Technical 283 1964 Impala Build

I had a car very similar to yours I bought in 1983, except it was a BelAir, not an Impala. Same drive train though. Probably the most dependable car I ever had. Pat the gas twice to set the choke and if it would roll over, it would run...even in the -10 degree weather when I drove it to Idaho. I put a set of duals on it, and it sounded better, and it might have helped it run a little better. I soon figured out it would never be fast, on my budget, so I sold it my Mama and bought me a 396 Chevelle. . Many years later I bought the car back, and it was STILL one of the most dependable cars i ever owned. I appreciated it more for what it was,the second time around. I wish I still had it. I do still have the old 283 and PG that I took out of it.
Listen to Larry. The Turbo 350 has a 2.5 low gear, and a 1.5 second gear. So it will take off harder in low, and wind higher in second, before it get to high gear, which is going to be the same. Learn to like cruising, if you still want a fast car, buy something lighter with a bigger motor. Good Luck

 

A lot of guys would give their left nut for an unmolested 283. Bolting on a bunch of after market shit will probably leave you sorry. I've had plenty of small blocks with 2 bbl carbs that run like a tortured barn cat. Take Larrys advice and go with a th 350. All you need is tweaking.

 

The aluminum powerglide is tougher than a turbo 350. Ive seen them factory installed behind 396,s. My son one time was drag racing with me. And the torque built up against his 327 glide in his 70 chevelle. and he pushed so hard on the collum shifter that he went into reverse at 75 MPH. broke engine mount,s and Dist cap. did not hurt the glide. all the spark plugs we get today are resistor type plugs. And with todays sorry corn gas & resistor plugs a points type ignition is marginal at best. I actually use and drive old trucks and farm tractors every day. and the upgrade to electronic ignition is something that I really believe in. For about $300 he can install lower gears, 4 bbl,dual exhaust and electronic ignition. Buy used stuff and do the work himself. His two bbl carb will soon need to be upgraded to a ethanol compatable rubber parts kit. Buy a used 4 bbl carb and spend the kit money on it. He can split his cross under pipe and seal off the cut. and then he only needs 1/2 of the dual exhaust. And if he keeps his old parts all the mods I recommend can be reversed back to stock original in a heart beat. Before I changed to a 350 trans. I myself would convert the car to a stick. All Real Hot Rods have Three pedals. This kid is a novice everything I recommended is a direct bolt in swap no modifying necessary. The shifter and kickdown on the 350 will need modifying. the rear yoke has different splines. the trans dipstick tube likely will not fit. the rear crossmember might need moving?

 

The 57 chevys that came powerglide equipped had 3.36 gears the 60 thru 66 trucks that came powerglide equipped had 3.90 or 4.10 gears. the 15 inch tires on the trucks made them a bit longer legged. Any rear chunk from a 1955 to 64 passenger car will bolt into his car.

 

Maybe In out to lunch. However I could do every modification I recommended in one day. and never have to buy any parts.

 

You really got a collection of parts!

 

Caps, trannies and heads, oh my!

 

Very nice car you have !
All good advise here also, but if I am reading between the lines correctly, I would go the four barrel route, get some Rams Horns exhaust, glass packs (or similar) and leave the rear end alone...
JMHO...but from my experience...
The 283 is a wonderful little engine..
I have one that is bored .060 over, Corvette cam, 302 HO heads, 2 1/2" Ram Horn full exhaust, electronic ignition, 4 speed and a 373 rear end.
A fun snappy little engine, and I love it...HOWEVER I rarely run Interstates as I am pushing 3000rpm's at ~60 mph. Doesn't bother me as I built it for a fun car, and I love it..but for just plain cruising for low buck I recommend my first comment.. Good luck

 

Yes its probably gotten out of hand. When I was a teen I worked at a junk yard and got half of my pay in parts. later I worked at a recycling yard and got some of my pay in parts. And I attended estate auctions of other hoarders already taking the dirt nap and bought some of their stuff and added it to my hoard, . Im in the process of moving and its gonna be a big project to shift all of it.
My advise is don't tackle anything that you cant do in a few hours on your impala. That way you get to drive it. No fun just working on sumthin and not being able to drive it.

 

Yeah that's some good advise. In the end, I think I'm going to get a whole other car to really make a "project". Something like a Nova or Chevelle that I can wrench on with out feeling too bad about it and make it a real hot rod. For the time being, I think I'll start with a good flowing exhaust on my little Impala [emoji846]

 

Now you're talking, keep it simple on the '64.

 

Old Wolf, please tell me where I can source a rear end, four barrel carb, manifold, electronic ignition and a dual exhaust system for $300. If its out of your personal parts stash please let me know. I'm in for several sets.

