I'm guilty of that. I got my my merc in 2008 and finally got it running with the help of my friend in 2020.Blurry pic as found and other pic the way it looks today.
I think other people's procrastination is a good thing for most guys like us who like old cars. If you think about it, guys who never get around to finishing projects or doing anything with a hoard of parts ends up in the hands of other guys who might just finish them. And then again, they might start their procrastination process. But, as a good friend of mine would always say when I would complain about not getting around to things, he would remind me that at least I have the project ,parts when I am ready.
My Momma said I would go blind if I procrastinate...........Wait wrong word. never mind You said you wished you had changed to 4 speed a long time ago .Care to elaborate ??
Hello, Whether it is procrastination or just allow anyone the full effect of driving around in a cool Impala, that is my take. My brother ordered his new 58 Impala with a three speed stick column shift. No 4 speeds were available from any dealer. So, the column shift was good for learning the ins and outs of shifting at what the sound of the motor was doing. He did have a choice of a Powerglide or a three speed stick shift transmission. Most of the fast 58 Impalas at Lion’s Dragstrip had three speeds, plus Positraction. Those were the guys winning every weekend. So, the black 58 had Red interior, a three speed stick shift and a custom white ball to make it look cool. White ball in reverse… We were getting all sorts of advice and information on how to best make the 348/280 HP Impala go fast and win our class at Lion’s Dragstrip. Each local speed shop from Reath Automotive to Joe Mailliard’s Shop and eventually, Mickey Thompson’s Shop had different ways to shift and start the drag race every time. The general consensus starting with Reath Automotive guys saying… “a tach is worthless when racing. The less time spent on looking at the face, the more you will get behind. Concentrate on how the motor sounds and shift when it reaches a peak, and less time on whether the needle hits 3500 rpm.” From Joe Mailliard Shop: “It does not matter whether you have a powerful motor or not, a good start is mandatory, no tire burning, no late reaction to the starter or green light, etc. It has to be on the instant the light turns green. No asleep at the wheel at the starting line.” So, my brother learned to shift using his hearing and feel for the 348 motor in the Impala. He liked the idea of shifting through the gears anywhere he drove. In the off hours, when I was asked to put the Impala in its left hand garage space from the street parking spot I “HAD” to drive around the block to get it lined up in the driveway. Then those times I was able to practice speed shifting on the down-the-street turn around. Jnaki When it was my turn to drive the Impala upon turning 15, I had practiced around our neighborhood streets on fast speed shifts and coordinating the hand + foot and gas pedal action. I felt the shifting was slightly faster than watching my brother slam the gear shift into 2nd. But, that was not the point. Then came the day that we had a C&O Stick Hydro installed. Now, it was instant fast starting from any stop light. The eye only needed to keep the orange light in range and when the light stopped being orange, the gas pedal was instantly pushed and the Impala was always off to the fast starting green light. The human body reacts to sight from the eyes to the foot in about 1.5 seconds (college kinesiology and physics classes…) So, the C&O instantly made up for any deficiencies. No leaks, no grinding, just pure hook up and go instantly. When the Impala was officially mine, my best friend and I wanted to trade cars for a weekend of fun activities. No questions asked. So, we did. He had a custom installed 4 speed we put into his 57 Chevy Bel Air Hardtop. It was the only 4 speed Bel Air Hardtop in our area. He had our 4:11 gears and I had the 58 Impala with the C&O as well as 4:56 Positraction gears. He loved being in my Impala and I loved his 4 speed 57 Chevy. So, we had a great time separately, having the most fun ever driving the other’s hot rod sedans around for 3 days. I got all of my wants for driving a 4 speed stick shift and he got all of his full power acceleration instantly from any stop light that whole weekend. He had a smile on his face to last a life time. I was happy I got the chance to live with a 4 speed and it was fun to make the speed shifts almost sound like my C&O Stick Hydro shifting when the speed shifting technique was applied. Teenage shenanigans at its finest ! So, @Moriarity , have fun with the stick shift and hopefully, your left knee never gets injured! Although present day medicine leaves the person better off in surgery than the awful, cut and dice technique of the old days… HA! Recovery? It might be sooner than anyone can imagine with the new techniques. Since those old teenage days, my wife and I have driven 4 speed stick and 5 speed stick shift cars from 22 years for her and 12 years for me. It was a great adventure shifting through the gears. YRMV
" I did not steam over my own tow line and cut it in half, it was defective equipment, nothing more than that " Capt Queeg, The Caine Mutiny.
