Finishing up the wiring under the dash - never a fun job.
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The AC dryer and lines were tucked off to the side to keep the engine bay clean.
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This is the tarnished original air cleaner, complete with duct tape to reduce air leakage from an incorrect air filter.
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And this is the polished original air cleaner, ready to be reinstalled. Unfortunately, it was too tall and was hitting the hood. we had to replace this with a shorter aftermarket air cleaner.
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The new springs are installed, but we need to properly cut the front springs to get back to the slight rake the owner wants.
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The final ride height numbers at all four wheels.
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The new tilt steering column is ready for installation.
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We used the original stock wheel for now as the new smaller diameter steering wheel is backordered. With the power steering working, the larger stock wheel is not needed any longer. The smaller wheel will allow more room for the driver to slide in comfortably.
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After all the steering and suspenion work, we were able to get the alignment close at home, but decided to take it up to our son's work and use their alignment rack to be sure. The owner paid the shop for this service and for charging the AC.
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On the way up to the shop, the 396 engine started knocking. While we were at the shop, and since it was Saturday, we did some quick diagnostics and found one of the rocker nuts had backed off and let the push rod come up to far, which bent the push rod. In talking to old-school hot-rodders, this was common for big blocks.
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Push rods are not supposed to be bent like this.
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Nor should a push rod have a notch etched into it.
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The newly reconditioned Chevelle, ready to go home.
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Yes, we gave her a quick bath and dry before her owner came to get her.
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The new ride height looks good with just a slight rake. The Crager wheels really make her look great.
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We are definitely eager to see what her owner thinks of his completed baby.
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The new steering wheel is still on back order, so she went home with her original wheel.
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One very sharp looking car.
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The original 396 is purring like a contented cat for now. More on this later.
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Time for a test drive of the souped up 396.
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Yep, we left a bit of rubber on our street. The marks were just over 25ft long. Not bad for an old car.
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The happy owner leaving with his baby.
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Oops, a wire came off on the new AC unit. It's a good thing our son is still young enough to do this.
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After all the work, our friend decided that he could not trust the 396 to be reliable. He did some soul searching and decided on swapping to a modern LS3 engine. This required hours of research to find the parts for a '66 Chevelle while trying to keep as much of what we already had completed as possible. Unfortunately, a lot would not work.
This project would have to wait though as we have a Ranchero to finish for a wedding.
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