New guy with an L78

[msclassiccars]

Very cool car and even cooler story.

Thanks for sharing!

[tunes]

Welcome to this site and what a great car to own. Of course I may be a little partial being I own one similar to yours. I'll look forward to seeing more pictures and progress as you put it back together. Kansas City built?

[Tiger Joe]

Thanks everyone. i was posting from my phone last night, so I can type more in front of the computer now...

so a little more of the story for how this car came to be. My dads cousin and his brother were huge gearheads their whole lives. the brother actually had a 69 z28 he street raced regularly.

so the owner was in the service, went to Nam, came back and decided to use his "blood money" as he called it to buy a car. We live in the south hills of Pittsburgh- pretty close to Yenko Chevy. He actually looked at a Yenko Chevelle the day before he bought this car. At the time, the brothers thought they could make this L78 as fast as a yenko and save some money.

the car almost immediately got a set of hooker headers, a hurst shifter, and a SW tach. from my dads memory, the car ran of best of 12.14 on slicks. from what I can tell the only other mods to the car were 1- obviously clutch replaced, 2- original carb replaced with a double pumper, and 3- a set of LS6 heads was swapped on, BUT the original 840s came with the car.

mind you, while the car was being raced on weekends, it was his daily driver. he hauled his family around in it and commuted with it. at some point, it was bumped in the quarter panel and repaired by a shop. after a few years the work started to show, so it was decided to tear the car down for a repaint.

well as you guessed it, life happened and the car sat. it was garage kept until the early 2000s, when the garage was lost. with no place to work on the car, it just sat until sadly the owner died.

at the time i bought the car i didnt know any of this documentation would come with it, but i have- window sticker, original POP- completely warranty book from dealer with metal tag attached, owners manual, key blanks, and even the original front license plate screws that were never used. finance papers from original purchase show he paid $3,700 for the car in July 1969

the car was assembled in Baltimore MD according to the window sticker.

my dad and I are working on this one together. we have the body on a rotisserie and the bare frame ready for sandblasting. We are trying to get our GTO finshed this year and hopefully finish this Chevelle for next summer.

[Tiger Joe]

oh ya thought I would share this photo as well..

so my family likes to keep their cars thats for sure! this is my dads 1971 Chevelle. He bought it brand new. sadly its not a SS- he couldnt get insurance due an accident. while I dont know if its a super car since its only a 350 automatic, its very special to me. this car is 100% original other that maintenance items.

[oldstv]

I love the history and both cars!

[Bill Pritchard]

Originally Posted by oldstv

I love the history and both cars!

x2! Welcome to the site and keep those updates coming, including those about your GTO!

[Pro Stock John]

Great save.

[gtomike1967]

Very cool! Thanks for sharing.

[firstgenaddict]

Lemans Blue L78... My favorite color and solid lifters with 3 pedals.

[SS427]

Welcome aboard as a contributing member and not just a reader. Great stories on these cars and I assure you we are all interested in its progression. I showcased our Yenko restoration on here and it was well received. We are due for another 69 Chevelle so get started and keep posting!