Scuncio Chevelle ex-L78
 

Well I bought a white on white 1969 SS396 Chevelle. I did not go see the car, just looked at pictures, so the car is not all I hoped/thought it was. I have been looking and checking the car over, and if anyone has any info, or knows the car, I would like to find out all I can. Car has papers and is a factory L-78 car, sold through Scuncio Chevrolet.
I know the car went through Barrett-Jackson last Oct. with the black stripes down the sides, but car does not have the stripes now. Checking showed new quarters and a new trunk floor. Also looks like front end may have been off for work. New paint job explains where the stripes went.
Salesman told me the engine was not original and was just a big block of some sort. Well, he couldn’t have been more wrong. Engine is a date code correct L-78 from a Camaro that was also built with a Turbo-400. Engine and rear end were built 1 day apart.
Turbo-400 is from a 1970 oval port hydraulic cam engine, but it shifts good.
But everything is sort of a mess.
There is rust, with some pin holes, probably get bigger when the work starts, around where the trunk seal goes. Lower portion mainly.
Interior shows signs of mold, like the car set for a period. Needs replaced.
Under the hood needs plenty. Spark plugs were wrong for the engine, plug wires a mess, PCV hose routed wrong, needs new wiring harnesses, radiator cap wrong, battery box rusted, etc. Wrong carb, inner fender liners cut for headers.......
Lots to do.....but if anyone knows much about the car I would like to hear from you. Thanks

I was interested in the car and spoke to the dealer. He was very difficult to get any answers from. He said he didnt know if the rear was OEM but told me it was a race car so I guess that was code for it wasnt,he never got back with me on it .. I did notice they did a quickie respray after they bought it, I thought the car looked better before they sprayed it certainly from a color standpoint .The fact he was so evasive about everything made me not pursue it further. He didnt have it marked up a ton ,I just dont understand why 99 percent of dealers never have high quality cars they are proud to sell ..probably because you cant have alot of inventory unless you buy marginal cars ...from the price he gave me he couldnt have made much if anything ......still a documented scuncio car w great colors..enjoy it I'm sure people in the northwest know of it .

Here's some info on the same car, i think?


https://www.yenko.net/forum/showthre...hlight=Scuncio


:beers:

Pics just before the dealer sold it.http://wwva.worldwidevintageautos.co...ck-no.-mhm3057

Yes!....the427king, getting any info from the dealer was almost impossible. Just getting a call back was hard.
I also thought the car looked a lot better in the Barrett-Jackson auction pictures, but I don’t know if some of that could have been the sitting and light. I didn’t think I saw any reason from the auction pictures as to why someone would put new quarters on it.
Car looks solid around the front and back windows. No rust that I see.
Pulled the rear seat and the floor looks great.

Congrats...Good luck with it!

Well I have 4 wheel brakes now...lol. Only the rear drum brakes were working when I got the car. I replaced some of the drum brake hardware parts so that the springs that hold the brake shoes in place sit straight and work properly. Car came with new brake drums on it. Replaced all 3 brake hoses as the 2 front hoses showed some fraying and all looked original. Front calipers were ‘frozen’...so had to replace them. I had a hard time bleeding the calipers, vacuum did not work to pull fluid through system for bleeding. I had to have someone push the brake pedal to ever get the system bleed.
Also the car would drain the battery if it sit overnight. I determined that the alternator, which was not the right one for the car, was the cause and have replaced it.
After all that I did take the car for a short 3 mile ride. Much more work to do. Car seems to sit way to high. I know it has 15” tires and wheels but it still feels like it is much higher than normal when driving. Rear fender welds are much higher than the tires. May need to replace coil springs. What is left of ‘Hurst’ stickers/decals on the shocks.
Oh well, I am making progress

Question.....was putting stiffer/taller rear springs in these cars something racers did....to maybe clear larger, wider, slicks?

Thanks

Tom,

Yes, they did.

Glad you are improving the car :)

Not meaning to steal your thread.....if anyone is looking for a real deal 1969 L78 Chevelle with it's original born-with engine.
This one is still available.

https://www.yenko.net/forum/showthread.php?t=151403

Dan

Thanks.....and yes I’m trying to improve the car but don’t plan on a restoration

Couple of quick questions if anyone can help. There is a new engine wiring harness on the car but the lead for the oil pressure sensor has a round female end and the pressure sensor itself has a male blade. Pictures I see on line of the sensor for a car with gauges shows a sensor with a male blade like I have.
Also should there be a 45 degree brass fitting between the engine block and the pressure sensor.
Hopefully someone has more knowledge or a better memory than I do.
Thanks for all help !

