'67 Chevelle Concours wagon, bring it back to life

[67since67]

Originally Posted by carnut4life

I agree completely Dan.

I've got a pair of 15x7 Torque Thrust D's I'll donate to the project if you're interested Bill? Least I can do for all the hospitality you've showed me since we met.

Thank you for the offer Chad!!

[67since67]

Originally Posted by Charley Lillard

Amazing work and patience. Thought I was looking at one of Grant's threads...

It's not patience Charlie, it OCD....

[WILMASBOYL78]

Originally Posted by 67since67

Reference to the L79 327 rated at 325 HP, and available with C60 A/C. HD 3 speed, or 4 speed.
This would be ultra rare, I've seen a restoration article on one, Granada Gold and in CA I believe.

I loath clones, buut, if the original L30 were AWOL from the wagon, it would be cloned as L79 already.

I figured the L79 was the engine they referenced...one of the great sleepers of all time. Your attention to detail on this wagon is great...everyone is really enjoying the thread. Keep up the good work

[67since67]

Originally Posted by WILMASBOYL78

The ad mentions 'power up to 325hp'...are they referring to low-horse 396 or the L79 327..??

-wilma

Since the Concours model shares the "138" VIN with the SS396 models, seems it would have been feasible to offer the L35 396. With a TH400 and a 2.73 rear would have been a sweet cruiser. Especially since the 396's were offered in the El Camino's.

[olredalert]

----I kinda thought the same thing!....Bill S

[67since67]

Or... Imagine an L78 Concours!!

Let's put a face on this thing!

There were three different grilles used on '67 Chevelle. The top one is Super Sport, note the blackout and open slots continuing to the ends.
The center one is unique to only Concours, Exact same as SS but with two pierced holes for the grille emblem.
The bottom one is for all the Chevelles, Malibu, 300 and El Camino.

[67since67]

It was necessary to knock down the grille assembly to properly clean the pieces.

There is a corner bracket on originals to bolt the valance to the fender. The NOS valance panels do not come with this bracket. So if replacing you need to remove and weld to the new panel. An often overlooked detail.

These pieces are held together with 3/16x1/4 aluminum semi-tubular truss head rivets. I have this rivet squeezer that makes this job a snap, it's been used on my cars on those of others, does a nice job.
Carriage head bolts can be used, but the bottom row of rivets are installed head down, so bolts would be a dead give away.

And... the assembly ready to bolt on. Shame on me, I neglected to get pix with this installed. Moving on to fenders.

[67since67]

This car had fairly nice fit and gaps to start with, other than the right side fender which had been replaced. The left fender fell into place. The right side proved to be a challenge and I pulled out several tricks to bring it in line, including a couple I learned from Terry Davis. After juggling shims here and there it turned out acceptably well.

A floor jack under the sway bar bracket will tighten the fender to A pillar panel gap to start with.

With the top tight the jack under the frame behind the wheel will tighten the fender to rocker gap.

Chevelles tend to pucker out at the fender bottom, a ratchet strap between the fender bottoms (the holes are already there) will pull the bottoms in line. At this point sock the bolts down tight, and install the rocker moldings. The moldings will give a backup support to keep things lined up.

[carnut4life]

Damn, that car is sooo cool Bill, I love it!!!

[olredalert]

----Bill,,,That car is awesome! Looking so good.....Bill S