Here’s a classic case of a car guy trying to solve one problem, which creates another. One of my customers has a mechanical shop in town and he has a ‘66 Chevelle 396 that he’s had since new and is has almost flawless original paint on it. It’s unbelievably nice. The original engine was getting a little tired. So rather than rebuilding the original, he gets the bright idea of putting a crate engine in to get it going “quicker”. But we’re not talking basic rebuilt 396 crate engine here. No no, we’re talking dynoed at almost 900hp big block with this massive intake and carburetor on it. So now he can’t close the hood. 🤦🏻♂️Okay, so now what? Mutilating the original hood would be a crime on this thing, as would putting some cheapo cowl induction hood on it. So he found a decent plain hood and made a clearance hole for the air cleaner which he’s going to put a trim molding around. Thankfully, he’s doing the right thing and setting the original hood and engine aside for safe keeping, should he ever want to swap it back.
The rest of the story is my problem, I’m afraid. This hood is decent but not great. So I’ll have to turn it into something worthy of being put on such a nice car. The good news is that the car is solid red, so I should be able to tweak the color to match well without getting into any of the original paint. How do I get myself into these things?
Travis, good for you for taking in work like that. Watched shop after shop step away from any projects of this type over the years. Nice to see some shops hanging in there.
@SteveMackCT I’ve learned to be very selective with any classic or custom work. I only take the small jobs on cars that aren’t all cobbled together now. A few years back we took on a big block Nova that hit a deer and that turned into a 6 month cluster, so now I’m a bit gun-shy. And that job was a walk in the park compared to the Rolls Corniche we did years before that, mainly because those were cobbled together from day one. No more big projects.
@Hupp31 Travis, the quarters are rusting out on my 2014 F150 which is only up to 70K and is a cream puff otherwise. You want to do those for me?
@alsancle I certainly would IF you’re okay with having both outer bedsides replaced. I only take the all or nothing approach with rust now because patch jobs are a waste of everyone’s time and money. I will say that if the rear wheel arches are letting go, the cab corners aren’t far behind. And they come through from the inside out so there’s little warning. With that low mileage it might be worth taking the chance. It’s a tough call sometimes with the price of new trucks.
@Hupp31 No kidding! Maybe I'll send you a video. I forget where in Conn you are. This 2014 replaced the last one that had 160k miles on it. I've had very good luck with my F150s. But a new one is insane.
@alsancle Yeah, shoot me a video or photos and maybe a shot of the VIN tag on the door and I can give you an idea of a ballpark. My shop is in Torrington, so probably about 2 hrs from you. About an hour from Springfield so a bit of a hike.
@Hupp31 I was looking at new Silvarados last month. I gave up and bought a summer house instead.
@Royale835Sedan 🤣It really has gotten to that point. It’s absurd. I thought I spent a lot of money when I bought my last truck for $30k in 2012. Now they have $50k worth of options that you can add on to a $50k base!
66 Chevelle SS is the nads. My buddy had a marina blue four speed car when he was in HS in 72. Wrecked it, turned it in to a stock car. Kept the original 4 speed console and buckets until about 15 years later we used one bucket seat in a demolition derby car. So now he has the passenger seat and the console.
Travis, your customer would have saved money by buying the nicest hood he could find for you to cut up.
@alsancle Definitely my favorite body style of the Chevelles. This particular one is the kind of car that everyone dreams of finding. He’s absolutely mental about taking care of his stuff and it shows. You rarely see original paint this nice.
I like that green if that is the color of the car.
@dj1970 It is a nice color but no, the car is Regal Red.
Thank god he got another hood. I was having flashbacks to trying to fix hood pin holes. Impossible.
If you're good at what you do, they make you keep doing it.
@ShawnG @NewOldWood Sometimes you just can’t say no. This customer is one that I can’t say no to.
I feel your pain....I have a car here that was shipped all the way across the country for what the owner described as "minor repairs" Some are minor, one is what would be better described as "beyond repair". Oh well, it's here now.
@NewOldWood Everybody understimates the effort involved in even the simplest repairs.
I don't like advertising. I'd be more inclined to find a lower manifold and carburetor to clear the hood.
We stuffed an LSA into a 1967 Beaumont. Everything fit under the hood and behind the grille with a bit of creativity. I was able to trim the core support and fit the radiator, AC and intercooler. I had to put the grilles in the Bridgeport and shave 3/8" of plastic out of them. It's 10lbs of stuff in a 5lb sack but it all fits without showing off.
@ShawnG I would agree. I don’t think shorter intake runners would neuter that engine too much. And quite frankly, I think it has power to spare considering he’s running stock rubber. But hey, not my car.
Finally getting a bit of color on this Chevelle hood with the optional outhouse hole in it…will that make it a hit with the Ford guys? Anyway, there’s still a lot of primer blocking to be done on the outside but at least I can get the underside finished. I opted to go with 80/20 gloss to matte clear to tone it down in hopes of looking more like original lacquer would under the hood. When I do the outside, I’ll have to resist the urge to hammer the clear on so it keeps a bit of texture to match.
Looks great. I take it the car is red?
@alsancle Yes. Regal Red
So close. Thought I might get away with only a single prime on the exterior but there were a couple spots (around that damn outhouse hole) that I wasn’t yet happy with. Fortunately, it just needed a light flow-coat of primer over it to seal off the burn-throughs. A quick final wet sand and it’ll be ready for topcoat. I just need to do a bit more tweaking of the color and a spray out to verify it to the car before I commit to spraying it. I’m a bit particular about color matching.
Almost have this thing out of my hair. Looks like the texture should match the original lacquer fairly well because this car has been polished a lot in its lifetime. Sanding and polishing of a few dirt nibs and it’ll be ready to roll. I’ll be glad to see it go. Projects like this are such a pain to work in between the regular work schedule.
Ready to deliver to the customer tomorrow. Finally. I need to get this thing out of the shop, it’s taking up precious real estate. I’m happy with it though. Much better than what we started with.
@Hupp31 Looks great!
@alsancle Thanks
@Hupp31 Is that hood going to make the paint on the rest of the car look bad?
@BLK-10001 Honestly, no. This car has its original lacquer on it and it has been kept like brand new. Sixty years of polishing have left very little orange peel. I’m not exaggerating when I say that the owner waxes the frame of this car. So it should fit right in.