While this Chevelle looks plenty subtle, it packs a 770-hp punch!

Words and Photos: James Maxwell

Charlie Currie still remembers when, as an 8-year-old, it was his job to tear down and completely disassemble junkyard differentials. His dad, the late Frank Currie, started Currie Enterprises in the late 1950s. Frank was originally in the material handling industrial cart business. So, like his four brothers, Charlie learned early how to work on cars.

During that time, he worked specifically with Ford 9-inch differentials to make extra money at his father’s business. It was there that he discovered the strength of these legendary components. But, instead of building these parts for racecars, Charlie was building rear ends for the cart business.

While Charlie was growing up around high-performance cars and off-road Jeeps, one thing was consistent: he always liked Chevelles. Through the years, he’s owned several of them from different years (convertibles, hardtops, small and big blocks, and in both stock and modified conditions), and today, this car fanatic has never tired of nice, clean, and fast Chevelles.

A few years back, the opportunity arose to purchase a super clean 1965 Super Sport from a friend; it was 100-percent stock and in good overall shape. He jumped at the chance and soon started to convert it from a pristine stocker to the heavily modified version seen on these pages.

When the Chevelle debuted in 1964, it was considered a “senior compact” sized car in the Chevrolet lineup, larger than the Corvair compact, but smaller than the full-sized Impala line. It rode on a 115-inch wheelbase, built on the “A” body platform. Chevelles shared the same basic substructure with the Buick Skylark, Oldsmobile Cutlass, and Pontiac Tempest. In addition, there was a “Malibu” option and a “Malibu Super Sport” upgrade, the latter of which mandated bucket seats, floor console, gauges for the water temperature, ammeter, and oil pressure, plus trim changes and “SS” wheel covers.

First-year Chevelles could be had with both 6-cylinder engines and small-block 283c.i. V8s, with the RPO L77 (Regular Production Option) 283c.i. four-barrel version being the top engine, rated at 220 hp. The following year, the larger 327c.i. small blocks were available for Chevelle buyers, and the highest-output 327c.i. mill was the very potent 350-hp L79, which came with 11.0:1 compression ratio, larger port heads with 2.02-inch intake and 1.60-inch exhaust valves, and an aluminum intake manifold, all topped off with a 585cfm Holley four-barrel carburetor.

That 350-hp version could also be ordered with a fully synchronized 4-speed manual gearbox, Posi-traction rear gears with 3.31:1 ratio, sintered-metallic brakes, and a beefier front and rear suspension package. As equipped, that was a true “muscle car” by any-one’s standards. Additionally, there were 201 375-hp “Z-16” 396c.i. big-block Chevelles made during the 1965 model year.

Conversely, the 1965 Chevelle Super Sport Charlie Currie started with for this project wasn’t a factory muscle machine fortified with a high-performance power plant, but rather a tame 283c.i. two-barrel mated to a Powerglide 2-speed automatic transmission.

The original engine, transmission, or rear end did not fit any of Charlie’s intended plans (taking the car on the Hot Rod cross-country Power Tour), but he did want to keep the car a “Chevelle” as much as possible. That meant he was to retain the original chassis, as well as the original sheet metal shape and even the factory firewall.

The engine chosen to propel this ’65 Super Sport Chevelle was a 6.2L L92 V8 “LS Series” GM crate engine, sold for truck applications over the counter at GM and speed shops. It was a sturdy 403-hp power plant that featured all the good stuff, including aluminum block (deep skirted) and heads, six-bolt mains, variable valve timing, needle bearing rocker arms, beehive valve springs, coil-on-plug ignition, and high-flow heads with 2.16-inch intake and 1.59-inch exhaust valves. It was a great starting point for Charlie’s high-horsepower intentions!

A visit to Kenny Duttweiler and Ed Taylor of Ventura Motorsports got the ball rolling on the soon-to-be revised GM crate engine. That directive was to tear the assembly apart and replace the standard crankshaft with a forged “stroker” model from Scat Enterprises. To that, he added new connecting rods, which upped engine displacement from 376c.i. to 414c.i. Next came the replacement of the L92 heads with Dart Pro 1 LS-1 units, aftermarket pieces with CNC-blended combustion chambers, 68cc, for improved airflow and flame propagation. The decision was made to keep the stock L92 camshaft, however, enhanced with COMP Cam roller rockers.

