John purchased this 1971 Chevelle about 15 years ago as a rolling shell, with the intent of creating the car that he wanted to drive. He’d owned both a 1970 and a 1971 Chevelle prior but hadn’t had the opportunity to build one for himself.
Over the following years, John has been diligently restoring his project 1971 Chevelle as time would allow. Fortunately, the original floors, rocker panels, and trunk were all in good condition, but the rest of the body did not fare so well. John has had to replace much of the exterior sheet metal such as fenders, quarter panels, the taillight panel, as well as the radiator support. Unsurprisingly, the inner fenders and wheelhouses have also been replaced.
Power is supplied via a fuel-injected 406ci small-block Chevy paired to a Muncie M22 4 speed with a hydraulic clutch conversion, a perfect combination of old school and new school build mentalities. All that power reaches the pavement by way of a 12 bolt positraction rear end with 4.10 gearing.
While there’s still much left to do before this build is finished, John says he will be working on it more now that he’s ordered many parts from Ground Up SS396.com.
