Speed Demon

FEATURE

InTheGarageMedia.com

Chris Cogoli’s 1970 Chevelle SS

BY Chuck Vranas

Images by THE AUTHOR

S

tepping back in time, one can only imagine the excitement of walking into your local Chevy dealership during the peak of the muscle car wars and laying down the cash for one of their most sought-after street machines. With an endless stream of options in 1970 for the Chevelle, checking off the right boxes, especially the one for code RPO Z15, would land you a fire-breathing SS454 version packed with all the right factory performance parts to make it a serious contender. Regardless of whether you selected the LS5 rated at 360 hp or the rarer LS6 rated at 450 hp, you were in for plenty of action once you bolted on your license plate and hit the streets. The meticulous 1970 Chevelle SS454 laid out across our pages belonging to Chris Cogoli of Holliston, Massachusetts, is a perfect example of its breed, having evolved over the decades into a hard-core muscle car.

1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS 454 in black, featuring classic white rally stripes and aggressive stance

When these power-packed Chevys rolled off the production line they hit the streets running hard, with many of them being abused within a thread of their existence. This particular version caught its first breath at GM’s Atlanta facility in June of 1970, having passed through a number of owners in its 50-plus years, living its life on the East Coast. At some point, the 68,000-mile survivor spent over a decade dedicated to the dragstrip, regularly running in the mid 9s, packing a vicious big-block till being converted back to the street in its current form. It’s another great story to tell, starting with a bit of history from Chris’ past on how it all came together.

Dashboard view of the 1970 Chevelle SS 454, showcasing the original gauges and SS badged steering wheel

Black interior of the 1970 Chevelle SS 454, featuring vinyl bucket seats and classic muscle car styling

Close-up of the chrome automatic shifter on the center console of the 1970 Chevelle SS 454

Growing up in a dedicated automotive family with his dad, Bill, being a mechanic by trade led him down a performance path while working on muscle car restorations in the family garage. Coupled with countless weekends spent watching him race at New England Dragway in Epping, New Hampshire, he and his brother, Vin, became the ultimate pit crew. By the time he was 13 years old, Chris had saved up enough money to buy his first Chevy: a basketcase 1987 Camaro Z28 needing a full rebuild. Through the years, the trio brought the third-gen back to life with a stroked small-block, cranked-down suspension, and vivid red body with tribal flames. This eventually led him down the road to builds on a 2002 Camaro Z28 followed by a big-block–powered 1969 Camaro SS, with all of the cars regularly competing at New England Dragway, keeping up the family tradition. With over 20 years of seat time in the Camaros it was time to finally shake things up and move into the Chevelle performance world.

Rear view of the 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS 454, featuring dual exhaust and distinctive tail lights

Having spent plenty of time at the drags over the years, there was one particular 1970 SS that Chris became enamored with. It was owned by good friend Gary Rice and had a radical big-block, a wicked stance, and dramatic good looks. The car, having recently undergone a full transformation back to street trim, was still pulling high 9s at the track through full exhaust on pump gas with enough gusto to make it a terror. A casual call one day talking about their cars led Chris to inquire if the car might be for sale. Before long a deal was made, bringing the Chevelle to his home shop.

With the car having changed hands over the years, tracing all of its updates can get complicated, but we do know at one point the original chassis was removed, blasted clean, and treated to a fresh coating of chassis black with most of the recent updates handled by Rice. For starters, out back a Moser Engineering 9-inch housing is filled with a matching Pro aluminum centersection and spool spinning 3.90 gears through 35-spline axles. It’s suspended in place by a combination of UMI Performance adjustable upper and lower control arms deftly matched to QA1 adjustable coilover shocks and a Competition Engineering adjustable antiroll bar. Up front, the original factory suspension was updated with tubular upper and lower control arms from Speedtech Performance matched to GM spindles, Viking Performance adjustable coilover shocks, and a Hotchkis sway bar. When it’s time to drop anchor, a Wilwood dual master with Hydropower brake booster moves fluid through stainless lines to Aerospace Components Drag Race-Series 10.25-inch rotors with four-piston calipers front and matching 11.75-inch rotors with four-piston calipers rear. Linking it all to the street with a heavy nod to the car’s drag race lineage you’ll find Weld Racing AlumaStar 15×4 front and American Racing Pro-Series TrakStar rear wheels sized 15×10 wearing Mickey Thompson Sportsman S/R and Mickey Thompson ET Street Radials, respectively.

