61 Impala Ragtop....

[61ragtop]

Hello to all! I am Kevin and I have a 61 Impala drop top. Here are some specs to my set up.....


ENGINE
-383 stroker 442hp/470ft lbs of torque )
-Chevy 350 bored 30 over and stroked to 383ci
-Scat crank 3.75 Stroke Cast 9000 series
-Scat 5.7 forged I beam rods with 7/16 arp cap screws
-Forged Flat top Probe Sportsman Race Series Pistons
-Comp Cams Roller Cam Duration-Intake 230deg Exhaust 236deg @ .050 / Lift Int .510 Exh .520 and 110 lobe separation
-Air Flow Research 195cc Heads 74cc chambers
-9.7:1 compression
-Headman Block Hugger Headers
-Holley 110 gph Fuel Pump
-Speed Demon 750cfm Carb Vacume secondaries
-Polished Air gap Intake
-Edelbrock aluminium water pump
-MSD Plug Wires
-All Bolts Are ARP
-Mini Starter
-Edelbrock double roller timing set
-Comp cams roller lifters
-Crane cams energizer roller 1.5 rockers
-Full Mandrel bent Flowmaster American Thunder exhaust With 50 series deltaflow mufflers


CHASSIS
-700r4 tranny
-Edge Racing 9" 3200 rpm converter with lock up
-B+M super cooler tranny cooler
-9 inch ford rear end
-Center Section With Motive 3.89 Gears And Auburn Pro series limited slip
-Air lift easy street air ride kit
-4 wheel disc brakes Factory GM front and ford rear
-18x7 in front and 20x8.5 rear Intro Twisted Vista Wheels
-Boxed stock trailing arms in rear by spirit engineering

And the engine dyno specs....

Intake center line 105 1/2
jets 76 front 85 rear
vac sec spring short yellow
timing 35 deg
RPM----HP---TQ---A/F--Vol Eff%

3900 - 328 - 442 - 13.3 - 97
4000 - 340 - 447 - 14.0 - 97
4100 - 356 - 456 - 14.2 - 97.3
4200 - 370 - 462 - 14.0 - 97.5
4300 - 381 - 465 - 13.9 - 97.5
4400 - 390 - 465 - 13.9 - 97.4
4500 - 397 - 463 - 13.8 - 97.4
4600 - 404 - 461 - 13.7 - 97.2
4700 - 410 - 458 - 13.8 - 97.1
4800 - 416 - 465 - 13.8 - 96.9
4900 - 422 - 452 - 13.8 - 96.7
5000 - 427 - 448 - 13.8 - 96.3
5100 - 430 - 443 - 13.8 - 95.8
5200 - 433 - 437 - 13.9 - 95.2
5300 - 435 - 431 - 13.9 - 94.9
5400 - 436 - 424 - 13.8 - 94.6
5500 - 437 - 418 - 13.9 - 94.3
5600 - 439 - 411 - 14.0 - 94.0
5700 - 440 - 406 - 13.9 - 93.5
5800 - 442 - 400 - 13.9 - 92.8
5900 - 442 - 393 - 14.0 - 92.1
6000 - 440 - 385 - 14.0 - 91.5



I hope to learn more about getting this beast to handle better with a little help from the Pro-Touring Family here!:twothumbs

[monza]

Welcome, love those cars but ya know:postpics:

[61ragtop]

lol here ya go....

[wellis77]

Welcome to pro-touring. Sounds like a sweet car, now let's see the pics...

Ooh, beat me to it. Looks great!

[67 ls1 vert]

wow, she looks great! Did you build it yourself?

[61ragtop]

Thanks guys. Yes I built it myself aside from interior and paint.

[ProTouring442]

Very nice! I used to have a '61 2drht, very cool cars!

Shiny Side Up!
Bill

[wiedemab]

Very Nice - I love the '61's.

[tones2SS]

Nice looking car.

[tellyv]

wow kick ass car, I have a 61 bubbletop that I never get time to work on!

[E.rodz]

love the car lets see some build picts.you said you wanted to make the car handle better.what are you running for a front swaybar? any sway bar in the rear? what shocks are you using?is the stearing stock and power?

[Ralph LoGrasso]

Welcome to the site, Kevin. Very nice Impala!

[72Cutty]

Very nice, sir. Very nice.

[BMF Machine]

OMG, my name is Kevin and I think that is one bad arse ride!
You got it man, that is StylE!

[61ragtop]

Thanks for all the comments!!!

[61ragtop]

love the car lets see some build picts.you said you wanted to make the car handle better.what are you running for a front swaybar? any sway bar in the rear? what shocks are you using?is the stearing stock and power?

