Minor updates on my muscle car project

[BillyGman]

Marty & Pete have requested info, pics, and updates on project Chevelle in the recent past, so here are some minor update pics that depict the progress with this 70 Chevelle of mine....if you hate old Chevy's, then you need not look further since you won't appreciate the following.....

[BillyGman]

That^ pic of the frame shows it sitting outside since it was getting blasted. And the one of the body is a "before" pic. Below are pics of just a small portion of the parts I've purchased for this car.....

[BillyGman]

and, some more....(notice the residue of green break-in lube in the oil of the cylinder head pics. That's because this engine has only been run on the dyno so far).....

[martyo]

Those get the MartyO seal of approval! :beer:

Nice job Billy.

I remain jealous!

[Tallboy]

I approve.:up:

You have my permission to continue...:D

[jdando]

Looking good. From the pictures it seems you are stockpile-ing tires. :burn:

jeremy

[Wags]

Billy,

Good choice on the Painless harness. It is really an improvement, and a must when doing a project like you are. Your transformation to the dark side is coming along nicely..... How much more is the total height on the motor than stock? I had to go with a 4" cowl hood on my '67, and still had to get a shorty air cleaner to fit, because of the increased intake height. That was with the 502. Which intake are you using? Are you planning on using a stock '70 cowl induction hood? I just love seeing build-ups like this. All the work will be very well worth it when you are done. Now I have to go crank up the '68, just to hear a nice rumble. Is's supposed to be 50 degrees out today! Lookin' really nice Billy!

Wags

[BillyGman]

Those get the MartyO seal of approval! :beer:

Nice job Billy.

I remain jealous! With the fantastic toys that you have Marty, that's quite the compliment coming from you.

[BillyGman]

I approve.:up:

You have my permission to continue...:Dwhew!..... am I sure relieved that you approve! I was concerned that you wouldn't. :baaa:

[BillyGman]

Looking good. From the pictures it seems you are stockpile-ing tires. :burn:

jeremyYep, I'm sure gonna need plenty of em. ;) Actually though, I'm stock piling many parts. My home looks like some wharehouse, or parts store(bumpers, a hood, exhaust parts, wheels, tires, headers, suspension, radiator..etc, etc...).

[rocknrod]

Obviously your not concerned about a tall deck block anymore?
I say this as I look at your intake, etc.

[BillyGman]

Billy,

..... How much more is the total height on the motor than stock? I had to go with a 4" cowl hood on my '67, and still had to get a shorty air cleaner to fit, because of the increased intake height. That was with the 502. Pete,

thanks for your interest in this....
The intake manifold that came with this engine is a "Merlin X" and it has a Holley Dominator sitting on top. I just bought a brand new stock cowl hood from Goodmark, and I'm going with that hood no matter what I have to do. This combo just might make it under there, but it's definately going to be real close!!!

I've spoken over the phone a couple times with a fellow 70 Chevelle owner who has the GM ZZ572 engine under the stock cowl hood and it fit just fine with atleast a half inch to spare. He has a K&N drop base 3" air cleaner, and he put a 1/2" width roll of tape on top of the air cleaner and was still able to close his hood without any problem.

The ideal thing to do in order to know for certain exactly how much room you have under there is to slap several colunms of modeling clay (usually obtained from hobby shops) on top of the air cleaner, and then slam your hood shut. Then you just have to open your hood and measure the height of the clay. It works perfectly, and w/out damaging anything.

They recently came out with a drop based air cleaner for the Dominator carb, so that's what I've purchased. It's a whopping 16" in diameter, which is what they had to make it, so that it would clear the float bowls on the huge dominator carb. It uses a 16"x 3" filter element, and with the drop base, it only rises above the carb a total of 2.25".

This is my plan: if I cannot shut the hood with this combo, then I'll have to go with either a dual plane manifold (which would require me to switch to a 4150 Holley instead of the Dominator) or a shorter single plane manifold than the one I have. How high was the manfold you were using on your Chevelle? I don't know the height of the Merlin X intake manifold that I have, since World doesn't publish that stuff. :rolleyes:

I can call them in hopes to find out, but unless you have a spec to give me for the manifold that you had to compare the two, then I guess there wouldn't be any reason to even call them for that. But either way, the only sure way that I'm going to know if I'll get this monsterous combo under that stock Cowl hood is to just drop it all in, and try to close it. I measured the depth of the stock cowl hood from the inside rail to the inside of the dome(using a straight edge and a ruler) and it measured 3.5". The 70 Chevelle factory cowl hood doesn't look to be as high as 3.5" because of the way the rest of the hood is shaped. it's actually a douple stepped configuration. The bulge itself in the center of the hood is only about 2", but it sits on top if another bulge that's wider which adds height to the total package. And that's why I like it. It looks shorter than it actually is, and is therefore stealth. So maybe I'll be okay. Only time will tell I guess.

[TooManyFords]

Nice work Billy. Keep those pictures coming!

Can't wait to race that beast when completed. :)

Cheers

john

[BillyGman]

Obviously your not concerned about a tall deck block anymore?
I say this as I look at your intake, etc.One of those pics I posted makes the intake look higher than it actually is. Below is another view. But either way, there's no turning back now. :D ...read my post above to see what my plan is for hood clearence issues.I also included another header shot....

[BillyGman]

Nice work Billy. Keep those pictures coming!

Can't wait to race that beast when completed. :)

Cheers

johnThanks John. You can count on it!!

[Paul T. Casey]

Looking good. Now just make sure you roll it down to one of the beach cruises this summer.

[BillyGman]

Looking good. Now just make sure you roll it down to one of the beach cruises this summer.That would be great Paul, since that isn't that far from my homestate, and ths car is really gonna kill me on gasoline. Particularly with that Holley Dominator carb. I'll consider myself lucky if I even get 150 miles per tankfull. Which BTW is the only reason why I won't be driving it every day to work. I don't intend for this car to be a trailer queen. But it certainly won't be a daily driver either. It will be something in between the two.