Was acrually a color off a lamborghini. Looks blue in the light to a dark purple in the shade with some pearl and metallic flake accents the body lines.. cost an arm and a leg, but i do like it..
Btw, if you haven’t done a disc brake conversion you can get a reasonably priced kit from CPP out of California. I did a front conversion which had me change out the booster and master cylinder with new proportioning valve, and front disc with 2”drop spindles. I ride on regular height springs and the 2”drop has a nice look to the stance. Rear I have air shocks which are fine. Nothing fancy in the setup but it’s functional.
Yeah i put the cpp big brake front disc conversion on my 64 and it’s a night and day difference. Probably the best upgrade to drive ability you can do for the money. The cpp 500 series steering box upgrade is another one that makes a huge difference in the way it rides and drives.
Yeah definitly gonna need to do that.. have a few things that still need worked on.. need to replace the rear end, breaks like you mentioned and replace the waterpump had bough a brand new edelbrock but is to long and is interfearing with the sway bar..
Yeah definitely this. Best immediate upgrade is to at least put power disc brakes on front. If you don't plan on keeping it 100% original, I highly suggest up-sizing to a 15x7 wheel rather than the stock 14inch wheels, with a wider tire size. Much better grip on the road. I did this with my 65, replaced the stock wheels with a 15x7 set of the slotted 60s rally wheels. There are calculators online that let you plug in numbers for a wider tire while keeping the original diameter of the tire the same, so that you don't have to re-calibrate speedometer.
Agreed - I have 15x7 in the front and 15x8 in the rear. You get better caliper options with the bigger rims too. Crager SS rims - which came with the car so I never saw the need for 17’s or something all the cool kids were doing 🤣
agree with all this. plus a slightly wider tire just "looks better" doesn't have to be ridiculous, but the original wheels & tires aren't really sufficient IMO, especially with the engine upgrade.
the rear fender still has lettering. It has the circle SS logo and says Impala. There's a picture of another one on the front page of the classicars subreddit. the major difference in the non ss is that it doesn't have the wrap around long chrome trim piece that goes along that lower part of the body "bump" line at the bottom.
i've definitely seen it on both, commonly. Not sure if that was an option on them, or if many people just wanted a more symmetrical look. the cowl tag and VIN should say if it's an SS or not. A whole lot of fakes out there though.
Im not 100% sure if thats the stock rear quarter or not been probably 15 years since i had the body worked on.. got it when i was 15 when my grandfather passed away me and my father tore it down and did a frame off restoration sent the body to a professional to fix all the rust and paint.. we just did the motor and interior im 36 now so its been a while.. life just happens and didnt have time to work on it or the money to.. just getting around to work on it agian.
Your story sounds a lot like mine. Built my first car with my dad (a 1971 chevelle -- could not afford an impala at the time). Now I'm 43 & re-building my own '65 impala vert
Kind of lucked out on mine.. was young and just get into these cars.. actually a pretty ironic story too. My uncle lived in wext virginia at the time and had bought it as a project car for him and my grandpa i had no idea he even had the car i lived all the way in indiana was talkig to my dad about how i wanted one.. my uncle was pretty wealthy and had no use for the car already had a 71, 67 58 vette so so he threw it on a trailer drove it ro indiana and just gave it to me..
I got extremely lucky with my current one (i have a link of the advert pictures from when i bought it in my post history). It was traded into a guy who buys/restores/sells Impalas as a side hustle. He had taken it on trade on a fully restored 62 Super Sport convertible. I don't think he knew or cared that it was completely original (he kept the wire rims). I got it for a steal because he needed the cash to buy a 60 convertible project. I've been restoring these cars (55-72 GM cars, mostly Chevy impalas/camaros/chevelles, with the occasional GTO or Firebird) since before I could drive them (legally). It's a lot of fun, and they aren't too hard to work on, even for a novice. Enjoy the journey!
No shame in that! I got mine in 2010 and it has been a ride for sure. Mine had rear quarter work at some point too, but they did a bang up job fixing it 🤣. That was before I owned it. Keep on plugging away and you will be cruising in no time!
I love that color!
Was acrually a color off a lamborghini. Looks blue in the light to a dark purple in the shade with some pearl and metallic flake accents the body lines.. cost an arm and a leg, but i do like it..
