Five years ago, Andy Yeh came to Canada to set up Golden Leaf Automotive, the Canadian arm of Dynacorn International Inc. While Dynacorn was well known in the gearhead hobby as a supplier of quality aftermarket products and vintage sheetmetal, the GLA General Manager wanted to introduce GLA and its products to the Canadian market with a little flair. What better way than to restore a car using the very parts his company produces and sells?
     It’s safe to say the ’70 Chevelle featured on these pages did exactly what Yeh wanted it to do. Not only does it act as a rolling billboard for GLA’s products, it became a television star during a 26-episode build on Season 1 of Chop, Cut Rebuild, produced and hosted by Canadian Dan Woods. (If you were a fan of any incarnation of the Degrassi TV series, Woods played principal Raditch).
     The search for a suitable car ended in Alberta, where a six cylinder driver was purchased. Yeh received paperwork that showed the car was originally sold to Mrs. Stella Howe of Fort Erie, ON by Drinkwater Motors Ltd. of St. Catherines, ON. The paperwork shows Mrs. Howe received $1,252 for her ’65 Olds Cutlass and ended up paying $2,580+tax for her new’ Blue 70 Chevelle.
     The car came equipped with a Turbo Hydra Matic tranny ($225), power steering ($120), power brakes ($48), an AM/FM radio ($84), E78x14 tires ($30), disc brakes ($24) and rear floor mats ($14).  Pretty Plain Jane, but Yeh knew the car wasn’t destined for a stock restoration. “We wanted to keep the car (exterior) original, because that’s what we do, but whatever we didn’t do, we wanted to replace.”  That meant four-wheel Wilwood disc brakes, Air Ride suspension, a Dakota Digital gauge set and 17-inch American Racing wheels, which back in 2003 were a bit ahead of the current resto-mod trend.  With A&T Auto Refinishing out of Maple, ON tabbed to do the restoration, the project began, though the TV tie-in didn’t speed up the process. “Sometimes, we could only work on it one day a week,” says Yeh.. It was time well spent. When the car was finished, the only original sheetmetal remaining was the doors and roof. That worked out, as Yeh wanted to show the quality fit of the GLA quarters and fenders to the stock doors.
    Since GLA’s primary corporate colour is yellow, you would think it would be easy to choose an exterior colour. But it wasn’t. The car was originally going to be Corvette Yellow, but that proved too bright. After searching through many colour samples, Yeh finally settled on “a slightly tweaked” version of 2002 Mazda Protege Yellow.
     The completely revamped interior is a combination of stock and custom touches, with bucket seats, a custom console by Golden Leaf’s Mike Gallagher, and yellow piping on the upholstery thanks to Parker Upholstery of Port Perry, ON, which also installed all the car’s new door panels, headliner, carpet and seat upholstery. A Momo steering wheels sits on the stock Chevelle column. a Custom Pioneer DVD and trunk-based sound system are great modern updates.  Under the hood, there was no way a six cylinder would do the trick for this corporate muscle car. Instead, a GM 502 crate motor tuned by Hard Core Engine was selected and mated to a Turbo 400 transmission. Ceramic Hooker headers and a Flow master dual exhaust system give the Chevelle a serious bark. So serious, the car’s growl really does scare children. At least, it scared Yeh’s then 3-year-old daughter, Iris.
     “I told both my daughters (Iona is his other daughter) ‘do not touch daddy’s car’. But Iris picked up a garden shovel and whacked the car with it because it was so noisy it scared her.” This was just before the car’s Performance World debut in March 2003. There was a bit of a scramble to get the car repaired in time for the show.
     While Yeh was no stranger to muscle cars, he was primarily an “import guy” for daily drivers so his first experience behind the wheel of the Chevelle was a mixed bag of emotions. “My first impression was that the engine’s power was exciting, but it didn’t handle like a Honda or have the comfort of a BMW. But it only took two stoplights before I forgot about it.”
    One thing is certain, GLA’s ’70 Chevelle is far from forgettable.
    www.goldenleafautomotive.com.