Super Sport SS 454

Chevrolet Chevelle 1972 Description

1972 CHEVROLET CHEVELLE SS 454
HISTORY: I have owned this Chevelle since May 9, 1993. I purchased it locally in the town of Holden, MA. The person I bought it from had gone to Texas and purchased it in March of 1989. He had not done much to the vehicle when I bought with original plans to restore the vehicle but he lost interest with recent marriage, and a new home etc... Over the years to follow from 1993-2008 I slowly began to restore this vehicle to the condition it sits today. Why did it take so long? Basically life got in the way, changing jobs, moving, marriage etc.. I never lost interest in finishing it though. Acquiring parts over the years, finding the right person to do the work needed at the time, and getting it done prolonged the completion but it was completed with the exception of a sound system. So, after all these years why am I selling it, back to the delay, life. New house, need the room, need the money, and not using it are the reasons why. If I had the space and money I would keep it to give to my son but unfortunately I don’t and I would like to find a good home for it.
FRAME: In the summer of 1994 I began the disassembly and restoration of this vehicle. I delivered the frame to a local body shop to restore. This included sandblasting the frame and suspension parts that were going to be reused and rust proofed and repainted. ALL the components that attach to or were on the frame either got replaced or refurbished. The entire front end was replaced with new parts with the exception of the A-Arms. All new brake components. All new stainless steel brake and fuel lines. All new bushings, everything was brought back to like new condition. When the body work commenced in 2007 it was learned that the frame was not straight. It was brought to a professional frame straightening shop in Springfield MA. I was told there that it looked like the car had a front end collision or it had bottomed out damaging the cross member, but it was all brought back to being straight (receipts included for all above mentioned work.)
DRIVETRAIN: The motor that was in the vehicle when I bought it was not the numbers matching block for the vehicle. It was only running on seven cylinders when I bought it and was cracked and worn so another block was purchased with a Chevrolet cast number of 3963512 and it is a two bolt main. The rebuilding of this 454 began late 1995 through 1997 with locating correct parts for it and assembly which was completed by a well known and respected mechanic in MA Tom Snay of Snay Automotive on 12/2/1997. The block was bored .030 over and 1969 oval ported heads were purchased, machined, and added to the motor (receipt included.) The motor was not built to 1972 stock standards. I wanted more horsepower and torque. I never dyno’d the engine but the mechanic assured me who has over fifty years of experience building these motors that the motor was close to the LS6 standard with the exception of a hydraulic cam rather than the solid lifters. It has 10:1 compression. I was told to use 93+ octane and always add an octane boost when refueling which I do. The motor and car has less than 700 miles on it since completion, see picture of odometer. The automatic transmission was not matching for this vehicle either and the housing was cracked. I replaced it with another Turbo 400 and it was rebuilt by a former professional drag racer in NH who added a mild shift kit to it. To date, no leaks, works awesome. The 12 bolt rear-end had the factory 3.31 gears still in it. The rear end was rebuilt and 3.73 gears were added to the limited slip differential in 1994. The drive shaft was balanced and heavy duty u-joints installed in 1994 as well.
BODY: Seeing how the car was from Texas the body and floors were in pretty decent shape. It was originally a vinyl top vehicle which it still was when I bought it. So all the problems that go with a 36 year old vinyl top vehicle were there. Seeing how this is NOM vehicle and there was no original paperwork with the car, I felt there was no added harm in personalizing this car so I chose not to replace the vinyl top. I located all original GM metal to replace the rotted pieces caused by the vinyl top and typical big block Chevelle issues, trunk lid, tail frame, piece in between the trunk lid and rear window section, the inside frame piece under the rear window. The shop that di the body work and paint and basically reassembly of my car advised me to replace the rear quarters rather than chance a repair bubbling through years later. The rear quarters had small popcorn holes behind the rear wheels and around the wheel wells which he said was not a big deal to repair with metal but could not assure me that it would not bubble out or something appear from these repairs down the road. I replaced the full rear quarters with GM factory stamped quarters. The rest of the metal on the vehicle was great shape and stripped and redone. I wanted the black and white look and knew the body man could do it justice. If done right, in my humble opinion you can’t beat this color combination. Factory stenciling was used to get the stripes correct as well as the factory correct Super Suport badging placement on the panels which I find doesn’t get done right on 50% of the redo’s. All the paint work, codes, coats etc. is on an included receipt. All new factory tinted glass was installed (receipt for same included.) The front and rear bumpers were sent out and rechromed (receipt included.) All new GM emblems. All new GM lights and lens and bezels. The factory cowl induction hood functions normally. All the stainless trim was polished and looks amazing. The gaps were mic’d to perfection and the factory gaps between the molding around the windshield and rear window were filled with lead to leave no gaps. All this work and installation was completed on 05/28/2008.
INTERIOR: The car had been gutted from the beginning. I had both seats which included the front bench seat resprung, repadded, and new covers installed. A new headliner, new visors, new handles, new door panels, and a new rug all installed. Dynamat was put down prior to the rug being installed. The dash that was in the car when I bought it was from a Monte Carlo and was replaced with a factory correct Chevelle Super Sport dash including gauges (tach, clock, temp, fuel, and amps, they all work. ) This car is an auto shift on the factory tilt column. A wood grain steering wheel replaced the factory steering wheel which I still have. I did not reinstall the seatbelts on this vehicle.
WHEELS AND TIRES: As I mentioned earlier, I wanted a look when this car was completed and I went with 15x7 GM 1967rally wheels up front wrapped in 255X70R15 BFG tires. In the back are 15X8 GM 1967 rally wheels wrapped in 285X70R15 BFG tires. Both front and back have 1967 GM center caps and GM trim rings. You can’t get any bigger without modifications. The back tires rubs only on significant dips in the road, what a look!! I believe I have mentioned everything good and bad about this car. Please feel free to ask questions through email, erb2820@hotmail.com. I can also be reached via cell #508-981-3203. Thank you for bidding. All sales are final. Sold as Is. I do hold the MA title for this vehicle. No joy rides! I will start the car on scene for anyone coming to look at it but rides will be allowed when I see cash knowing that you are serious about buying! Please don’t waste my time! I do not want to use this car and increase the chances of damaging it prior to a final sale. If you can’t accept this then look elsewhere. If you are the winning bidder or meet the reserve at the end of this auction, a $2500 deposit through paypal will be required. Payment in full will be required once the deal in finalized. Once the full payment has been received WITHOUT any issues the title will be sent to the new owner. Good luck and the winner will have a very nice 1972 Chevelle SS 454 that he/she will get nothing but compliments on.
VIN#:1D37W2R521612 1(CHEVY) D(MALIBU) 37(COUPE) W(454) 2(1972) R(ARL. TX) 521612(ASSEMBLY NUMBER)
DATA TAG: ST 72 13637 R 13793 BDY YEAR 2 DOOR ARLING TX UNIT # SPORT CP TR 720 A52 63 T PNT MED TAN BENCH MOHAVE LIGHT TAN FABRIC SEAT GOLD VINYL 12A 078 BUILT 12/71 INHOUSE 1ST WK TRACKING