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MANY SHADES OF RESTORATION: A Chevelle by any other colour still drives
as sweet |
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STORY: Trevor Kuna
PHOTOGRAPHY: Douglas Little
Curtis Cove has owned and restored over 30 vehicles since he
was a teenager. The one car that has been with him the longest
is his 1966 black Chevrolet Chevelle convertible. Currently
shown at Extreme Performance Exhaust on McPhillips Street, the
Chevelle is now more Keith Relf's toy than Cove's.
Relf, previously with Speedy Muffler, Benders Brake and Muffler
and now owner of Extreme, said he decided to show the Chevelle
at his shop because it really is his signature car - even though
he doesn't own it. "A lot of people refer to me from that
ragtop because I drive it more than Curtis now," said Relf,
who has approximately 25 years experience in the stock, modification,
and performance industry. "I helped out with tons of work
on the car plus I even decided the colour we were going to paint
it."
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Cove bought the silver (original colour was lemonwood yellow)
car with his friend Roger Runzer for $1,200 in 1979, when they
were in Grade 10. A friend of Cove's who owned the car had passed
away and the fiancé was left with the car. Even though
the car was 13 years old, it had no body rust on it and still
to this day has all its original sheet metal. The factory 396
engine was blown, so Cove and Runzer put in a 396 from a 1968
Chevelle.
"The first time we took it apart was in Grade 11,"
said Cove. "The car was a plain Jane model. It had no power
top, no power brakes, and no power steering. It was built strictly
for a guy who didn't have a lot of money but was willing to
spend some money on a big horsepower engine. And since metallic
browns were big back in that era we chose to paint it beer bottle
brown."
Since the Chevelle wasn't in restored shape, Cove said he built
the car for speed, adding air shocks and ladder bars simply
for that purpose.
"We built this car for the sole purpose of going red light
to red light," said Cove. "It wasn't built for taking
it on the highway for a cruise. At about 60 miles per hour you
would be topping it out."
In 1985, when guys his age were just starting to restore cars,
Cove stripped the Chevelle again and painted it red. In the
process he also went back to stock - chopping the ladder bars
out and removing the air shocks.
Cove bought out Runzer in 1986 and returned to a 65 per cent
restoration on the car. Items not included were the factory
shifter, gears and red line tires. As years passed, Cove realized
the car was beginning to be worth something, so he enlisted
the help of Relf in the early '90s. Cove and Relf had known
each other since they were 16.
"Before, it (the Chevelle) was just a car," said Cove.
"Then you start tracing the numbers and find out how valuable
the car is. We thought it would be a good idea to put it all
back to original stock, so Keith and I did a frame-off on it
again."
After showing the car in Minneapolis in 1992, Cove saw there
was not a single black Chevelle in sight, so he and Relf decided
it was time for a change. Stripping the car in 1993, Cove had
Kenny Lang, who does restoration and custom paint jobs in Winnipeg,
paint it black. Cove said every time he repainted the car he
took it back to the metal so he wouldn't have to worry about
Bondo or rust, which in return keeps the body lines all crisp.
Cove attended the 1994 car show in Minneapolis, and to his surprise,
found five black Chevelles, sitting all in a row. Nevertheless
this was by far the best show he had ever attended, seeing as
that he won awards for Best Paint and Best in its Class. Cove
said trying to keep the car stock for the show was a difficult
task because under International Show Car Association rules,
you are only allowed one major and two minor changes to a restoration
car.
Since the show in 1994, Cove has not shown the car, noting that
restoring it has taken a back seat to family life. However,
selling it is not an option.
"We've hemmed and hawed about the car for a lot of years,"
said Cove. "I was going to sell it a few years ago, just
to get rid of it. But it's become part of the family. One of
our kids will probably drive it to graduation.
"The only problem with the car is it's getting to be worth
so much that you just can't drive it like you used to. It has
so much power. I remember I had a 442, and I sold it to a guy
whose son wrote it off two days later. After you have those
experiences you don't want to let go of that old metal."
Keeping the Chevelle in restoration shape has proved to be quite
an adventure for Cove, as he said certain parts went mysteriously
missing or either failed him.
"I'm still looking for a cigarette lighter," said
Cove with a laugh. "It was probably in there one day and
I was joking about quitting smoking and I probably threw it
away. Or there was the time where the hook that holds the top
down broke when we were at a show down in the States. After
the show we drove back home with our hands on the roof holding
it down so it didn't blow off. We couldn't leave the top down
because it was pouring rain. We've had a lot of fun times in
that car. It's part of history."
It's this history that prompted Relf to show the Chevelle convertible
at his shop. Proud of his accomplishments and all those countless
hours spent on the car, Relf said he welcomes anyone to come
down to Extreme Performance Exhaust and check out the car with
the colourful past. |
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