Thanks, I will have to dig out some build pics and scan them as I did not have a digital cam at he time.

I do not have a good front sway bar on it right now, or a rear one at all. The shocks are just off the shelf ones from a parts store so nothing special there either:crying:

The steering is stock with the power removed due to the sloppiness of it. So it is stock manual steering basically.

I know there is a lot to improve here just trying to save the cash to do it and pic the brand of parts I want to use.

[61ragtop]

Few more pics...

[BMF Machine]

Dude stop apologizing about the handleing? It looks so damn smooth just sitting there; I would rock that thing even if it rode like a log wagon and handled like a pinto? Damn it is sick~SicK~SicK!

[DriverzInc]

Sweet Ride dude. I want it! lol.

Impalas on Air are a staple. Just plain sick.

I'm seeing black ten spokes in your future, in 19s/20s....
(i'm the devil....tempting you.....)

[317millhand]

nice. you dont see those everyday

[MuscleRodz]

I love it! Welcome to group therapy

[srh3trinity]

That car is sweet! On my list of things to build is a nice cruiser that has style and enough room for myself and a few others. This would definitely fit the bill.

[61ragtop]

Thanks again for all the comments folks!!

[1971CHEVELLE]

Welcome cool car

[1968CamaroSS_Sam]

Welcome that is a awesome looking car. Great job. Has a lot of character.

[E.rodz]

what are you going to use the car for ? thats the first qustion you have to ask yourself do you want to autocross it, drag race it? or just drive it. there are many levels of handling many different paths to go down.i have a 63 belair with an x frame that handles very well. Iam curently running a 1 1/8 swaybar with urathene bushings and napa gas shocks self made air ride system as well as a rack and pinion and a 7/8 bar on the back and it still rides very nice. I drive it all the time on the street . I have also added a primeter frame to stiffen the chassis.check out more info on project flatliner.let here some more info on what direction you want to go. theres alot of very helpfull people on here that can give you all the answers that you need.

[Justintt]

Very nice ride. Love the classic color combo.

[61ragtop]

what are you going to use the car for ? thats the first qustion you have to ask yourself do you want to autocross it, drag race it? or just drive it. there are many levels of handling many different paths to go down.i have a 63 belair with an x frame that handles very well. Iam curently running a 1 1/8 swaybar with urathene bushings and napa gas shocks self made air ride system as well as a rack and pinion and a 7/8 bar on the back and it still rides very nice. I drive it all the time on the street . I have also added a primeter frame to stiffen the chassis.check out more info on project flatliner.let here some more info on what direction you want to go. theres alot of very helpfull people on here that can give you all the answers that you need.

Flatliner is lookin good!!! Lots of fab hours I bet. What swaybar are you using? Is it an ART one?

I am just going to drive the car but want it to handle awesome and be fun to drive. I am looking to do upper and lower a arms, shocks, swaybars front and rear, as well as a better rear suspension (either just new arms or maybe design too), and power steering. Now I need to choose what parts I want to use to get me there.

[E.rodz]

the swaybar that i used is a speedway motors unit interchangeable from 7/8 to 1 3/8 .i welded all the mounts and fabbed the end links to make it work.but even while autocrossing I only had the 1 1/8 bar in.this seems to work very well I know if the bar in the front is to big it makes the car a ruffer ride on the street. the upper arms will help with your caster the lower arms are more of a cosmetic thing. I do believe unisteer is making a bolt in rack kit for your car now. I just sold the whole stearing system that was in my car when i bought it I don't even know what it was out of maybe out of a 80's impala or caprice had one tab that was welded on to bolt the top of the box on and a couple holes through the frame it worked very well just was not clean enough for my taste.have you blown out your carrier bearing yet? very common problem with theese cars

[61ragtop]

Is this the sway bar you used?

http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Universal-Rear-Sway-Bar-Kit,4053.html

If not do you hve a link to it? Or all other susp components for that matter?

Yes I did go through a carrier bearing but since I put a slip in the rear of my drive shaft all has been good.

What do you have for a rear sway bar?

[61ragtop]

Do you have some pics of the sway bar set up?

[E.rodz]

sorry i have been super busy trying to get my shop cleaned and remodeled. i will look and see what I have I think there is some picts on my website. the mounts for the bar I fabricated plates with tapped holes and used a poly bushing sway bar 1" on both ends were for a late model dirt track car . I bought the whole kit on ebay from someones bush cup car. the rear bar is a addco bar 7/8.hope this helps for now . I will see what i can find to help you.