Dubbed, “Never Done” – this spectacular 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle LSX Custom was restored to high show quality condition throughout. It was built to pound the pavement on the strip or on the street. It was featured in All Chevy Performance Magazine in October of 2024 which is included. It's also won multiple awards including Goodguys “Custom Chevelle Pick” and Auto Rama “First Place” which is also both included. As the original VIN number indicates this car was built in Arlington, Texas. It was purchased in 2011 by Sam Palazzolo who lives in Houston, TX. Sam retired as the owner an automotive repair shop and dedicated many years to restoring this car hence why it's been dubbed, “Never Done”. His nephew Tim Palazzolo, the owner of GAP Industries assisted in some of the restoration. GAP Industries is one the top custom classic car shops that have won many prestigious awards over the years. The car was sent to David at Master Auto Body and Upholstery located in Houston, Texas. It was placed on a rotisserie, stripped to bare metal and painted. Sam did most of the assembly work and completed the car around 2014. The car was originally built with a 582ci big block with 1,071hp and a TH400 transmission. Having all that power was fun for a while, but the lack of street manners made it cumbersome to drive around town. Tim convinced Sam that replacing the engine with a 468ci LSX with a 4L80E transmission was the way to go as it would have plenty of power and the car could be driven on the street with no issues. Sam took Tim's advice and installed the new drivetrain in 2020. The entire build has just less than 400 miles of which 89 miles have been logged with the new engine and transmission. After 14 years of ownership and in his late 60's Sam decided to part ways with his labor of love.
The exterior of this car is absolutely stunning with its iconic factory design and overall condition. During the restoration process some of the sheet metal was replaced such as the front fenders and right rear quarter panel. It was outfitted with a Harwood fiberglass 4” cowl hood. The body is extremely straight with excellent gaps lines throughout. The doors close very nicely. It was refinished in Glasurit Boyd Coddington Red with black racing stripes. This color is striking and dresses the body perfectly. The show quality paint is virtually flawless and was recently detailed to a mirror finish by the team at MS CLASSIC CARS. Everything on the exterior has been replaced new including the front windshield glass, door glass, quarter glass, rear windshield glass, stainless glass trim, drop moldings, drivers side mirror, headlight bezels, headlights, front grille with SS emblem, front bumper, door handles, tail lights, rear bumper and pad with SS emblem. The car rolls on Weld Racing Alumastar 17x4.5 front wheels and 15x12 wheels. The front wheels are wrapped with Hoosier Drag Racing 27.5x4.5x17 tires and the rear wheels are wrapped with Hoosier Quick Time Pro 29x14.5x15 tires. The rear end was mini tubbed to accommodate the larger wheels and tires. Please note these are drag racing tires which aren't intended for regular street use. If the new owner wants to use the vehicle frequently on the street it would recommended adding new street radial tires.
The interior of this car is beautiful with its designed appointments and standard black color. It was outfitted with a 10-point 4130 chromoly roll cage by GAP Industries that was finished in black. The removable door bars and pins are included. It's equipped with a RJS Racing Equipment racing harness. GAP industries also installed new American Autowire wiring throughout. During the restoration process everything was replaced new including the headliner, dome light, rear view mirror, dash pad, dash fascia, door sills, door panels, door hardware, center console, bucket seats, rear seat, rear package tray, pedals and black loop carpeting. Some of the custom features include Dakota Digital HDX gauges, Ididit tilt column, Summit Racing 14” chrome steering wheel with black wrap, Vintage Air Conditioning, USB port, horseshoe shifter converted to OD, operational line lock button added to console, Retro Sound head unit, Pioneer 4.5” and 6x9 speakers, black carpeted Chevelle embossed floor mats. Three buttons were also added in the ash tray for the Nitrous system. The trunk compartment was completely restored and refinished in textured black paint for durability. The trunk lid pivots on aluminum hinges. The trunk houses the roll cage bars, 18-gallon custom stainless fuel tank, Nitrous bottle and Optima Red top battery. A power cut off knob was installed under the right side of the rear bumper.
The engine compartment of this car is highly detailed throughout with all new parts. Eddie Motorsports aluminum hinges support the Hardwood fiberglass 4” cowl hood that was smoothed and painted red on the backside. The firewall was smoothed and painted red. The inner fenders and radiator support were also painted red. All of the red paint was color sanded and buffed. The heart of this car is the Chevrolet Performance LSX 468ci that's rated with 850hp and with 1,150 on Nitrous. The engine was built by Late Model Engines (LME) located in Houston, Texas. LME is known for building no-nonsense LS an LT based engines with the utmost in performance and reliability. The LME bullet features a 4.185-inch bore and 4.250-inch stroked Callies Magnum wet-sump crankshaft, Diamond forged 12:1 pistons and Callies Ultra Billet 6.350-inch H-beam roads. The camshaft is a hydraulic roller and the heads are Brodix aluminum LS7 massaged by LME. Up top is an Accufab 6,500 throttle body propped on top of a Mast Motorsports LS7 two-piece, single-plane intake manifold fed by a Holley Dominator fuel injection system. Naturally aspirated, the engine makes approximately 850hp on pump gas and for additional power a Nitrous Outlet dual-rail 300-shot nitrous system boosts the LSX up in the neighborhood of 1,150hp. The engine was dressed with custom fabricated valve covers with Billet Specialties adaptors, Vintage Air front runner system and a Holley oil pan. MS CLASSIC CARS added the 14x3 red and black air cleaner. The engine is cooled by a custom aluminum radiator with dual SPAL electric fans. The radiator top cover, fan shrouds and hoses are polished to match. The engine breathes through ceramic headers and 4” stainless steel polished exhaust with Borla mufflers by GAP Industries. The engine is coupled to an RPM Level V 4L80E automatic transmission with 4800 stall converter and Hughes Performance pan. It's equipped with a Denny's Driveshafts custom 4130 driveshaft. The power is transferred to the Moser Fab 9 Housing with 40-spline axles and 4.10 gears.
The undercarriage of this car is also highly detailed throughout with all new parts. This undercarriage should be displayed with mirrors and lights at car shows. The original chassis was boxed and narrowed rear frame rails by GAP Industries. It was then stripped, prepped and painted black. The original floors were painted red, color sanded and buffed. The bottom of the custom polished stainless fuel tank and 4”exhaust pipes that go over the powder coated rear end is artwork. The front suspension parts include TRZ control arms, TRZ spindles, Strange Engineering double-adjustable coilover shocks, Moroso Trick springs and custom mounted power rack and pinion steering. The rear suspension parts include TRZ Motorsports control arms, custom 1.2500inch sway bar, Strange Enginnering double-adjustable shocks and Moroso Trick springs. The braking system parts include a chrome booster, Wilwood master cylinder, Wilwood 11” drilled and slotted rotors with 4-piston polished calipers.
To be clear, there was no expense spared in the restoration of this amazing street machine. A comparable build to this car in today's market would easily exceed to $250,000 with parts and labor. This is a great opportunity to purchase one of the best!
