Words: Tommy Parry
A little over five years ago, John felt the internet should see the progress he’d been making on his Impala — and we can only thank him for including us in his build. Ever since high school, he’d been interested in a B body with a manual transmission. Of course, the draw of more conventional muscle cars was strong with him, and he had to make a few decisions when contemplating a new platform for a build.
“I knew I wanted something else, and although I looked into first-gen Camaros, it seemed like everything in articles and car shows was a Camaro, Nova, Chevelle or a Mustang. I had a spouse who wanted to fit people in the back seat, too, so when I saw this 69 Impala come up on Ebay, it looked like the right one,” John says.
An eBay find, this SS replica was going for an Impala price. Though far from perfect, it had a big block, a manual gearbox and a vague SS theme. In other words, it was a fine platform for a pro tourer.
His approach was simple, but quite reasoned. “I wanted something that handled well, but would eat other cars for lunch on the highway. Since the focus was on driving, I chose to sort the driveline and creature comforts first, which let me keep the car on the road while deciding what works best,” he elaborates.
The first steps included upgrading the air conditioning with the Four Seasons kit, pulling the aging Saginaw box and installing the Hurst Driveline Tremec conversion kit. With the help of a few friends and the trying experiences of dealing with Jaguars, working on the Impala was relatively relaxed.
With the TKO five-speed sending power to the rear, John had a completely different machine on his hands. Still large and unwieldy, yes, but the improvements in response gave him some motivation to push ahead.
After picking up another OEM dash off of eBay and taking the sander to it, he had quite the spiffy interior. Though simple and imperfect, he could put the interior-related loose ends aside until after he’d fixed up some of the footwork. For this first year with the car, he needed a fun daily, not a show-stopper.
The next order of business was adding a set of big, beefy rear brakes from SSBC. He had some extra motivation to ensure these were installed correctly, since he’d suffered a catastrophic failure just prior to installation.
“As I was pulling into the parking lot at work from lunch, a rear wheel stud failed, then a second one broke, then three more stripped off their threads all at the same time. The rear wheel followed,” he recounts stoically. Fortunately, this all happened at a crawl, but it was still enough to do a few hours’ extra homework researching replacement studs.
Improperly sized brackets had him scratching his head and cursing, but the frustration was alleviated when a Wilwood master cylinder arrived on his doorstep. He was so happy, he even did away with the GM prop valve and distribution block entirely.
To provide it with suitable roadholding, John then added a combination of Ridetech and Global West control arms, RideTech’s panhard bar, Chassisworks gStreet shock and anti-roll bar package, sway bar endlinks, Viking shocks and strut rod end bushings. The cherries on top of the sundae: 2″ CPP drop spindles and KORE3’s 13″ C6 brake kit. It would set the stage for — and become a necessity with — the new powerplant.
The Mark IV 454 big block was garnished with Hedman mid-length headers, a Magnaflow 2.5” exhaust, a Griffin radiator, an up-rated clutch, new motor mounts, a new flywheel and the Mercury valve covers, the last item being a bit of a joke; this is a land yacht, after all. Next came the exhaust. Putting together the x-pipe and Magnaflow stainless exhaust was a bit of a headache during installation and later down the road after John realized the limitations of the packaging with a lowered car. However, it looked absolutely stunning once finished — and sounded the part.
Inside, John added a custom dash, Dakota Digital VHX gauges and hard-to-find Impala repro center vents. Simple, tasteful and very functional, he can sit comfortably while reading his modern gauges clearly and staying cool with Vintage Air’s Gen IV air conditioning.
Then came a Moser 12-bolt rear with 3.42 gears and posi-traction, which he could mount to the TKO 500 with a few tweaks. While working away at the new rear end assembly, he fitted each end of the axle with a new set of KORE3 C6 Corvette brakes.
In the near future, John intends to add front floorpan sections, mount the battery in the trunk and install a set of more supportive, bolstered front seats. Hopefully, he’ll be able to have these done prior to the 2019 Hot Rod Power Tour.
Suspension refinements, fuel injectors, new paint and insulation and some bodywork are all on John’s to-do list, but with a full plate as an automotive engineer and the standards to go with the position, it’s still going to be a while before he’ll be satisfied with this elaborate build.
“This car has held my interest longer than a lot of others partly because it is a little different. Aftermarket support for mechanical parts is very good — other items not so much — and I’ve had to learn how to fabricate. Every time I take the car out, people compliment me on it or ask if it’s for sale. As long as it remains fun and I can keep it on the road, I think this one is a keeper,” he concludes.
John’s automotive engineering background, realistic approach and fastidious nature have helped this Impala come a long way. To keep tabs on this motivating, tech-heavy and satisfying build, you can monitor its progress here.
