JASON MULLIGAN June 06, 2023 All Feature Vehicles
It almost always happens when you set out to customize a car: the project inevitably snowballs into a massive build-up. Before you know it, a simple fix or mild restoration morphs into a long-term project. This was the case for Phoenix residents Steve Edling and his wife Karlene and their ’68 Chevrolet Chevelle. It all started innocently enough when Steve’s friend Doug was out cruising his own classic car. At a stoplight, the guy in the next lane motioned to him, and told Doug that his brother had an old car for sale that he should check out. Doug knew that Steve was in the market for a Chevelle, so he followed the guy to have a look. The car wasn’t in the best shape, it’d been sitting in a yard for years, but Steve saw its potential. The owner agreed to take a paltry $100 for it as long as Steve and Doug would dig the car out of the backyard themselves—it had been in the yard for a really long time.
Steve planned to mildly restore the Chevelle, just enough to turn the heap into a cruiser, so Doug and his buddy Cadillac Joe got to work repairing the rust and stripping the car down to the bare frame.
Steve spent many years building up his business, Shelves That Slide, and after thinking about his new project Chevelle for a while, he felt he owed it to himself to have a little fun. Rather than the mild restoration he’d initially planned, he decided to take it to the next level instead. Cadillac Joe introduced Steve to Pin of Pindidit, and the pair designed and plotted out the build for a modernized pro-touring beast. The goal was to blend influences from street rods, luxury cars and laid-out customs into one clean package packed to the roof with custom details.
Meanwhile, Doug and Cadillac Joe had already stripped the car down and placed it on a rotisserie to repair any rust. They’d also sent the chassis off to be powder coated. The suspension needed some modern upgrades, so up front, a set of tubular control arms from Heidt’s was installed along with a set of Slam Specialties RE7 airbags and Bilstein shocks. To handle the high horsepower that would soon find its way under the hood, the old rearend was tossed aside in favor of a custom-built Ford 9-inch from Currie Enterprises that was mounted with a 4-link setup. For the air suspension management, a full set of GC air valves controlled by an AVS switch box was installed, with air supplied by custom air tanks and Viair compressors.
A set of fully brushed Budnik Revolver wheels (20×8.5 inches front and 22×10 inches rear) wrapped in Falken Azenis FK453 tires (245/45/R20 front and 295/25/R22 rear) finish off the rolling stock. In order to bring the billet rollers to a quick stop, Wilwood brakes, featuring 14-inch rotors and six- and four-piston calipers in the front and rear, respectively, were installed.
A brushed finish covers the entire the body, even the power plant. First, the body was sent to Lucky Luciano’s for a coating of PPG Arrival Blue, and all of the factory trim and bumpers headed south to Royal Plating in Tuscon, Arizona for brushed nickel plating. Once all of the pieces were reunited, the Chevelle’s weatherstripping was replaced with new Steele Rubber Products components.
The outside of the car shows a lot of class and a hint of attitude, but pop the hood and you’ll reveal a true monster. A Turn Key Engine 740-hp Kenne Bell supercharged LS2 was dropped in to provide a massive amount of power and modern reliability. To cool down the engine on hot Phoenix days (and let’s face it, nights, too), a Ron Davis radiator and a custom intercooler were installed. Providing cooling for the Chevelle’s occupants is a full Vintage Air Gen IV A/C unit complete with Front Runner accessory drive. Every wire was hidden, and anything that could be was plated in brushed nickel. A TCI six-speed automatic transmission backs up the powerful modern engine and once the pedal is pushed to the floor, a custom-tuned stainless exhaust system from Magnaflow expels spent gasses.
The goal was to blend influences from street rods, luxury cars and laid-out customsinto one clean package packed to the roof with custom details.”
With a modern pro-touring suspension, and a pure performance muscle engine, the interior reflects street rod styling and unadulterated luxury. Since the car was a bare slate, Pin opted to go the custom route and enlisted help from Todd Jubert of The Interior Shop and Aaron Ruddy. A custom-formed dashboard was outfitted with Classic Instruments gauges. The dash flows into custom door panels and a floating center console that houses a Mooneyes pushbutton shifter. A set of four Glide Engineering bucket seats was installed, and everything was wrapped in a total of 13 hides of tan Bentley leather. An ididit steering column with a matching Budnik Revolver steering wheel finishes off the dash. Staying true to the theme of the other components, all of the billet items were brushed. Inside, a Rockford Fosgate sound system is allowed to pound, thanks to Dynamat sound deadener installed throughout.
It’s all powered by Kinetik HC2000 series batteries tied in using a Painless Performance wiring harness.
Finally, Chucky Bond buttoned up all of the details and finalized the assembly before the car hit the streets. When the Chevelle was completed, not only did Steve head straight to the local cruise nights and Goodguys shows, but he also had it displayed on a casino floor during SEMA (hosted by Pin).
Steve and Pin would like to thank Doug, Cadillac Joe, Richard Waitas, Todd Jubert, Aaron Ruddy and Chucky Bond for all of their help throughout the build.
1968 Chevrolet Chevelle
Owner: Steve and Karlene Edling, Phoenix, AZ
Builder: Pindidit
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