Chevy Chevette,T-1000 Tips/Tricks

[prebleboy77]

Does any body have any ideas on rear suspension? All thread and pull it down???

[Stepro348]

OLD POSTS:
Just ran an 86 Chevette last week and held up really well.
Got 2nd and should be able to run again. It was automatic. These are real wheel drive

1 Notch rear frame right where the bumper shock ends. I cut down about 3-3 1/2 inches and took about a 2 inch section out. Folded beautifully.
2 Compress and Weld bumper shocks. I ran the stock bumpers and they were fine. the front flattened right out.
3 Definately chain or weld motor mounts.
4 Build a driveshaft protectector to support the aluminum housing that attaches to the rear end. We used to big pieces of angle iron and tacked it the the rear, Duct taped the crap out of it, and used a muffler clamp on the front side where it tapers together.
5 Gas Tank Protector if allowed
6 Wire with push button and toggle switch
7 Bolt trailing arms through floor.
8 Dimple roof above triangle windows all the way across.
9 Back seat Bar
10 Header of choice (I used DEC 4 in a row.)
11 Weld Spider Gears
12 Reinforce tie rods
13 Stuff shocks with socks for height or jack up and weld shock where desired
14 Remove fan if desired
15 We removed thermostat (opinions vary on this)
16 If Manual Trans have to do something about shifter breaking or pulling out, hopefully some one can add pics and explain better
17 Some say to remove hatch, we didn't and Beat the rear pillars and top of hatch in, we do this while jacked up in back.
18 On older Chevettes can fold front of front fenders up, put a jack under them, get them tight with body, and bolt them.
19 Either cut off or sledge rear fenders up and in
20 Chain, wire, or weld coils in.
21 These tend to belly at the back/bottom of rear seat area where seat belts go.
22 Do something about cold start/choke stuck in carb, I didn't and it stalled every time I made a hit.
23 Remove battery tray (I only cut out half and it still hit the alternator)

Thanks for sharing. That's a good enough start for a sticky.

double roll the rear wheel well lip, instead of cutting out lower parts of rear 1/4s chain down on trailer and use floor jack to smash the lower up flat against the bottom of trunk floor.
hatch option, cut the top hoop part of the hatch off and use the lower like a deck lid.

Good Tips! A transmission cooler works great for the automatic transmission Chevettes. I was wondering how you go about bolting the trailing arms thru the floor??
i've had to patch the floors where the trailing arms connect. i dont know why but, they bent pretty bad and made the car belly. maybe if you can change them stock ones out to something stronger?

Getting ready to wire a chevette motor . I can't remember what wire to use on the coil. Does anyone kno which one to hook up?

when yer running a 4 speed. the boot that holds in the shifter tends to break. if it does there will be a blue plastic washer. take some 2 inch pipe and cut it about 2 inches long. stick it down on top of the blue washer and weld it in place.

2 of the most important things to keep a Chevette alive and movin in a derby:[image] A distributor protector, and [image] a driveline protector.

For bolting the trailing arms, we drilled a hole right in front on the back seat frame on both sides. if you look under the car there is a hole in the plate that the arm attaches to. that hole basically should line up with holes you drill from the top or drill from bottom. There are 2 layers to drill through, the top layer of sheet metal, and the front of the subframe. Hope that helps, still gotta get some pics up.

Instead of using. The aluminum. Drive shaft housing which is pretty brittle. Take it off and use a band saw and cut the yoke off the front of it and cut the splines off the back off it and weld them together. To make a regular yoke also in the center of the yoke there is a brass plug pop that out and weld the yoke right to the pinion gear. Since. There is no bolt to hold it on.

Good Tips! A transmission cooler works great for the automatic transmission Chevettes. I was wondering how you go about bolting the trailing arms thru the floor??


this was pretty stock build with solid engine mounts and welded diff. the rears are pretty strong have another to build for this year but i would say

1. weld the rear inner wheel wells to the frame
2. when you notch take a good chunk out. i didnt do much on mine.
3. put in a good seat bar/ halo bar as well.
4. chain up the transmission
5. i would swap the bumpers around if using stock