Discussion Forum - Northstar Chevelle Club

From the owner Michael: I bought the car from the second owner in 2007. The gentleman I bought the car from (Mike DeForest) lived outside of Topeka, Kansas, and worked with the original owner (Ronald Terry). They have worked together and were friends since the 60s so Mr. DeForest knew the car since it was new. The car was bought new in June of '68 by Mr. Terry from Tecumseh motors. He owned it until Mr. DeForest bought it in 1999 (I have a copy of that title). 

 

While the original owner had it, he had made a few minor modifications to it. One thing was, he removed the smog system, so the exhaust manifolds have threaded plugs in the ports, and the equipment is long gone. He also installed air shocks in the rear, which are still on it. He had also installed an FM radio. In doing so, he cut the dash bezel to make it (more on that later). The best thing he did though, was installed seat covers. These were velvet seat covers he had professionally installed soon after purchasing the car. They stayed on until I bought the car in 2007.... I cut them off to find perfectly preserved seat covers!! 

 

The coolest thing about the interior of this car is the seats and door panels are BUICK! It's a little know fact that due to a labor dispute, there was a shortage of Chevelle interiors. Rather than stop production, they sourced from Buick, Olds, and Pontiac. A letter was sent to dealers from Chevrolet dated March 25th stating all that, this car has a build date of March 29th, so it's one of the first! The cowl tag is coded differently than normal Chevelles for the different interior. 

 

So Mr. DeForest gets the car in 1999, and he does a few things to it. The dash bezel was already cut, so he upgraded the radio and speakers having installed speakers on the package tray and an amp in the trunk. He also installed a Hurst competition shifter (I put a Muncie handle on it). The good news with all this is the original parts were kept, so the original Muncie shifter is in my attic and will go with the car, and the original AM radio is back in the dash. I found a dash bezel at a swap meet. The original, cut up dash bezel will come with the car as the chrome trim is really in phenomenal shape. The upgraded stereo is hidden in the glove box, but something isn't quite right with it, seems to get feedback through the engine RPMs. 

 

When I got the car in 2007, I took the seat covers off like I mentioned above. I replaced the dash bezel and put the original AM radio back in as I mentioned above, and I also removed the pinstripe. So the car had a pinstripe that didn't look quite right to me. It was painted on, and I had assumed that the dealer had applied it. There is a column-mounted tach that the dealer-installed, I thought it was the same. I didn't see anything on the build sheet for it, so I spent a few weeks rubbing the stripes off... come to find out, they were factory applied!!! I've gotten a few quotes at $400 to re-apply the stripes, just haven't done it. I've got a few buddies that will not let me live that stupid mistake down ha! 

 

So anyway, the engine had 40 years of dirt on it. Radiator hoses were wrong, exhaust manifolds were rusty, etc... so in 2008, I pulled the engine to clean and detail. The awesome thing is, the car had factory undercoating on it, and when I took the bolts loose to remove the engine and transmission, the undercoating was undisturbed! It still has the original clutch (and still grabs good!) I've got pictures of the entire process, it took us (my father, father in law, and me) about 2 weeks total to pull the engine, scrub it down, detail it, and put it back in. The only mechanical work that was done is the carb and water pump were rebuilt. Other than that, it doesn't even have hardened valve seats. Later that year, I replaced the rubber bushings in the back control arms with the polyurethane ones. 

 

That was the list thing I did with the car until last year when I installed the "ignitor" to replace the points. 

 

There is plenty of documentation that comes with the car. Two build sheets, receipt from the original title, envelope (postmarked) that the original registration was sent in. Original keys with dealer key chain (car still has dealer name tag on rear cove). The car was in a few publications, those will come with it. 

 

I absolutely love original, unrestored muscle cars. My father bought a '67 GTO new and still has it (27,000 miles). My old neighbor and friend has a '69 boss nine with 21,000 original miles, completely unrestored. My car still has a sticker under the hood from a spark plug change in 1971, once that's gone, it's gone forever! It has an "ok" on the firewall from the factory... I love that kind of stuff! But I'm at a point where this car doesn't fit my needs. I don't drive this car (I log every mile) and my son wants to start working on a muscle car that we can actually drive. I listed it with Hemmings right before the coronavirus hit, it ran for 6 months, so I was going to list again in the spring. I had it listed for $49,999. 

 

Well documented, three owner unrestored original big block, 4 speed, 12 bolt limited-slip, 57,xxx mile Chevelle. The paint shines deep and clear (it's 52 years old, there are some battle scars lol), chrome is clean and shiny (not pitted). Engine chrome is "flash chrome" and looks like it should, not like a brand new aftermarket triple plated piece.