Nothing better than rowing a 4 speed! I had a 60's built T-bucket at one time, powered by a 348 and an early T10. Lots of fun but the suspension was sketchy. Took it apart to fix, sat for years until I finally sold it..... I guess I'm guilty of procrastination too... Devin
Procrastination; A.K.A. "We don't want to rush into this shit" is something I've dealt with most of my life. Sometimes it's a curse, sometimes it's a blessing... depends on the day! (week, year, decade...) Mark I really dig your '61... it's got it all! I first saw it on M.F.S. and am glad to see more angle shots of it out of the garage... just gorgeous! The 4 speed, to me, makes it finished and I'll bet you'll drive it more now.
damm fine chevy. I'm so jealous, that automatic sitting at the front of mine just refuses to jump in the car and go. I've waited it out for 6 years--why is it smiling at me??
Hello, We lived in a funky neighborhood in our first house as a couple. It was a small wooden house, but not like the old Craftsman Houses from the little kid days. The neighbor across the street had a great business going. He made custom candles of all shapes and sizes in his underground beach sand chamber. These houses were built on a slight hillside and the slope made for a nice extra storage space under the house. It was tall enough to stand up and still have plenty of workspace to do whatever. He was one of those craftsmen that made a good living selling at the Sawdust Festival in Laguna Beach during the Summer and to businesses of all kinds during the rest of the year. He had me take his candles and wooden display racks along with his wife’s old hanging string designs to the South Laguna’s Treasure Island flat rock breakwater to take photos for his business flyers. (currently, it is the Montage Resort beach front property…) He wanted to give to his long standing customers in their respective companies all over So Cal, gifts of the color photos, for being great customers. He also allowed me to melt the wax, pour color into them in the underground basement. Like a foundry worker, I poured the mixture into the custom molds in the sand. I liked it, but that was not my thing. I had the pleasure of making redwood/cedar custom wooden frames with color prints, recess mounted, like a floating photo frame. He had the prints made and I mounted them along with varying sizes of the redwood/cedar slat frames. His customers kept him in business and he was a happy camper. I also made custom antique Brown B/W prints mounted the same way for the “old” look for specific businesses. They were a part of his Sawdust Festival displays and in the handout flyers for the zillion visitors during the festival. We even got to work in the booth during the festival, as locals… ha! Jnaki We drove his black 1965 Oldsmobile 442 convertible all over, delivering those custom photos and more finished candles. It was his baby and he had owned it for 7 years. As we drove his convertible around, he was constantly shifting his manual transmission. Hoping the goods in the back trunk were not rolling around. It was a powerful convertible and when empty, on the way home, he took off shifting to his heart’s content and me hanging on in the passenger seat. Ha! similar looking 442 convertible… That was not the worst incident in his 442 convertible. When he needed more candle wax, the suppliers were a long way away. As a matter of fact, from South OC to Santa Fe Springs is approximately an 80 mile round trip. Going to the supplier was great, top down, cruising and laughing all the way, despite the warm sun beating us to death. But, the warehouse supplier was located across the street from the original Moon Equipment Building property. After all, the candle wax is made up from petroleum products. We spent some time wandering the hot rod shop, drooling over the speed parts, especially those cool Moon Discs. When we loaded the wax in the trunk and the rear seat of the 442 had blanket covered areas. The 442 was now a “nose in the air” low rider style convertible. We could not go very fast and it looked like we were cruising around with hydraulics in full force. We did get some thumbs up looks and some mean stares while driving back down the streets. We could not go back on the freeway as our speeds could not stay with the traffic. So, we took the surface streets all the way back to the coast. Cruising the neighborhoods was a thing and we were doing it well, too. When we got back home, I told him of the air shocks that were in our El Camino and he said next time, we would take the El Camino on those long road trips. Boxes of wax and all… But, with the power of the 442 and a 4 speed, it was pure delight in cruising. So, pick up and delivery would not be as a cool. The cruising scene in the black 442 Oldsmobile 4 speed, convertible, just made our long trip pleasurable... YRMV
I'm doing the same thing with my shoebox, procrastinating. Wanna drop a 5 speed in eventually. And I bet when I do ill be glad I did, lol. Tough to tear apart a car that's fine tho.... Looks great Mark, that hand turned shift knob is the bees knees.
I saw it when it was first posted too. One of these days I'm going to start at page one and read it all, but not today......... got to have something to look forward to, you know?
Well, I'm certainly guilty of this. I bought my 38 coupe in 1980 just after graduating high school - still haven't driven it. I knew it was going to be a lifelong project when I got it, and I guess I was right!
I've been meaning to read the responses since I posted back in post #62, but I just got a round tuit today myself also... Maybe I'll check back in again tomorrow, if I can make the time
The Jalopy Journal
