So, on a spur, on Independence day weekend, I found saw a for-sale AD, for a 1964 Chevrolet Bel Air

Now, having been looking for an old American piece of sheet metal, this car spiked my interest, as it would make a wonderful old-school Family car.

After thinking on it for a day, I decided to go and pick up the car.

Task #1, Getting it legal

So, when I picked up the car, and got the title, I forgot to check if the title was actually notorized (it was not….).

Unfortunately, after purchasing the car, the seller completely ghosted me, and refused to provide any assistant locating the ORIGINAL seller who had signed the title.

After going to the local tag-office, my options were…

1. Get the title properly notorized. This would involve tracking down the original owners from a title, dated 1992.
2. Petition a judge, With proper paperwork to prove the car is not stolen, and is now owned by me, I could petition a judge, who would be able to provide an order, to allow the tag office to register the car in my name.

I then visited the local tag office, and filed a form, costing 1$. With the new information, I was able to validate the car was not stolen, and to get the most current names and addresses for the vehicle.

After a bit of googling, and trying many different phone numbers, I was able to get in contact with the original owner’s wife, who was able to get me into contact with the original owner.. After talking, we scheduled a time to meet up at his house, on the following Saturday.

The following weekend, I started my one hour drive, to BFE, Oklahoma.

Upon arriving me and the original owner talked for a bit, and exchanged our dislikes for the seller. After this point, he indicated to me, that he actually had a lot of the spare/original/replacement parts for the car.

I left with a notorized title, a box full of replacement parts for the front-end of the car, and a 700R4 transmission, (Which, was supposed to be the original power-glide, however, neither of us noticed this detail at the time).

Overall, dealing with the original owner was a great experience.

For those confused between seller, and original owner-

1. I purchased the car from the Seller, for the asking price of 2,000$.
2. He had purchased the car from the Original Owner for $800

Both me and the original owner, are not huge “fans” of the Seller at this point, especially after I learned, when he originally brought the car for 800$, there was also a full set of wheels in the trunk, along with a new Edelbrok intake.

However- what has happened is done, and this project will continue on. I do definitely believe the value is in this car after a bit of elbow grease, and some more hard work.

Task #2, basic cleanup

The first task I took on, was doing some basic cleanup… Running a vacuum through the car, and hitting some of the rusty floorboards with a wire-wheel.

Air-Ride

Assuming you have noticed the odd contraption between the front-seats, this is the custom air-ride solution that came on the car.

While- this wouldn’t have been my ideal solution for implementing air-ride, it is functional and does work.

However- the car does not have an on-board compressor… So, if you decide to lower the car while you are away from your air supply, you better ensure there is enough pressure left in the tank to restore ride-height!

The car will go pretty low with its current setup.

The Plan / Goals

Originally, my thoughts were to pick up this car, restore it, and make a 4-door family crusier with the engine out of Project Racecar.

However- after doing a bit of research (which I should have done BEFORE acquiring the car), I learned from around ’59 – ’64, Chevrolet used an ‘X’ frame for these cars.

For those not familiar with an ‘X’ frame, it is exactly what it sounds like.

Why is that an issue?

Well- I have learned in the history of Project Racecar, when you have a ton of power…. well, anything which can move, bend, or break, will move, bend or break.

I have broken drive shafts in half. I have bent leaf-springs. I have shattered rear-ends. I have cracked transmission bell housings.

For most all of the above issues, the resolution is pretty simple. Put in a bigger, beefier replacement part.

The reason this is an issue on the Bel Air- due to space constraints with the ‘X’, I cannot simply put in a bigger driveshaft. As well, I am worried about the frame having stability / twisting issues under high torque.

One way to rectify this issue, would be to install a full roll-cage. This would have the benefit of tying back to the frame in the critical mounting places, giving the needed rigidity.

I have not completely wrote-off this idea yet, However, I am going to approach it cautiously.

Current Plans

My current plans for this car is to…

First- Replace all of the rusty floor plans, and stop the existing corrosion. While replacing the floor plans, I also plan on installing Dynamat/Killmat in the interior, to allow for sound deadening, and insulation.

Regardless if this turns into a race car, a weekend getaway car, or a old-school family car, Insulation to cut down on noise, and keep the interior cool is a good idea.