The round end for the oil sensor is correct. Oil sensors with the flat terminal like you have are not correct. You should also have the 45 degree brass fitting that the sending unit screws into. I don't have pictures to show you but I'm sure someone here can come up with them.

Thanks Robert

Found this picture, courtesy of Rick Nelson. This is what you should have if your Chevelle has the factory gauge package.

OK. Right now it only has the large round sensor screwed into the block. I can get the other parts, but they might be current reproduction pieces.
But the sensor I have, and the ones I have seen for sell, all have the blade terminal. I will fashion an adapter to connect the wire and sensor.

Right now I have the car in the shop to get the body/metal fixed around the trunk seal.

Thanks again Robert

I had the car in the body shop to get the rust around the trunk seal fixed, new metal was put in place, and I had the hood pins and the goofy (to me) 396 emblems removed from the hood. I picked the car up today and it looks a lot better now.
Lots to do now to get the car's mechanicals straightened out.
Does anybody know where to get a good set of rear springs for the car. Maybe even a part number? Thanks

If you go into an auto parts store and talk to a guy behind counter who knows what he's doing, they should be able to look up your car and it's options and find you the correct springs. I prefer an "old school" store with a guy who's been in the business for a long time versus a O'Reilly's or similar chain.

Actually that photo is courtesy of Dan Vasic if I recall correctly and I just used it as a sample. Can't remember for sure as my brain was quite foggy back then.

Any new photos??

No I haven't taken any pictures. Maybe now that the weather is getting better and I can start doing something I can get a few pics

Here is a picture I took today with the 396 emblems and the hood pins removed from the hood of the car.

I've been removing the old bushings from a set of used rear control arms I have that are boxed. Next I will need to get them cleaned up and put on a fresh coat of paint.
After that I will try and get the rear-end out from under the car. There are still some tabs welded on the axle housing from old traction arms, and the 'posi' doesn't seem to posi any longer. I would like to look at the axles and of course the car needs new shocks.
It doesn't seem sometimes like I getting much done ... but if I keep moving, I might make it.

Gonna be a neat car when your finished ! just keep chipping away a little at a time, and before you know you'll have it where you want it . I've always enjoyed these type of project cars way more than the full restoration,"show car"/ types.

Thanks GrumpyJeff. Some of this work is dirty, tiring stuff. Wears me out and I have lots of muscle aches. But I still hope to make it a solid reliable car that I can drive and enjoy. And like you say, I may just get to enjoy it a lot more than some of the 'show car'/types.
I did order the new rear control arm bushings, rear shocks, and rear coil spring seat insulators today.

Here is a picture of the rear control arms all cleaned up. They have a rust treatment on them and will need to be painted and then have the bushings pressed in.

I have been making some progress but it is going slow. Replacing the tail light extension gaskets and tail light lens gaskets to stop/prevent leaks...as well as stoping leaks from the side marker lights. Also looks like I will have to put in another new trunk seal. The shop that fixed the rust on the lower portion of the trunk seal area seems to have put the seal in 'backwards' ... oh well.
Still hoping to get it all sorted out before to long.

Well, I got the gas tank out of the car yesterday. I wanted to see what I could see about how, and how well, the new trunk floor was installed (in my humble opinion) and I also wanted to look inside the gas tank to see what condition it was/is in.
Everything on the body looks good. Just a little wire brushing, mainly on the frame, and then I treated everything with Permatex rust treatment.
Today I painted the frame and all the seems and the panels. Looks good.
So on to the gas tank. I'll get it open, drain it and and see if it is still a good tank. I know it wasn't leaking or anything, so there is hope.

My gas tank was in good shape. Little surface rust on outside but inside look really good. Cleaned it good outside, painted it with POR-15 and then painted it. Have it back in so now I'll try and get the back bumper re-installed.

