'73 Chevrolet Chevelle- Mastered by Tom Ellifritt

[W-409]

Oh, and if someone needs reference pictures of '74 Chevelle, just let me know if I can help, since there is one at the garage.

[camaroman]

Personally, if it were me i'd do it with all the trim. That way the average builder could sand off what they don't want. More people find it easier to sand off stuff than to try and add it and keep it straight. Just my two pennies. Open hood too, definitely.

Ditto!!

[kevin]

ok members please clear this up for me then tell me how you want or if you want a 73 chevelle and or a 74 chevelle & what trim level.

thanks

[Rob Hall]

'73 Chevelle SS if possible.

[MAGNUM4342]

I don't know the differences between the 1973 and 1974 so I would say whichever modifies easier into the other. I agree with futurabat. Full trim and an opened hood is best for me. I've tried putting trim like side chrome on and it's never straight. Those are the cars that get banished to the back of the room.

[Rob Hall]

I don't know the differences between the 1973 and 1974 so I would say whichever modifies easier into the other. I agree with futurabat. Full trim and an opened hood is best for me. I've tried putting trim like side chrome on and it's never straight. Those are the cars that get banished to the back of the room.

Main differences are the grille and tailights..the '73 has quad round tailights, the '74 has dual rounded trapazoidal tailights..'73 is the better looking of the two years, IMO.

[Fat Brian]

73 definitely, the round tail lights make the rear of that car. And no bumperettes.

[Repstock]

Here's the Laguna so far.

[MAGNUM4342]

That's beautifull work! Here's a thought...just spit-balling here. If these cars are like Camaro/Firebirds and the only real difference is the nose and tail, why not do the 1973, then modify the casting into a 1974 to fill that gap?

[Fat Brian]

The rear of the 73 and 74 are the same except for the lights, they both have the notch in the corners of the trunk lid and the tail light panel raises at the ends. In 75 the trunk has square corners and its flat across the end with rectangle lights, this design lasted until 77.

[Fat Brian]

The front ends are a little different. The hoods are the same and the light location is fine, all of the changes are below the headlights.

73 front

74 front

Edited May 24, 2012 by Fat Brian

[Casey]

Looks like two distinct "noses" will be need for '73 and '74, as the '73's header panel drops down while the '74's grille appears to be taller. Are the bumper-to-header panel filler pieces the same for '73 and '74?

[Rob Hall]

Front bumpers appear to be different also...the '74 has wider parking lights.

[MAGNUM4342]

Hopefully these are a better look.

Edited May 24, 2012 by MAGNUM4342

[MAGNUM4342]

The front and rear bumpers are definitely different, although i'm not seeing a difference in the front turn signal lights. The 74 grille is definitely higher and more squared off, while the front clip on the 73 model seems to have a slight cant and softer edges. Doesn't look like that easy of a fix to me, but then i'm not real skilled at conversions.

[Casey]

Rob is right, the bumper mounted signal/parking lights are different, as are the jack slot locations and, well, pretty much everything.

Edited May 24, 2012 by Casey

[MAGNUM4342]

NOW I SEE! There's several small differences between the lights, bumpers and grilles. Thanks for posting those Casey. I guess I would vote for the 1973 as well in this case.

[camaroman]

'73 for me!

[Craig Irwin]

73 was the last SS Chevelle, gets my vote.

[Casey]

Two different Laguna noses, too?

[Repstock]

Two different Laguna noses, too?

Here's the '73 Laguna nose as I know it...

[MAGNUM4342]

Isn't the slope-nose the 1975/1976 Laguna S3?

[camaroman]

Isn't the slope-nose the 1975/1976 Laguna S3?

Yes, Had a friend that had one back in "The Day" ... 454 4 speed fully loaded ...

[Repstock]

Just thought you Chevelle lovers would want to know that I've agreed to master a 1973 Chevelle for Kevin. He's got all the raw material I need to do it. If I have questions for you experts, I will post them here. I don't have access to a real Chevelle, so I'll have to use lots of pictures and ask questions. Right now what I could use are pictures of the wheel well openings taken directly from the side, at about the height of the center of the wheel. This will minimize photographic distortion. Front to back measurements of the wheel wells won't hurt, either. If any of you have a real Chevelle, here's your chance to contribute.

I'm not saying I won't work on anything else while I'm doing this, but I'll make sure you don't have to wait a year for it. If we all work together, this will be really cool!

-Tom

[MAGNUM4342]

Hopefully some of this will help. Could not find a fender shot to save my life but I did find a QP.

PM me where to send the interior and chassis from that Monte kit.