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While most of us project our car projects to take only a few months, or maybe even a year, they tend to take much longer than that. No one knows that better than Tom Farrington, a Pro-Touring.com member that started work on his ‘66 Chevelle in 2002 and finally got it close to finished this year. With the ultimate autocross car in mind, Farrington and his family have put countless hours, money and work into this impressive build. Take a look at Farrington’s amazing project.
Farrington owned a ‘65 Malibu and a ‘67 Chevelle SS when he was younger and dating his wife, Deb. As many of us know, life sometimes reroutes our priorities and Farrington sold the Chevelle in 1987, but he swore he wasn’t done with muscle cars forever. In 2002, Farrington was in Sacramento, California doing some work with 
the National Guard when his wife came to visit him for Memorial Day. On her visit, the Farringtons decided that it was a good time to get back into the car scene and buy a project Chevelle. After scouring the classifieds, they found a the ‘66 Chevelle in Yuba City and took it home to start building.
The ‘66 is a two-door hardtop that was completely solid when found. When Farrington started his build thread on Pro-Touring.com in December of 2009, he noted that plans for the Chevelle had changed plenty of times along with decisions about components to use since the project started in 2002.
As of 2009, the build included a 454cui engine that was set to be LS-based eventually, Tremec T-56 transmission, Moser axels, a 12-bolt Eaton Posi-traction rear end and 4.56 rear end gears. To achieve the status of an ultimate pro-touring car, the modern suspension components for the Chevelle included Hotchkis sway bars, Global West lower A-arms, DSE front and rear coilovers, SPC upper A-arms, ATS/AFX spindles, Currie lower control arms and Edelbrock adjustable upper control arms. Adding to the car’s comfort was a Vintage Air Gen IV unit and front runner serpentine setup, as well as Procar Scat bucket seats. Baer brakes were being used in the front and rear for proper stopping power.
Since his build thread was started, Farrington has run into plenty of problems with the Chevelle build but has also made some serious headway. This May, the Chevelle completed its first autocross course with its LS engine and ran through the 2011 season strong.
For more information on the ‘66 Chevelle, make sure to check out the massive build thread Farrington has updated regularly on Pro-Touring.com. Although the car was a long time in the making, it goes to show just how good of results you can get with extra time put into your project car. We look forward to seeing Farrington and his Chevelle thrash through autocross courses from now on.
