Mize injects life into his dad’s old car

By Murray Green

Mize

“It is very similar to a Chevelle, but technically a different model. I’ve only had the car for a couple of years. My dad (John) had this car back in his high school/college days. He drove it for many years. It came to the point that it needed a lot of work and he wanted something that he could keep driving, so he sold it,” said Caleb.

Although Caleb bought the car as drivable, he is restoring it as a project.

“He sold it to a guy in Drumheller in about 2010. When I started my mechanic apprenticeship in high school, I kicked around the idea to get a project car for something to fix. My dad had said, ‘I wonder if my friend still has that Chevelle I had in high school.’ His friend bought it with the intention of restoring it. We gave the guy a call and found it was just sitting in the garage, like some projects do,” explained Caleb.

“I bought it off of him and that is how I got it back. It is pretty cool to have the background information of the car. It is a fun story to tell. My dad tells me about when he went to college and burned rubber. He went back and collected the rubber as a memento. He rolled it into a ball and carried it with him,” laughed Caleb.

“When I first got the car, it was making a brutal knocking noise. We were scared it was going to be a full engine rebuild. I pulled the bottom end off,

Fun Facts

Chevrolet honoured California beach resorts once again by naming the top Chevelle series Laguna with the Malibu taking the middle spot, while the base series was called simply Deluxe. In addition to the standard 350 two-barrel V8, Laguna models featured specific front and rear styling including a body-colored urethane front end concealing the new five mph bumper system. Laguna models also featured a specific diecast chrome grille with bowtie emblem, a body-colored (steel) rear bumper, front and rear bumper rub strips, bright roof drip moldings, bright wheel opening moldings, chrome taillight bezels, full wheel covers and Laguna fender nameplates.

Two Laguna station wagons were introduced, including a Laguna Estate. Laguna interiors were pattern cloth and vinyl or optional breathable all-vinyl upholstery, distinctive door trim with map pockets, deep-twist carpeting, woodgrain vinyl accents, and Laguna nameplates.

The Laguna, which had been Chevelle’s top-of-theline model in 1973, became the sporty Laguna Type S-3 and was only available as a coupe. It combined Laguna luxury with the upgraded handling of the SS, which it replaced. It also included GR70-15 radial tires.

and checked all of the bearings and it all looked okay. It turned out to be the fly wheel that was rattling around, nothing in the engine,” shared Caleb.

“It ended up being a fairly easy fix, once the oil pan was off. It was also having some issues stalling out. We replaced the distributor, installed a new intake manifold. One of the rockers had twisted sideways. We replaced all of the lifters and push rods. We fixed the tachometer, installed an oil pressure gauge and replaced the temperature gauge because it wasn’t working. I like to see the pressure it has (instead of the just lights),” added Caleb.

“I haven’t looked at the brakes yet. Short term, I want to replace the fuel tank, I can only fill it a third of the way without leaking. It also has an exhaust leak. I would like to put headers on. Long term, it was originally a 454 big block engine with a four-speed manual transmission. The person who sold it to my dad had swapped it over to a 396 with a three-speed automatic. Apparently, his wife didn’t know how to drive a standard. People in drag racing will tell you the 396 is a better engine, but

I want it for cruising and to go back to the original engine size.”

Caleb wants to fully restore the car with body work completed. He may even paint it similar to the original colour it is now.