8" wide rims will ruin the early-mid 60's vibe, extremely few wheels were made that wide since there weren't really tires available to take that width until the later 60's, and the rallys have to go. I think a more period looking wheel and tire setup is all I would do to this one. A guy in 1965 who bought a 283 2bbl post sedan was probably not intending to go drag racing or show it anyway, but a cool set of wheels and tires, definitely. Even if it is just the thin stripe whitewall tires and baldy caps on blacked out steel wheels.
I'm lovin' the ideas, stories and the pics as well. Nice cars! I appreciate all the input. It's too damn bad I've only got this one. I've built at least five of the suggested cars in my head already. It's fun to picture what this car would've (and will?) looked like during that period. It's too new to be a traditional rod, so I think it'll be fun to do it up like it was dad's commuter car passed down to a kid a little later and then stuck in a barn 'til now. I'm starting to get a picture of it.
I wasnt born til 69 but I remember this in the 70s as a kid and have even had a few sets of shackles myself. (nothing too radical) A lot of guys still wanted M50s that would tear the quarters out of em when I started driving http://70sstreetmachines.tumblr.com/
That link is the funniest. I'm not sure if I'm fascinated or nauseous. Slots, cragars, Keystones and shag carpeting as far as the eye can see. I'm old enough to remember some cars like those in the neighborhood.
For a hod rodder in the 60's and 70's, stock wheels, especially dog-dish hubcaps where one of the first things to change on a car. Mags were IN!!
Yeah. reverb..Guys at work told me all the chicks loved them..So I put one in and the first girl to hear it told me to shut that fuck'in thing off..Waste of 20 bucks..
Technically you coudnt use em on a coil spring 63 chev but they are extended peices that go between the rear of the leaf spring and spring hanger, or in front of the front leafs on a 4x4.
I was 17 in 1965...this is what I'd have done, keeping in mind my parents lived in central Oregon. Keep the 283 and put an afb on it. Put dual exhaust on it with glasspacs. I never saw Americans on any local car in '65. If we had a good summer working in the hay fields, we'd spring for a set of 14" chrome reverse wheels with blackwalls. Whitwalls had fallen out of favor in the early 60s. If we didn't, medium width whitewalls [even though out of favor] with black wheels and baby moons That powerglide would have been swapped out for a 3 speed or if we were bucks up...a T-10 with hurst shifter. Stance would have remained stock height...original paint would have been hand rubbed with Dupont #7 rubbing compound and waxed with Blue Corral. Interior would have remained stock with maybe a shrunken head hanging from the mirror and a sun or dixco tach.....maybe even a trio of aftermarket gauges under the dash.......interior would have to be super clean. That's about all we could afford back then.
In '75 I had a '65 with 327, 4 speed, 4 barrel Holley, solid lifter cam and dual exhaust. Blew the motor and bought a '63 Belair two door post small block, 4 barrel with power glide. The '63 was painted light green and I put chrome reverse wheels with baby moon hubcaps and black wall tires on it. Wish I still had her...
Considering I was a planted seed in 65, My choice would be chrome slots not Aluminum, chrome slots are the next best thing IMO to Halibrands in this day/age stock steel in rear black/white an Period cheaters...
Well seeing as this is a pre 64 site, wouldn't anything you would have done to it be non-traditional?
What Squablow and Rocky said. There may have been a lot of "mags" in the magazines, but baldies, black steelies (14" most likely) and thin whites would have been the typical budget choice. (although my brother did have Rader style twin ribs on his 57 Belair in '65)
Put these Z-11 wheels and on it BEFORE anything else! These are '63 Chevy factory 5-1/2 wide 15 inch with vintage Firestone Delux Champions, Exactly what a Z-11 would have had. ........ and I know where they are right now!
True. Since 1965 was stated it could be a TH400 then. But a TH350 would go in with no changes basically.
(TH350 in the garage right now....shhhh. It's free and easy at the moment...) Yep...I'm down to the factory style wheels painted black or body color, OR the chrome reverse with baby moons either way. I like the mags, but I see them a lot locally. Stock wheels or chrome steelies, not so much. I think the mags look better on the Impalas.
This is awesome. Now I gotta shrink a head. I do have this neighbor with a dog that yaps all night...hmmmm.
Knowing me I would have bought it for way under market price. The only reason to buy a modern car like that would be to part it out, sell the leftovers for a profit and replace the flathead in my 29 RPU with a near new 283 .
If I had brought home a Ford, The Old Man would have beat my ass and moved my stuff to the shed, then my Grandad ( an olds man) would have burned down the shed, shot me and "danced about on my grave".
The Jalopy Journal
