Big Problems come in small packages! Chevette Drag Car in the shop for some fixin and plannin!

Рет қаралды 10,928

Жыл бұрын

What's the saying? Big things come in small packages? Well in this specific case it's Big Problems coming in the small package of a Chevy Chevette! At some point in it's transition from economy commuter car to hilarious drag car this crazy creation has developed some serious issues! As a drag car steering and front end control are of utmost importance, however as you'll quickly see it's no where NEAR good.
A big part of what we do, and what we help customers with, is getting a project over a major hump, or helping to identify a major issue or concern. In this case it's an issue making this wild little Chevette so wild at speeds it's almost totally uncontrollable! Hot Rod Power Tour is over, time to get back to our "normal work"!

Пікірлер: 61

@jasonhastings5538 Жыл бұрын

With a car that old custom parts have to be made!!! Good luck guys!!!!👍👍👍

@OriginalMomo Жыл бұрын

Jeez…. The rear tires are bigger than the rest of the car 😂🤣😂🤣

@fitzeesfabrications Жыл бұрын

Very familiar with these cars. The cross member bends in these and the upper control are moves inward tipping the top of the tires in.. we use to pull the cross member apart on a frame straightener to fix the alignment.. hard impact with broken springs would cause this. In the case of this car I say it had wheels up a few times and came down hard also these cars we assemetical. So wheel base on one side is longer. This front end was the Same front end that was in the opels from early 70s. Hope this clears up some of the issues your having.

@jasonhastings5538 Жыл бұрын

I bet that thing is a handfull!!!!💪💪💪💪

@dondotterer24 Жыл бұрын

Good thing they bought the car to you. Otherwise it might be called Life Flight instead.

@samuelbeatty5017 Жыл бұрын

Good to see the Capri on the dyno. Enjoyed the HRPT videos. Th Mr. Austin.

@LucoreAuto Жыл бұрын

Capri Dyno time coming soon! Learning how to use this thing with the lowest powered thing we have 😉

@SaneCayne Жыл бұрын

Sweet 'vette. Had one the first couple years of my working life. Graphics are spanning the decades. Got the frilly pinstripping from the 70s, and the paint brush treatment from the 80s.

@MrScarface6115 Жыл бұрын

No airbrush thats finger paint

@imtonedeaf1 Жыл бұрын

Just put gasser front end leaf springs for the win lol

@kennethchapman9564 Жыл бұрын

My parents had one of these and to describe it correctly is not language that I use. The folks that race that are incredibly brave or amazingly stupid. I'm guessing it's the former. Definitely brought it to the right place to get it straightened out. Go fast and be safe.

@franker1111 Жыл бұрын

Oh shit thats sweet.

@Amxracer Жыл бұрын

Cool 😎 !

@williamswift4050 Жыл бұрын

The early Pontiac fiero used the chevette front end parts

@davidjenkins1958 Жыл бұрын

Back in the 80’s I hated working on these cars, especially that offset steering column.

@rustyrobinson8027 Жыл бұрын

In a couple of months I'm going to bring the Saab to you for an alignment

@ricknorris6943corvair Жыл бұрын

That Shoveit makes a nice noise. I learned the hard way with coils on my Corvair’s to drive it some and let the springs take a set then adjust the ride height. I have fought the rusty GM suspension bushings many times. I don’t do that anymore!

@WiSeNhEiMeR-1369 Жыл бұрын

thanks COOP ...

@michaela.norrissr.6510 Жыл бұрын

Might want to check the Upper control arm mounts and or Subframe for heavy Curb/Wreck bendage etc Chevettes were Disposable built Turd buckets in most every way as I remember them, Kinda seems like they Swung even lower on Chevettes MFG vs Vegas but could be the same D.B.'s that designed them both 😅😂🤣 ... Just a thought Rich... I can definitely tell you know what you are doing otherwise... Enjoy the content... Thx for it... 😎

@davidjohnson8474 Жыл бұрын

How about cutting off the bushings and putting heim joints in place of them? Then you can adjust caster and camber.

@SaneCayne Жыл бұрын

Wish I could have you put your touch on my Biscayne's front end. It's all over the place.

@LucoreAuto Жыл бұрын

Bring it on over we're always ready and willing to help! (As long as we can squeeze it in)

@SaneCayne Жыл бұрын

@@LucoreAuto Ha! Yeah, big car, big problems.

@joeworley1065 Жыл бұрын

I’ve been doing alignments for 35 years. Beautiful looking car but it’s still a Chevette. Looks like you did amazing job with the specs I saw. I know perfect will be better but it’s still Chevette. Love your work.

@MrScarface6115 Жыл бұрын

So its a badass chevette

@t-bodyperformance770 Жыл бұрын

A car is a car, there's twenty-five other nameplates built on this platform and the domesticated Chevy nameplates the only one everybody ever hates

@joeworley1065 Жыл бұрын

@@t-bodyperformance770 no hate on the Chevette or any of the others.

