By Scotty Lachenauer – Images by the Author
There is no substitute for experience, and no one knows that better than Limerick, Pennsylvania’s own Mark Rubright. This muscle car master has been “runnin’ whut he brung” since he was barely old enough to legally drive. “I started racing my burgundy ’68 Chevelle when I was 16. Street racing was a way of life for me, and I spent my time setting up races and taking on the competition. Yeah, and I still have that Chevelle,” Mark says.
That first Chevy would go on to be rebuilt several times, each incarnation bringing lower e.t.’s. “At first, it ran 13s, then I redid it and ran 12s. By the time I was 18 I rebuilt it again, turning the Chevelle into a serious contender,” Mark states. “I was running 9.90s in Super Street and Outlaw Pro Street.” Mark would go on to race on TV shows like Pinks, No Prep Kings, and Street Outlaws, racking up wins and a solid reputation along the way.
After years of racing and building his own cars, Mark was getting a lot of side work building street racers for a select clientele. After running NMCA with his burgundy ’68 Chevelle, he shifted gears, so to speak. At that point he decided to open his own shop and started building race and muscle cars on a daily basis. To this day Mark has built hundreds of cars, many of which have won big races and ended up being featured in magazines.
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As one would guess, the ’68 Chevelle is Mark’s favorite car of all time. “Like I said, I still own my first ’68, and it’s been my primary race car since I bought it,” Mark confirms. “Over the years I built it into a track terror. However, when I first built the car it was a daily driver, so I wanted to go back for a second round and find another ’68 to recreate the car I drove in high school and do it in true Day Two fashion, set up with a four-speed, tunnel ram, and tow tabs.”
So, Mark searched high and low for a new project and eventually found it 200 miles away in Pittsburgh. It was a former bracket car and was a good starting point for his ’80s-inspired build. It had a few things that had to go, and of course it needed a few choice add-ons to make it into the car he knew it could be.
The Chevelle came with a 468ci big-block hooked up to an automatic transmission for racing. “I immediately pulled the engine and trans, then I went through the engine and freshened it up, Mark states. “It’s built with 11:1 compression and sports a set of cast-iron 990 heads. Next, I installed a Weiand tunnel ram, topped by a pair of Holley 660 center squirters, and finished it off with some chrome velocity stacks.”
From there Mark added a set of Hooker Super Comp headers feeding a 3.5-inch stainless exhaust with Flowmaster mufflers, the latter giving Mark the nasty tone he craved. Engine management is done with the help of an MSD 6AL ignition box.
Next on the list was an array of suspension mods. These were done knowing that Mark not only wanted a wicked stance, but he also needed the Chevy to hook up off the line. Up front went a set of Art Morrison tubular control arms and a set of Competition Engineering drag shocks. From there Mark rebuilt the stock disc brakes. Out back he did the same, with new tubular control arms and drag shocks all the way around. Power is put to the pavement courtesy of a GM 12-bolt built up with a Moroso Brute Strength differential stuffed with 4.10 gears. A set of Cragar S/S wheels (15×4 front, 15×8 rear) add to that perfect Day Two look.
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Inside Mark cut out the rollbar to free up space and to rebuild the cockpit, complete with stock vinyl bucket seats and some tasty add-ons. “I wanted the interior to look like it did back in my high school days, so I recovered the seats with fresh upholstery and kept most of it looking the way it came from the factory,” Mark continues. “I added the Hurst shifter and a trio of Sun column-mounted gauges to complete the look I was after.”
Mark liked the color the Chevelle came with and realized the paintjob was worth saving. He also found that most of the skin was in great shape even with a few battle cars from its racing days. He blended in some new LeMans Blue on the flanks to give the Chevelle’s exterior a freshening up then replaced the damaged trim bits and added a pair of new chrome bumpers fore and aft.
Once completed, Mark’s newly built ride brought him back to his high school days. The car performed on the street just like his other Chevelle did before its racing days. “I wanted to build a car that gave me the feeling I had in the ’80s, and I succeeded in doing just that,” Mark confirms. “But like all my builds, it’s a total badass. Even though it’s my street ride, it ran a best of 10.83 at 123 mph in the quarter. Not too shabby for a cruiser.”
ACP
TECH CHECK
Owner: Mark Rubright, Limerick, Pennsylvania
Vehicle: 1968 Chevelle SS
Engine
Type: Big-block Chevy
Block: 454
Displacement: 468 ci
Compression: 11:1
Bore: 4.310
Stroke: 4.000
Cylinder heads: GM cast-iron 990 rectangular port
Rotating Assembly: Steel crank, steel rods, JE pistons
Valvetrain: Manly valves, Comp roller rockers
Camshaft: Comp Cam 630 solid camshaft
Induction: Weiand tunnel ram intake, two 660-cfm Holley double-pumpers with center squirters, and velocity stacks
Ignition: MSD 6AL
Exhaust: Hooker Super Comp headers, 3.5-inch exhaust, Flowmaster mufflers
Output: 650 hp
Quarter-Mile E.T.: 10.83 at 123 mph
Drivetrain
Transmission: M21 four-speed with Hurst Shifter
Rearend:12-bolt Moroso, Brute Strength posi, 4.10 gears
Chassis
Front Suspension: Art Morrison tubular front control arms, stock front disc brakes, Competition Engineering drag shocks
Rear Suspension: Art Morrison tubular upper and lower control arms, Competition Engineering drag shocks
Wheels & Tires
Wheels:15×4 Cragar S/S front, 15×8 Cragar S/S rear
Tires: Nankang CX668 165/80R15 front, Mickey Thompson Sportsman 12×28.5×15 rear
Interior
Upholstery: Factory SS interior
Material: Vinyl
Seats: Factory buckets
Gauges: Stock dash with Sun Super Tach and Sun Blue Line gauges
Exterior
Paint: LeMans Blue
Body Work: Touch-ups by owner
Hood: Factory SS hood
Extras: Front tow tabs
Click on this issue’s cover to see the enhanced digital version of Day Two 1968 Chevelle Restomod.
