(Words and Photos by Steve Chryssos/Ridetech) This is a special project for a couple of reasons, the most important being that it will belong to Ridetech Owner Sharon Voelkel. We’re all familiar with the hot rods, race cars, and pet projects of Ridetech Owner Bret Voelkel, but his wife Sharon has only had a few in comparison to Bret. This one in particular will likely be the nicest hot rod she’s ever owned or driven. And it will be driven. It’s a car after all, and the entire build has been planned and executed for Sharon to drive it. This will be HER car, not a Ridetech toy. In this update on the build you will see some of the details and cool tricks that nobody will likely ever see after it is all together. Which is what make some of them so cool. Check it out.
Sharon’s Chevelle Update: A Look At Details That Most May Never See
Have you ever found yourself standing too close to a show car in an effort to study hidden details? Yeah, us too. Sometimes we will stand in the same spot for 10 minutes taking in subtle tricks. Sharon’s Chevelle is full of unique details. Best of all you get to see them all before they get covered up by insulation, upholstery and paint. If you see the finished car at a show, you’ll be able to point out details that your friends can’t see.
Though the Chevelle uses a factory frame and modified factory sheetmetal, virtually every other piece of metal on this car is completely made by hand at RideTech. Great progress has been made since the last update with all major systems either complete or approaching the finish line.
We have some more fabrication work to do in the cockpit. As a luxury Grand Touring machine, Sharon’s Chevelle will feature a long list of amenities such as heated seats and custom leather upholstery by Recovery Room Hot Rod Interiors. We’re getting ahead of ourselves, though. For now, enjoy the fabrication photos.
Sharon’s Chevelle enjoys a charmed life in a dedicated facility known by everyone at RideTech as “The Body Shop”. Fabrication is nearing completion with all of the major systems complete including drivetrain, cooling, AC, exhaust and more. The steering column and shaft assembly is one of the car’s most interesting features. The column is exceedingly short while the u-joints live under the dash. This helps to clean up the engine compartment. Note also, the RideTech icon logo in the column mount.Here, you can see the nice clean steering shaft in the engine compartment. You can also see the hand-fabricated inner fender structure and smooth lower firewall. Note the beautiful cast aluminum header flanges.At the front of the engine bay, we mounted the C&R Racing aluminum radiator and fan assembly in a stout, hand-fabricated core support and covered it with a one-of-a-kind shroud — also hand made. RideTech uses Vintage Air AC and Frontrunner drive systems on every car and truck project.Here’s one last look under the hood, for now. We took a perfectly good production cast aluminum intake manifold and cut it up in the interest of symmetry. The dual cold air intakes are mock ups made of aluminum sheet.Moving to the trunk, we cut an access panel into the floor just above the in-tank fuel pump. These GM OEM pumps are plenty reliable, but it’s nice to have this level of serviceability. Luxury Grand Touring is the goal for this machine. That means adding features such as an electric trunk latch mechanism. It’s mounted in a custom bracket that looks factory.Custom brackets can be found throughout the vehicle. All possess the familiar RideTech icon logo — a source of pride for everyone at the company. This panel, like most will be concealed by upholstered panels and hardware.There is a bit more fabrication work to be done on the interior. The following systems are finished: Holley Terminator EFI ECM, Vintage Air Sure-Fit AC, drive by wire throttle and the aforementioned steering column. Oh.. and a hand fabricated trans tunnel.
5 thoughts on “This Is One Special 1967 Chevelle Project, And You Will Marvel At Some Of The Details”
Jay Bree
It’s really hard to get wound up about a car being sawed up by a professional shop full of hired hands with money as no object turning into another “pro touring” car.
Meh… anyone can throw a wallet at a car and have something appear. Yes it will be nice, but in the same sense of a GM project car it will be equally soul-less.
Will it have the obligatory red tow hook?
Loren
I don’t know about you but I see a plenty of soul in that car, nice work on a project for one of their own.
Chevy Hatin' Mad Geordie
Well – its seems you CAN polish a turd……
Loren
Would be your only hope.
John Anderson
Yes it’s done at a pro shop with alot of money/ talent behind it, but I always look for cool stuff that I might be able to use at my small 1 man (me) shop. Neat car and fab work on this level has to be appreciated..
It’s really hard to get wound up about a car being sawed up by a professional shop full of hired hands with money as no object turning into another “pro touring” car.
Meh… anyone can throw a wallet at a car and have something appear. Yes it will be nice, but in the same sense of a GM project car it will be equally soul-less.
Will it have the obligatory red tow hook?
I don’t know about you but I see a plenty of soul in that car, nice work on a project for one of their own.
Well – its seems you CAN polish a turd……
Would be your only hope.
Yes it’s done at a pro shop with alot of money/ talent behind it, but I always look for cool stuff that I might be able to use at my small 1 man (me) shop. Neat car and fab work on this level has to be appreciated..