After the corrosion issues are resolved, I plan on sanding down the exterior of the car, and bringing the car to a uniform primer shade, to await future projects.

Once the car looks nice, it will be a great platform to build on. At that point, I may sell the car, or, continue to build it.

Edit- I sold this car. This project will obviously not continue.

So- we left off with the rear-end half way mounted, due to me not having the proper u-bolts to secure the rear end. As well- the rear end came with a 1410 pinion yoke, which would not be ideal for connecting to my 1350 driveshaft.

I stopped by Sam’s Offroad to have a new 1350 pinion yoke installed, and properly torqued down. While I was there, they were able to provide me with some new u-bolts as well.

Here is the pinion after Sam’s worked their magic to properly torque the new yoke on, and install a new seal. As well, I picked up some synthetic 75w-140 gear oil from autozone.

As well, here is a image showing the new u-bolts.

So- I did run into an issue where the wrong seal was mistakenly installed by Sams, causing fluid to leak out of the front-seal. After bringing the pinion back, they were able to locate the proper seal, install it, and re-torque everything down to spec. It was a very painless experience- I would recommend Sam’s for your offroad / 4×4 work.

Lets get started!

Since- it has been raining for the last few days, and the temp is around 40F, with high winds- I did not want to spend long under the truck. But- I DID want to get the pinion placed back into the rear end to prevent moisture or water from getting in.

To re-install the pinion, You will need…. a socket / wrench to fasten the 6 bolts holding the pinion support in, and a small wrench to tighten the u-joints.

Here is an image of the rear-end without the pinion support installed.

After installing the pinion support, and properly torquing the bolts. Use a 3/8″ ratchet with an extension to remove the fill plug. Add fluid until it starts to seep out. Place the plug back in.

After that is completed, install the driveshaft. (Not pictured..)

Lastly- I took a video of the final test of the rear end. To test it for leaks and other issues, I let the truck run on jack stands for around 30 minutes. This allowed plenty of time for my battery to charge back up and for the rear-end lube to get nice and warm to ensure it does not leak.

After the video was cutoff- I went inside to let it run on jack stands for another minutes or so.

The only remaining items to get the truck back on the road:

1. Connect the shocks
2. Connect the new brake lines up.
3. Bleed all 4 corners.
4. Route the rear-end vent-line.

Those steps are pretty simple, and will not be documented.

As well- you will notice- this rear end is indeed a peg-leg. Don’t worry- I will remediate that one day…. If I don’t buy an old station wagon first.

Update:

I went ahead and connected the rear brake lines, bled the brakes, and installed new shocks.

As I checked the fluids and prepared to go for a ride- I noticed my battery was dead, which is very odd- since, I let it run for 30 minutes to let the rear end get heated up, and to charge the battery. After some investigation- My alternator is not charging…. So- The next step will be to rebuild or replace the alternator… Stay tuned.

To replace it, I picked up a 14 bolt full floater from a 2004 1500HD. The new rear end also has disc brakes which will be a welcomed edition. 4.11 rear end gears.

The first step was to jack the truck up and start removing the old rear end.

To note, it took 4 minutes to remove the old rear end. It took 30 minutes to remove the spare tire.. lol. Its bracket was stuck.

I ran out of daylight, and decided to finish up tomorrow.

Day 2…

Putting the new rear end in the truck kicked my ass. I struggled as bit trying to get the 600lb rear end lined up properly by myself. In the end, I was unsuccessful tonight. Will continue tomorrow….

Day 3….

Picked up where I left off and got the rear end into place pretty quickly. I was able to get one side properly fastened, however- I need a longer u-bolt to complete the other side.

As well- I determined I would need a different u-joint, as the 14 bolt FF, requires a much larger u-joint then the 14 bolt SF.

Part 2

You will notice in the above image- the lights are controlled via 2-way toggle switches(on the right). This gives me the ability to either have the dash lights “Always on” with ignition, or, automatically turn on when you enable the headlights.

On the left side of the image- I have 4 single pole switches for..

• Transmission Shift Aggressiveness
• Two-Step Toggle
• ECU On/Off
• Future High-Boost / Low-Boost

After making up my mind on which speedometer I wanted to use, I bored out a hole to fit the new instrument. The 4 small holes on the border are for vehicle status lights.

