Mike's 1972 Chevelle SS

Several years ago, I added to my bucket list the idea of purchasing a muscle car to drive historic Route 66. I purchased this car at a Mecum Auction in 2017. The paint color is original Placer Gold with black SS stripes. Under the Cowl Induction hood is a 454 with a Holley Street Avenger coupled with an Edelbrock Performer RPM intake. The engine breathes through headers and a 3” Flowmaster exhaust system giving the 454 a beefy rumble.

The body, paint and engine were solid, but she needed some TLC. My makeover started with renovating the complete interior. I removed everything, installed a new dash, restored all the dash gauges. Added Dynamat for soundproofing, Vintage Air conditioning, custom Audio Sound radio with JBL Speakers and Base Pro Subwoofer hidden in the trunk. The original buckets were replaced with Procar bucket seats.

The rear end was rebuilt adding a 3.08 positrack and disc brakes. I then replaced the rest of the braking system to give me more stopping power. I replaced the complete suspension, front and rear, using QA1 adjustable ride height coil overs with valving control. The 46-year-old body bushings were replaced with Energy suspension bushings, then I added 2” drop spindles, upper and lower control arms, and all new steering components. This suspension upgrade made a 72 Chevy handle like a modern sports car.

The last thing to do for drivability improvement was to install a 700R4 to lower the RPM and increase mileage from 8 mpg to an impressive 16 highway while maintaining the ability to stomp the 454 and give you many smiles per mile!
We love to drive our 72 Chevelle; Route 66 here we come!