When Dan Runde was nine years old, he started building model cars. When he found a red with white stripes model of a ’70 Chevelle, he knew that someday he’d own one just like it. Fast forward a few years, and Dan holds a driver’s license and a yet-unfulfilled dream of owning his Chevelle. A serendipitous meeting with a discarded hood for an SS Chevelle sunk the hook even deeper into Dan’s resolve to get one.

Some things are meant to be, and Dan eventually found the life-sized 1970 Chevelle that he always wanted. The car left the factory painted Astro Blue, but over the years, at least four more coats of paint were applied to the car’s exterior. Dan stated, “The car had five coats of paint on it, so it needed to be stripped down to bare metal.”

That’s where Roy’s Paint and Performance of Plymouth, Iowa, comes in. Before the shiny stuff could go on, they needed to replace the trunk floor, both rear 1/4 panels, and prepare one new fender and the rest of the body. Whereas the previous paint jobs might not have considered all surfaces like door jambs and trunk lids. This time, Roy is focusing on all these areas and more, to ensure the high level of craftsmanship that Dan wants.

While the Chevelle body was getting the full treatment, the suspension was rebuilt with Moog parts, and the front springs were supplied by Santuff’s Suspension Specialties. The 12-bolt rearend was rebuilt using 3.73 gears, an Eaton posi unit, and Moser axles. It was then treated to UMI Performance control arms mounted at modified locations, and a BMR Suspension rear antiroll bar. All four corners ride on QA1 adjustable shocks, and this set up gives Dan different options when tuning the car’s suspension.

When Dan first bought the car, it was void of an engine or transmission. He has addressed that shortcoming, with the addition of a 496 cubic-inch big-block Chevrolet engine, featuring all forged internals. A Scat crankshaft moves Callies Compstar connecting rods, while Mahle pistons squeeze the air/fuel mixture to the tune of 10.3:1 under those AFR 265 heads with CNC’d chambers. The camshaft is a hydraulic roller “retro” grind from Clay Smith Cams, and directs the air supplied through an Edelbrock Victor Jr intake and Quick Fuel’s Q-950 carburetor. The package twisted the dyno to the tune of 664 lb-ft at 4,600 rpm, and 660 horsepower at just a tick under six grand.

Spent fumes exit the engine via the Doug’s headers and a 3 1/2-inch exhaust tubing to the X-pipe with 3-inch thereafter. Dynomax mufflers keep the sound respectable, but legal. The transmission is a Coan Racing Turbo 400, sporting a custom converter for those quick-on-the-draw moments, and was a 10-year anniversary present to Dan from his wife!

That hood Dan found tossed to the side of the road will soon be back on the road atop his long-awaited Chevelle.

While the car is still under construction, these images will cement the fact that it is sure to be an awesome ride when completed. We’ve asked Dan to keep us updated on the progress, and once his dream Chevelle has a few miles under its belt, perhaps we could get him to share the finished product with us, and our readers. Although it’s taken almost a lifetime for Dan to transfer his dream to a reality, he has been advancing towards completion at a steady rate.

It’s taken Dan, and the crew at Roy’s about a year and a half to get the car to this stage, and we’re sure that with the end in sight, there will be plenty of steam to keep the project moving ahead. Just like Dan, we’ve got these photos and a dream to help hold us over till then.