Manny drove the car for years and logged many miles on the local streets. “I loved driving it back-and-forth to school and to work,” Manny recalls. “The Chevy made me feel like I was the king of the road.” However, the years caught up with the frequently driven Chevy as the Long Island climate did a number on the body. He thought about holding onto the car and restoring it, but the Chevelle needed a ton of metalwork, which would have taken a lot of money to repair. It didn’t make sense to sink that much cash into the car. Plus, at this point he really wanted a true SS.

So, Manny started a search to find a good starting point for his new ride. “I wanted something similar to Grandpa’s car that was already painted a shade of red with a black vinyl top,” Manny says. “I found a 1970 Chevelle SS in Michigan. After a few conversations with the owner we were able to come to an agreement, and the car was shipped to me a week later. When the Chevelle arrived, it turned out to be exactly what I expected from the pictures and videos that the previous owner had sent me.”

With the Chevelle back at Manny’s, he put together a game plan to upgrade his new ride. Though he liked the body and paint, the powertrain, suspension, and running gear weren’t exactly to his liking. So, he called up Hell Bent Race Cars & Customs in Islandia, New York, and discussed the possibility of the shop performing the upgrades. “I had recently met Joe, aka Canish over at Hell Bent. I was familiar with his work and knew he and his team would be the right choice to handle the build, so we came up with a plan for the car.”

Part of that plan was to retain the original body and paint, so the crew focused on upgrading the chassis first. A QA1 Level 3 suspension package was selected to dramatically improve the car’s handling and ride quality. The system includes front and rear sway bars, tubular upper and lower control arms, boxed upper and lower trailing arms, and QA1 MOD Series Pro Coil shocks at all four corners. The original 12-bolt rearend was rebuilt with an Eaton Truetrac differential and 3.55:1 gears. Braking performance was upgraded with a PowerStop system featuring 12-inch rotors clamped by four-piston calipers.

As for the Chevelle’s motivation, Manny went with a Chevrolet Performance ZZ572 crate engine, pumping a healthy 621 hp right out of the box. The big-block is built using a tall-deck, cast-iron block with a 4.560-inch bore and 4.375-inch stroke by way of a forged steel crank and rods and forged aluminum pistons. Aluminum rectangular-port heads top the engine, and the combination pumps out a healthy but street manageable 9.60 compression.

A single-plane aluminum intake was topped with a Quick Fuel four-barrel 850-cfm carb. A pair of Aeromotive 750 fuel pumps feed the beast plenty of fuel to keep the engine happy. Stainless Works 1 7/8-inch headers and a complete stainless steel 3-inch exhaust system built with Race Part Solutions tubing and Borla mufflers move spent gas in a hurry. The accessory drive system was built using custom braces made in-house. A custom crankcase breather was made by Hell Bent and sits behind the headlights. Lastly, black powdercoated valve covers give Manny the look he was after.

To keep this Chevy cool on those hot Long Island summer days, an aluminum Ron Davis radiator along with a Meziere electric water pump were called for duty.

A TREMEC TKX five-speed transmission gets the Chevelle through the gears.

Distinctive Industries supplied the front buckets, which were wrapped in fresh skins by Hell Bent. The back seat was redone by Milton over at Excel Upholstery in Ronkonkoma, New York. Dakota Digital HDX gauges keep track of the vitals while an original Chevelle steering wheel with SS badging sits on a Flaming River tilt column.

For tunes, a Bluetooth-enabled Memphis Radio pushes a full set of Pioneer speakers.

Final touches include American Racing Groove wheels in 18×8 up front and 18×10 out back. They are shod in Mickey Thompson Street Comp tires in 255/45R18 and Mickey Thompson ET Street R rubber 305/45R18, respectively.

The car is lit by Holley RetroBright LEDs up front and DIGI-TAILS LEDs out back.

To finish off the exterior, the Chevelle’s Firemist Red Metallic paint was cleaned up and buffed to perfection, eliminating the need for a respray.

After a few short months at Hell Bent, the Chevelle came home as a completely different beast. “The car we started with broke down the first time Manny drove it,” Carnish states. “It’s the same old story; you get what you pay for.

“When you add up what Manny paid for the car and the pieces we were able to keep, it worked out to about the same cost as starting from scratch,” Carnish concludes. “The good news is the car is now phenomenal. I’d jump in it and drive anywhere in the country without a second thought.”

As far as Manny is concerned, he’s just blown away by the work Hell Bent did on his Chevelle. “The car is stunning and has the power on tap that I wanted from the start,” Manny excitedly says. “Hell Bent Race Cars & Customs is one of the best shops on Long Island. Canish is an awesome fabricator. He and the crew did an amazing job on my ride, which we appropriately named ‘Chevgrella’!”

BODYWORK AND PAINT: Previous owner
PAINT: Firemist Red Metallic
HOOD: Chevelle SS cowl induction hood
GRILLE: Stock SS
BUMPERS: Stock