1966 Chevrolet Chevelle
Vincent Buchanan's lifelong desire for a proper muscle car led him from the mid-west of England to the American Midwest in search of his dream, car...
Like many of us, it was early exposure to car magazines that fuelled Vincent Buchanan's desire for some hot American muscle, in his case via the various automotive custom mags his elder brother bought when he was a youngster. However, although the seed was sown, it wasn't until much later in life that he was finally able to realise his dream with the importation of a tasty '65 Oldsmobile Jetstar 88 Coupe, a goodlooking, but lesser-known GM car.
Having cut his teeth and enjoyed the Olds', Vincent was ready to go find 'the one', settling on this super-cool 1966 Chevy Chevelle Malibu. The car was located at a classic dealership in Chicago, Illinois, which being in the gritty industrial Great Lakesarea of the Midwest (like nearby Detroit) is an area well known for building tough street machines, of which Vincent's '66 is a perfect example.
Vincent can't trace the early life of his car, apart from knowing that it came from the factory with a 283cu in small block. It seems a local Chicago Chevy guy owned the car, and took it off the road for a total body restoration and mechanical upgrade some 16 years ago, with the car having only completed a couple of thousand miles since then. Vincent bought and imported it in 2018, and so far, he too has kept the mileage low; partly as, like nearly every freshly imported car, there were issuesto sort out despite it being presented by the American dealer as a fully 'sorted' car ready to go.
These issueswere mainly suspension-related jobs, one in particular being a difficulty in adjusting the tracking on the car, which was traced to perished trailing arm bushes, causing way too much front-to-back play at the rear wheel. This, and also the complete front end suspension and steering rebuild, was entrusted to the watchful eye of James Coleman at all round performance car specialists JC Performance in Westbury, Wilts (www. jcperformance.co.uk/Tel. 01373 826973), not far from Vincent's home in Trowbridge.
The purchase of a set of polished American Racing Torque Thrust II alloy wheels from North Hants Tyres (www.northhantstyres.com/Tel. 01252 318666) threw up another problem: the car had previously been fitted with a set of dropped front spindles, but these didn't provide enough clearance for the new 14-inch front wheels until a set of stock spindles were sourced and fitted instead, along with a new set of shocks and springs from Rock Auto. Similarly, the rear suspension was upgraded with a set of Gabriel Hi-Jacker adjustable air shocks. Rear brakes are rebuilt stock drums, while replacing the original front stock drum brakes is a set of Wilwood discs and calipers, necessary considering the engine that now resides under the hood, and what an engine it is...
"THE CHEVELLE OBVIOUSLY WAS STORED SOMEWHERE WARM AND DRY AS THE BODYWORK IS AS GOOD AS IT LOOKS IN THE PICTURES.."
Instead of the original, and somewhat by comparison, modest 283, the Chevelle now boasts an alloy, heavy-duty Dart Little M engine block. This is a fully race-prepped 400 cubicinch V8 based on the iron Chevy block, but with enhanced performance features such as thicker cylinder walls, scalloped water jacket walls, thicker decks and improved oiling. Whereas a factory small block can only be bored out so much, a Dart version can not only be ordered as a 400 cubic inch to start with, it can further be stroked out to a massive 427cu in, planting it firmly in big-block displacement territory.
This extra machining was carried out by Chicago engine builders, Hypercision Automotive, who handled the full assembly, starting with a 4340 forged steel crankshaft and a set of H-Beam con rods, Mahle forged, thermal coated pistons and Total Seal piston rings. A Mellings high-volume oil pump with heavy-duty shaft was fitted, along with a Milodon Stroker sump pan and oil pick-up. An Avon roller timing chain was used, and a custom camshaft grind was specified by Hypercision, with the cam being a roller type with hydraulic roller lifters from Morel.
Dart also supplied a set of its own aluminium cylinder heads which are already fitted with matched valves and springs, and Dart also supplied the intake manifold, the latter being fitted with a Holley 850cfm double pumper carburettor, with the spark being fired by an MSD Billet distributor and ignition control unit. A Billet Specialties serpentine belt drive system and a billet high-output alternator completed the engine build spec, along with a set of Hooker headers which connect to a full stainless exhaust system. A TCI TH 400 transmission handles the power from the motor, with a TCI 2500 stall speed Heavy Duty 'Saturday Night Special' torque converter, shifted by a B&M floor-mounted shifter in the modified stock centre console.
Phew! That's some specification right there alone folks, especially for a street car, and though its full potential is yet to be unleashed, the car should put down some fairly serious numbers should it venture anywhere near a quarter-mile track. You'll notice in the engine pictures that the chrome air cleaner sports a '427' decal, on what is clearly the small-block engine. Vincent told us that this has already raised eyebrows at the few shows he's been to, with other enthusiasts anxious to tell him that a small block couldn't possibly be a 427, let alone a 400 cubic inch! Finishing off the 'bling' is a set of Hypercision's own brand alloy rocker covers, which at least gives some clue to the motor's pedigree.
The Chevelle obviously was stored somewhere warm and dry as the bodywork is as good as it looks in the pictures, needing just a very small amount of touching up to the red paint on the lower doors. This was carried out by talented independent painter, Chris Sweetman of Westbury, of whose work Vincent speaks very highly. The body is all stock and as Chevy intended, except for the subtle hood scoop hinting at the beast of an engine lurking below. Inside, too, the Chevelle looks much as it left the factory, thanks to a full restoration and replacement black vinyl trim set. The only changes are the Billet Specialties alloy steering wheel, the Sun Pro tachometer on the column, the extra Autometer gauges, and the B&M shifter that we've already mentioned - it even has the original stock AM radio in the dash.
As we said previously, the car has only completed a few miles around Vincent's home area in the West Country and had been to a couple of small shows locally by the close of the 2019 season, although I was lucky enough to catch a glimpse of it late last year outside a music venue. Little did I know we would be writing up a feature on it for ClassicAmerican some six months later! Vincent says that with the awesome amount of power under the hood, he is tempted to unleash it on a drag strip at some time in the future to find out just what it will do, although this can be a daunting prospect if you've never launched yourself up the track in front of a crowd of spectators! Perhaps he should turn over the keys to someone a bit more experienced, we'd gladly volunteer! How about
* it Vincent?