My love for cars started at an early age. I was my father's helper practically since I could walk, happily grabbing wrenches and anything else I could handle. Working on older cars was our hobby and I helped re-do both a 1966 Chevy Nova and a 1966 Dodge Dart. The work I did on these cars certainly was a deciding factor in my choice to pursue a mechanical engineering degree.
My father's 1967 Chevelle was his daily driver from his late 20s until the day he passed it on to me. It was a dream come true, the car that I had ridden in my whole life, worked on my whole life, and the one I had determined I would own one day. The Chevelle had been revived from its past life in a junkyard to its former self that you see in the pictures here. That was some 20 years ago and weather is not kind to vehicles so I am taking it upon myself to restore the car once more.
My history with the car has not been great up to this point. My father and I replaced the engine with a re-built 350 and to my surprise the car became mine. The only problem was after only a paltry 2000 miles, I blew this engine as well (see the carnage in piston 5 to the right). I dropped a valve while cruising along on the highway, I'm certain it was an interesting site to behold for on-lookers.
So the car sat for a bit. A ZZ4 crate engine was found from Scoggin-Dickey Motors, making sure it was a 4-bolt main block so it would last. This engine was built using 1.94/1.50 inch aluminum heads with 163 cc intake runners, a forged crankshaft, hydraulic roller camshaft, and a Holley 650 CFM street avenger carburetor. All this combined makes for roughly 405 lb-ft of torque and 355 hp currently. With the addition of a new cam with a duration of 218/228 at .050" tappet lift and 1.6 rockers, the engine should push well beyond 400 hp.