My '71 SS-454

[Guest]

I dunno, it's becoming too valuable and I'm too cautious with it.

That's kind of a drag. I used to have a '69 GTO, but I would hate to not be able to drive it. It's one of the reasons I've stuck with the Thirdgens I guess.

Nice rides BTW.

[MR.hp]

What does it (or did it) run Glenn? More details!

That car has been running 11.90 to 12.0 since the late 70's and noe much has changed on that car and I think that the reason was he did not want to put a roll bar in it. Now that has changed so who knows.

[JJRP57]

That is 1 bad car!! truly a dream car of mine!!

[HerrKooled]

did you know if you removed the black and gold vaccum regulater and just used straight vaccum line into the vaccum actuater pod, your cowl induction will become very much more responsive under regular driving opposed to WOT.

[ramairws6]

That's one sweet ride!!

[DNeinstadt]

Oh man, I have some questions for you!!

[Z28SSMAN]

Thanks for the compliments guys!

I remember driving by the dealership where the Chevelle used to sit outside. It was at Ponder Chev in Charleston, Mo. It was the end of '71 and there weren't many Chevelles left in the tri-state area....especially 454 Cowl Induction ones.

After my brother got his '65 Malibu SS totaled at a car-guy-get-together, he ended up buying this Chevelle. When it was new, the rumor around town was that it had the 454-425hp. My bro never tried to get them to believe otherwise. If they knew anything about Chevelles, there were no 454-425hp Chevelles...only Corvettes. I have the original owner's manual and it does list both engines though.

Funny thing, back in the early 70s many people didn't realize how valuable this car would be one day. People called it a pig, a good road car, a good LOOKER , but that was about it.

It's taken 37 years before people are starting to give the car the compliments I've felt it has always deserved.

[Z28SSMAN]

did you know if you removed the black and gold vaccum regulater and just used straight vaccum line into the vaccum actuater pod, your cowl induction will become very much more responsive under regular driving opposed to WOT.

I dunno...it works pretty much like it did from the factory....well maybe a little different because the cam I have in there only pulls about 10 inches of vacuum.

The only time the cowl has not worked well is when that inline valve gets gunked up from vapors from the crankcase. I've managed to keep a supply of them onhand. For a while, they were hard to get because they were discontinued at Chev, but they're now available from Classic Industries.

I like the flap to gradually open based on how much throttle I give it...not just pop open. But thanks for the input anyway.

[Z28SSMAN]

By the way...anybody notice anything different than the norm about the stripes?

[MR.hp]

Ya they are black and kinda funny lookin,

[Z28SSMAN]

Ya they are black and kinda funny lookin,

lol. nope

anybody else?

[HerrKooled]

i am not sure what you mean by the stripes. it looks as if where the stripes come to the front of his hood, they are tapered diffrent then my car, or then they would be stock. the are sqaure, instead of rounded. This is inccorect for the time period, but is this what you initially meant?

[Z28SSMAN]

i am not sure what you mean by the stripes. it looks as if where the stripes come to the front of his hood, they are tapered diffrent then my car, or then they would be stock. the are sqaure, instead of rounded. This is inccorect for the time period, but is this what you initially meant?

That's right HerrKooled. The stripes are squared on the outer edges instead of rounded. This Chevelle was built in Arlington Texas and they for whatever reason were put on squared. In fact, the two rear stripes were painted on wrong. One was larger than the other. They got the distances from the edges correct though.

I had the car repainted the factory color in '78. Bill Stenger tried to convince me to leave them off. I told him I wanted them on because a Cowl Induction Chevelle would look wierd without them. Plus The Mulsanne Blue with the Black stripes/cowl ind was my favorite. I had him correct the size on the rear, but wanted them to remain squared . It sets mine apart from other '71s. I like them squared a lot better especially on the rear since the taillights are round. On the '70 with the square taillights, the rounded edges look better.

[HerrKooled]

That's right HerrKooled. The stripes are squared on the outer edges instead of rounded. This Chevelle was built in Arlington Texas and they for whatever reason were put on squared. In fact, the two rear stripes were painted on wrong. One was larger than the other. They got the distances from the edges correct though.

I had the car repainted the factory color in '78. Bill Stenger tried to convince me to leave them off. I told him I wanted them on because a Cowl Induction Chevelle would look wierd without them. Plus The Mulsanne Blue with the Black stripes/cowl ind was my favorite. I had him correct the size on the rear, but wanted them to remain squared . It sets mine apart from other '71s. I like them squared a lot better especially on the rear since the taillights are round. On the '70 with the square taillights, the rounded edges look better.

this is a picture of my LS6 while the exhaust was off. you can see the rounded edges of the rear stripes and even they arn't pefectly set apart from each other. this was normal with a mass produced car, very rarley did you find one where all the stripes perfectly were set apart. you can see the hood tapering in my picture in the outlaws member rides section.

[Z28SSMAN]

That's one nice Chevelle Herrkooled.

The Red with Black stripes is my favorite on the '70.

LS6 huh? daayum! power antenna?

Prior to me buying the '71 from my bro, I bought a '70 SS-396 4-speed Dk Green with white stripes, cowl induction and gauge package, strato-buckets. My bro called me and said it was for sale in So Ill. He knew the original owner and thought it would be a great buy for me. It had headers but retained the stock exhaust to the rear. They had put a mild solid lifter cam, and a spread bore Holley on it. I drove it back to Mpls and totaled it after owning it 1 1/2 weeks. I will never forget that car. It was a joy to drive. A damn shame I screwed that deal up. That's what happens when a 17 yr old becomes too confident with a hi-perf car with F70x14 tires on a wet street.