Story: Saving This 1970 Chevelle Super Sport
Barn Finds reader Daryl Roe recently shared with us his experience to help bring a 1970 Chevelle SS back to life. A neighbor’s family was beginning to sell off pieces of their automobile collection due to health issues. Daryl is something of a car guy and offered to help. One of the cars that surfaced he took interest in was a weather-worn 1970 edition of this popular Chevrolet.
We don’t know if the car has the 396 (really a 402) or 454 cubic inch V8 under the hood, but either would be potent adversaries for folks driving Ford and Mopars from the same era. He plans to help get the car running again while at the same time protecting it from further damage caused by the Sun. Once the machine is mechanically functional again, he’ll add some new raised-white letter Firestone tires as the car came with from the factory.
Daryl intends to preserve the patina the car has cultivated, and we believe it originally was painted green in color. We don’t know about the interior colors, but it would likely be black. Daryl tells us there are fresh OEM panels located in the trunk. The Chevy has been sitting out in the California atmosphere for years and has paid the price of neglect. Thanks to Daryl’s efforts, perhaps this will shortly change. This is not a project for money but one out of love to bring something back from the brink. As we get updates from Daryl, we’ll share them with the rest of our readers!
Auctions Ending Soon
2002 Subaru Impreza WRXBid Now1 days$333
1975 Chevrolet Corvette ConvertibleBid Now1 days$4,000
1964 Ford F-100 Camper CustomBid Now1 days$2,000
2006 Jeep Wrangler SportBid Now3 days$11,000
1974 Datsun 260ZBid Now5 days$750
Comments
When I was a kid I had a newspaper route in the neighborhood. A fellow on my route bought a brand new red/black 1970 SS454 and parked it in his driveway every afternoon. Oh, how I enjoyed driving by and ogling over that machine! Salute to you, Daryl, for saving this classic.
In 1985, I went to look at a Cortez Silver 1970 SS with a legit L78 engine and M22. Black vinyl top. It was restored, yes, they were restoring these then 15 year old cars then. He wanted $6,000 if I recall correctly. I took a friend well versed in body work. He said the car had likely been crashed hard before it was restored. I still took it for a test ride. I remember the cowl induction flapper opening. It was a really nice car, but I passed on it on the advice of my friend and bought a 70 GTO instead sight unseen in Los Angeles. That is gone now and has been through at least four owners since. Thanks for saving this great muscle car. I have the money to buy another, but would be going through a second divorce if I did.
Update: this car has had its 454 rebuilt using as many factory parts as I could, The trans is rebuild and a few clean up things inside. Car runs and sounds great now. Left the engine as dirty as I could so it matched the rest of the car. Did not paint valve covers or blast manifold clean, It gets lots of back road small town attention when it rumbles around with myself and my golden retriever in it.