The Car has to Go

My 1965 Chevelle has to go. I am working on building a new pull behind smoker and I need the money and the shop space. I have had the car for 12 to 13 years. I bought this car because I thought I would be able to put an engine in it and go racing. Of course things do not work out that way. At the age of 18 making about $5.00/hr, I had to buy tools and equipment to work on the car which took away from money spent on the car. I spent thousands of dollars on tools, welder and everything else I needed to work on the car instead of parts for the car. In the mean time I had moved it out of the garage and into a shop. As time goes on, I get married, have kids, buy a house, buy cars and the chevelle gets left behind. I still wanted to go racing as I have always loved racing, I even work in the racing industry, but the expense is just more than I can handle.

So I decided that it was time to sell the car and make room for another smoker. I will be building a pull behind smoker that will handle big volumes of meat and capable of catering, vending or whatever. Anyway, below is a fairly compelete list of things I have done to the car

Frame

Fabricated front engine plates for small block Chevy
Mid engine plate
Engine relocated about 10 inches back
Fabricated dropout transmission cross member
Floor pan support and seat mount framing
Two drive shaft loops installed
Frame rails trimmed for tire clearance
30 X 10.5 tires fit nicely and look great
8 X 10 Custom made rally wheels

Body

Rear wheel wells opened up for larger tire
Body smoothed and ready for final prep
Rain drip rails removed from over windows
All steel body
All material removed from hood and reinforced
One piece front end (all steel, welded together)

Chassis
Front End

New Bushings, teeth removed for easy maximum front end lifting action
New ball joints
New tie rods
New drag link
Moroso trick springs
Disk brake spindles and hardware (not installed)
7/16” X 3” wheel studs

Rear End

Chevy 12-bolt (factory 65 Chevelle rear end)
4.88 Gears w/ spool and ARP bolts
C-clip eliminators
Stock axles
½” X 3” screw-in wheel studs
New GM yoke and nut
GM chrome rear end cover
All mounting brackets are solid welded for strength
Factory trailing arms are boxed in for strength
Aluminum bushings in trailing arms
Upper trailing arms are shortened for desirable rear end pitch
New trailing arm bolts
Moroso rear tick springs (very stiff for planting the rear tires)

Here are a few pics. The body is very straight. It has been smeared with bondo and sanded several times for the smoothing of the body. The blotches of bondo that you see are from the smoothing, and not dent fillers. The car was straight and needed very little work. There was some rust i the rear quarter, but we cut it out and welded some new sheet metal in.

Front angle view