The Challenge

Turn this '67 Chevelle into a fast, great handling and reliable ride. Oh yeah, and it's for one of Troy's best friends, someone he's known since kindergarten.

What We Did

Since we were looking for lots of useable and reliable power, we selected a GM LT1 crate engine which is advertised to deliver 460bhp at the flywheel, but that generates 477bhp at the tires thanks to a cam and headers upgrade. Making an even more flexible engine choice is that it's compatible to run on E85 which can open up even a bit more performance. It's bolted to a Bowler T-56 manual transmission because, let's face it, sticks are more fun and also much simpler to maintain, which keeps to the theme of this build. It sits on a Roadster Shop Spec chassis which comes equipped with a Ford 9" rear housing and Corvette suspension geometry, so it can handle some power and the turns. Wilwood Aero6 brakes put the whoa on the go and sit inside Forgeline OE1 wheels. Their size- 19x12 in the rear and 18x10 in the front, is the only thing that gives away that these are not factory steel wheels and the dog dish hub caps add the finishing, sneaky touch. The wheels are wrapped in Toyo R888R 335/30/19 in back and 275/35/18 and feature red line lettering courtesy of Diamondback Classics. While this car boasts some impressive specs, what's just as impressive is what we didn't do. Most notably, the paint is as it was applied when Jamison bought the car; it looks good and offers less to worry about from any kind of road-rash inducing debris. The interior has also been left largely as-is. First, it's gold- how can you change that? Second, it was is great shape and this car is a driver, so why touch it? All we did was add a few creature comforts which include an upgraded stereo, steering wheel and tilt-column and add and recontour the factory seat foam for more comfort and support. Metal-mod wise, we added mini-tubs for the rear meats and opened up the firewall and trans tunnel for the bigger transmission. Ooops, almost forgot to mention the BBT-machined CHEVELLE engine emblems. Check them out in the pics, they're very cool.

What We Achieved

Aside from creating the car Jamison wanted, we also kept a decades-old friendship intact. Well, that and it was recognized as the Custom Chevelle Pick at the Goodguys Summit racing Nationals in the summer of 2023.