Home-Built Hero: Kenny Kee’s 1973 Chevelle Malibu

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When it comes to finding and ultimately buying a classic car, many times, timing plays a huge role. Take for instance this ’73 Chevelle now owned by Kenny Kee. Kenny tells us, “Before I bought the Chevelle in June of 1996, I would see the car sitting in a carport every day when I was taking my daughter to the sitter.”  One day, Kenny and his daughter were taking their usual drive, when Kenny says he saw an older gentleman mowing the lawn, so he decided to stop and ask him about the car. “He said it was his 83 year old father’s car, and although he could no longer drive, he felt better knowing his car was still there. I left my phone number in hopes he would call.”

Day one at the school-operated body shop.

Time marches on, and two years later, the gentleman Kenny spoke with called and asked if he was still interested in that old blue car. According to Kenny, “I was there the next day to pick it up.” The owner was asking $1000.00 for the car, but Kenny says he only had $500 in his pocket. Kenny told us, “He said I looked like the kind of guy that would take care of it, so he met me in the middle at $750.”

This is the first photo that Kenny took of his car as soon as he got it home.

This is the first photo that Kenny took of his car as soon as he got it home.

Kenny took his new-to-him Chevelle home, and immediately cleaned it up and got it running. It didn’t take a lot of work, as the car only had 49,000 original miles on it. Kenny says that the only work ever done to the car was a replacement battery, and a set of tires from Sears. The rest of the car was original, right down to the spiral shocks and RF shield on the points distributor.

Kenny says, “I added a set of 15X8 Corvette Rally wheels and a dual exhaust, and would take short trips around town. I really liked the look of the 73 SS, and decided to start collecting parts.” This is when he converted the dash from having “idiot lights” to a panel with SS gauges, including a tachometer . He also added swivel bucket seats.

Day one at the school-operated body shop.

Like happens so often, kids and family took priority, so the Chevelle sat for roughly 10 years under a cover in the driveway. One day in 2012, his neighbor’s son Steven came into town to visit, and they were talking about cars and what Kenny would like to do with the Chevelle someday. Two weeks later Kenny got a surprise phone call, “I got a call from Steven who happens to be a teacher at a collision repair school, he had mentioned my car to his boss, and he said they wanted to paint my car as the school project this coming year.” To say Kenny was excited to get help painting his car is an understatement. But, he had one problem he had to overcome, he lived in Louisiana, and the school was in New Castle, Pennsylvania.

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He finally found someone to transport the car, and when it reached the school, the students removed all of the glass, doors, fenders, hood and trunk lid, and sanded everything down to bare metal. They next fixed the 40 years of dings and some surface rust. Kenny says, “I’ve always been fond of blue, and there was no other color that was going back on the Chevelle. After months of comparing paint chips from every known manufacturer, I decided on 2014 Corvette Stingray Laguna Blue. I call it Blue My Mind Pearl, and I must say it is amazing.” What started out as a 9-month project, turned into 27 months, but it was worth it though, as on December 26th 2014 he got his car back.

Kenny finished by saying, “After painting the car and replacing the windshield, my total for everything was $1675.00.” Kenny has since added a set of Intro Matrix wheels, and that is how the sits today with only 53,000 miles on the odometer.

Day one at the school-operated body shop.

He is still working on restoring the interior, and even though the engine is a stock 350 with a two-barrel carburetor, someday he would like to add an LS engine with an overdrive transmission.

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 are still in need of more. 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.
Read My Articles

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