Steve Buscarino was looking for a Butternut Yellow 1967 Chevelle SS396 when he found this car in Michigan. It was an original “138” car, meaning it was a genuine SS — an L78 375-horse model, no less — and it was covered in the desired Butternut Yellow paint, but it did not have the original engine.

He took this as the go-ahead to build a customized Chevelle SS396 to his standard, though one that was less “396” and a lot more “454.” Upon checking the Trim Tag, he realized that the car was originally Marina Blue.

Lowered with goodies from BMR Suspension, the original L78 SS396 makes an impactful visual statement from any angle. (Photo by Evan J. Smith)

What would you do? Keep it yellow or change it back to factory?

“When I got it home, my body guy and I went over it. We decided to change a couple of panels. We did the panel work and then we saw that it was an original Marina Blue car with a vinyl top,” recalled Steve, a retired New York City policeman who moved to Florida to open two Edible Arrangements stores. “We did the panel work and decided to go back to the original Marina Blue.”

They also added the correct black vinyl top to the car, which was M.I.A. Digi-Tails supplied the LED parking and taillights. Ring Brothers door handle and mirrors are the final touch on the exterior.

Real L78 powered SS396 Chevelles are more uncommon than you think. The plan with this one was to make the car a daily driver. He didn’t narrow the rear or minitub it, but for the sake of driveability, the antique underpinnings were upgraded with the works from BMR Suspension, along with Viking coilovers at each corner, and a Summit Racing frame stiffening kit. This greatly enhanced the way the A-body drives and corners. Steve added Billet Specialties wheels, Wilwood brakes (six-piston fore and four-piston aft), and fat, sticky Nitto 555 radials (235/45ZR17s front, 255/50ZR17s rear)

LS Power — But Not What You Think

Steve went a little overboard with the first 454 he dropped in. In his words, it was pretty aggressive, making in the neighborhood of 750 or so horsepower. Deciding it was less streetable than he cared for, the solution was LS power, but not the kind you are thinking of. He found a legit LS7 454 Rat, which he rebuilt. He punched it out to 468 cubes, and compression was lowered to a pump-gas friendly 10.5:1. It has a custom cam of his choosing, stock LS7 heads, and Holley Sniper fuel injection on an Edelbrock Victor Jr. intake manifold. It exhales through Hooker headers, Borla race mufflers, and three-inch pipes.

One thing you’ll notice under the steel NPD cowl hood is just how sanitary everything appears. He employed AN fittings not just for the fuel lines, but the coolant hoses, too. It had power steering from the factory, which he ditched when he installed the first big-block, but with the larger-than-stock rolling stock, he felt it was too hard to steer.

Steve reverted to power steering, but really went outside the box here.

Electric power steering unit from a Honda was installed in the truck under the package tray. Next to it is a bluetooth stereo because, well, you can’t have a cool hot rod without rock ‘n’ roll. (Photo by Evan J. Smith)

“One day I was in bed thinking ‘what can I do?’ and I said, hell, I’ve been working on cars forever, and I know they have electric power steering out there, and that’s when I came up the solution for this car,” said Steve, who crews on the KD Racing NHRA Pro Stock Camaro. “I made a bracket for it and mounted it in the trunk. I wired up the chassis. It goes right into the original GM power steering box.

“It actually has a computer on it, and I hooked it up to the VSS [vehicle speed sensor] to the TREMEC six-speed, so it gives you improved road feel. As the rpm increases, the power steering decreases. It’s a pretty cool set up.”

The owner has some regrets about modifying the factory console to accommodate the TREMEC’s shifter, but plenty of reproduction units are available via the aftermarket should some future owner want to return the car to stock. (Photo by Evan J. Smith)

The steering is out of a Honda S2000. The hardware is all mounted in the trunk, and he loves how it feels with the OE box. The only accessory you really see under the hood at first glance is an alternator, which is mounted to a Moroso water pump bracket. A Griffin radiator keeps temps where they should be.

The T56 six-speed uses a hydraulic Centerforce clutch to make things easier on the owner’s left leg. It sends the power to the original 12-bolt rear, not stuffed with 4.10 gears.

Steve bent all the brake lines himself in his shop. He also rewired the entire vehicle using a kit from American Autowire.

A Nice Place To Live

Steve spared no expense when it came to the interior. That’s real suede you see on the factory seats. The seats have carbon fiber-look stripes, which Steve mimicked outside on the tail panel and inside on the dash. The instruments are all from Auto Meter and they sit in a one-piece stainless panel. The door panels are custom made.

The console is original to the car, but it had to be modified to accept the six-speed shifter. The tilt column is also factory, though it has been rebuilt. A stereo is mounted in the trunk next to the electric power steering unit.

Steve said he’s owned the car about 14 years and that he’ll never part with it, which is funny when he actually started out looking for a Nova. He was searching ‘66-67 Chevy IIs, when Chevelles started appearing. Next thing you know, he found himself with the A-body you see here. His favorite part of the car is the stance.

It’s definitely a driver, not a show piece with a $20,000 paint job. Steve and a friend sprayed the car in another friend’s booth.

While you are never really done with a project — Steve would love to see the original SS hood back on, not to mention fix some spots on the decklid. He maintains he’ll never sell it, so don’t even ask when you see him at the local hot spots and cruise locations in Florida.