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1968 Chevy Chevelle
Ryan Hamilton, West Chester, OH
Best E.T.: 11.03/123.9
Seventeen years ago, when it was time to purchase his first car, Ryan Hamilton had muscle on his mind, thanks to a childhood full of car shows and days at the dragstrip. He looked at Challengers, Roadrunners, Camaros, and Chevelles, but all of them either needed too much work, or were just out of his lawn mowing and dish washing budget. Persistence paid though, and a solid '68 Chevelle with a 396 big-block and a four-speed turned up for the right price of $2,500. For the next couple of years, it took Ryan to school, work, and everywhere in between. Until 1995 that is. A day's worth of drag racing in the low 13-second range took out the 396, leaving Ryan the perfect excuse to build a better big-block. First, the Chevelle was stripped down and treated to a fresh coat of Quasar Blue Metallic, then BES Racing assembled a 427ci big-block using parts Ryan had been collecting at swap meets. Paired with a Turbo 350 with a 4,000-stall converter and M/T ET Streets, Ryan usually got one low 11-second pass per night before being canned for not having a rollcage. That setup provided trouble-free fun for the next 10 years. Nowadays, with a good job as a machinist and programmer, Ryan decided to pull the 427 for a mild freshening of the bearing, rings, and gaskets at BES. This time, however, once the engine came home, the Muncie was retuned to its rightful place behind it. Why? Because it's more fun grabbing gears in an 11-second street car!  Despite a decade's worth of...  Despite a decade's worth of driving and drag racing, when the 427 was torn down at BES, everything was in such good shape that most major components were reused.  The clean black interior is...  The clean black interior is mostly stock with all necessary recovering and restoration performed by Ryan. There are Crow belts to hold him in the stock buckets, but still no rollcage, since it's a street car that only rarely sees the track.
| WHERE THE MONEY WENT |
| '68 Chevy Chevelle: |
$2,500 |
| Paint and body: |
$5,000 |
| Interior: |
$1,600 |
| Wheels: |
$450 |
| Tires: |
$350 |
| Engine block: |
$200 |
| Crank |
$650 |
| Rotating assembly |
$400 |
| Machining/assembly: |
$1,600 |
| Cam and lifters: |
$120 |
| Pushrods: |
$90 |
| ARP fasteners: |
$250 |
| Cylinder heads: |
$1,500 |
| Intake manifold: |
$500 |
| Carburetor: |
$700 |
| Distributor and coil: |
$170 |
| Ignition box: |
$160 |
| Plug wires: |
$75 |
| Oil pump: |
$45 |
| Gaskets, fluids, misc.: |
$2,000 |
| Headers: |
$375 |
| Exhaust: |
$650 |
| Mufflers/collectors: |
$150 |
| Fuel system: |
$600 |
| Water pump: |
$285 |
| Cooling fan: |
$130 |
| Trans, clutch, shifter: |
$1,600 |
| Rearend: |
$1,200 |
| Front suspension: |
$250 |
| Steering box and pump: |
$210 |
| Brakes: |
$885 |
| Gauges: |
$180 |
| Total: |
$24,875 |
| BY THE NUMBERS |
| '68 CHEVY CHEVELLE |
| Ryan Hamilton, 34 • West Chester, OH |
| Total cost to build: $24,875 |
| ENGINE |
| Type: |
427 big-block Chevy |
| Block: |
stock GM |
| Oiling: |
stock pump and pan |
| Rotating assembly: |
Eagle 4340 forged crank, |
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stock rods, TRW forged 10.5:1 pistons |
| Cylinder heads: |
GM aluminum ZL1, mild porting and milled .010; |
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Manley Street Flow 2.19-/1.88-inch valves |
| Camshaft: |
Crower solid roller 258/264-at-.050; |
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.619/.627-inch lift, 298/302 duration, 107 LSA |
| Valvetrain: |
Harland Sharp 1.7:1 rockers, |
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ARP Pro Series rocker studs, |
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COMP Cams pushrods and springs, |
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Avon double-roller timing set |
| Induction: |
Weiand Team G intake manifold, |
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Holley 950 HP carb, prepared by Pro Systems |
| Ignition: |
HEI with MSD coil and 6AL box |
| Fuel system: |
Mallory 140 fuel pump, filter, and regulator |
| Exhaust: |
Jet Hot coated Hooker Comp headers, |
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dual 3-inch Flowmaster mufflers |
| Cooling: |
Edelbrock Victor water pump and dual electric fans |
| Output: |
untested |
| Built by: |
BES Racing Engines |
| DRIVETRAIN |
| Transmission: |
'68 Muncie four-speed, Hays clutch, |
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Hurst Competition shifter |
| Rear axle: |
GM 12-bolt rearend, 3.73:1 gears, Moser spool |
| CHASSIS |
| Front suspension: |
big-block springs, KYB shocks |
| Rear suspension: |
stock springs, |
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Competition Engineering shocks, |
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airbags for the track |
| Brakes: |
Wilwood Dynalite discs front; stock drums, rear |
| ROLLING STOCK |
| Wheels: |
Weld Draglites, 15x3.5, front; 15x8, rear |
| Tires: |
165R15 Widetrack, front; 28x12.50-15s M/T ET Streets, rear |
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