The first edition of Cruiser Highlight is about Eddie DiIorio and his 1972 Chevy Chevelle.

If you went to our Wags & Wheels Festival, chances are that you saw Eddie take home the Best in Show Award for that car show. I asked him if he could write something about his time with the car. His story is a true BUILT, NOT BOUGHT story!

In the words of Eddie:

I have owned my 1972 Chevelle since August 1974. This is the first car that I ever purchased. I am the second owner, unfortunately the first owner had already removed the original 350 cubic inch engine and installed a 327 cubic inch, hence I no longer have the original engine.

 

My wife and I had our first date in this car, that is after a full day of detailing on the car, I went to pick her up. Well to my surprise, she wasn’t impressed and she said it was NICE. I won’t be kidding when I say that comment busted my bubble of how I wanted to impress her. She did say later (years later) “did you want me to love you or your car?

 

Fast forward four years, I took the car to our wedding for a getaway car, BIG mistake! The bridal party dumped confetti and rice all over the inside of the car. So at the end of our wedding, I took my bride to the car wash and vacuumed it.

 

Thirty years after, when the restoration began, rice and confetti was hidden deep into the duct system of the car only to remind me of that night.

 

Two fast years later and one child stuffed in the back seat with a car seat, we realized its not working out. We decided in the best interest of our child to park the car. I ended up building a garage to house the vehicle while I attempted to do some prep work for restoration.

 

Well again the family was growing and having a total of three girls, this restoration sat idle for 28 years when our middle daughter asked if I could get it ready for her up and coming wedding for 2013. I said sure, but six months into the restoration I realized that this car would take a lot longer than one year to do full restoration. So, no Chevelle for my daughter’s wedding.

 

An off-frame restoration was needed to do this properly. Fast forward to 2019 when Covid hit and it was time to leave work permanently and retire before I brought Covid home to my wife. Now I had the time and the frame off, the restoration took off. Removing the body from the frame and tag and bag all the fasteners and components. This meant spending most of my time sandblasting, sanding and painting parts.

 

I spent numerous hours searching for parts online. This became my biggest obstacle because availability just wasn’t there because of Covid. I became best friends with an online rep from Summit Racing.

 

As far as the in-depth engine rebuild, I sent the engine to Skarrzi Machine Shop in Plymouth. There, they upgraded and restored my acquired 427 engine, boring cylinders, installing cam bushings and balancing internals. I opted to replace the carburetor with Holley fuel injection and in-tank fuel pump. The transmission I completely rebuilt and added a gear vendors overdrive unit to it. Differential was upgraded with a new carrier, bearings and a new set of 373 gears. The suspension was upgraded to a full Hotchkiss sport package. Along with Wilwood 4 wheel disc brake and Hydro-boost kit. The interior was totally gutted, sandblasted and painted. A full heat shield was applied to the floor, firewall and roof of the car. Seats were fully stripped down, re-cushioned and re-upholstered. The dash was upgraded to a full Dakota gauge package.

 

The finish product of my restoration was completed in November 2022, successfully reaching my goal of getting the car back on the road on the 50th anniversary of the 72 Chevelle.

 

A special thanks to Sully for wiring the car, Patrick for headliner assistance and Charlie, Bob and Dave for paint and body restoration.