I have several sets of that quarter wrap around trim... I’ll dig it out and get some pics when I get home from work...
Hey Ricky you wouldn't have bought your 61 thats in your Avatar in Champion Ohio a few years ago did you?
Mark
1961 Impala 2 Door Sedan - Let's Get Started...
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Hey Ricky you wouldn't have bought your 61 thats in your Avatar in Champion Ohio a few years ago did you?
Mark
YES!! Except it was a little more than a few years ago.... it was 1995.... Can you tell me anything more about it than I already know?? I’ve been hoping for years someone would recognize it!!
Doug... are these the pieces your looking for? The worst one is the one with the studs on it... near as I can tell they are the same from side to side....
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Read an article today about how to repair your GM factory clock. Read it. Understood it. Did it....
Realize why there are quartz movement replacements available now. Spend 2 hours just to see smoke wafting from my freshly soldered movement coil. Oh well, at least I gave it a shot.
I’m pointing the wire that was burnt on discovery after the initial dismantle. That’s the same place it burnt through after my attempt to repair.
Realize why there are quartz movement replacements available now. Spend 2 hours just to see smoke wafting from my freshly soldered movement coil. Oh well, at least I gave it a shot.
I’m pointing the wire that was burnt on discovery after the initial dismantle. That’s the same place it burnt through after my attempt to repair.
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Greg Reimer
Well Known Member
Seems to me that the '61 had several distinctive body styles to that year. They made Bel Air 4 door hardtops (no post), Bel Air 2 door hardtops, looked like an Impala with two less rear lights, and Bel Air trim, and your car. This would be a nice W motor car, but the 283 would be a good start. If you want to 4 barrel that 283, put a pair of '63-67 Power Pack heads, casting numbers ending in #896 or 520's.The 2 barrel heads were very low compression. It seems that Chevy put lots of different models out there to test the market. By '63 or 64, the model lineup seemed to be a lot smaller. Nice car!! Also, throw away the master cylinder, the brake hoses, and all the wheel cylinders.They have to be rust pitted after sitting that long. Be a shame to do all that work on a straight car only to have a brake failure and have an accident.
Greg
You speak of pp heads. I had a "58" 283 a friend of mine wanted the pp heads bad after I scrapped it. What's the deal?
You speak of pp heads. I had a "58" 283 a friend of mine wanted the pp heads bad after I scrapped it. What's the deal?
Dave,the Power Pack heads had a smaller,much better combustion chamber that bumped the compression up by about 3/4 of a point,and a better intake port.They were a big part the reason that the 63 and later 2bbl.engines went from 170hp[[61-62] to 195 in 63-67.One of the best things to do with them was to increase the intake valve from the stock 1.72 size to 1.94.
I guess I should have checked this thread before I replied to the other one. So it was you I talked to in Canfield then. You probably don't remember what I said to you at the swap meet in jest of course?
Mark
Back in the middle 60's when I was just a youngster I remember my one friend use to steal the family's second car which was 63 Belair and when we were out cruising the back roads he would flip the air cleaner lid over and then the little 283 made this huge sucking waaaah sound which we both thought was cool. So I got the bright idea to try the same on Dad's 60 Belair flipped the lid over and went out and grabbed a foot full but there was no huge sucking waaah sound I couldn't figure it out , but I was crushed I wanted that sound. But when I started to learn a little more about small blocks I found that the reason for the Waaah sound was because the 63 had 4 barrel heads and Dads 60 didn't. But a little later down the road Dad traded the ole 60 in on a 64 4 dr. Impala hardtop so I made up for lost time or at least until my Brother totaled it out for Dad.
Mark
Greg Reimer
Well Known Member
Alright, here we go. My first Stock Eliminator car thatI owned was a 66 Bel Air 2 door sedan. It had a 283/220 horse motor, a Powerglide, a 12 bolt, cast pistons, a rather nice set of OEM rods, a legal camshaft, a pair of 520 heads, and a rather trick 4 jet Rochester on a cast iron OEM intake. It weighed 3690 with driver, and ran P/SA, 16 pounds per horsepower. Mine was a dated combo,even when I had it in the 1980's,and the index for P at the time was a 13.64. On a good fast day it could almost hit the index. Now, those same cars with a 283 are in the 12's. Evolution of a species. One of the things that we got was when they approved"any cast iron OEM type intake, the good one being one that ends in casting number 459. Those came on '62-65 327 300 horse engines.The plenum and runners are as large as 66-72 Quadrajet intakes from 327 and 350's.It has a rather large bore four hole carb flange that had a Carter AFB on the 327's. Now, you build a flat top 283 with even the 520 heads, surface the heads around .030-.050",put decent stainless valves in them, the 327 intake, a Carter or Edelbrock carb, a decent cam and springs,roller rockers,and a good distributor, and you wouldn't believe how this thing would run between 4500-7000 RPM. My car had a little converter, 6.14 gears, 9X30X15 slicks, and actually came in at a little over 10 to 1 compression, so it was pretty loud.I left the line at 4000, shifted around 7200, and it went 7800 through the lights at just over 98 miles per. It got sold around 20 years ago, I built a bunch of Chevelles,but that 283 was pretty remarkable. There's a racer that has a 283/220 horse in a big 66 Bel Air wagon, 4100 pounds, runs a 4 speed, and it goes 13.00 at 101. Ever see a 283 pull both front wheels about a foot off the line?
I’ve never been a fan of reproduction emblems, but these are really nice. My original crossflags were badly faded and dull. On a whim, I purchased a repopped set from a guy in Cali. The mounting nibs on the new emblems were about 1/32 closer than the original, so a little fine tuning was necessary, but they look good when mounted. Now I’ll have time to patiently restore my original crossflags
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Only two areas of rust on the entire car. First pic isthe ever present headlight bucket rust. I’d love to find a used fender (hint hint) with an area around the bucket that I could have grafted onto this fender because the rest of it is SOLID! The passenger side fender, oddly enough, is as solid as the day is long. Absolutely no rust on it. The second pic of the pinholes in the trunk floor have a story. The owner’s daughter told me, when I was inspecting the trunk, that the area was where here dad always kept an oily rag. This rag was used religiously to check the oil, before every trip, in all weather, 365 days out of the year. He was a stickler for details. BUT that same rag sat in that spot wet for years, causing the pinholes you see.
I may get an old shop rag and put it in that spot after I get the trunk blasted and re-splatter painted just for the late owner’s spiritual approval
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Well, I spoke with Detroit Steel Wheels today. I’m trying to get the first set of these that will be available to the public. I’ve been waiting for manufacturer to produce a factory appearing rim that has the 4 windows on them. 
Then install ‘61 dogdishes
With Diamond Back redline tires
Then install ‘61 dogdishes
With Diamond Back redline tires
What size are you going with ???
Think I’m going 20” x 8.5 or 9 in the rear. Would really like to go wider, but the prevailing thought is anything over 9” will rub. As for the front, I want to go with 20” x 7 or 8.5 because I’m really not a fan of 18/20 staggered. The front will take a bit more massaging to get the front down with 20”’s, so I will install drop spindles and tubular a arms along with the air bags.