There’s really not a whole lot to building a show-stopping car from the ground up in a few short hours; just ask anyone that watches gearhead reality TV shows. In particular the show where it only took an hour episode to go from a hopeless rusted hulk of a 1967 Chevelle to the 2014 SEMA Show and then onto the cover of Chevelle magazine.

It was over a year in the making, and behind the scenes we knew that Sal Perez at American Muscle Cars was about to take on a build for our friend Dan Woods’ TV show Chop Cut Rebuild. Further, we knew Auto Metal Direct (AMD) was involved and that meant the car was going to be getting the best sheetmetal body panels on the market. To obtain a rendering of the Chevelle’s concept Sal contacted automotive artist Kris Horton. Kris had to coordinate with both Sal regarding the Chevelle’s interior design and body color. Once all the decisions were made, it was time for lights, camera, action with Dan Woods and the Chop Cut Rebuild film crew.

The journey began when a rough and rusty ’67 Chevelle was located, and delivered to Craig Hopkins at the AMD Installation Center in Cleveland, Georgia. Craig Hopkins has a great reputation around the offices of the Super Chevy Network and once again he didn’t disappoint. Once the Chevelle’s metalwork was complete, it was time for paint. The ’67 was shipped back to California where American Muscle Cars laid down a custom blend of PPG Blood Red and then cut, buffed, and polished the car to a glistening shine.

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The factory frame was then mediablasted, boxed, and powdercoated satin black. All-new front and rear suspension components from ABC Performance Suspension, Detroit Speed, and Wilwood Brakes were hung and bolted on. Starting up front, adjustable tubular control arms from ABC Performance, sandwiched a pair of Detroit Speed 2-inch dropped spindles. To obtain a firm ride, a pair of Viking dual-adjustable shocks and coilover springs was installed. ABC Performance 1-inch, antisway bar flattens out any corners. Wilwood brakes with six-piston calipers were bolted-on and 14-inch diameter slotted, drilled, vented rotors were plumbed to the brake hardline with Wilwood stainless steel braided lines. A Wilwood billet aluminum tandem reservoir master brake cylinder and proportioning valve supplied pressurized brake fluid to all four corners. A Turn One power steering box was linked to a painted Flaming River tilt steering column. The rear suspension was handled with an ABC Performance upper and lower tubular four-link system. A pair of Viking Performance dual-adjustable coilover shocks suspend a Currie F9 Fabricated rearend with Currie 3-inch diameter axletubes and Currie 32-splined alloy axles. A Currie-Strange nodular-iron third member is stuffed with a 3.70 ring-and-pinion gearset and a Truetrac limited-slip. To help eliminate any rear body roll, an ABC Performance 1-inch diameter antiroll bar was installed. Rear stopping power comes from Wilwood disc brakes with 14-inch diameter slotted, drilled, vented rotors and four-piston billet aluminum calipers.

Up front there’s a pair of 18-inch Circle Track rally wheels, and ditto on the rear except they’re 20-inchers. Straight line traction and cornering grip comes from Falken Azenis 245/40-18, front, and 315/35-20, rear, tires. Due to the aggressive wheel/tire combination and lowered stance, Tony at ABC Performance fabricated larger front inner fenders as well as mini-tubbed inner fenders in the rear to swallow the larger and wider wheels and tires.

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The Chevelle’s grunt comes from a 2014 Chevrolet Performance LS376 crate engine. The burnt exhaust gasses exit through a pair of MagnaFlow 1.75-inch diameter tuned, shorty headers into a 2.5-inch diameter dual exhaust, with a Tru-X Crossover system into a pair of 2.5-inch diameter MagnaFlow mufflers. To complete the GM Connect & Cruise package, a 2014 Tremec T56 Super Magnum six-speed manual transmission is in place. A custom American Powertrain aluminum driveshaft links the transmission and rearend. After installing the radiator core support, a Mattson’s aluminum radiator with SPAL dual electric fans provides ample cooling.

Next was installing the immaculate leather interior by Ron Mangus Hot Rod Interiors in Rialto, California. Time was starting run out, so Ron immediately began cutting templates, foam, and leather hides to cover the front bench and rear seats, door panels, kick panels, and headliner. Before laying the German square weave carpet, the floorpan was given a layer of sound deadening. The trunk floor, side panels, and inner trunk lid were also layered in sound deadener before installing the German square weave carpet and leather panels.

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For instrumentation, a set of Dakota Digital gauges were installed to display the engine’s vital signs. A Flaming River tilt-steering column was capped with an Eddie Motorsports steering wheel. To achieve seasonal interior creature comfort a Vintage Air climate system was installed.

For a sound system, the Chevelle was delivered to The Audio Shop in Riverside, California. There, owner Alan Hickman, assisted by Matt Coons, Aaron Davis, and Jack the dog, installed the iPod Data Buss unit with a pair of Arc Audio XDI 600.4 amplifiers to a pair of Arc Audio XDI 5 1/4 coax speakers in front. Further, a pair of Arc Audio XDI 5 1/4 coax speakers were inter-phased with a pair of Arc Audio XDI 10-inch subwoofers.

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The mighty LS376 was fine-tuned at Westech Group Performance in Mira Loma, California, headed up by Steve Brule and crew. After rolling the Chevelle onto the Westech chassis dyno and performing a dozen pulls with minor adjustments, it produced 412.7 horsepower at 6,004 rpm and 399.4 lb-ft of torque at 4,560 rpm to the rear wheels.

After one year filled with 24-hour days, seven days a week, and a bunch of retakes for the camera, the Chevelle was completed and tuned. The real-world finale was to ship the ’67 to Las Vegas for the 2014 SEMA Show.