Way back in April of 1970, just one week out of the Army, I ran up to Ed Kelly Chevrolet in Clariton, Pennsylvania (Just south of Pittsburgh) and bought my dream car. A 1970 Chevelle SS 396/350, red with black stripes and a black vinyl top. Later that day my neighbor, who got out of the Army a few months before me, came over and looked my new car over. He must have liked what he saw, because the following Saturday, there was a 1970 Chevelle SS 396/350, Autumn Gold with black stripes and black vinyl top sitting in his driveway. Also purchased from the same dealership that I got my Chevelle from.
Over the next few years, I used and abused my Chevelle everyday. It was my daily driver for work and my cruiser at night and on weekends. My neighbor was a more responsible type though. He didn’t use or abuse his car. In fact, he kept it in his garage and only took it out on fair weather weekends. Then the gas crunch of 1973 hit. I decided to get a better gas mileage car, since my job was taking me further and further from home every month, so I traded my dream car in. My neighbor decided to just keep his Chevelle in the garage, but he covered it with sheets to keep the dust off.
As time rolled on, my job took me away from Pittsburgh. But I never forgot that my old neighbor back home had an original un-restored 70 Chevelle sitting in his garage. Every time I would go back to visit or for Holidays, I would stop in to see him. Pull the sheets off the car. Start it up and then start begging him to sell it to me. All to no avail. Then in October of 2003, I received a call from my neighbor’s wife informing me that he had passed away. She also explained that he left instructions for me to have the first opportunity to purchase the Chevelle. Needless to say, I headed to Pittsburgh to offer my condolences and to purchase the car.
Through all these years, the Chevelle remained in mint condition and has logged 46,000 miles. My neighbor had changed out the Rochester carburetor for a Holly and also installed side pipes. Lucky for me, the original Rochester was in the Holly box in the trunk. After a crash internet course on rebuilding carburetors and one whole weekend, taking apart and putting the Rochester back together four times, I finally got it right and the original carburetor is back on. The next thing to go was the side pipes and they were replaced with a stock muffler system. With those two items corrected, the car is original except for maintenance items. Tires, heater and radiator hoses were dry rotted and cracked. Cowl Induction vacuum pod had rust holes. Spark plug wires were brittle and breaking. Mat in trunk was mildewed and torn. Hood insulation material was tattered and hanging down onto the engine. And yes, the proverbial oil, oil filter and gas are not original. The car was heavily Ziebarted the week after my neighbor purchased it. I spent the winter of 2004 with a tooth brush and mineral spirits in hand cleaning the now case hardened ziebart off the inside of the engine compartment. One other item to add here is that the exhaust manifolds still has Chevy orange over spray paint on them.
The paper work that came with the car consisted of the Protect-O-Plate, Owners Manuel, Chevrolet Consumer Information Pamphlet and Build Sheet. My neighbor found the build sheet in the stuffing of the back seat. Last spring, the door lock on the driver’s side was not functioning right. I suspected that ziebart had gummed up the lock mechanism and rod. So I proceeded to take the door apart and correct the problem. That’s were I found the second build sheet. It was glued to the inside of the door panel. So, I just left it there.
Future plans for the Chevelle are to keep it exactly as it is. Original, un-restored and clean and shinny as possible. I would also like to thank Rick Eckenrode for all the mentoring, help, guidance and answering all my questions over the last five years about this car.
Jay
Vintage picture of the Chevelle!
