Rebeldryver's '65 Impala SS Black Betty

[JOES66FURY]

I could got now too...the BangShift contingent...

[CTX-SLPR]

I shoud be there for the convoy from Denver to Topeka but I'll head back after that. Got to get the Riviera's brakes and some of the wiring fixed though. I can't take enough time off and the car is nowhere near reliable enough to try the whole thing.

[Scott Liggett]

I talked to DF last night at the Hot Rod Cruise. My query was mostly about the cars being teched once or at all the tracks. He couldn't answer that. He said in the past some tracks, after the first one, haven't teched the cars, and others are very picky. So, I am going to make my car legal to run 13.50's. It won't run that, but I want to be sure.

That will include longer wheel studs, the 12 bolt put together and in, drive shaft loop, and new seat belt.


Next, my engine feels tired, but the compression test, the look I did at the bearings when I had the pan off, the heads, cam, and bigger headers; shows the motor is solid; but I feel the car is missing some power. So, on Monday, I'm taking it to Yannick to have him retune the car starting with recurving the the distributor.

Next, I'm going to check the cam and lifters to see if they are worn because I mistakenly drove the car for four months with solid roller springs on the heads, 350 lbs on the seat and 650 open.

[squirrel]

Check the cam before trying to tune it...just sayin

[Scott Liggett]

Carl gave this today. It's off his Chevelle which before the accident, had a 65 Impala 3 core radiator. He had this custom aluminum fan shroud made and powdercoated black. It survived amazing well. The fans did not. They were both smashed against the engine. Though, they look pretty good in the picture. They won't even turn. How much HP is saved by not spinning a big fan?

All I need now is a pair of 12 inch fans.

[Mater]

not sure depends on the fan and engine


when i put an electric in my 82 GP the 350 olds made 6hp on the dyno (for a wopping 272rwhp lol the car was slow)

[Scott Liggett]

HP increases aren't nearly as important as a car that stays cool in traffic.

[squirrel]

which is why I ditched the electric fans and put a clutch fan on my 55 many years ago....

[TheSilverBuick]

I think in Scott's case, the electric's will work better than his existing set up, but a real good fan shroud on his existing fan might be better. Both my Centurion and now my Skylark (when in has an engine =P) with the full OE fiberglass shrouds, at idle fully warmed up, you can feel the air being pulled by the fan two or three feet infront of the car. No shortage of air at ~600-800rpm.

[squirrel]

A good shroud is definitely part of the equation....

I expect his cooling needs are less than mine, so he should be ok with a good electric setup.

[Scott Liggett]

I just made a deal to get a factory BBC one for the Caprice. That car will get a clutch fan.

I had the factory steel one for this car. Like an idiot I either lost it, or tossed it, when I moved.

[squirrel]

I have a couple steel shrouds that might be right for your car...I'll have to do some research, or if you post a pic of what it should look like?

[SpiderGearsMan]

I would go with a clutch fan , electric fans just don't draw the air through

[Scott Liggett]

Today, I invaded Sire Custom Performance with the Impala because Yannick had an idea to recurve the distributor. He said he has had good luck improving HP in the mid rpm range, as much as 30 hp. What the hell, I had nothing to lose but a couple hours of time.

First, I yanked out my HEI and took it completely apart handing it over to Yannick. He took the shaft with the slots for the mechanical advance and partially welded up the holes to .043". He's done it so many times he nailed the measurement by just eyeballing it. I was so astonished at the speed he works I forgot to take pictures. Yeah, so sue me. Yannick used the Moroso HEI curve kit I bought this morning and used the new weights and the medium springs. All this work limits the mechanical advance to 18* and the vacuum advance will not be used. The speed shop didn't have the block off plate that replaces the vacuum advance pot and prevents the arm from moving advancing the timing.

So now I take my newly modified and reassembled distributor and run back to my car with it to reinstall it. This is when I realized I didn't make a note of which way the rotor was pointing when I pulled it. Oops. Dumbass. So, now I had to detour to find Top Dead Center. Once I got the timing pointer in the right direction by bumping the starting until my thumb got popped off the number one spark plug hole, I dropped the dizzy back in the engine. I got lucky and pretty much nailed it on the first try. Just one little adjustment and the engine fired and ran.

At this point, I set the initial timing at 20* as a starting point, closed up the hood, and started using the ass dyno. Pulling out onto the street I put the pedal into the firewall and the engine pulled hard to 6000 rpm. There was definitely a noticeable increase in power between 3000 to 4500 rpm. When I shifted into second, the rear stepped out, the nose lifted and the car bolted. I lifted at this point. The shop is right near LAX, the most concentrated area of cops in all of LA, so I had to be a good boy.

[JOES66FURY]

So the ass dyno is happy? When the rear slipped, nose raised and car bolted did you laugh maniacally?