A little while back we introduced you to Project Whistling Death, another awesome build being completed by our pal Kevin Tully. This one is coming out of the SkunkWorks division of Hot Rod Chassis and Cycle and will be one of the gnarliest pro touring 1967 Chevelles ever built with independent rear suspension and about 100,000 other cool things that we’re going to document throughout the course of the construction of the car. When we last peeked in on this project, the guys were hot and heavy stripping a Chevelle that outwardly seemed like a good base for what they were trying to do. They were kind of horrified when they got the car back from the stripper and found that it was structurally and otherwise so far gone that they went hunting for another car to start with. They did come up with another Chevelle and this one is rough as well but it is rough in the places they expected like the floors, quarters, etc. Basically they have some good bones and the fact is that they are working on OGPI for this build and that means the parts and pieces they need to make the sheet metal repairs are available and better than that, factory accurate.
What’s kind of funny is that the previous car had really solid floors and just a little rust in the quarters and stuff whereas the new one has non-existent floors and lots of rust in the quarters. The upside is that the roof and other sections of the car are intact and good, which were major problems with the last one they were working with. Being that Kevin and his guys are among the best metalworkers that we know, no repair is beyond their skill level but some are certainly beyond their timeline. So, we’re going to take a look at the new base for the Whistling Death project below and take you through what the crew is seeing and how they’ll use their own skills and OPGI’s massive catalog of Chevelle parts to put it all back so seamlessly that most everyone in the world will never know it was all the way apart and in this condition to start. Continue down as we tell the rest of the story in photos and captions:
If you can believe it, this will be one of the meanest pro touring Chevelles ever built when it is done Also if you can believe it, OPGI makes enough parts and pieces to bring this thing to life again. Let’s get an even closer look. Get your tetanus shots ready!
The firewall isn’t too bad, right? In fact this may be a veritable Mona Lisa as compared to the rest of the car.
WOAH! WOAH! Look ma, no floors! OPGI will come to the rescue on the sheet metal end of this project and that’s a good thing because the’re LOTS of work here.
Another look at what’s left of the floors in the Chevelle and there ain’t much.
Before the car was sent to the stripper there was already some evidence that things were fugly in the rear quarter panel department. See the bottom of that thing? Yeah there’s not a whole lot left.
The trunk floor is also a little on the “holy” side and not because the spirit of the Lord is back there.
Windshield channel? Yeah it is technically there but it is tissue paper thin and will need full replacement.
Another look-see at the trunk floor.
With the car partially stripped the guys had a much clearer picture of exactly what they were looking at with respect to the steel that needed replacing. They also figured that it was time to brace the car up because they were going to be removing the few strands of steel holding this thing together.
Here’s the beginning of the body bracing that the guys added to hold the car together in prep for pulling the body off the frame. The goal is to keep everything square and prevent the car from folding up like a piece of tin foil.
Almost like building a roll cage, the square steel tubing is added in crosses and angles to be strong enough to keep things rigid.
Note the plate bolted into the spot where the door hinge would normally bolt in. This is a nice reinforced area what will be picking up some of the stress and strain when the body is lifted.
Here’s a clearer overall view of the door bracing that was added in. Looks like a tube door for a Jeep or something. Hey, maybe Kevin and the guys can go into the metal fabrication business or something? We’ll send him a note.
A last look at the bracing that will keep the car’s shape when the body is detatched from the frame.
For as bad as the body is on this thing,the frame is amazingly clean. Look at it! The trunk and quarters have all but left the building but the frame just has the surface rust you’d expect from something out in California.
See those OPGI panels that will be used on the firewall? Just two of the zillions of parts and pieces that will be used to take this rusty duckling to the level of fit and finish that the world has come to expect our of HRCC.
We think someone used a can opener to get into that speaker hole or whatever that bizarrely shaped opening used to be.
Some part of us would be curious from a “learning” perspective as to what would happen to the body if the attempt was made to lift it without the internal bracing. Would it just tweak a little? Totally fold up? Kevin wasn’t interested in letting us see that experiment take place.
So here’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to let you gawk at the rest of the photos in this item and get a very, and we mean VERY clear picture of exactly what HRCC is working with and what the base of the project actually is. This thing has a LONG way to go and thanks to OPGI and HRCC we’re going to be following it the whole way there!
All that labor and material cost to simply be able to use an existing V.I.N. tag and title?
They do have those, right?
‘Don’t see the R.O.I., myself.
And it’s a 300 model…
Well, I guess the car’s got usable door jambs and a roof with A, B, and C-pillars…
Anyone care to guess the man-hours that thing’s gonna require?
That isn’t worth saving. The red body was in better shape. This blue body is scrap metal.
These guys must work cheap. What junk.
Bring your checkbook. I’ll have a nice one here for you in an hour.
They made millions of these and they were not very good or special even when they were new.
More like OMG! not OPG. Hell of a expensive VIN tag.
That is one rusty heap!
Rough as a corn cob. Fixing a car that’s rusty to death to do a pro touring Chevelle that’s been done to death.
Well, it looks like that Chevy eating virus developed by our mad German friend has struck again! This is clearly the automotive equivalent of e-bola – you may try to halt the march of nature by welding in new panels etc. – but come the next morning it will have attacked new areas of this heap of Chevy doody until at last there is nothing left but an unpleasant stain on the garage floor.
So get real guys forget your Chevy fixation and get some of Uncle Henry’s finest to work on – you know it makes sense!
Let me address some questions and comments.
Why build a 300 2 door sedan? When was the last time you went to a show and saw one? Nobody wants them. We specifically WANTED to do a 300 because 2 door sedans are better suited for OUR Trans Am inspired chassis (ala the Raybestos GTO). It’s not a bolt in affair. That is also why we were ok with a rusty car to start with. The floors and rockers get cut out whether they are pristine or swiss cheese. So why cut up a car that can still be restored original or as a nice restomod? Especially since they made 20,000 total 300 2 door sedans. How many are left? How many were parted out to save a SS? They are the unloved 66-67 Chevelles. Also why we WANTED a 300. To show that you don’t have to have an SS or even a Malibu to have a bitchin car. If this were a 138 car, no one would question saving it. With the jig that Dennis and Keith built, Keith and Drew will have no problem putting this back together with the Original Parts Group replacement panels. When the next installment comes out, it will make sense. We will be able to replace all of the problem areas on any 66-67 Chevelle, just like the factory.
Chad, Hot Rod Chassis and Cycle.
I think the 300 is awesome! Saw one at the Woodward Dream Cruise last summer built as a pro-touring car. It was wicket and just quirky enough to keep my attention after all of the SS models and fake SS models. One thing about it, nobody will ever try to pass this one off as a fake. But, I also have an Oldsmobile and I like wagons. Always liked Camaros and the other popular one’s, but they don’t usually make me take a second look.
This is cool regardless of the work involved.
Guys, have you considered the ultimate “what if.” What if this car was someones dads car, and he went to Viet Nam and never came home? Or it was grandpas car, and he made you the person you are today? I’ve seen people restore cars with sentimental value that were total piles.
A new 1969 Chevelle body shell is $15,000.00. We’ll have slightly over that, about $18,000.00 in both Labor and Parts from OPGI in this body when it’s done. The object was to show that you can save almost any Chevelle body using the OPGI catalog. Including the one that has so much sentimental value that no other car can ever replace it. OPGI’s parts all fit like factory, so the replacement process is going along at a pretty rapid pace.
I personally love the post cars. Y’all keep on doin’ the Lord’s work over there.