Having the bumper back on and everything together....today I pulled the axles and differential out of the rear-end.
Before removing things I tried rotating the driver side wheel forward to see if the passenger side wheel also turned forward. It sort of did, but not like the posi was really working well.
With the rear cover off I could see that it did have a posi diff., so I'm thinking probably a 4:10 gear. Counting gear teeth I had a 3:08.
Funny thing to me was the carrier had 1 thick shim on one side and 1 thick shim on the other side. Like it was a factory install.....I think.
i will have to have a close look now at the posi diff. to see what it needs.
I have a complete 3:31 posi rear out of a 70 Chevelle but don't think the gear change would make a 'big' enough difference on acceleration to give up the highway drivability of the 3:08's.
Thoughts ?

I've had 3.31 gears in 2 Chevelles and liked them.

Think I'm going to stay with the 3.08 gears for now.
I've put new clutches I got from Summit Racing in the posi, the side gears and spider gears sit up without play, so I should have a working posi now.
But I was wondering......I think the center posi springs I have are the 'stock' 200# springs, was wondering if I should replace them with the 400# springs.
What are most people doing?
Eaton said the new metal clutches (stock I thought) are very aggressive ...would that change what posi springs I should run ?

big gear head ... I noticed on another thread you talked about 'daisy' clutch plates and telling another person to get the solid clutch plates.
Looking at the picture in that other post I could not tell just what you were talking about, as the plates in the picture looked like all the plates I think I have even seen....never having seen to many (very few in fact).

Car is coming along fine, if a little slow (I'm old). I've got all of the rear end back together. I put the rebuilt 'boxed' control arms on as everything was coming together also.
Things are looking good, I have a transmission pan that is leaking so I will fix it next, then on to the engine compartment.

It looks great! ‘69s look sharp in white.

Looking good Sir...

Still working on the car. Had to order a new radiator, old one had a repaired spot in the core and the tubes looked like they had lots of crud in them, so I just got a new one.
Also got a new power steering pump, but the stud on the back side was in the wrong hole so I am waiting while another one comes in.
Changed out the transmission filter and fluid .... everything was super clean. Maybe not to long since it was rebuilt.
Being under this car .... a lot .... I have noticed that at one time the whole underneath of it was painted yellow. Don't know if that was for racing - so it would show up - or if it was some rust treatment that put on years ago. Oh, well.

Wanted to say thanks to 'scuncio and BLACKLS5

Still working on the car but lots of what I'm doing is slow and not exciting work.
1)The water pump hub studs had to be changed out for longer ones. The nuts only grabbed a thread or two on what had been in there.
2)Whoever installed the new engine wiring harness didn't know what they were doing and put the wire terminal sealer on the wrong side - "gunked-up" the connection with the fuse panel.
3)I had three different size (lengths) of mounting cushions for the radiator. Only one was right for a BB 4-core.
4)Battery cables were a mile to long.
5)Parking light assemblies were bad so I ordered two new ones. Drivers side fit but I had to modify the passenger side. On this car there is a different spacing for the mounting holes drilled in the bumper, but the new replacement lights were equally spaced.
6)I got a new power steering pump from a local auto parts store and it didn't fit because it was a 'Type II" pump. Ordered a new pump from a Chevelle supply place but it didn't fit either because the tube for the return line went on was located in the back of the pump housing. I finally ordered one for a 1969 Camaro - brackets I have are also for a 1969 Camaro - and everything fit up nice.

It just seems like everything is a mess that I need to fix - even when ordering new parts that are supposed to fit.

But the car is looking a lot neater as I continue to try and get things straightened out. Hopefully I will get to drive the car before long as I got a license tag renewal in the mail a couple of weeks ago and still have not had a good ride.

Sounds like you're getting quite a lot of small, but annoying issues sorted out. Perfect weather now for cruising and enjoying early Fall weather. Car looks sharp in white. Go out and enjoy it.

Great to hear you are making progress on this car. I was lucky enough to be at the auction this sold at (BJ at Vegas I think?) The car looked so tough and sounded wicked when driving up to the block. Glad to see it in the hands of a true enthusiast instead of an endless stream of flippers!
Enjoy & post pics when you can.

Trying to get a threaded pipe plug out of the driver side cylinder head today so that I can put the temperature sending unit in.

What a pain !!!

COPO - the only way I can enjoy it right now is working on it. Still waiting on the rubber cushions for the radiator.

jerry455 - car does 'sound' wicked but its bite doesn't back up it bark. I think it is because the PerTronix II distributor needs 12 volts and this one is fed off of the factory wiring and is only getting about 9.5 volts (I think). I've put a different distributor in the engine now and will hopefully test it after the radiator and everything gets back in.