My wife decided after having our first kid back in January she wanted to sell her Harley and get something the boy can ride in also. I sold her bike and picked up a MINT 1963 Impala 2dr HT(327/4speed,50 000 miles) from a good buddy of mine. He was the second owner and bought it when it had only 19 000 miles on it. He drove it 10 or so years in a fairly stock form then sold it. Then 8 or 10 years later he bought it back from the same guy he sold it too. That guy put Honda seats in,cowl hood and put on a bunch of bolt on junk under the hood. My buddy put the stock seat back in and had been slowly getting it back to semi-original form and now I'm the owner. I'm not crazy about the cowl hood and Cragar SS wheels so they are on my list to change so I'm thinking of puting the stock wheels with the poverty caps back on with some narrow whites(radials). Maybe chrome reverse wheels with whites? I'm shooting for a 60's mild custom. What do you guys recommend?
Thats what I'm thinking and maybe just flip the BFG raised white letters around for now. Its too bad the previous owner put the cowl on the stock hood because its in perfect condition
Also I have a set of new 15" tires from a prior project but would need to find 15" rims the the stock caps would go on. Tires are 205/70r15 and 225/70r15 so I think they would fit nice with the lowered stance. I'd like to put a Air Ride Tech kit on it one day but thats not too HAMB freindly
I'm with them. The car doesn't need much besides loosing the cowl hood and it's probably good trading material. The wheels were the hot lick in time period that the car was new so I'm not sure I would get rid of them unless she just flat doesn't like them. On that model of Chevy I always figured that the simple clean mods were better than going nuts on them. Spend the time and effort on the fine details rather thank modifications.
I totally agree on the simple mods! Whats your guys take on a front disk brake conversion? Maybe just a dual master and booster for safety? I'm not worried about myself I know the car stops good but with my wife driving and jr in the back seat I want it super safe
my 63 has disks all around (and 9" in rear) .. its a worthwhile mod to me .. stops similar to a newer car... if nothing else ditch the single master imho
Nice car, I like the Cragar SSs on those cars. If It were mine I'd ditch the hood, and put a new set of springs on it and get it back to stock ride height. I think they look better that way. Nothing wrong with being safe in the braking dept. imo
That's a great lookin' '63!!! Yeah, a few simple changes are going to have a dramatic effect on this car. I also like the Cragar SS on these, but I'm afraid this particular set are too deep and wide for the period and will always have a 70's look, no matter what tire you use. Keep us updated.
Or..stock hood, stock ride height, body colored steelies with dog dishes and no trim rings. motor built to back it up.
Trade the hood off, turn the black side walls out. stance looks great, dump the dice and cruise in it. Very cool!
Haha!! The dice were included with the purchase price. I think that is the route I'm going to go for now. I just want a reliable low maintenance and SAFE cruiser. Is there anyone making the re-pop stamped Chevrolet valve covers? It has a set of China chrome leakers on it. I think it would have came with stamped covers with the 327 decal on them but I've always liked the Chevrolet script stamped covers
I am with the others here on that damn hood ! It just has got to go really fast ! Other than that , the Cragers fit the period very well as I remember many of my friends that had the Impalas all used the Cragers . The raised white letters are fine too but that's just a personal like or dislike . The only other thing I can think of is considering upgrades for better braking but other than that I would just leave the car like it is . it really looks great and I am a Ford man ! Retro Jim
Those are what I'm thinking. I will just paint them orange...don't want much chrome. Now to find a decent air cleaner that I like,along with the valve covers it has a China special chrome paper filter junker
i know most of you dont like it but wire wheels would look great on it. or how about some astro supremes? or true spoke. i know i know you guys dont like it, but i sure do!
I want to put in a dual res master cylinder and was thinking of doing the 7" or 8" power booster but all the setups are for disc/drum. Or should I just do the front disc conversion at the same time? Then my 14" wheels probably won't fit?
Get the dual reservoir from about 68 and thats all you will need. Very easy. If you have proper adjustment you dont need the power booster.
Color matched steelies are hard to beat. 63 poverty caps are a good look if you want to switch it up.
The Jalopy Journal
