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Words: Tommy Parry
When Kevin inherited this Caprice from his dad 19 years ago, it already had a nice array of parts. A 396 mated to a Powerglide, a vinyl top, drum brakes, and whitewall tires were a classy collection of bits - one of which anyone could be proud. Classic in every way except the coat of black covering it, Kevin was happy with this stylish Caprice for a while. Eventually, his need for a more agile, powerful car got him thinking - and then he started tinkering.
Becoming aware of the car's shortcomings was only part of the impetus to improve. After hitching a ride in a friend’s car at the Power Tour, he made a commitment to attending it one day in his own car.
A few years later, he started the first phase of modifications. A 700R4 trans, 4-wheel disc brakes, 2" drop spindles, 1.5" drop springs, Hotchkis suspension, a new exhaust and 17" wheels rounded out the short list. It served him well at the Power Tour for the next couple years, but then life intervened and his responsibilities as a father forced the Caprice onto the back burner for nearly a decade.
Once the kids were off on their own, Kevin dusted off the cobwebs and embarked on the second phase. The biggest change came in the form of a new powertrain. After selling the 396, Kevin snagged an L98/6L90E combo from a friend with a wrecked Escalade. That powerplant served as inspiration for the next few years as rust held back his progress. A gleaming motor was what helped keep him moving forward when things seemed bleak.
Unfortunately, the vinyl top had rusted out the rear window channel, which in turn leaked into the floorpans and trunk pans. To save metal, he bought floorpan “halves” to fix the driver-front and passenger-rear pans. To keep it looking as pristine as possible, he ground off the top of the seams and hid the undersides beneath floor braces, seam sealer and paint/undercoating.
Then came time to fix the corroded trunk floor, which he revamped with three-piece pans from Tamraz. With the seams set up to be over the trunk braces, they were completely unnoticeable once seam-sealed and painted.
Once the rust issues had been resolved, Kevin had his share of issues of engine installation. The eBay adapter plates and Energy Suspension poly motor mounts pushed the motor too far forward, so Kevin tried a clever remedy.
He relocated the stands on the crossmember rearward. This required some 1/4" plate to allow the stands to cantilever off the back of the crossmember. A little gusseting came next to fortify the crossmember.
Stuffing the motor was easier than fitting the gearbox, however. Plenty of hacking was necessary to get the girthy 6L90E into place; it ended up fitting, but sitting a bit too low for this liking. So that gearbox went up for sale and a smaller 4L80E went in its place. Now he had all the gearbox clearance he needed for the air ride he planned to use, and all it required was a relocation of the crossmember.
Then came time to modify the Pacesetter headers to fit around the Flaming River steering column. In the place of the old collectors went new Hooker collectors, which now feed into Flowmaster ball flanges. These taper from 3” into 2.5” at the tail end.
Fairly comfortable with the way the engine was looking, he turned his attention to the Ridetech air suspension at both ends. By modifying the lower control arms and mounting the airbags to the Hotchkis bars, it all fit in nicely. It also had the effect of lowering the car to the point where the oil pan scraped along the road - so he had to fabricate a skid plate.
Returning to the engine bay, Kevin started shaving. He stripped the firewall down to bare metal and decided to keep the seam across the top and leave the stiffening ribs instead of making the entire firewall smooth. The brake booster and master cylinder remained, but the A/C box was replaced with a Vintage Air unit and the wiper motor was shaved.
On the other side of the firewall, Kevin laid a long strip of sheetmetal in place of the gauge opening and started tacking on the other accessories he’d have relaying all the pertinent data. A Dakota Digital controller for the Vintage Air unit went in the old radio’s position, while the Ridetech air ride controller went just beneath that in the space once dedicated to stubbed-out Chesterfields.
While he never intended the motor be a complete powerhouse, he figured a few modifications would do no harm. Besides, he hadn’t yet installed it again after pulling it out during the transmission swap. A performance valve job, a Comp VVT cam, LS9 head gaskets and Holley valve covers rounded out the short list of upgrades to make the most out of this potent but basic engine.
It’s been nearly two decades in the making, and there’s still a great deal of work ahead before this Caprice meets Kevin’s lofty standards. To keep tabs on its progress, you can check the build thread here.