As it turned out, the L92 camshaft (0.500-inch lift, 198-degree intake, 209-degree exhaust duration) was ideal for the intended use of a supercharger, which was a MP2300 model sourced from Magnuson. When the supercharger system was installed for this application, an intercooler was added under the intake manifold in the valley between the cylinder heads, for extra usable power.

The kit included all the necessary components — rear-driven supercharger, cast aluminum intake manifold, liquid-to-air inter-cooler core, heat exchanger, coolant circulation pump, high-capacity fuel injectors, fuel rails, and mounting hardware — to complete the installation. The intercooler (AKA heat exchanger) added complexity to the system, however the trade-off is well worth it, as over-all supercharger efficiency was improved with the lowered temperature of the intake charge.

The supercharger is fed using a 90mm throttle body (CNC-machined) from UMI Racing and Aeromotive tank-mounted electric fuel pump. Custom exhaust headers with 2-inch primaries were welded up for the application and then Jet Hot coated for heat containment and durability. A set of Moroso Blue Max sleeved ignition wires provides spark energy to the plugs.

Power from this LS engine (770 hp at 5,800-rpm with 743 lb-ft of torque at 4,100 rpm) is put to the tarmac via a 4L65E GM 4-speed automatic transmission with overdrive that was further beefed up with selected internals from TCI. Chevrolet 12-bolt rear ends are normally a good choice for high-performance Chevelle applications like this one. However in this case, when the time came to select a rear differential for the car, there was only one way to go: a Currie 9-inch!

Currie Enterprises actually does work with Chevy 12-bolts and the larger Dana 60 assemblies at their shop, but Charlie has a soft spot for the 9-inch, and used one of their tough F9 fabricated housings on the car.

With the running gear fully sorted, the focus shifted to the body and frame. Long-time and highly respected hot rod builder Bob Bauder was the man responsible for the overall build, and the first thing he did was box the frame for extra strength to handle all the new power that Charlie had come up with for the old Chevelle. Air suspension was incorporated into the front and rear suspension systems, ShockWave air-shocks on the front, along with the rear bags, all from Ridetech.

Up front, replacement upper control arms from Savitske and new tubular lower control arms (by Ridetech specifically for use with the ShockWave units) were added, along with ATS Aluminum A/FX spindles. The rear end was augmented with a set of Currectrac upper and lower control arms, large-diameter sway bar, and a Panhard bar that looks like something seen on a NASCAR racecar. Massive Baer brakes (13-inch diameter with 6-piston calipers) were added on all four corners.

BFGoodrich G-Force T/A tires were chosen and up front sized at 245/40 ZR18. The Foose wheels are called Nitrous II and provide an aggressive, yet classic look for this mid-’60s Chevelle.

Cool 18-inch diameter Foose Nitrous II wheels were used front and rear, with an 8-inch width front and 9-inchers out back. Each wheel was wrapped with G-Force rubber from BFG. The goal was to get the rolling stock as large as possible without having to modify the stock wheel openings. With some careful planning, it was accomplished — they don’t rub!

Westminster Auto Upholstery stitched up the renewed interior, and audio sounds come from a dash-mounted Custom Auto Sounds head unit with 10-disc CD changer included in the system. The silver paint was shot by Bob Bauder and Lil’ Louie from San Bernardino, California, (AKA the Inland Empire) who handled the side stripe graphics, adding some color to the slabs of silver hue.

In the end, the Chevelle was finished and had the bugs sorted out before Charlie took it on the Hot Rod Power Tour. It performed flawlessly on tour to the delight of all parties involved. This car is filled with a wide variety of upgrades, and tons of power comes from the well-sorted LS engine, however it’s still very streetable and can be driven “normal” with ease. In fact, with the efficiency of the supercharged engine and the incorporation of the overdrive transmission, Charlie could even get some great fuel mileage if he kept his foot out of it. Has he ever gone out and done that? Nope, this high-horsepower machine provides way too much fun to baby it!