Home-Built Hero: Kim Eriksson’s ’71 Chevelle

Burn out show Ljungbyhed raceway 1Kim Eriksson is a 28-year-old guy who hails from Sweden, and his Chevy is living proof that the American musclecar is alive and well. He grew up in a small village called Knäred, and now works as a machine operator at a manufacturing plant. He told us that he has always been interested in American musclecars. “When I was younger, I went to car shows with my family, and that’s how I got really interested in American musclecars.” But it wasn’t until 2009 when Kim was finally able to acquire his own American dream car.

The frame restorated and new paint the old motor 350 Hi performace

A frame-off restoration begins by, well, restoring the frame.

Kim was happy to report, “In 2009, my brother and I went to The Start of Summer Power Meet in Hässleholm, Sweden. That is where I saw a Chevelle, and I told my brother, ‘I am going to have a car like that one day’.” It took Kim several years to save enough money, but eventually, he was able to start looking for a Chevelle to own.

Body painted at Osby Billack

Just a swingin’.

He began by checking out several Internet sites, and finally located a Chevelle that was in the town of Osby. Lucky for him, that was only a 40 minute ride from Knäred. Kim said, “It was owned by a guy named Pierre Harrysson. I sent him an email, and he called me 10 minutes later. The day after I went and look at it, I became the owner of my dream car.”

Interior

Kim’s Chevelle was imported from California to Sweden in 2005. Pierre Harrysson bought it, and began the restoration in 2007. According to Kim, “Everything is done to the car. The body was lifted from the frame, and every bolt and screw has been replaced.” It was painted with a Land Rover gold hue as a base, and then several layers of Candy Apple Red were applied over that. To finish the job, 12 layers of clearcoat protect the gorgeous hue from the elements.

Under the hood is a newly-built Chevrolet 496 ci big-block. The four-bolt-main block is filled with a 4340-steel crankshaft, H-beam connecting rods, and Probe pistons. The final compression ratio comes in at a very street friendly 10.8:1. Above the Howard’s roller camshaft is a set of Procomp cylinder heads, and an Edelbrock Air-Gap intake supporting a Holley 850 cfm Speed Demon carburetor. Sending the spent fumes out the rear of the car is a set of ceramic-coated Hedman “shorty” headers with Flowmaster 2 ½-inch mufflers.

Enginr today 496Cui 530horse power

Behind the stroked mill is a 700R4 with reverse-shifted valvebody and a 2,800-stall converter. The rearend is a 10-bolt with 3.55 gears and an Auburn differential. Once everything gets moving, the Chevelle uses a set of Wilwood disc brakes on front and the original drums on the rear to bring it to a halt. If you like those wheels, they are from American Racing, and are wrapped with 245/40-18 Falkens on the front, and 295/45-18 Nitto 555s on the rear.

DSC_0142

Kim finished by telling us, “I’ve driven to many car shows here in Sweden, and the car is comfortable on long drives.” Kim continued, “I have a few upgrades planned for the future, which include adding a 12-bolt rearend and long tube headers with a 3-inch exhaust. Fuel injection is also high on the list, as well as a bigger camshaft, but we’ll see what happens. I am very happy with the car, and will probably keep it for a long time.”

DSC_0138

Do you want to read about more Home-Built Heros? All you need to do is click here. If you own a Home-Built Hero, we want to hear about it. Since we’ve started the Home-Built Hero series, we have received more than a few candidates, but we still want to see more, as we can never get enough. If you want to see more cars built by you the readers, send us a few pictures of your car showing the engine, interior, and exterior, along with all of the pertinent information, and we’ll make you Internet famous. You can send your submissions to [email protected].

About the author

Randy Bolig

Randy Bolig has been working on cars and has been involved in the hobby ever since he bought his first car when he was only 14 years old. His passion for performance got him noticed by many locals, and he began helping them modify their vehicles.
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