69 Impala SS convertible

[JustJohn]

Dropped off the rocker trim today and was greeted with more assembly work. I should have the car in my garage in a couple of weeks.

That top frame I restored has just been sitting up until today. Aftermarket door glass is pretty wavy looking through it off 90 degrees and I don't know if there's anything to be done. There's only one vendor for it. The rear quarter glass is OE for comparison.

[IMPALAMAN1]

That is wild to see the side by side. Car is coming along beautiful.

[JustJohn]

She’s coming home this week!
I wanted the fuel tank installed plus the shop resprayed the fender liners and assorted pieces to match the firewall. Now I’m on the clock





- - - Updated - - -

Also, happy Halloween

[JustJohn]

[JustJohn]

So I was texting AndrewB with a FI question yesterday and right under him in my contacts was another Andrew - the guy I bought this car from. On a whim I sent a test asking if the number was still his. It was and when he asked who I was I responded with the latest picture of my car. We chatted a few lines and it turns out he ended up moving to Fort Mill, SC. He sent me a picture of the car from when he had it:

[JustJohn]

Starting to put things back together. First two are engine and fuel lines. The Holley accessory kit was a splurge but I really like the package.

Also have a Malwood hydraulic clutch pedal coming tomorrow. I was going to use the American Powertrain kit and I thought I had room because I checked the slave cylinder against the firewall some time ago. I think maybe the fender supports were not attached???

[JustJohn]

Gratuitous engine porn.


Also been working on bleeding the clutch cylinder for 3 weeks. Bleeding is actually not the hard part, I needed to figure some things out. I couldn’t use the American Powertrain slave because there was not enough clearance. The Malwood pedal is a good piece but I had some fabricating to do in order to keep my factory clutch switch. After that I needed a firewall pass through since the factory linkage was gone. Figured the OE firewall boot would work but no. Made a panel to install a grommet and decided passing through a grommet at 90 degrees would not look the way I wanted. I came up with this. Firewall will still be sealed, I get my grommet and no awkward cable angle.

[JustJohn]

Back to a working clutch. The Malwood unit is well built but I suffered from the usual "just be grateful they have a 69 Impala part" syndrome. The factory clutch switch was a challenge because the arc of the pedal is different and you can't just make a new pin to mount to the pedal. I learned this the hard way. Ended up with a nylon roller mechanism that moves the switch the correct amount and keeps OE operation. I needed to move the pedal over about 1mm with a shim to leave the switch enough clearance. Also, Malwood's method for pedal height adjustment does not appear to apply on the Impala model. I ended up shimming the mounting tab with about 4 washers to rotate the entire assembly forward and get my pedals to the same height. It was time consuming but I have something that looks clean and operates like it should.





Pressure bled the slave cylinder and calling it done. Malwood's reservoir is the correct diameter for motorcycle/European fluid reservoirs but they chose a fine thread instead of a coarse thread so the pressure cap doesn't work. I bled from the line and attached the reservoir afterward.

[JustJohn]

Felt like tackling the last part of the exhaust today. My first attempt with v-band clamps. I’ve been agonizing over how to route all this a while because the factory gas tank was forcing me outside the frame. Turns out the new tank is narrow enough that I didn’t need to make the tricky crossing. One side tacked together.

[JustJohn]

Welded up the last of the exhaust this weekend and ground out the welds where pipe would be visible.

Also figured out what I’m doing with the battery.


Terrible time getting the convertible top cylinders bled though.

[JustJohn]

So this is fun….

[JustJohn]

Thought these brake line were going to effing kill me. Working when I took it apart and I could not get the prop valve fittings to seal. Made the lines twice and realized my flaring tool was leaving burrs. Ruined the original prop valve seats and had to buy a new one along with a new tool, which is awesome. Made 2 more lines with new fittings, new flare tool, and it looks to be done. I’d like a loop in the front right brake line but I opted to use pre-bent SS lines and these were the changes needed.

[JustJohn]

Never thought I’d get here

[andrewb70]

I am glad to see you're making solid progress on this! Seeing that big block with the Holley accessories makes me want to build a big block project for something!

Text me when you're ready to get it fired up and tuned.

Andrew

[JustJohn]

I kept my glovebox through Vintage Air, sure not losing it to FI. Took a little ciphering but this is what I came up with.

[JustJohn]

Progress. Where’s a good spot for the ignition coil?

[JustJohn]

Not much to see visually but this is weeks of crimping, stripping, soldering, and looming wires. All of the basic stock wiring is done and all of the ECU wiring is done. Still have some minor tucking and so on but here we are. Still need to hook up the fans and fuel pump. Then back to the fun stuff. I did go ahead with a new condenser when I realized the Vintage Air one would solve my AC compressor relocating to the passenger side issue so when that comes I'll use the open space opportunity to set up the distributor. That should be the weekend I try to crank it.

[andrewb70]

That's looking amazing. I can't wait to tune this bad boy.

Andrew

[JustJohn]

Months of wiring:

https://youtube.com/shorts/Rb2WQNtwb...cY3dEI3vqrq567

Pulled outside under its own power for the first time since I took it down.

[kawasakii]

As far as I'm concerned a 427 is a 427 no matter if it's a big block or an LS.