner to the shop and after eating we both go back to work.

The drum brakes still had part of the part code decal though not enough left to read what it was so hopefully someone here can help out. The car had its original wheel cylinders still on it and were 15/16" NOT 7/8" which really confused me as 1970 used the smaller wheel cylinders so I assumed the 69's did as well. It has a BA master cylinder on it. Note the black paint on the face of the drum and two separate places where there was a decal.

I was able to retain all the brake hardware other than the rear shoes. All springs, wheel cylinders, e-brake hardware, drums, rotors, backing plates, etc so very happy to have all the original hardware still remaining on the car.

Hey Rick. 15/16 vs 7/8 must be cuz you mostly restore them '70 'velles. 15/16" wheel cylinder bore is correct for a '69 Chevelle!!!

Finished front suspension and ready to install. Original brake lines were not good enough to save. Interesting with blue markings as I have only encountered orange in the past. I am now in the process of having new stamps made as my 70 stuff is different. Darn! Annie doing her part helping with the restoration.

Note the orange paint on the rear differential brake lines I spoke of earlier. This was located just at the t-block above the diff.

The pinion snubber bracket was natural on this car. I have seen that before but more often than not they are dipped in black lacquer. I restored this in its original natural finish. Thanks to some members here I was able to procure a few NOS pinion snubbers, one of which was used on this car.

All of the original body mounts were reusable and were restored and will be reinstalled.

Thanks for that information. I have torn a few apart and do not remember seeing that before. Well than I am very glad these were good enough to restore and I did not replace them with the wrong ones.

The next phase was to install all the front suspension back onto the car. The front suspension was restored exactly how GM built it. No paint on ANY of the pieces except for the ends of the center link to try and imitate the process done at Chevrolet. All springs, calipers, tie rods, sleeves, backing plates, spindles, etc are all in their natural state.

I really hated using the reproduction brake and fuel lines as they have gone to a coated brake line from all of the suppliers I am aware of (China) and do not resemble the originals anymore. If you try and get rid of the coated all is does is polish them which is also incorrect.

All painted inspection marks were replicated exactly how they were found regardless of how ugly. None were added for fun.

By the way and I should add, if anyone who knows these cars sees something missing or done incorrectly, PLEASE speak up. I am treading on new area and though similar, they are not the same as the 70 so I am looking for any and all input.

Great stuff Rick and Annie! :)

The engine was rebuilt by our own Eric Jackson (Vintage Muscle Car Parts) who did a great job pulling 478 hp at 5500 rpm and 472 ft pounds of torque at, get this, 3500 rpm. This thing will have some power though I am told by a certain young lady that I will never find out just how much. We made absolutely no power adders on this engine and it was rebuilt stock. Stock bore, crank, rods, pistons, a nostalgic cam with factory specs, stock heads and intake. Only the carb and distributor was blueprinted. After completion Eric worked with "Ohio George" Montgomery and dynoed the engine. Kudos to Eric for getting this thing done and with that much power. In comparison, our LS6 454 engines (that I have rebuilt locally) are generally .040-.060 over bore and otherwise stock and pull 475-498 horse so I am very pleased with the results. Correct me on any of this information Eric if I am listing it incorrectly.

Once received back from Eric it was time to completely wash and clean the engine in preparation for paint. Believe it or not, that can be as much as 8-10 hours. Keep in mind, painting and engine is no different than painting a car but and it has to be 100% clean of any contaminants, primed and painted. Several years ago I had some NOS Chevrolet engine parts that still had orange paint on them so I had some custom mixed for all of our engines.

I first prime the engine with high temp cast iron colored paint and with the oil pan, timing cover and rear water pump cover painted with a natural steel color. I used single stage and spray it through a gun, NOT a spray can. From there with the exhaust manifolds (a donor pair) installed I spray the engine with valve covers, by-pass hose, bellhousing, flywheel inspection plate, water pump and few small items like lift hooks installed. I restore our engines with overspray in some areas and lack of thick paint in others. This comes from 35 plus years of experience and also documenting during tear down. This particular engine was very original and you could still make out how it was originally sprayed and any markings that were on it. All were duplicated.

More engine

Here Jamie is painting on the red oxide/rosette primer on the upper and lower pans followed by caulking. Installing drain plugs and then body color oversprayed onto the interior floor pan following the original photos of the car as close as possible.

On the bottom floor pans much of the same procedure was followed with the exception that a washed out black was applied using just enough paint solids to give it color while keeping it somewhat semi transparent just as the factory did just before the body color overspray was applied.

Jamie now has the floor pans in paint both top and bottom and are hoping to have the rest of the body in paint within a few weeks. I will update their progress at that time. Their anal attention to detail is second only to mine ;) which is why I use and trust them with our cars. Can't wait to see this in full paint.

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… Great work:flag:

That's fantastic progress Rick with unbelievable attention to the history and the detail!!
Can't wait to see some more progress.

Art in motion!

Unreal! Great work!!

The PARISH stamp on the frame, I worked there for 14 years. Another place that closed in 2000. Dana Parish, Reading Pa.

I expected nothing less :-)

LOOKING GOOD.

Dan

Can't wait to see this car up close!

Wow, this is awesome! How do you keep natural parts from rusting?