Member: Kevin Casey

Car: 1969 Beaumont Custom (SD Clone)

Casey.jpg - 40921 Bytes

My labour of love started in 1986 when a friend of mine told me about a 1969 Custom Beaumont that was going to go to the auto wreckers. He informed me that I could probably buy it for scrap price $70.00! I called up the owner and went over for a gander, low and behold I found a 1969 Custom Beaumont with 70,000 original miles. It had a 6-cylinder engine with a powerglide transmission; power steering and power drum brakes. The car was in very good shape for its age and having seen a few Ontario winters! I worked for GM and had purchased new fenders and inner fenders that were still available. This was not my first encounter with the Beaumont, I had a 1967 and a 1969 Deluxe Beaumont prior to this one. I took out the engine and replaced it with a .030 over 327 with a 350-turbo and shift kit. The car had new quarter panels installed, front fenders and a big block hood that I had found for $100.00. It was painted Verdoro green with black interior.

I drove the car for a few years and it got parked when my wife and I bought a new house in 1989. Two daughters and a house took up all of my time and the car was forgotten. It sat quietly in the garage for 10 years waiting to reemerge. That is when I decided to bring it back to its full potential, a SD 396 clone! I built a rotator in my single car garage and started the transformation. The frame was blasted and epoxy primed, then painted with chassis black paint, all the control arms and torque arms were blasted as well. The whole underside of the car was stripped and epoxy primed, two of the floor cross members were replaced and plug welded in to look original. Two sections of the trunk floor were replaced due to a leaky back window. Then the whole underside was painted with chassis black paint, 5 coats!

All the suspension was replaced and disk brakes were added, a 3:73 12-bolt rear axle and rear frame reinforcements were installed. A .030 over 396 was the choice of my power plant with a wide ratio Muncie 4 speed and rear frame reinforcements. The exhaust is 2 ½ stainless with stainless mufflers and 2 ¼ tailpipes, bent to Beaumont specs. The entire interior was replaced along with power windows and tinted glass, gauges and a factory tach were also installed. A tilt wheel and a factory pushbutton AM FM radio (converted to stereo) were added as well. All the chrome was redone as well as the bumpers; bumperettes were installed front and rear. I added the SD emblem to the right hand white metal piece between the back up lights. The car was painted Matador red to look like the SD in the dealer brochure The tires are redline radials on 14 x 6 rallie rims with new rings and Beaumont flat caps, all the white SD stripes were added.

Even though the car is a clone I still think of it as an SD and it gets a lot of looks at all the cruise nights and car shows I go to.

Kevin’s ’69 Beaumont originally equipped with the following :

Options added to the car :


Members Index

Canadian Classic Chevelles and Beaumonts

Your source for Canadian information on Chevelles, Beaumonts and El Caminos