Thursday, March 29, 2012
Motor & Transmission Work
The car ran pretty well when I bought it but definitely needed a tune up, and I couldn't stand the stock Powerglide 2 speed transmission. I got the motor tuned up and a good friend swapped the Powerglide out for a Turbo TH350 3 speed transmission that he'd rebuilt. The car was now running much better and the highway cruising was much more comfortable thanks to the new transmission.
New Wheels & Tires
After I got the car home I had a chance to clean it up and start making my list for necessary repairs and parts that would need replacing. The first thing I did was add some new American Racing Torq Thrust II 15" wheels and tires.
Saturday, January 7, 2012
My 1964 Impala Restoration
It was probably the hip hop videos from my teenage years, but I've always had an affinity for the 1964 Impala. Old cars have always been intriguing to me and after I got through my motorcycle phase I finally decided to purchase a 64 of my own in August of 2011. This blog will chronicle my journey through the restoration process.
After tracking down a 64 that looked worthwhile and affordable I made the 3 hour trip to Wisconsin from Illinois with my Dad to check it out. My Dad has been completely restoring his 1967 Chevelle since 1999 and it will finally be back on the road in the Spring of 2012. It has been a long road to completing the Chevelle due to it being in much worse condition than anticipated when it was purchased via ebay. Seeing how frustrating and discouraging a process this can be, I wanted to be sure the car I purchased was a solid car that would not require a complete frame off restoration and a decade of my life before I could drive it again.
I received a lot of pictures from the seller and it looked pretty good, but pictures only go so far. We showed up and inspected the car top to bottom and took it for a test drive. It seemed to run really well for not being driven very often (the seller purchased it to restore for his wife and they lost interest, and he needed his shop space for another project). We were able to put the car on a lift and inspect the underside of the floor pans, trunk pans, exhaust, suspension, etc... Everything looked pretty solid underneath and next thing I knew we had struck a deal, were loading it up on the trailer and heading for home.
After tracking down a 64 that looked worthwhile and affordable I made the 3 hour trip to Wisconsin from Illinois with my Dad to check it out. My Dad has been completely restoring his 1967 Chevelle since 1999 and it will finally be back on the road in the Spring of 2012. It has been a long road to completing the Chevelle due to it being in much worse condition than anticipated when it was purchased via ebay. Seeing how frustrating and discouraging a process this can be, I wanted to be sure the car I purchased was a solid car that would not require a complete frame off restoration and a decade of my life before I could drive it again.
I received a lot of pictures from the seller and it looked pretty good, but pictures only go so far. We showed up and inspected the car top to bottom and took it for a test drive. It seemed to run really well for not being driven very often (the seller purchased it to restore for his wife and they lost interest, and he needed his shop space for another project). We were able to put the car on a lift and inspect the underside of the floor pans, trunk pans, exhaust, suspension, etc... Everything looked pretty solid underneath and next thing I knew we had struck a deal, were loading it up on the trailer and heading for home.
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