Chevelle updates

[VintageMusclecar]

Thank you Sam, it was my privilege. [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/beers.gif[/img]

[EZ Nova]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: VintageMusclecar</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Just had the Chevelle weighed at the local grain elevator--scales are accurate within 20 lbs. With me in it and ~1/2 tank of fuel, 3960 lbs.

Yep. It's a tank. </div></div>

3960!!!! Are you serious?? DAMN you a &quot;portly&quot; guys Eric. I know a few guys that RUN 67 Chevelle's, John Wilson Red '67 was 3615 and &quot;Crazy Dave's '67 is 3508. John's was pump gas and OEM oval port heads and motor from VortecPro Mark Jones. Crazy's '67 was a Struab tech pump gas hyd roller with were auto trans too?

My '61 Pontiac with 409 and 4 speed was only 3780, me 218 and a half tank of gas. Man that car is your is heavy!!!!!!!

[olredalert]

----Red Alert was 3980 with my 200lbs in the drivers seat and about 5 gallons of 110 octane aboard......Bill S

[VintageMusclecar]

&quot;Portly&quot;???...wtf? Now I'm a fatass...that's nice.

The car weighed 3680 without me in it and with ~ 1/2 tank of fuel. That's with an iron head big block, bench seat, steel wheels, a (heavy-ass) Legend 5 speed manual gear box, a Quicktime steel scattershield &amp; block plate, and a full 3&quot; exhaust out the back.

[Lynn]

Wouldn't describe Eric as portly. Just a big guy.

Eric, is that cross section of the new trailer hitch 3&quot; or 4&quot; square tubing. I am getting ready to make a hidden hitch for my 68 El Camino, using a 69 Camaro fold down license plate to hide the receiver. I have some 4&quot; tubing I think will do for the cross piece.

[VintageMusclecar]

Thank you Lynn.

For the record (but not that it matters), I'm 6' and hover somewhere around 275-280. Yes, I've got a bit of a belly--but I can also bench &amp; squat (ass to ankles, no chicken-shit 1/2 squats) 315+, and that's with bad knees, a bad back <span style="font-style: italic">and</span> bad shoulders...I think that's fairly respectable for a 50 year old fart.

I'll get a measurement on the hitch for you shortly.

[Lynn]

Dude, I've got corns older than you.

[Lynn]

OOPS. This was meant as a pm.

[EZ Nova]

LOL sorry Eric, didn't know &quot;how&quot; to word it, so just used &quot;PORTLY&quot;?

Was away on vacay in sunny Arizona and away from my computer, or better stayed AWAY from it. That's pretty go with the weights. I too just turned 50, also 5'10&quot; but I'm only 225. Can still &quot;preacher curl&quot; 4 plates on a bar on the bench as well. I have ALWAYS had a belly but also 50&quot; chest with it.

[VintageMusclecar]

Nothing like doing a job over because of garbage repop parts.

Notice anything--eh--amiss here?









Notice how the frame bracket for the clutch Z-bar has bent severely inboard towards the engine.

To recap: someone had pilfered the original Z-bar bracket from the car's frame before I bought the car. Naturally, I was unable to source a good original bracket (we won't even talk about the rest of the clutch linkage...), so I was forced to go with a repop. At the time, there was only one available, and it was notably thinner (--1/8&quot; to be specific--) than an original component. Something told me this was going to come back to haunt me later...as usual, I was right--as the pictures show. [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/rolleyes.gif[/img]

Thankfully, someone now reproduces the bracket in the original 3/16&quot; thickness. I picked one up a couple of months back and called in a favor from a friend to cut off the old bracket and weld the new one on for me (he's a far better welder than I am).

New bracket in place:



Remnants of the old bracket--effortlessly crumpled like tinfoil.



Now comes the fun of trying to get the inner fender back in place w/o borking anything up in the process.

Can't let the cat out of the bag just yet, but there may be more updates in about a month.

More soon--I hope.