• Left Blinker
• Right Blinker
• High Beam On
• Check Engine

As well- I performed grinding and sanding to smooth down the surface somewhat. After some cleanup was performed, 4 coats of Dollar General’s finest black primer was applied, followed by clear-coat.

In the above image, you will notice one of the gauges is missing. I discovered an issue where it appeared my fuel pressure gauge was actually showing my oil pressure. After contacting Holley support, the issue was confirmed as a batch-issue and a new replacement gauge was sent my way. As well- I did also have to send back the CAN-speedomoter, and instead order a 553-123 GPS speedometer.

Holley support was fantastic to deal with on these issues.

When I got around to pulling the transmissions out- I notice the bellhousing was literally broken… and- most of the mounting ears were broken off.

Here is a video of popping the new transmission’s cherry. Includes a little bit of boost thrown in there.

Tonight, I worked on redoing the pcv system, and installing a catch can. lets get started!

For a vacuum source, my best option was to tap into the air filter, as anything past the turbo is pressurized. However, since the cap of my air filter is rubber, I needed a pretty robust solution to ensure nothing can get sucked into the turbo.

That’s it for the budget catch-can install. After 6 months- I have not seen a lot of benefits from this system. However- maybe I need to drive the truck more often.

Fast forward to Mar 18th….

Continue to Part 3

The shop which I purchased the 12-1800 from, was able to swap me out a new eliminator fuel pump.

After fully reading the documentation and requirements for the new pump, I determined I would need to add a sump to my existing fuel tank, upgrade the feed lines to -12AN, and implement a system for PWM control during normal driving to prevent fuel overheating.

Parts ordered:

For the sump- I welded on a 1 foot section of my old, broken driveshaft. Since the tank is mounted in the bed of the truck, there is more then adequate room for this.

For the PWM setup, I made a simple, stupid table in the holley EFI.

Basically, under moderate throttle, or boost, the pump goes to 100%. I have since improved.

For parts, You will need a solid state relay, and a flyback diode. Both of these parts are extremely important. A regular relay will burn up. Without a flyback diode, you will burn up your solid state relay from the inductance.

The solid state relay is important- A normal relay isn’t meant to switch a PWM signal.

The flyback diode is also very important- It keeps the inductance from the pump from frying your solid state relay.

At the current time, I am using this relay:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000VU5FPE

One note- check whether your relay is normally open, or normally closed. In my case- this one is normally open. So, a 100% PWM signal, turns the pump off. 0% PWM signal, is max.

For the flyback diode, I used one of these:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0056RHMCG

It is wired from the Pump (+) to the (-) terminal. When a large spike is created from the pump spinning down, it “eats” the excess current.

I did not remember to take pictures of the wiring diagram, or the wiring.

One year follow-up

After one year of street driving- I can say this setup has held solid with no issues. I did adjust the PWM config in the holley to not be based on TPS.

The factory throttle pedal was designed for DBW(Drive by wire), and had no provisions for mounting or attaching a throttle cable. It was strictly intended to be used electronically.

I had planned on using the Holley EFI to utilize DBW.. but- I did not want to spend 1,000$ extra on the dominator vs hp efi just for this feature. I did also visit a junkyard to acquire a factory DBC pedal assembly- but, discovered the assembly would require disassembling most of the dash to remove from the Junkyard vehicle. So- I decided to modify my factory pedal to suit my needs!

The next day…. (Ran out of daylight)

Up until this time- I have been controller the throttle via a cable ran through the firewall. While the truck was still down waiting on a new driveshaft- I figured this would be the best time to address this issue.

I was not happy with the appearance of Holley’s brackets- So- I decided to attempt to fabricate my own.

I started with 1/2″ bar stock, and drilled holes to match the mounting bosses on the intake.

To rectify not having a compatible throttle pedal- I needed to acquire or build one… See next post (Converting DBW pedal to DBC)

One Year Later……….

While my bracket did serve its purpose, and worked with no issues…. Motion raceworks had a sale on the Lokar bracket, which looked amazing compared to mine.

So- I purchased the Lokar bracket.