All of the 300 series specific pieces are there and in good shape or restorable. There are MANY 300 series specific pieces on the car and many differences from a Malibu, for example: "Starting at the front, the eyebrow moulding next to the headlights is shorter, no trim down the body line at the bottom of the fenders and doors, CHEVELLE emblems on the fenders, no drip rail mouldings, no wheel well trim, the tailights have the back-up lights in them (Malibu is in the bumper), the tailight housings are different, the rear panel under the trunk lid has no trim except an emblem, the rear bumper is unique with no holes for back up lights. Inside, the steering wheel is different than Malibu with a chrome center, door panels are completely different, no shoulder harnesses or hardware....".
The car was sold new in Vancouver, Washington (I have the protecto-plate). The original owner drove it until the 80's. It was in a carport until the daughter sold it about 10 years ago. The guy I got it from started a Father and Son project with the car. They painted the engine and replaced some mechanical items, then the car sat for nearly 10 years partially disassembled.
I was looking for a FUN driver for the Summer earlier in the year. Saw this Chevelle and bought the car on sight (I was amazed at how original and that is was a 300 series Chevelle). My intention was to clean it up, put it back together, go through it mechanically and have some fun this Summer! Mission accomplished!!!
I'll describe the car as accurately as I can, I have included 24 high resolution photos and another 100+ on flickr (link at the bottom of this ad)--------- feel free to look at the car in person or have it inspected!
The interior looks GREAT for a 45 year old car! The seats were reupholstered years ago and I replaced the carpet, otherwise the interior is 100% ORIGINAL! 300 Deluxe door panels are VERY rare and hard to find, mine are in great shape for 45 years old (The chrome foil is peeling, but could be restored)! The dash pad is all original and has NO CRACKS! Headliner is an 8 out of 10 with no splits or rips. EVERYTHING WORKS! Dash lights are bright. The radio light comes on when you turn it on, the sound is VERY low, but it works! Heater works great, turn signals, hazard switch on the column works, horn sounds great, even the BUZZER works when you stick the key in! The speedometer works smoothly and seems to be pretty accurate. The gas guage works, idiot lights light up. The dome light comes on when you open EITHER door!
Seat belts are all there and in good shape. Amazingly, very little of the interior is faded. The dash is in really good shape and the instruments don't look faded at all! Even the blue GM emblems on the seat belts are bright and look good. Most of the fake chrome plastic parts are decent as is and usable. ALL of the glass looks good with no bubbles or damage. Windows all roll up and down okay, even the vent windows! The doors open and close VERY nicely and the rubber weatherstrips are all there and look good.
Under the hood, the 307 runs good! It's a 2bbl and ALL STOCK except the pertronix electronic ignition module in the original distributor. And those stupid yellow plug wires I haven't gotten around to swapping out. Otherwise the engine compartment is all stock. New hoses, belts, alternator, carb was rebuilt at some point and master cylinder was replaced. I have not noticed any smoke and she doesn't seem to use oil. The 2 speed powerglide shifts fine and downshifts. The power steering works 100% with no noises or chatter.
The front suspension looks well maintained and inspected OK. DRIVING THE CAR... the front end is fine. It's a stock 1968, so it feels like you are driving a STOCK 1968. But she goes down the road straight. Cruises nice at 70 and turns just fine. There is a noise when you wrench the wheel all the way to lock and step on the gas (like to U-turn). Likely the sway bar bushings? She drives REALLY nicely, so I haven't dug into the noise yet. Brakes are decent. They are 4 wheel drum, so you have to plan ahead. They stop straight and don't make any noises.
The body is VERY SOLID with some typical Chevelle/Malibu "A" body rust. ("A" body chevelle/malibu, skylark, lemans, etc trapped water and rust in similar places) The trunk, footwells and trunk floor have some minor rust issues. The back window has bubbles but looks solid. There are also bubbles on the drivers side 1/4 panel near the wheelwell. ALL of the rust damage seems to be from trapped moisture and is mostly orange discolored, scale and pinholes except noted spots of rust through.