Musclecar, I'm glad you've seen the light.

Gary

 

Nope HEI cap won't fit on stock cap. They are telling you to get a petronix electronic conversion for your existing distributer. You will then modify the original distributer using the petronix parts and following the instructions.

you have a stockish 283 and with a 4bbl upgrade you will still have a stockish 283. If you keep the points clean and adjusted it will run just as well as it will with an electronic distributer. Unless you do some pretty serious performance upgrades to that motor it will never ever rev high enough to take advantage of the electronic distributer.

Follow @Old wolf 's advice and you will be fine.

 

Keep that impala especialy if no dry rot. Hard to find good old cars anymore. I wouldnt sell it. Especialy that one that it so clean and neat. Just research stuff as you go before you touch things in it. Hamb,Youtube, catalogs, ect... Just keep the ol car

 

I will call your bluff. Come on over here and bring cash. I will sell you a rear chunk for $100 . Q jet carb and intake for $75 Hei for $50. and give you a pipe and glasspack. that leaves you $75 for the muffler shop. Heck you can find stuff around here on craigs list. Ive bought several high rize intakes for $25 to $50. My Ph is 870-248-9172

 

Oh I'm going to keep it, I was just saying j think I'll buy some junkie nova etc. to mess around with since the Impala is in such nice shape it would be a shame to change it.

 

I'll take the Quadrajet and Intake Manifold for $75.00. Please advise the cost of shipping to Zip Code 40223.

Thanks Gary

 

rightful

I knew guys that could get you all the mentioned parts for $300.
Fact is, the rightful owners of those mentioned parts then filed a theft report with the police.

 

Novas are are cool, I have a 67, but keep in mind, the first gen cars (62-67),have a less than desirable front suspension design and can be quite expensive to upgrade.
Another thing is, these cars also require some specific parts to build a V8 hotrod, and they also can be very expensive. Don't get me wrong, they can be a lot of fun, they are just a whole different animal than the rest of the Chevy models.
One little bit of advise if you plan on sourcing your parts through C/L, get friendly with a gearhead in your area that you can rely on to give impartial advise and if he is willing, take him with you to look at parts. In communication with sellers, try not to let on to them your age or inexperience (nothing personal). Once you hand over your hard earned cash, done deal, no guarranty as to condition or fitment to your application.
Same thing with the big internet auction site, do your research first, a lot of less than honest people selling parts out there.

 

thanks for your interest. Im just not any good at shipping. If something will fit in a flat rate box I will ship it. And I would much rather the buyer inspect the items before they purchase them. In the past When I was driving truck I hauled some items in the headache rack and met the buyers. I once hauled a 50 chevy coupe trunk lid to Mt Vernon Ind. The buyer a HAMB member drove up from Kentucky and purchased it.

 

If your gonna get a chevy to build a hot rod. Spend the money and get a tri five chevy two door. Every part is available. There easy to build. And they hold their value. I have never lost money on a tri five chevy. After the initial cost it dont cost any more to build a desirable car that is in demand than something not everyone wants.

 

The fact is the offer went from several sets of rear chunks manifolds, electronic HEI and Q jet carbs. To just one carb & intake and I would have to ship it? I was thinking he wanted to buy at least three of everything?

 

I was just looking on EBay. and theres lots of stock intake and 4 bbl carbs for reasonable prices. Ther was one 300 hp 327 intake for$65. I ran one of those on the first 55 chevy I owned.http://www.ebay.com/itm/1964-327-30...541cc5a&pid=100005&rk=3&rkt=6&sd=172177153565

 

Listen to 3 window Larry.

 

I'm really looking for a 68-74 Nova or 68-72 Chevelle, so hopefully I don't run into those problems [emoji854][emoji846]

 

Many years ago my neice bought a 69 Nova four door for her son, had a four cylinder and three speed/column. I got the distributor and the motor mount fixed and took it for a test drive, boy what a scooter, would have put a 4 speed in it if it was mine, fun car.

 

Did they take the 4 cylinder out of a chevette or something? Those only came with 6 and 8s

 

No, the Chevy 11 Nova 4 cyl has quite a history not only in street cars but boats and racing also, they were produced from 1962 through the 1969 or 1970 model year.

 

LOL my first 312 powered car had 3 deuces on Weiand, a full syncro 3 speed fenton headers and a hurst YoYo shifter. I paid 25 bucks for the parts from some twins in the club that said I needed them. they were gone half an hour to get the parts and the headers were still pretty warm when I too them out of their trunk.

Were they hot, I dunno does a Bishop wear a funny hat?

These days SBC parts are pretty cheap used and if you shop around you can find bargains all the time. Sometimes they need a little work but that hot rodding isn't it.