1970 Belvidere (FrameBender 2)

Is there anything better than a 1970 B-Body with giant steam rollers on the back? Of course not! I saw this one listed on Ebay and made a bid, mostly on a whim. It was located in Northern Idaho and had been listed a couple of times. I figured it’s location was the main reason why it had not sold yet.

My middle step-son, Chris, and I set out in his 2001 Dodge diesel with a borrowed car trailer one Friday night after work. January weather from Sacramento up through the mountains can be sketchy at times, but the weather report said cold & clear. Chris drove the first leg, stopping for fuel in Winnemucca, Nevada. I took over the driving and Chris nodded off. I had the cruise control set at 60 when (apparently) we hit some black ice. The turbo spooled up and the rear wheels broke loose. It was all I could do to (1) keep the truck within the lanes, and (2) get the damn cruise control turned off. Needless to say, Chris woke up with a jolt and we both were on the verge of needing clean shorts. We drove through the night, arriving in Lewiston, Idaho right on schedule the next morning.

It was a 1970 Belvidere, originally a 318, auto, A/C car, blue with a blue interior. It had been gutted and the rear frame rails had been narrowed, with a narrow rear already installed.

The car came with a builder 440 engine and I had some other parts that I was tossing around, trying to come up with a direction to build.

The car needed 1/4 panels and some floorboard work, so I started digging in.

As luck would have it, I got side-tracked with work and other projects, so this one got pushed aside. I did get the body sand blasted and primed, which made a world of difference, visually.

And then my luck turned for the worse; I was in a financial bind and selling the car was the easiest way to raise some cash. I put it on Ebay along with all of the parts I had collected for it and a buyer from Oklahoma drove out to pick it up. He said he had a Viper drivetrain that he wanted to install in the car, so off it went.