1963 Chevrolet Impala Super Sport
My first interest in restoration and old car culture was kindled by a 1963 Impala SS that I found for sale in a field. I paid $100 for it, dragged it home and began to map out the future of the old beater. It was in bad shape - seized engine, primered, and had a serious side swipe that had opened up the sheet metal along the rear quarter. Well, needless to say, this car was going to cost way more than it was worth to me on my meagerly college school budget at the time. However, it was a wealth of parts waiting to be exploited and used elsewhere.
That's when I went out combing neighborhoods for another car, literally. I would drive on weekends through some of the seedier neighborhoods in my area looking for another car for sale. In the mid eighties, old cars were plentiful in Southern California. Well, that's how I found my next car. The one featured here was a daily driver that the owner no longer wanted due to a troublesome carburetor.
As soon as I got it home, I quickly parted the first car of everything that it had worthwhile. Clean interior, tons of trim (literally), bumpers, rare hubcaps, etc. The next part is my favorite - I then called a local wrecking yard, that came to my house and gave me $125 to tow it away! $25 profit plus parts! Gotta love it.
My new car needed lots of attention. It had a tacky interior, terrible low rider spoked wheels, original gold painted dash, 283 cu in V8 with "Power Pack" heads, but to top it off it had these terrible wall lamps in the back, the kind you'd find in an RV. My work was cut out for me.
I was going through a nostalgic period for times I never lived in - yeah, I was into Swing before it was "cool" in the eighties. Needless to say, this car was going to get a total makeover before I was done with it. I drove it for a couple years, then in my last year of college, I parked it and began the job it deserved.
I stripped that car down to the last nut and bolt, and it got to the point where a friend could take any fastener out, show me, and I could tell him exactly where it came from - sick, huh?
The car got a body off rebuild from the ground up. Nothing went untouched. I even had the clock restored to original working condition - it actually had a set of contact points that reset a ratchet timer every 12 seconds, but I went with a quartz conversion in the end.
These are some before pictures:
The car was beginning to get stripped down.
Fenders off.
How many engine pictures can one take?
That tiny master cylinder stopped that one ton beast - scary!
327 cu in, Rochester Four Jet (not quadrajet), 2 speed Powerglide, Power Brakes, Power steering, Dual Exhaust
MPG: 8 city/ 15 Hwy
My luck was running good. Paddock West (15 minutes from home) introduced a line of Impala Restoration goods. Shashing - molded carpet, perfect fit.
I reshot the dash, waxed and buffed it. Perfect job done with one of those tiny touch up cans of spray. Original radio knobs, lighted ignition switch, you didn't need a key to start the car, but needed it only to unlock the ignition, not only was there a "Hot" idiot light, but a "Cold" light as well. There was a two lead temp switch and the light was a green "cold" warning light until the engine warmed.
One of the trim deals for the SS, was a floor mounted shifter and center console.
Two tone steering wheel - that thing was a beast - 17" diameter. It's no wonder old ladies can't see above them. (FACTOID: Along with Ford's "Fatman" steering wheel that moved over to the right to facilitate ease of exit, Dodge offered an "Old Lady" steering wheel that was oval shaped to see over easier.
Now this interior was the best deal I ever got. I paid a hundred bucks, and materials to a buddy of mine - Corvair Mike. This kid just finished highschool, where he was taking vocational classes. This was his first car interior, and it was near picture perfect. It was from him that I learned to do interior work. Although the original interiors where monotone, I wanted a two tone to break the blandness.
New dash pad done by a talented shop in Pomona, one piece of vinyl heat moulded to all complex curves, every other shop wanted to do it in three pieces stitched.
Chevy never let you forget you were driving a Super Sport, subtle reminders like the spun aluminum dash, to the horn button on the steering wheel never let you forget.
I got a kick out of this one - it's a speaker grille in the middle of the back seat. Originally one speaker was up front in the dash in front of the passenger, the other here.
And the final product
