'77 Impala

[bonecrrusher]

Damn... just noticed this was on the Power Tour... where you a long hauler? There where so many cars in Madison that I didn't see it there or the other stops.

[Impala Matt]

Well I have finally driven the Caprice with the 4-speed
Everything is finished except for an alignment.
BUT
the power brakes have no power assist. I replaced the New power steering pump and the NEW hydraboost unit still no power to the brakes. The power steering is ok but there must ait trapped in the hydraboost unit
frustrating

[Impala Matt]

The good news is the power brakes finally work. The air in the system finally worked its way out. This took between 60 and 80 miles.

Here are some shots of my Caprice. This has a mild 350 and a Super T-10. It can't get out of its way because it has 2.41 rear gears..... for now. It does well for mileage on the highway.

The clutch set up and the Hydraboost are the same as in the Impala.

This is my winter lowrider.

[frankenstang]

If you run across a good condition 79-80's ish 2dr, let me know. I REALLY miss my 80 impala.

Your cars look sweet, the 4spd blows me away. I wanna do one with a stock LS drivetrain and a later model interior. I wasn't a big fan of that stock dash.

[Impala Matt]

Happy to report the Caprice is doing well as a winter car.
I cut 1/2 coil out of the stock rear spring and put hoses back in
It helps with the 350 lbs in the trunk.
So far Dec has been an exciting month. 18-20 inches og snow last week and then temps in the -0s. I'm glad to say the aftermarket hot rod parts seem to be holding up well. .in this car I used the latest version of Howe racings stock clutch release bearing. The T-5 version is what fit behind m my stock replacement clutch and in front of my Super T10.
This latest version is better than the previous ones offered in that it can not be over strocked. Also the o-rings are at least
twice as thick as earlier offerings.
For about a week before the snow/salt hit here in So Wis I was able to drive the Caprice and the Impala back to back
Kind of like having sisters.... similar yet so different.
I guess the Caprice is like the slower slightly retarded version
of the Impala. Still its cool havin a beater with a Hurst shifted 4-speed and headers/flowmasters. Almost makes winter ok. And whiping dounuts is too cool.
Future plans for the Caprice involce 3.08 rear gears and a posi unit.

As for the Impala
Winter updates will probably include a Hurst shifter for the T-56 and an update for the rear control arms.
Right now I' m looking at the Global West lowers. They dont offer an upper yet but they have uppers for the '73-77 A bodies which may work
will need to check into that.

[Impala Matt]

Ah proof reading:
what I ment is I put those back in refering to the cut stock rear springs. The lowering spring couldn't deal with the winter weight over the rear end. Also this one has a reman jet Performance Q jet and a block heater. It help when the morning temps are 5-10 below 0
Enough about the winter car I'll post more on the Real one as I make changes this winter

[MrBlonde]

Look forward to more updates!

[Impala Matt]

Time to play the hand me down game.
The winter car needs a radiator
so
I'm going to put the 3-row from my Impala
in the blue car and get an alum. for the Impala
nothing new but that

[cupcar]

Sharp car matt , most suspension parts that you are looking for are the same as the 73/77 A-bodies . GW has them
mike.

[Impala Matt]

I picked up a first gen Edlebrock Pro Flo system for the Impala. It was on my brother's '72 Nova befor he installed the 6.0 LQ4. I think it has 3000 miles on it. We installed the intake last Friday and my brother will post pics here soon. I'm waiting for the ZZ4 chip from Edlebrock and still need to set up the new fuel delivery system. This should be lots of fun.

[mikem]

Here are some pictures of the Pro-Flow intake as we removed the old and sealed it up with the new. The system is really straight forward. It only takes 2 wires from the fuse box to make this happen. A constant power and a keyed ignition wire. If I hadn't had the LQ4 for my Nova I would still have this on a small block in there.

Before:




After:

[70Nova4dr]

Where is Wisconsin are you from? I"m in Green Bay. Nice ride, all i have is a 70 Nova 4 door. Brandon

[Impala Matt]

Brandon,
I'm in the Madison area
good luck with your nova.
Besides the B-bodys I've got a '63 sSS Nova

[Impala Matt]

The Pro-flo system is great. Easy to get the car started
and setting the base timing and idle. I drove it a little and
the car is very responsive. It looks like I have a small oil
leak at the back of the intake. I'm not sure why there would
be oil at the back ( where the head and intake meet ) but when the car warms up and sees some rpm there is a small oil trail that runs down to the bellhousing. Guess I'll pull the intake and reseal it.

[Jim Rockford]

just a note, Next time you reseal the intake,Not sure if you have done it already, but pick up a can of Right Stuff sealant from permatex It looks like a squeeze cheese can Works 900X's better than regular RTV.


Also you might want to try some MOOG CC627 rear springs, They are a cargo coil for a g body. and alot of impala and 94-96 caprice guys use em to lower the rear of the whale caprices and still be able to haul stuff in the trunk.
Compairo from My 94 I used em on
Before 1 coil cut off the front 9C1 coils stock rear springs

After the 627's

[Impala Matt]

I am running the SPC adjustable upper A-arms with the greaseable
steel-on-steel "race" style bushings. At some point they quite taking grease and would only push the grease gun off the zerk. When i took them apart 3 of the 4 wouldn't push grease through the small hole in the cross shaft even with the bushing off. The shaft and the bushing are to worn to use and I am going to replace them. I am trying to decide if I should replace them with the same or switch the rubber bushed "street" style. SPC says dirt can clog up the small hole and prevent proper greasing. They recomend disassembley and cleaning
often. Anyone have a similar experiance with these on the street and
will I be dissapointed if I change to the "street" style.

[monteboy84]

Man, sorry to hear that about the SPC arms, I don't want to be ripping my A-Arms off all the time for cleaning :(

-matt

[68Formula]

I am running the SPC adjustable upper A-arms with the greaseable
steel-on-steel "race" style bushings. At some point they quite taking grease and would only push the grease gun off the zerk. When i took them apart 3 of the 4 wouldn't push grease through the small hole in the cross shaft even with the bushing off. The shaft and the bushing are to worn to use and I am going to replace them. I am trying to decide if I should replace them with the same or switch the rubber bushed "street" style. SPC says dirt can clog up the small hole and prevent proper greasing. They recomend disassembley and cleaning
often. Anyone have a similar experiance with these on the street and
will I be dissapointed if I change to the "street" style.

But they sell these for circle track use! Are circle track guys disassembling and cleaning after every race? I figured since they are used for that purpose, the only reason for calling them track-use was because you did have to occasionally grease them (which a lot of people would neglect to do) and maybe increased wear rate since they are steel on steel.

[monteboy84]

But they sell these for circle track use! Are circle track guys disassembling and cleaning after every race? I figured since they are used for that purpose, the only reason for calling them track-use was because you did have to occasionally grease them (which a lot of people would neglect to do) and maybe increased wear rate since they are steel on steel.

We run similar ones on our Touring late model and have never had them apart, some of the greasable racing arms simply can't be disassembled. That's why this bugs me, I'm apprehensive about ordering the greasable arms if they got that bad so fast. I hope they're at least somewhat good at keeping dirt out, but this has me concerned.

-matt

[Jim Rockford]

Just to bring this to the top I have 2 77's now..lol

The 94 frame and LT1 swap for the blue one

and the new Stocker 77 ..


Interior is perfect..


got a carbed LT1 I'm building for this one..