Plan SS

[gpfarrell]

I mentioned awhile back that I after 46 years I acquired my first small block Chevy.

Its a ‘95 Impala SS, Black with grey interior, 76,000 miles and about 5 years of arthritis.

It it will be a father-son project. If it’s successful I’ll achieve the following:

1). Extract my screen-addicted sone from Minecraft, etc and spend some time teaching him the things we know make the world go ‘round

2). Help my son make some money to fund his first car. I bought the Impala and he knows when it’s sells, I get my money first plus the money we spend on parts and jobs we farm out. He gets the profits. I’m hopeful we flip about 3 cars before he buys his with his own money. Life ain’t a free ride son. I’m here to help, you’re here to do.

3j. Have a decent cruiser to sell in the Spring. The Impala won’t be a national show winner, but I want a sharp looking cruiser that would easily run up I-79 to Presque Isle for the day, loaded with the 5 of us, A/C blowing cold, and still turn heads when you roll into a car cruise you happen upon.

(Hey Paxton, if you thought Plan SS would be a thread that had anything to do with my Plan B Coyote Town Car musings or the upcoming Plan SC, well, I’m just messing with you. But you were the one that said this car deserved a build thread!)

[gpfarrell]

Step 1 was getting it home. The Impala would turn over but wouldn’t run. It was down a steep driveway and around a sharp turn behind a house. My 20 year old F250was happy to clear its throat and tug the Chevy up the steep grade.

[gpfarrell]

This part is cool. My oldest actually helped prepare for Step 2 and he didn’t even know about the car yet. I’ve had a Harbor Freight (yeah, I know, google Hazzard Fraught if you want a great giggle on their ads) electric winch for my 22’ aluminum acrvtrailer but since I’d never done anything more with it then than take it out of the box and realize how surprisingly heavy it was, it’s never done me a bit of good. I figured out how to make some brackets for it and then modifies some chains so the winch lays on the front of my trailer just ahead of the deck and fastens to the trailer’s D-hooks. Easy on, easy off. An insanely long set of jumper cables (my plumbing skills aren’t prett either) lets me power the winch off the truck’s battery.

Daniel (that’s our oldest) spent an hour and a half with me on this little project and never once asked whi I had a sudden interest in the winch!

[gpfarrell]

After the truck dragged the Chevy up the driveway and onto level ground, I hooked the Trailex back on and the whinch did some whining and screaming but lugged the Impala onto the trailer.

[gpfarrell]

I had an easy 4 mile ride home. There’s a real steep section on Wildwood Road where it approaches Route 8. Of course we didn’t make the light, so I’ve got about 11,500 pounds of CGVW and a manual transmission. Even after all these years, Creeper gear and a 460 never fails you! I, very happy I caught this image of Daniel and me by the car right after I revealed Plan SS to him.

[gpfarrell]

The digital clusters in these cars are famous for failing. I needed the odometer to work so we could get a mileage reading to take to the notary. Fixing the gauge was even a higher priority than getting the car to run! A bit of disassembly, cleaning the contacts a few times, and putting it back together lit things up.

[PaxtonShelby]

Definitely a great project and some great learning experiences here!

Now...where's that Marquis build thread?

[gpfarrell]

Definitely a great project and some great learning experiences here!

Now...where's that Marquis build thread?

The internet doesn’t have enough memory!

[travj31]

Nice project... SS's make some great drivers

[Terminated]

Man, I love these cars.

[travj31]

Man, I love these cars.

I have one for sale

[Terminated]

I have one for sale

Yeah my wife would shoot me. I found a Dark Cherry one for sale a few yrs back for $5800. Called the lady to make an offer the following day and it was gone.

[PaxtonShelby]

Yeah my wife would shoot me.

That's why I don't have a gun...

[Martin0660]

I have always had a soft spot for these cars. Not sure why, GM and 4 doors aren't typically my thing, lol

[gpfarrell]

We’ve made some progress so I should get the thread caught up.

The Impala wasn’t running because it wasn’t getting any fuel. A whif of starter fluid woke it up right away.

Gave my 13 year-old the “air-fuel-spark” lesson and he quickly surmised we must have everything but fuel because adding fuel was all we needed.

Hooked up a fuel pressure gauge, cranked it, and it read zero.

The fuel pump is in the tank. Test ligh on the wiring harness indicated we had juice... so it must be the tank.

Good news... the car was still up on my trailer... key word being “up”! The extra height mad dropping the tank much easier!2FBED284-F84D-4F10-9C85-CCE9BFF16DB9.jpg

[gpfarrell]

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If you have to carry a gas tank, it’s good to have a brother!

[gpfarrell]

Gracie, one of our huskies, is a great supervisor. Here we’re getting the new fuel pump installed.

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[gpfarrell]

We buttoned it all back up, dumped 5 gallons into the tank and I handed the keys to my son.

I had him cycle the fuel pump a few times and he could hear it whirring from the back... with a newfound appreciation for all the parts needed to keep a car functioning.

I videoed him starting the car but his expression of excitement and accomplishment as the LT1 settled into an idle is one of my best parenting moments.

Now that the beast was mobile we could unload it from the trailer. As the September days were quickly getting shorter I was happy we could have the option of working inside with some lights after dinner.

[gpfarrell]

We did take a gentle ride. Brakes weren’t good, tires weren’t fair.

The rear brake lines are leaking so the pedal nearly floorboards before it will stop.

The tires are totally dry-rotted and will be scrapped soon.

But the posi works!

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Okay, there really are 2 strips in my picture but only 1 on my screen. Hopefully you can see both!

[gpfarrell]

We started on the worst of the cosmetics. A good bath helped considerably.

The faded and cracked skunk stripes adorning the hood and trunk had to go. They may have been a great late-90s mod but today, not so much.

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