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Sam's 65-6 Impala

4K views 15 replies 6 participants last post by  Sam Axe 
#1 ·
Hey everyone. I'm new to the Gen 1-5 part of the forum.

I'm starting on a journey that may, or may not, be of interest to anyone. That journey started about 10 years ago, when a 1977 GMC Motorhome broke down near my home.

My day and I are on a list of people that will rescue the stranded GMC Coach. This rescue would be different. This guy was from Oklahoma. This guy, as it turned out, had a 65 Impala with "24,000" mikes on it. This guy said he'd sell it and invited me out to see it.

Needless to say, he was grateful for swapping a cylinder head and getting him back on the road.

A few days later, he calls and apologizes. Apparently he had the milage wrong. It has 25,000 miles.

So here it is. The list of options include:
283 V8
Automatic Transmission
AM radio
two speed wipers
Air Conditioning

Work has already started, but the car hasn't been molested yet. I'll post more tomorrow...
 

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#2 ·
Hi, welcome to the forum. The car looks in great shape ! I'd love to have one of these :)

If you're not into numbers-matching and that sort of thing, you should know that dropping a monster big block into one of these is very do-able :)

And, with the fast back, the rear package tray is huge - a couple of 12" subwoofers will fit easily :)

I look forward to watching your progress with the car.

Doug

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#4 · (Edited)
Planning has gone on for a couple years now. My goal was to make the car as modern as practical, without altering the classic lines. While I want it to appear vintage, I didn't want it to be so over the top that it would sit in the garage and never get driven...and I plan to drive it a lot.

About the time I was getting ready to remove the coach from the chassis, it dawned on me that all I'm keeping from the chassis is the frame. So rather than have the car in a million parts, I found a frame in Vancouver Washington.

When it arrived, I carefully inspected it for damage, took a few measurements, removed the factory crake line clips, and the front & rear bump stops, then off to Pro-Strip for a dip, then their sister company Pro-Coat for Semi Gloss powder coat. Oddly enough, the powder coat cost less than the dip.

Here's a before and after picture of the frame:
 

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#5 · (Edited)
Looks like my last post didn't make it for some reason. Not sure what happened, but I'll try again...

The car has a 10 bolt 3 link diff. This wouldn't be suitable at all for my intended purpose. Besides, single tire burnouts are almost as lame as front wheel drive burnouts, IMHO of corse...

Since a complete rebuild using new parts was planned, all I needed was a 12 bolt, 4 link case. One turned up in west central Iowa for $200.

Okay, I'll admit that setting up a diff is some sort of black magic as far as I'm concerned. So I asked all my gear head buddies for advice and knowledge. I even called driveshaft and transmission shops. The vast majority said take it to Moser. Now I've heard of Moser...who hasn't? But I thought they were in California. No, they're in Portland.

Using the advice of my friends and better judgment, Moser built my diff. They made axles that would work with the planned brake setup, used the gear ratio for the Engine / Trans combo, Installed a Detroit Track diff, and even powder coated it, AND most importantly, the gear pattern is perfect.

But it gets better. They did this for about $1,800 using all new parts. That may sound like a lot, but price the parts then add de-rust / de-grease and powder coat. This was a bargain, and I don't have to even think about anything going wrong.
 

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#7 ·
I think they may have been "moderated" as it appeared they were from the grey screen background. They are now approved. I would have thought it would have stated "moderated" in the index but apparently not.

Looks like a nice project. Be sure to keep us updated along the way.

P
 
#9 ·
Sam Axe, can't wait to see the progress as your '65 goes back together. I always loved the big Impala's. I have a Die Cast model of a '65 and a plastic model I built of a '60 Impala. Might post a pic of them on here later.
 
#10 ·
Hey USN24
Feel free to share. My weakness is 1/32 scale slot cars. A company called IMC releases a 1/32 65 back in the 60s. Ultra rare. I probably watched Ebay for three years to find the two I have. Of course they'll be slot cars too.

Btw, I love the I\Impala in your post. It's even the right color.
 
#11 · (Edited)
Parts start going together. First part was the passenger side bump stop for the rear axle.

The suspension, front and rear, is all Global West. These parts are beastly to say the lease. I chose them because their front setup maintains the stock ride height, and the rear uses stock rubber bushings on the axle, and hiem joints on the frame end. Everything went together fine, but that powder coat on the frame tends to "shrink" the bolt holes. Otherwise, I'm pretty pleased so far.
 

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#12 ·
Front Suspension:
Global West, same as rear. As far as I know they're the one company that makes a comprehensive suspension for the 65 Impala.

If you happen to have a set of lower control arm Camber Bolts, they're worth their weight in gold.

I read on another thread that the C3 Corvette Spindles are a direct replacement for the 65 Impala. I checked Rock auto and the use the same upper and lower ball joints, so I sourced a pair on eBay. Sure enough, they're even the same height.

The 65 has an Akerman issue, and speaking with global west the use of these spindles along with their control arms should eliminate that problem. The real reason for the C3 Corvette spindles is, of course, C3 Brakes. More on this later...
 

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#13 ·
On another thread, Rebelrouser demonstrated how to convert your 65-70 Impala to C3 Corvette Brakes. As mentioned in my previous post, I already had the C3 Spindles.

The swap isn't exactly a straight bolt on if you sourced used parts. The rotor will need to be removed from the hub because they're riveted on.

Once you get the hub separated, your future rotor swaps will be easier because there will be no need to remove the hub from the spindle.
 

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#14 ·
Looking good so far.
Off topic, but my wife and I got to meet Bruce Campbell (Sam Axe actor) at a book signing about 18 years ago. Coolest guy on planet Earth, in my humble opinion.
 
#16 · (Edited)
On another thread, Rebelrouser demonstrated how to convert the 65 - 70 Impala to C3 Corvette Brakes. As mentioned in a previous post, I already had the C3 Spindles. Still, I was skeptical of the rears, so I sourced junk parts from eBay and mocked it up on my diff. After assembly, the rotor was .020 from being perfectly centered.

So I started gathering parts up for the rear. It turns out that the stainless hardware kit and brake shoes don't cost that much more than the standard parts. IMHO, it's worth the difference in cost.

Soon I had a high quality set of rotors and calipers sourced, but then I started thinking…

If I'm using C3 Brakes, then I can use ANY C3 Brakes, Right? So I took a look at Wilwood…only 2X what I budgeted for brakes. After carefully weighing the cost vs time in the dog house, I decided to go for it.

Moser already had my axles cut for the C3 E-brake, so it was a simple bolt on. Couldn't be happier with how they fit.
 

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