@imtonedeaf1 Жыл бұрын

My friend own 65 falcon similar setup the front wheels only touched 3 times in 8th mile sometimes only ones if missed a gear 289 2 4 fours 12 grand launch at 8 grand

@stevecr8934 Жыл бұрын

71 Vega. Put Corvair Van springs in the frontend. Stiffened up way too much. so much that the left shock would come loose on the bottom. usually had a bent lower A arm because of torque and leaving lights hard. Short car that goes Fast straight. A combination thats hard to achieve

@dougwelch4137 Жыл бұрын

I wanted to big block one of them cars .. be a handfull to drive !!

@cyane1577 Жыл бұрын

I hope you slept Rich because I can see you up at night running solutions in your head for hours.

@SaneCayne Жыл бұрын

I'm with the other guy, this is basically a total race car now. Trash all that stock suspension and get an aftermarket one with lots of adjustments.

@LucoreAuto Жыл бұрын

In an ideal world we would replace a WHOLE bunch of things on this Lil Monster and start from a different base. However at this point in the season it's make improvements as we can and get it drivable time, off-season we'll see about big changes 😉

@chadwynia5021 Жыл бұрын

Looks like a 1 or 2 inch narrower rack and bumps steer kit would give you better angles on your tie rods.

@davidgough1161 9 ай бұрын

That's scary!

@franker1111 Жыл бұрын

Hard to get part's for those but you can still get the Acadian part's and there basically the same car.

@LucoreAuto Жыл бұрын

Made even MORE interesting and challenging when extensive changes have already been made to it. But, that's hot rodding!

@moaslimes3674 Жыл бұрын

That thing needs a sub-frame and struts.

@dougwelch4137 Жыл бұрын

Did you put the caster shims back in ? Maybe able to swap the one from front to back an vise versa on the other side to get it closer .

@davidjohnson8474 Жыл бұрын

My thoughts are that the caster issue is its bent. Those front-ends were so weak a pot hole would bend them!

@kennethcohagen3539 Жыл бұрын

What you do is make a few passes while taking videos or pictures of it midway down the track and at the end of the track to see how high it Carie’s the front wheels. Then align the car accordingly.

@Stevesbe Жыл бұрын

I remember when my grandma got one of those Shitvettes😊

@kimpatterson541 Жыл бұрын

A flash from the past. We made soooo much fun of anybody that drove one. Now, they're iconic, or ironic. I'm still not sure..

@DSRE535 Жыл бұрын

On your machine do you have to re-verify the caster measurement after you make changes I know I do on my Hunter alignment machine

@LucoreAuto Жыл бұрын

Yes on anything like this we usually reset and resweep caster at least 3-4 times. Part of why these custom jobs take so long, and why most shops can't/won't do them.

@riffle8883 Жыл бұрын

Frames probably twisted

@MrBayoubig Жыл бұрын

Rich you sound like me cussing a Intrepid design after fighting inter tierod bushing go set the toe and outer jam nuts my wrench would slip ram my knuckles in the fender well end up bleeding. The one car I hated

@patlee9704 Жыл бұрын

We just need to get you a lapel mic and a chest cam so we can see what your doing

@kcav5374 Жыл бұрын

I hope we get an update on how this car turns out....Inquiring minds want to know

@andrewmcewan8081 Жыл бұрын

would the flush fitting grill and headlights from the vauxhall chevette fit that one

@hurcovmx426 Жыл бұрын

What about a Mustang front end in stead of trying to paint a turd?

@SaneCayne Жыл бұрын

"polish"

@MrScarface6115 Жыл бұрын

Hey now lol be nice im trying

@Lloyd973 Жыл бұрын

@@SaneCayneparts ain’t thick enough to polish. Gotta paint ‘em. Lol

@ConemantheBarbarian Жыл бұрын

I had a 1986 Chevette for a commuter car. It came from a NAPA store and it was rather worn out. I brought it into out shop and we found silly amounts of negative camber. We found the front frame horns twisted a bit. I think the parts drivers may have treated the little car to some jumps. We ended up putting it on a frame machine and twisted it back to spec. I wonder since that’s a drag car has it come back to earth hard after some good launches?

@LucoreAuto Жыл бұрын

There's a VERY good chance this thing has seen some colorful and questionable past. In addition to someone "upgrading" it from rack and pinion back to a steering gear setup and A body stuff... there's... a lot of opportunities here!

@mikemontgomery7337 Жыл бұрын

I see a car on the Dyno. Is it working now ?

@davidgough1161 9 ай бұрын

my 1st wife had a fiero gt and I thought the front was chevette and the rear was citation. It never felt connected to each other when driving it, hated that car. Never understood tiny brakes and suspension on the front and mediocore brakes on the rear. Always felt like the rear wanted to steer independently. Should have been done better.

@rickharper1497 Жыл бұрын

Was the caster that different before you changed out the control arms? If it was then you have another problem.

@t-bodyperformance770 Жыл бұрын

Man, I would be willing to bet 90% of the Hate in here is because it says Chevette on it oh, he would head another name plate on it they would just simply be the suspension components are a little bit light-duty... lol all good though not everybody has to like them. The upper control arm is exactly the same as a Fiero with the exception of it having the shock mount on the top which can be transferred easily oh, and the upper control arms on these cars are pretty much throw away just like they were on the Fiero once they bend their done