Customs Budget Low Rider

Makes me think of Chech & Chong....

 

Had a '64 Impala as my second car so you Know I Like It!

 

If that thing was "a rust bucket that was close to being scrapped" I've drove some real absolute garbage over the years.

 

I have 75 thousand miles on my Caprice since I put hydraulics on my car when I was 17. 10- inch cylinders. I only run 2 batteries so I can control the ride height. No jumping thou because it has a factory big block. No 3 wheeling either. They were put on 34 years ago. Only problem was a broken A-arm at the pivot point. And it eats tires in the front a bit (a lot) more. I am now averaging about 3-4 thousand miles a year now. I used to run True spoke wires early on but now run wide whites and 57 Caddys. If you have never riden in a lowrider, you have no idea what you are missing. It brings big smiles to people who see the car in movement.

 

I was just singing " love machine" in my head...

 

TITS!!

 

What year Caprice? Sounds cool!

 

@Dan Hay
Jim's Caprice is a '69 if I remember correctly. I'll PM you a pic.

Edit: I realize now that it's even in his screenname. I swear I'm losin' my ever-lovin' mind.

 

Not bad… I definitely see how it’s more of a west coast thing though. Our roads in Pa are horrible! It basically rides like a car with bad shocks… you are riding on coils so you do a lot of drawn out bouncing after you hit a bump. But the good highly out ways the bad with a car with hydraulics.

 

Great work. A lowrider impala is a bucket list car for me.

 

Hell yeah !

 

VERY COOL!!!!!!

 

Fun winter beater! See below for ideas

Lowrider Defies the Odds in Heavy Detroit Snow - Videos from The Weather Channel | weather.com

 

Hahaha I love that car. I’ve seen that before. They call it the “snow-rider”. I have those goals.

 

I just picked up a two door 63 SS a few weeks back… going to start that build in the spring.

 

Looks like a pretty decent car! Looking forward to what you do with it. This was my 64 I had. I got fortunate and actually bought it from someone that needed out from under it quick. I hate to even admit how little I gave for it.

64 Impala by guthriesmith posted Dec 10, 2009 at 5:58 AM

 

Yeah… don’t want to even know. Lol These cars are going for crazy money right now. I’ve been looking a couple years for a 63 or 64 two door. Finding an SS was a cherry on top.

 

Mine from back in the late 80s. shoulda never gotten rid of that car, sigh

 

Thanks, @Tman
Awesome video!

 

I posted the link to the full vid above in Post #44

 

Never give up!

 

A lot of folks can, and do run shock absorbers on lowriders. It is not considered traditional in lowrider culture out here.

I built the full chassis for a 1940 Chevy pickup with 4-corner hydraulics. It has KYB shocks on all 4-corners, the customer is very pleased.

He also has, or had a OT Glasshouse Caprice that also had shock absorbers. It had two on each side in the front, with singles in the rear.

I did not build that one, but someone put a whole lot of work into the brackets. they were bent 3/8" steel, and chromed, like everything else. That car rode like a dream.

 

My 64 was not built the best but was built pretty traditional by an older Hispanic buddy. The cylinders had more stroke than the shocks. When I got it, the shocks were pulled in half so it bounced pretty good after going over any bump. I never got around to trying to resolve that issue.

 

The trick is making sure that the shock stroke is longer than the cylinder stroke, and/or use limiting straps or chains.

It is all about math and geometry.

 

Exactly! Being a design engineer, I might even overthink that kinda stuff at times. That’s why it was funny to me.

 

I love the plan, keep it on the road while you work on it. I'd say buy the same paint and prep a panel at a time and shoot it. But that's much harder with a metallic.

Hydros is your call - as long as it's on the road - good job.

 

I haven’t tried the snow yet, but does 8 degrees on a Friday after work count? My buddy from work took this pic.

 

Love it, keep pushin and let them haters know how you come through.

 

Heck yeah, it counts. LOL
Did the snow miss you guys?