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Chevette back - impressions

Posted by Aloha on 6/26/2009, 3:01 am
71.17.180.224

As much as I love the car, driving here in my home city sucks. I am getting really tired of driving, and prefer my bicycle to either of my cars (except when it is cold or raining), I do not feel so guilty about it either. But despite my soured look on driving, the Chevette is still fun to rip around in and show off.

Here are the specs:

1976 Head (straight ports)
H.O. dual exhaust manifold
2" stainless steel exhaust pipe
Dynomax Super Turbo Muffler
Weber 32/36 DFEV carburetor
K&N filter (1 1/2" taller than stock)
Ported and polished intake
T-5 Borg Warner 5-speed transmission
3.63 rear end

The car I can say, is much quicker than it was before. It rivals the lower to mid ranges with my Integra in terms of acceleration, but falls short on the higher-end speeds on the highway. Probably because I am using the stock camshaft, it's meant to run in the lower range. By no means is it a fast car, but it is definitely not a real slow one anymore, it is comparable to modern sub-compacts at last. It certainly is louder than before (acceleration has a nice clear sound, not raspy like it was before), but with a bit of weight reduction and the addition of sound deadening material, the car should be quiet enough. The Weber carb runs very smoothly, it is way better than the copy Holley 5210. Only problem is that the throttle cable had to be hooked up in an odd way, and the gas pedal has dropped nearly an inch, giving me little play with it. It opens the carb at full throttle, but if it could come up a couple inches, I would have a lot more control over the car than just "off" and "GO!!" It's more like pressing a button than using a gas pedal. The car runs really hot too, it gives off enough heat to cook an egg. I wonder if I can find a better way to cool it, the thermostat is good for 195 degrees, maybe an electric fan would help? The Cavalier seats are not as comfortable as they used to be lol, I have been spoiled by the Integra's seats. Maybe I should get a set, and adapt them in (some guy with a V6 chevette has some in his around here).

Fuel mileage is okay for mixed driving, I took it through heavy wind on the highway, and passed a few vehicles (heh, love the surprised looks the people give when they see a Chevette going by them at 120 kph). Don't have the official numbers yet, but it is down 1/4 of a tank after 140 kms.

I feel guilty with the EGR valve off, and no catalytic converter. Just means I will not be driving it as much as I used to. I hope to get a greener car in the future to replace the Integra as my daily driver. Maybe a Kei car from Japan, or I will convert a Metro into an electric vehicle. The Chevette, when complete, will be a show car. I have had some inspirations from the Vauxhall Chevettes in my designs of the body, I should probably draw it out sometime.