Mods
So far the list is small, just a 327 SBC from a 1968 Camaro, and a TH400 Transmission that is in the middle of rebuilding.
Build story
I am a Highschool Autoshop teacher and I wanted a cool project to do with my students. I looked up on the Kijiji old classic cars and this 53 Chevy came up in the fastest patina color possible, red, and a 68 mustang coupe that were in my price range. I looked at this BelAir first and the Mustang second, I was actually about the buy the Mustang, but a forklift driver put the forks through the block and the firewall, so fate sent me back to the BelAir which I actually liked more anyways.
When I went to buy the car, it was buried half way up the wheels in mud and was on a hill for some reason. It was bought by this guys brother who wanted to swap the engine in it but moved to Newfound land.
I got this car from Oshawa and it turns out it was actually made in the Oshawa plant around the same time my grandfather was working there so my grandfather could have been working on this vehicle.
We started this project last February when it was purchased. Within the first few weeks we tore off the front body panels, got rid of the mouse nest that were literally everywhere and removed the seats and what was left of the body panels. We took a vote and the students decided we would turn it into a drift car and take it around to local car shows, so that the kids could see it at a show and go &hey, I helped build that in school&.
Shortly after COVID hit and we were unable to work on the car as schools were closed but this car made a crazy large community at the school I was at, even had kids who had never touched tools before come down to see the cool old car we were working on, and even had the welding class coming to see if we had any pats and pieces that could be welded by them. We even had students design a logo for the class that had the car in it and got some Hoodies made with it for the class. It was truly a school wide experience and project while I was there.
When my contract ended at the end of the year I took the car out of the school and brought the engine and transmission to my house and started my own teacher instagram @mr.bents_autoshop and started showing the students the process of rebuilding the engine and making it look all beautified again. I brought lots of pieces into the current school to work on with the students like the cylinder heads and intake.
I am currently going through rebuilding the transmission and taking the students along the journey with me of that rebuild for the car as we slowly prepare it for drifting one day.
The school project life goes slow, but it is an awesome thing for my students to learn and play on because its so different from their normal.
When I went to buy the car, it was buried half way up the wheels in mud and was on a hill for some reason. It was bought by this guys brother who wanted to swap the engine in it but moved to Newfound land.
I got this car from Oshawa and it turns out it was actually made in the Oshawa plant around the same time my grandfather was working there so my grandfather could have been working on this vehicle.
We started this project last February when it was purchased. Within the first few weeks we tore off the front body panels, got rid of the mouse nest that were literally everywhere and removed the seats and what was left of the body panels. We took a vote and the students decided we would turn it into a drift car and take it around to local car shows, so that the kids could see it at a show and go &hey, I helped build that in school&.
Shortly after COVID hit and we were unable to work on the car as schools were closed but this car made a crazy large community at the school I was at, even had kids who had never touched tools before come down to see the cool old car we were working on, and even had the welding class coming to see if we had any pats and pieces that could be welded by them. We even had students design a logo for the class that had the car in it and got some Hoodies made with it for the class. It was truly a school wide experience and project while I was there.
When my contract ended at the end of the year I took the car out of the school and brought the engine and transmission to my house and started my own teacher instagram @mr.bents_autoshop and started showing the students the process of rebuilding the engine and making it look all beautified again. I brought lots of pieces into the current school to work on with the students like the cylinder heads and intake.
I am currently going through rebuilding the transmission and taking the students along the journey with me of that rebuild for the car as we slowly prepare it for drifting one day.
The school project life goes slow, but it is an awesome thing for my students to learn and play on because its so different from their normal.