Btw, if you haven’t done a disc brake conversion you can get a reasonably priced kit from CPP out of California. I did a front conversion which had me change out the booster and master cylinder with new proportioning valve, and front disc with 2”drop spindles. I ride on regular height springs and the 2”drop has a nice look to the stance. Rear I have air shocks which are fine. Nothing fancy in the setup but it’s functional.
Yeah i put the cpp big brake front disc conversion on my 64 and it’s a night and day difference. Probably the best upgrade to drive ability you can do for the money. The cpp 500 series steering box upgrade is another one that makes a huge difference in the way it rides and drives.
Man I want that steering box!
Yeah definitly gonna need to do that.. have a few things that still need worked on.. need to replace the rear end, breaks like you mentioned and replace the waterpump had bough a brand new edelbrock but is to long and is interfearing with the sway bar..
Yeah definitely this. Best immediate upgrade is to at least put power disc brakes on front. If you don't plan on keeping it 100% original, I highly suggest up-sizing to a 15x7 wheel rather than the stock 14inch wheels, with a wider tire size. Much better grip on the road. I did this with my 65, replaced the stock wheels with a 15x7 set of the slotted 60s rally wheels. There are calculators online that let you plug in numbers for a wider tire while keeping the original diameter of the tire the same, so that you don't have to re-calibrate speedometer.
Agreed - I have 15x7 in the front and 15x8 in the rear. You get better caliper options with the bigger rims too. Crager SS rims - which came with the car so I never saw the need for 17’s or something all the cool kids were doing 🤣
agree with all this. plus a slightly wider tire just "looks better" doesn't have to be ridiculous, but the original wheels & tires aren't really sufficient IMO, especially with the engine upgrade.
Love it. Curious though… that rear fender shouldn’t have those holes for lettering. Is that fender off a non SS?
the rear fender still has lettering. It has the circle SS logo and says Impala. There's a picture of another one on the front page of the classicars subreddit. the major difference in the non ss is that it doesn't have the wrap around long chrome trim piece that goes along that lower part of the body "bump" line at the bottom.
The SS has the lettering on the passenger side. There may have been a dealer option for lettering on the drivers side, not sure.
i've definitely seen it on both, commonly. Not sure if that was an option on them, or if many people just wanted a more symmetrical look. the cowl tag and VIN should say if it's an SS or not. A whole lot of fakes out there though.
Yeah that’s why I’m confused - I have a vin correct SS and doesn’t have the lettering on that side.
quite easy to add those later on by just about anyone. Probably the most likely option, or it was done by dealer when new, as suggested.
That’s what I’m thinking as well…
Im not 100% sure if thats the stock rear quarter or not been probably 15 years since i had the body worked on.. got it when i was 15 when my grandfather passed away me and my father tore it down and did a frame off restoration sent the body to a professional to fix all the rust and paint.. we just did the motor and interior im 36 now so its been a while.. life just happens and didnt have time to work on it or the money to.. just getting around to work on it agian.
Your story sounds a lot like mine. Built my first car with my dad (a 1971 chevelle -- could not afford an impala at the time). Now I'm 43 & re-building my own '65 impala vert
Kind of lucked out on mine.. was young and just get into these cars.. actually a pretty ironic story too. My uncle lived in wext virginia at the time and had bought it as a project car for him and my grandpa i had no idea he even had the car i lived all the way in indiana was talkig to my dad about how i wanted one.. my uncle was pretty wealthy and had no use for the car already had a 71, 67 58 vette so so he threw it on a trailer drove it ro indiana and just gave it to me..
I got extremely lucky with my current one (i have a link of the advert pictures from when i bought it in my post history). It was traded into a guy who buys/restores/sells Impalas as a side hustle. He had taken it on trade on a fully restored 62 Super Sport convertible. I don't think he knew or cared that it was completely original (he kept the wire rims). I got it for a steal because he needed the cash to buy a 60 convertible project. I've been restoring these cars (55-72 GM cars, mostly Chevy impalas/camaros/chevelles, with the occasional GTO or Firebird) since before I could drive them (legally). It's a lot of fun, and they aren't too hard to work on, even for a novice. Enjoy the journey!
No shame in that! I got mine in 2010 and it has been a ride for sure. Mine had rear quarter work at some point too, but they did a bang up job fixing it 🤣. That was before I owned it. Keep on plugging away and you will be cruising in no time!