1968 Chevrolet Chevelle convertible SS clone, 396, 4 speed, 9" rear

I have up for sale my 1968 Chevrolet Chevelle convertible, SS clone. This car is NOT a real SS car. It's a 13667 vin original V8 Malibu that has been built into an SS clone. There were under 11,000 68 Chevelle convertibles built. About 2200 were true 138 vin SS cars and 835 were 6 cyl versions. That leaves a total of 6959 68 Malibu V8 convertibles made. Even though it's not a real SS, it's still a low production car. This is a restored 68 Malibu convertible that has been built as an SS clone. It's a rust free car with a super straight body, like new interior, newer convertible top, 396 big block motor, 4 speed trans, and a Ford 9" rear with 3:70 gears and Traction Lock. This car started life as a small block 327 Malibu. The 327 is long gone having been replaced by a 1970 396. The casting number of the block is 3969854 and the engine suffix on the pad at the front of the motor is CTW. This identifies this motor as a 1970 396/350HP. It has 1970 oval port cylinder heads with ID number 3964290. The motor has been rebuilt with a .030 overbore, with new forged pistons. It has a Cloyes double roller timing chain, Melling high volume oil pump, and a Comp Cams XE268H cam. It has an Edelbrock Performer aluminum intake along with a QuickFuel 750 CFM carb with vacuum secondaries. It also runs an MSD HEI distributor. The motor started life as a 350HP motor and I'd say that the upgrades have added somewhere around 25-50HP putting this motor as a 375-400HP motor. It pulls strong, has good oil pressure, and runs steady at 190 degrees no matter what time of the year. The rest of the engine details are a factory clutch fan set up along with an aluminum 4 core radiator, a set of unknown brand headers runs back to a 2-1/2" mandrel bent Pypes exhaust system with Pypes mufflers. The exhaust runs straight out through factory style exhaust tips. This motor starts right up and has great throttle response. It has a nice lopey Musclecar idle and sounds strong through the mufflers. All the power of the motor runs through a 1969 Muncie M-21 4 speed manual trans back to a Ford 9" rear with Traction lock and 3:70 gears. This combination makes for a great driver. It's a blast to run a big block through a 4 speed with a set of 3:70 gears. It shifts smoothly through all the gears and the clutch holds well. The Ford 9" rear is well known as being the strongest and most durable rear axle assembly in production. It's held in place by a set of tubular upper and lower control arms as well as having a heavy duty rear sway bar. The body of this Chevelle is in very nice condition. It underwent a complete restoration receiving 2 new quarter skins. The trunk and floors are completely rust free. The entire floor area of the car was sandblasted and treated to a Rhino lining to protect it from the elements. The doors and front fenders are straight and in outstanding condition and the factory flat hood was replaced by a steel SS style hood. The paint is a basecoat clearcoat in a dark burgundy. I'd call it more like a black cherry. It's a cool color in a sea of red, black, and blue cars at a cruise night. It really gets a lot of attention. It shines very nicely and looks fantastic. Because this car is driven about 700 miles a year there is one or two very small rock chips in the paint but otherwise it looks fantastic. The driver's side quarter slightly shows the signs of the new quarter being installed but you have to be really close to see it. Otherwise the car looks outstanding. The convertible top is like brand new. It's black and has a heavier duty material than OEM. The top is manual but can be put down by one person in seconds. The top frame is great shape and goes up and down easily. The interior is in fantastic condition. It's a factory GM tan which goes really well with the dark burgundy paint. The front and rear seats have been recovered and are like new. The door panels, carpet, and dash pad are all like new. It's a factory bench seat, 4 speed set up which again draws tons of attention. The dash is a custom set up with 6 aftermarket Auto Meter gauges instead of idiot lights. It has a huge 5" tach and speedometer alongside of 4 2-1/16" gauges for oil pressure, water temp, volts, and fuel level. All the gauges work as well as the interior lights. Inside the glove box is a Custom Autosound stereo system. It has a large control box under the passenger side of the seat with a small 4" control panel inside the glove box. The kick panels have speakers as well as a factory style speaker mounted under the dash. But the sound isn't really easy to hear. With the top down and the exhaust humming you don't really hear much. The suspension on the car is basically stock. It has manual brakes with factory style disc in the front and drum in the rear. The front set up has a set of factory style big block coil springs with AC Delco shocks. The rear suspension has a set of tubular upper and lower control arms and a heavy duty rear sway bar. The 9" rear has drum brakes. The wheels are 15" American Racing Torque Thrust's with BF Goodrich Radial T/A tires. The front tires are 235/60/15's and the rear tires are 275/60/15's. The tires are practically brand new with less than 2000 miles on them. This is a very nice, clean, straight car. The big block 396 pulls strong through the gears. The Muncie 4 speed shifts nicely and the rear axle assembly is near bullet proof. The paint and interior are in fantastic condition. The steering is nice and tight for an A body car. It's basically a finished car that needs very little. Everything works from heat, to defrost, to lights and turn signals. It looks great and sounds great on the road. That being said it's a 48 year old car and will need to be started and bought up to temperature. It's got power steering with manual brakes. It has a few minor things to be aware of. It does have a minor rear main seal leak as most big block Chevy's do. It's nothing major but it will occasionally drip onto the floor of your garage. Other than that the shifter is slightly sloppy. I have a set of brand new shifter linkage bushings and I'm expecting to have them installed by the time the auction ends. This is a nice reliable convertible big block, 4 speed clone that looks and runs great, and I have it priced accordingly. I am including 2 YouTube video's that I made of the car as well as attaching a LOT of extra pictures. I am happy to answer any additional questions you may have about the car. Please feel free to ask. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvNm3a4mTsg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bB-pV-UToY