I got some garage time today. I plugged the port in the manifold and switched the brake booster to that carb port. It runs much better now. Good oil pressure and it seems to cool itself. I got it idling. The squeak is the inner fender banging around. The radiator seems to leak. Using that radiator was a gamble anyway. Next up, radiator, power steering, rear axle, and sheet metal.
I'm going from memory, but on my old 59 El Camino I think I ended up using a 67 Chevelle radiator application, as that was available new for fairly reasonable price. I think it was just drilling a few new holes to mount it. Cooled the 59 with 350/700R4 just fine, although I used an external trans cooler. BUt check first if you decide to go new, don;t rely on my memory, that was like almost 20 years ago. It's sad how the old radiator shops are nearly extinct, and trying to get an old copper/brass radiator rebuilt is nearly impossible lost art.
Thanks for the tip! Fortunately there’s a ton of new radiators available for cheap for x frame Chevys these days. As much as I’d like to have a re-cored brass Harrison, I’ll probably have to settle for aluminum. At least some of them have stamped tanks instead of fabricated sheet.
It’s too late! The die is cast! I was all set to use the manual box, but then I traded some 350 heads for some factory PS parts and kinda fixated on power steering. I really like X frame Chevys. I’ve got this thing, a super low miles 62 283 Powerglide 2dr Ht, and a beat down 63 327 4speed SS I’ve had since high school. The 63 is a manual steering manual brake car. I found a Motor Trend article from when it was new that described the car as having “rubber band steering”. I daily drove that car for a couple years in the late 90’s. The steering effort wasn’t too bad but the rubber band description always stuck in my head. The 62 is a power steering manual brake car. You can turn it with your pinky but feel is limited. The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to try something different. I read lots of complaints about the 605 conversion. The borgeson seems to have some weird geometry stuff going on with the pitman arm angle. People seemed to say nice things about the CPP 500 box so here we are. There are knock off 500 boxes all over the internet for about half the price, but I didn’t want to gamble with steering. I’m currently waiting on the bolt in steering shaft from the auction site. It was supposed to be here Friday, and they just told me 4 to 6 weeks. The***** was listed as in stock when I bought it. I usually scrounge and do stuff the cheap n hard way, but I had some spare fun money and thought I’d splurge and get it done fast with a kit. Now I’m either waiting a month or making a shaft. Oh well. I really want a 59 flattop. And a 58 Impala, with or without a roof. And a 64 wagon in a dark color. And a 61 bubble top. And any 58-64 ragtop, but those things got expensive. I should have bought the $600 62 SS rag I found in ‘96.
I’ve been looking for a 63 SS 327 car for about 20 years. All I have found are rotted beyond belief. You are a lucky man!
Moving on great, I was thinking about having my stainless headers electro polished as well, looks like yours came out well. Amazes me how you work in your garage, i'll never moan about lack of room again.
Laugh if you want, but these blue bikini bottoms are directly responsible for 15 year old me deciding I needed a ‘63. I didn’t get mine until I was 18. I’ve been lucky that I was able to hang onto it. I was out of state for 10 years and was able to keep it at my parents. It’s a factory 283 3 speed Ember Red regular Impala. It already had a 250hp 327 in it when I bought it. I put a 4 speed in it and turned it into an SS. I’ve got everything but the turned inserts in the side trim. I’m not too worried about numbers matching. I’ve been holding off on doing that car because I want to go all out on it and don’t have the space to protect it when it’s done. I’ve had less space in the past. A big shop or a barn would be just about heaven! Im really curious how the electro polishing will hold up under the car.
I like whats in those blue bikini bottoms better! Here in lovely salty Indiana the x frame cars turned to dust a long time ago. 60 ElCamino and a 63 Impala SS are my White Wales.
I found your thread about a week ago and just got caught up. Dam, frame and all, lol. Nice work and great that you saved her. Won't be long now.
We’ve been updating a bathroom, so I’m not making a ton of progress, but parts are trickling in. 3.55 gears are here. I still need to get new posi clutches and outer axle bearings. I got two 14x6 and two 14x7 chrome reverse from a gentleman on the HAMB. They aren’t perfect, but they’re way better than what I have now. I’m getting a plan together for fixing the back of the cab/front of the bed wall and the rusted brace under it. I’ll keep nibbling away.
I'm pretty excited. Yeah, Ken did a really nice job cleaning them up and sent a ton of pics throughout the process. I'm super excited about the wheels. It was really nice of him to reach out with the wheels and then do such a thorough clean up on them before sending them. His price was really reasonable too. I'd been having a hard time turning up a decent set locally and the currently available new ones don't look right. I can't wait to see these on the car! Thanks for sending him my way!
The El Camino project lurched to a halt. I absolutely wrecked my back wrestling a bathtub this spring and basically was out all summer. The only car stuff I could do was buying***** and convincing others to carry it. Once I started to improve, there was a ton of real life stuff to catch up on. Anyway, I’m easing back into it! Baby steps, anyway. I went through the posi. New clutches, new bearings. New 3.55 ring and pinion. I still need to finish****embling the center section. I forgot to take pics with the clutches out, so I don’t have my normal obsessive number of images. I also installed a CPP 500 steering box. It took forever to get the shaft. I finally accepted one the wrong size and cut it down. I still need to drill for the spring pin and final tighten everything. Radiator clearance is pretty tight.
Was just thinking about this car the other day, glad to see you’re on it again. Damn man, sorry to hear about your back. That’s brutal. Your car is gonna look fantastic when it’s done tho. Love the wheels. Isn’t that the posi you scored out of one of your parts cars? Turns out the frame is bent on my black 60 Camino project, it got hit hard in the front. I copied you and bought a 60 Biscayne parts car with a nice frame and front clip for 1000 bucks.
Nice score with the Biscayne! Looks like it’s got lots of good stuff to donate. Yeah, the posi is from that 59.
Lewk sorry to hear about your back. Glad you’re on the mend though. If you have an extra set of pedals and complete clutch linkage for a 1960 I be interested. Want to convert my 60 Bonneville to a 4 gear.
Always like the updates. Sorry to hear about your back and the delays that caused. But keep making progress and posting pictures.
Thanks for the kind words. I’m on the mend! I’ve just got to be smart and not destroy any discs again. Sorry, I don’t have any extra manual stuff. All the parts cars I know of in the area are autos too. I’ll keep my eyes open!
I have no idea. Wiper motors, seats and window stuff will, but the rest, who knows! Two of the parts cars I know about are 59/60 Pontiacs. They’re pretty stripped.
Yes, the pedals will fit, the linkage and v8 Z bar will work just need to make a mount for the pivot ball. That’s the weird part.
The Jalopy Journal
