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BUILDING A 1962 IMPALA / SS MUSCLE CAR
(Slide Show)
It was a Sunday evening in late Fall, we pulled our old red Impala
into the shop. With the intension of rebuilding her for the Highway 99
Cruise, we had our work cut out for us. Though she had the heart of a
’62 Impala SS muscle car, she needed to be stripped to the frame and
completely rebuilt by October 22. We had less than two weeks to get ‘er
done, but we had a plan. Basically, working 24 hours a day and the use
of some serious weapons.Weapon #1: Devin Jones –Body & Paint –Expert
Weapon #2: Damon Jones –Engine & Wiring –Expert
Weapon #3: Shane Jones –Disassemble & Reassemble –Expert
Weapon #4: Dave Beesley –Upholstery –Expert
And… the help of a lot of Friends
These four made up our crew. That night, October 3, the
crew began to disassemble the Impala. It was a depressing scene by
morning; the car was in a thousand pieces. Damon tore the engine apart
and sent the heads and crank to Jim Barns, of Jim Barnes Custom Engines.
Bodywork was Devin’s turf. As much of a project that we had before us,
we were surprised to find very little rust on the car. Although the roof
was wavy, and the doors and quarter panels had plenty of dings, after
three days she was ready for primer. Shane and Dave removed the old
fabric from the seats; then sand blasted and painted the seat frames.
The transmission went to Alvin White at A-1 Transmissions, where he did
his magic on the original T-10 four speed. He rebuilt the transmission
and set up the linkage. White said we were F>>ken crazy to try to do the
car in two weeks, but regardless, he still did the trany for us anyway.
Oildale Glass came and removed the front and back glass so that we could
replace the rubber seals.
When Thursday arrived, October 7, we had just a little over a
week before the Car Show. Jim Barnes had the heads and crankshaft ready.
Damon cleaned the engine and had it ready to build. Devin painted the
engine compartment, trunk, door jams, and under the hood. He had the
body almost ready to paint.
By Friday morning, there was just one week left. Devin
had the hood and trunk ready for paint but the car still needed more
primer and block sanding. He block sanded the car again, and pulled it
into the paint booth. Then he painted the dash after Shane removed all
the gauges and other parts.
Saturday afternoon rolled around; Damon had the engine
ready to go together. It seemed like it took all day to get the crank
in; by 10 am, he did it. He was under the impression that the rest would
be easy… “WRONG”. The pistons would not go in the motor. That night we
heard some words I have never heard before, but after two hours of
trying, and a wake up call at midnight to Daymon Banning, they both
agreed you could not use a ring compressor on a 409 engine. Damon’s last
resort was to “do it by hand”. After six to eight hours of constant
exertion, he had the pistons in. Then Devin got the last coat of clear
on the car at about 4:30 am.
Eventually Sunday afternoon, Damon finished building
the engine. Shane detailed all the engine parts and painted them. The
engine was looking sweet. The factory headers were powder coated at TFG
Engineering. Everything was looking great. Until about 11 pm, Sunday
night, we found out the clutch was wrong –wrong –wrong. We had to stop
for the night.
Progress picked up on Monday afternoon as new
parts arrived. Last week before the show and the pieces began to fall
into place. While Devin color sanded and buffed the car, Damon waited
patiently to install the engine and transmission. Dave and Shane worked
on the seats and carpet. After that, Damon and Devin installed the new
weather stripping. Oh! Did I mention Pete’s 1965 Old’s that we got ready
for the car show; we did the headliner and the trunk.
On Tuesday afternoon, Damon rewired the engine
compartment, rebuilt the carburetors, and picked up the radiator at
Guaranteed Radiator; while Shane put the dash back together. Wednesday,
Dave and Shane installed the new white headliner. They finished just
before Oildale Glass arrived to reinstall the windshield and back glass.
Finally, about midnight, the engine and transmission began to go in the
car. However, it sure came out easier than it went in. We hooked up the
new drive shaft, courtesy of Pro Shaft; then we called it a night.
Thursday started out with Dave and Shane installing the
carpet and seats. Then Shane rebuilt the window tracks and installed the
door panels. Now with the interior complete, Devin buffed the car again.
After the buff, Shane and Devin added the bumpers and all the chrome
pieces. All the while, Damon finished the wiring on the car. Time
running out, just one day left and its 2:30 am.
The boys worked intently with the deadline closer than
ever. Devin and Shane installed the hood on the car, while Damon
finished the brakes. Around noon, the car still had not run. Damon
connected the fuel lines, put in the radiator, and made sure all the
lines were on tight. Shane set wheels and tires on and we lowered it to
the ground. We pushed the Impala out of the shop and washed her. Boy did
she look hott. By now, it was 5 pm and we were supposed to be at the car
show by 6 pm. Unfortunately, we had to push her back into the shop.
Damon forgot the battery cables! No big problem though; we had new ones
made in fifteen minutes. At last, we fired the car up for the first
time. Damon broke in the cam and set the timing. She ran beautifully. We
loaded up and pulled out of the shop; nothing but smooth sailing as we
headed to the car show. |
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