I had the seats and carpet out when I first got it and the floor pans are very solid, but the footwells had pinholes (they were patched) and the drivers rear footwell was rusted out (also patched). The patchwork was done before me. It's not the best job, but they used a metal patch, fiberglass and some type of rust inhibitor. I decided to go with it and have some fun with the car. Unfortunately, I didn't take pics when I put the new carpet in, but you can see in the pics the bottom of the floors are pretty clean and covered in a coating of 45 years of oil and grease. The rocker panels are solid and original. The door jambs, lower front fenders, driveshaft tunnel, firewall, bottoms of the doors, edges of the trunk lid, etc are all rust free and in most cases factory paint! The trunk floor has several pin holes and could be patched or replaced (see pics). I DO have the factory jack, base and lugwrench. I did notice a rust hole under the battery tray (typical). The battery tray is new, but I saw the hole underneath while it was up on a lift. The rust bubbles on the driver's 1/4 panel aren't bad. Again, likely water leaking through the trunk seal?NO damage or bubbles on the lower edges of the 1/4 panel and I didn't see any rust on the passenger side at all. KEEP IN MIND...FACTORY PAINT! What you see is what you get: NO BONDO, NO REPAIRS on the outside of the body. That's all I saw while working on the car and inspecting for rust. Headlights, high beams, turn signals, side markers, taillights, brake lights and back up lights all work GREAT!
The tires are BF Goodrich T/A's that I have been saving for a while. The mags are Torque-Thrust type from the 60's and were in storage for a long time. They are all original and have never been "cleaned up". I think they look perfect on the Chevelle!
What the car needs:
Mechanically, not much. I have driven the car quite a bit. Around town, at night, on the freeway, etc. I did have a dead battery once, but I cleaned all the connections, charged the battery and have put lots of miles on with no problems. You could replace the sway bar bushings. New shocks wouldn't hurt. Upgrading to disc brakes would be a good idea. Runs and drives good as is!
The wipers work, but either the switch is going bad or there is a bad ground (I have to wiggle the switch once in a while).
The radio is really quiet. It's an AM, so you could swap it for an AM/FM or repro unit with modern guts. I read that the amp dries out from age and it's a pretty easy fix (If you want to keep the original).
There are a few odds and ends on the interior to make it perfect.
Obviously, she could use a paint job (or not).
Really, that's about it.
The trim around the drivers headlight is damaged (I have everything except the small eyebrow piece extra). I also have a decent 1969 driver's fender and a primed stock hood. Plus a small box of parts (leftovers, the wiper washer reservoir, new firewall pad, etc).
You COULD grind all that factory paint off (patina) and slick the body out for ANY COLOR you want (the interior is ALL jet black). You could clear coat the paint and keep it as is. You could spray a nice paint job and flip for profit! Whatever you decide....... I'll leave that up to the buyer.
On the other hand..... I see the car painted miles deep BLACK with all of the 300 trim rechromed. A full house big block with a modern manual transmission, Currie rearend and all modern auto-cross style performance suspension. Unfortunately, I don't need another frame up restoration project right now and Fall is around the corner. Time to pass this really cool Chevelle on to the next caretaker.... I have had a LOT of fun with it! Now it's YOUR turn!
I have been driving this thing all over the place all Summer (and will continue to until sold)! She runs great, drives great and gets LOTS of attention. CLEAR TITLE, Current registration---- good to go!
AGAIN....RARE CAR! Everyone talks about the 138 VIN code for SS396 cars. Did you know there were over 55,000 SS396 hardtops built? Well, Only about 6,000 300 Series V8 Sport coupes were ever made! How many survived?
FLY IN AND DRIVE HOME!
OR USE "BUY IT NOW" and I will arrange and pay for shipping ANYWHERE IN THE CONTINENTAL UNITED STATES (via my carrier)!!!!!!
MORE PHOTOS HERE:
Car sold AS IS, WHERE IS. This Chevelle is 45 years old. It is an OLD CAR. It runs and drives good. No warranties implied.
$2000.00 deposit due upon winning auction. I prefer wire transfer for payment. NO SCAMMERS, NO DEADBEATS! I am easy to deal with....BID WITH CONFIDENCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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