Guess a Chevette is My Next Project!!!

congrats on the GM's worst idea ever chevelle+corvette= Chevette. Friend of mine had 4 of them behind his house for years, we took them off roading lots of fun with those econo boxes. Good luck on your build.

Well, I think it's more of a "little Chevrolet" so thus, "Chevette." Don't think it was ever intended to be anythin other than basic transportation. I'm starting to rethiink some things. It has an engine I've never messed with, a 1.6L OHC 4. I could probably see how far I can take it. Maybe a couple of Webers and a tri-y header? Or maybe hand fab a manifold for dual 2-Jet carbs. That's something you don't see every day.

On the other hand, I love Buick V-6es and have always planned on one for this project. I've always assumed I'd somehow wind up with it. It would be ideal if I could find an aluminum block, but who knows.

I've seen one with a Vortec V6, and my dad's S10 has one of those. I'm thinking about putting a V8 in there since it needs a new engine, so I could probably rebuild that for the Chevette...

I don't think these things had power steering or power brakes, so I have to take that into consideration. I'd like to upgrade the brakes because they are tiny.

We'll just have to see what we have to work with once I get it home.

I've got to get my oldest daughter's Grand Am back together and running first. I love those Quad-4s, but jeez they aren't easy to work on.

Hey! Maybe a Quad-4 would be the ticket in that Chevette? Light weight, lots of power. It has possibilities.

I agree with you on the quad four. I think most any late model 4 lug brakes will work on that.

PRO TOURING Chevette I'll leave it at that.

I've never been a big Pro Touring fan. Don't care for the monster meats out back.

I'd like to swap in some S10 spindles and do something different about the rear axle so I can have 5-lug wheels. Bob Gumm over on V8 Monza .com sells a part that converts H-body ball joints to work with S10 spindles and I'm hoping they will work on a Chevette.

I'm probably going to go more Euro/Asia style wise.

The biggest I'll go on the engine will probably be 4L V6. Might do the Quad-4 thing, but I've always wanted a V6 Chevette since GM did it in 80. 

Gotta get some pics taken, but it's too damn hot.

OK, after doing some research, PLEASE PASS THE CROW because I'm going to have to eat some.

I think what I've been doing all of my life is PRO TOURING. I just didn't realize it. I guess I just got Pro Touring and Pro Street mixed up.

So, Pro Touring it is!

I can say I have never done a pro touring car before. I like my 7 to 8 inch wide tires and my 14-16 inch rims.

Ok, here it is:

It's a 1981 with less than 50K miles. Numbers matching and loaded including AC. It's sure going to look good with 16" wheels and a slight drop. Not sure how far I'm going to go, though, seeing as how it's really complete and fairly rare.

man that brings back memories of me and some friends going through the woods in those little cars, good times. really its not a bad looking car, better than any civic by far. that looks like a good candidate for chevy's ecotec with a set of cobalt wheels but its not my car though just my two cents. have fun with it.

Damnsite better looking than a Yaris or a Prius. I bet I could get 'er up to 50 MPG if I got down to it.

But that's not my plan...

That Ecotec is a pretty good engine. My sis-in-law has one in a Malibu. It looks a lot like a Quad 4. Wonder what the difference is?

Anyhow, I like driving it better than driving her Accord.

I wonder how much HP I can get out of the 1.6? This thing has the two-barrel, so, what, 65 HP from the factory? And it's old enough to be emissions exempt, so I can probably double that with a catless 2-1/2" exhaust!

I think the difference between the quad 4 and the ecotec is that the ecotec is a more efficient power plant. emissions is one thing about indiana i like there are none. i bet you could squeeze 200hp out of the 1.6 with a lot of work.

1.6 Liters figures out to less than 100 CI. I'd have to be pumping a lot of air into that thing to get 200 Hp.

I can probably get close to 100 with a good cam, good exhaust, and a pair of Webers.

Guess I need to haul it over to work so I can weigh it. Well, maybe I can drive it over. I want to get a baseline weight anyhow.

OK, title says curb weight is 2176 pounds. I bet I can knock that down to 2000 and still keep the back seat. About the only weight I'm going to add is drivetrain and maybe some stereo stuff. I bet I won't need more than 150 HP to make it respectable in the performance dept. Gotta figure out how to lower it a couple inches and fit some bigger tires in there. I'm definitely not tubbing it. Might do the 70's IMSA fender flare thing where they just widened the whole fender by an inch or two...

But then, it wouldn't be a sleeper, now, would it?

If they dont make lowering springs dont heat them or remove coils because it will ride like sh@. I lowered my sleeper hyundai elantra (totaled after 8300 miles) but i cut the spring tower in the engine bay and raised it up one inch, tacked it into place then got a little thicker sheet metal and welded it all up and you couldnt tell I modified it any, did the same to the rear except took out 1/2". Any more under the hood and the hood wont close.

Yeah, I cut the front springs on a Monza I had once, but I never could figure out what to do with the rear.

on the chevette do the springs go up into towers like they do on the front??? You could also try to find some cheap adjustable coil overs and modify them to fit the chevette.

Well, I dragged it home last night! No brakes. Yee-haw. That's going to be my first priority. No use trying to get it started if I can't get it stopped. I'm going to try to get some pics, but I should probably clean the engine up first. It doesn't look like it's covered in oil, but it's got a layer of dust that you can only get by leaving something set for years in a climate where dust is considered a breathable component of the air.

I'm not sure about spring pockets, jrod. I'm going to spend some time this afternoon assessing things.

I think today is going to be a day of rest. I spent the last four evenings putting a water pump in the Grand Cherokee and changing oil while I was at it. Not much fun after working a 12 hour day. Plus, as high as it is, it really puts a strain on my messed-up back (two bulging discs, whiplash, ect...).

I'm going to get the camera out so I can show you guys some of the coolness that's there. For instance, the spare tire well is huge; big enough to probably hold the battery and a couple of 8" subwoofers once I get rid of the tire and jack. Once the battery's out back, I'll have a clear path and a straight shot from the front of the car to the exhaust. That'll be perfect for feeding air to a turbocharger.

You guys'll probably freak over all the vacuum hose and other emissions equipment. I had to unhook about five different wires and at least as many hoses just to get the carb out...

Anyhow, hopefully, I'll get some pics up today. I'm probably not going to do much else.

we used to race those on a 1/2 mile dirt track when they were still plentiful. Cheap and a lot of fun! Pretty durable cars for the amount of abuse they suffered