Engine bay of the 1970 Chevelle SS 454, featuring a big block Chevy V8 with custom air filter

Bringing hard-core, naturally aspirated big-block power to the street on 93-octane pump-gas capable of wicked acceleration on the street and track while also being dependable takes a solid formula. Once a fresh Dart Big M iron big-block was machined to 565 ci by the talented team at TM Performance in Worcester, Rice and Matt Brooks packed it with a Scat forged 4340 crank linked to matching forged H-beam rods capped by JE forged aluminum pistons. A custom-ground hydraulic roller stick from Bullet Racing packs a mighty thump, while a set of Dart Pro-1 aluminum heads make huge power, especially when matched to a World Products Merlin X single-plane aluminum intake breathing deep though a Pro Systems Pro-Series 1,150-cfm Holley Dominator carb. It all sparks to life through an MSD Pro Billet ignition with exhaust roaring through Hooker Super Competition headers to a custom 3½-inch stainless exhaust to a combination of Burns Stainless Stage-1 race mufflers then onto Borla X-1 oval mufflers, all by Matt Boudreau of North Brookfield.

Other cool bits under the hood include a Meziere electric water pump, Powermaster high-output starter, Moroso Ultra 40 ignition wires, Chevrolet Performance aluminum valve covers, and K&N X-Stream air cleaner. An FTI Performance TH400 packing a matching Street Racer 9.5-inch converter moves the goods to a custom steel driveshaft. It’s all good for a pavement-scorching 800 hp.

TECH

Owner: Chris Cogoli, Holliston, Massachusetts
Vehicle: 1970 Chevelle SS

Engine

Type: Dart Big M big-block
Displacement: 565 ci
Compression: 11:1
Bore: 4.600
Stroke: 4.250
Compression: 11:1
Cylinder Heads: Dart Pro-1
Rotating Assembly: Scat forged 4340 steel crank, Scat 4340 H-beam rods, JE forged aluminum pistons
Valvetrain: Morel Street Performance-Series hydraulic roller lifters, Comp Cams Ultra Pro roller rockers
Camshaft: Bullet Racing hydraulic roller, custom grind
Induction: World Products Merlin X single-plane intake, Pro Systems Pro-Series 1,150-cfm Holley Dominator
Ignition: MSD Pro Billet, MSD 7AL-2 Plus box
Exhaust: Hooker Super Comp headers, 3½-inch stainless exhaust with X-pipe, Burns Stainless Stage-1 race mufflers, Borla XR-1 oval mufflers
Output: 800 hp

Drivetrain

Transmission: FTI Performance Turbo 400, FTI Street Racer 9.5-inch converter
Rear Axle: Moser Engineering 9-inch Ford, Pro aluminum center and spool, 3.90 gears, 35-spline axles

Chassis

Steering: Third-gen Camaro IROC-Z
Front Suspension: Speedtech Performance tubular control arms, GM spindles, Viking Performance adjustable coilover shocks, Hotchkis 1⅜-inch sway bar
Rear Suspension: UMI Performance adjustable upper and lower control arms, QA1 adjustable coilover shocks, Competition Engineering adjustable antiroll bar
Brakes: Aerospace Components Drag Race 10.25-inch rotors and four-piston calipers front with matching 11.75-inch rotors and four-piston calipers rear

Wheels & Tires

Wheels: Weld Racing AlumaStar 15×4 front, American Racing Pro-Series TrakStar 15×10 rear with Extreme Fab double beadlock
Tires: Mickey Thompson Sportsman S/R 28.0/6.0-15 front, Mickey Thompson ET Street Radial P275/60R15 rear

Interior

Seats: Stock bucket
Upholstery: Black vinyl
Carpet: Black loop
Gauges: Dakota Digital VHX-Series
Steering: Stock tilt column, stock SS steering wheel
Shifter: Stock Staple shifter

Exterior

Paint: PPG Tuxedo Black
Hood: Stock cowl induction
Grille: Stock SS

Front view of the 1970 Chevelle SS 454 with quad headlights and iconic SS grille

Close-up of the rear Chevelle by Chevrolet badge and SS emblem on the 1970 Chevelle SS 454 trunk

Aerospace Components forged wheel on the 1970 Chevelle SS 454, featuring drilled rotors and polished calipers

When it came time to addressing the body, it’s obvious an infinite amount of time went into bringing it back to life with amazing attention to detail. Wearing an immaculate coating of PPG Tuxedo Black laid down with a mirror-like finish, it still showcases its original trim and bumpers accented by a factory cowl-induction hood with complementing white SS striping.

Inside, the factory dash packs Dakota Digital VHX-Series dials to monitor the vitals, while steering moves through the factory SS steering wheel with tilt column. Shifts click thanks to a factory staple shifter with forward-pattern manual valvebody. Rice then followed with fresh custom wiring to bring it all together. The factory interior still looks great, wearing its original black vinyl complemented by black loop carpeting, accented by a fresh headliner installed by the team at Inside-Out Customs of Lunenburg.

During his ownership, Chris has spent time dialing the car into its current form for total operational dependability. The car sees plenty of street time while paying homage to its drag racing roots while still being able to hit 9-second e.t.’s at the track, making it the ultimate street machine in our eyes!

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