caprice to impala ss
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caprice to impala ss ok i tried searching and couldnt find anything helpful...so bash away if you do find something
what is the exterior differences between an impala ss and a caprice. 96 ish models.
looks like grill, bumpers, tailights?
what is the exterior differences between an impala ss and a caprice. 96 ish models.
looks like grill, bumpers, tailights?
The Impala has body color wheel well moldings, different door moldings, different grille, no hood ornament, no chrome in the bumpers, different trunk emblem, a spoiler, c-pillar emblems, rear quarter scripts, is lower, and has 17 X 8.5" wheels with 255/50/17 tires. The axle is also wider by 5/8" on either side, so impala wheels on a caprice don't look quite right. The impala's rearview mirrors are bodycolor, some caprices are black regardless of color, and the top of an impala's headlights are painted black, (can only really see this when the hood is up...but it helps hide the gap between the light and the hood when the hood is down), bodycolor door handles, and black door lock cylinders (instead of chrome)...as well as body color lower door trim instead of stainless.
94 Impala's have a plastic insert in the c-pillar window to make it look similar to the shape that the 95-95 impala AND caprice got in the sheetmetal.
The tailights are in fact the same as a 93-96 caprice, with the exception of the chrome trim being blacked out, and the addition of black horizontal pinstrips on the impala's lights.
Police package (9C1) caprices with the LT1 have the same rear discs, 3.08 gears and electric cooling fans as an Impala, regular caprices with the LT1 can have 2.93's, a mechanical fan, rear drums...depends on how they're equipped (towing package and such...ALL Impala's are mechanically the same though)...but not all police package or regular caprices have the LT1, some have an L99 (265 cube version of the LT1)...easiest way to tell is the single exhaust versus dual. Also all impala's have the grey leather interior with center console, no caprice has a center console. The only "options" on the Impala from year to year were the power antenna, rear defroster, cd player, power passenger seat, block heater, and color, and only 3 colors were available, black, dark grey green metallic (my caprice is that color) and dark cherry metallic...but all 94's were black. Shifter was on the collum for 94/95 and moved to the floor for 96...which is also when the Impala got an analog speedo/tach (and lost the oil pressure and voltage gauges) and the caprice kept the same digital dash that they both had in 94-96...and the oil pressure "gauge" in those cars is a glorified idiot light except in the police package cars which got a real sending unit.
A good place for info on this is the impala ss forum...I've been a moderator on there for years now.
Look for "WX3" on the SPID sticker on the underside of the trunk lid to tell if it's a real impala...and make sure the VIN on that sticker matches the VIN on the car. The build sheet is in the bottom of the passenger seat and will also read WX3, and there's a sticker inside the front fender that you can see with the the hood open with a flashlight that also says WX3. The Impala's also got the "police package" frame, which has some parts that are thicker steel than a regular caprice...but some of the body mount buhings are left out on the Impala which makes it ride/corner a bit floatier than a police caprice will on the same tires/shocks/springs/swaybars.
I'm sure I'll remember more eventually...but I think thats probably more than enough for now (on the totally wrong website).
94 Impala's have a plastic insert in the c-pillar window to make it look similar to the shape that the 95-95 impala AND caprice got in the sheetmetal.
The tailights are in fact the same as a 93-96 caprice, with the exception of the chrome trim being blacked out, and the addition of black horizontal pinstrips on the impala's lights.
Police package (9C1) caprices with the LT1 have the same rear discs, 3.08 gears and electric cooling fans as an Impala, regular caprices with the LT1 can have 2.93's, a mechanical fan, rear drums...depends on how they're equipped (towing package and such...ALL Impala's are mechanically the same though)...but not all police package or regular caprices have the LT1, some have an L99 (265 cube version of the LT1)...easiest way to tell is the single exhaust versus dual. Also all impala's have the grey leather interior with center console, no caprice has a center console. The only "options" on the Impala from year to year were the power antenna, rear defroster, cd player, power passenger seat, block heater, and color, and only 3 colors were available, black, dark grey green metallic (my caprice is that color) and dark cherry metallic...but all 94's were black. Shifter was on the collum for 94/95 and moved to the floor for 96...which is also when the Impala got an analog speedo/tach (and lost the oil pressure and voltage gauges) and the caprice kept the same digital dash that they both had in 94-96...and the oil pressure "gauge" in those cars is a glorified idiot light except in the police package cars which got a real sending unit.
A good place for info on this is the impala ss forum...I've been a moderator on there for years now.
Look for "WX3" on the SPID sticker on the underside of the trunk lid to tell if it's a real impala...and make sure the VIN on that sticker matches the VIN on the car. The build sheet is in the bottom of the passenger seat and will also read WX3, and there's a sticker inside the front fender that you can see with the the hood open with a flashlight that also says WX3. The Impala's also got the "police package" frame, which has some parts that are thicker steel than a regular caprice...but some of the body mount buhings are left out on the Impala which makes it ride/corner a bit floatier than a police caprice will on the same tires/shocks/springs/swaybars.
I'm sure I'll remember more eventually...but I think thats probably more than enough for now (on the totally wrong website).
Last edited by Mike454SS; Apr 22, 2008 at 07:05 PM.
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A real 94-96 Caprice SS is IDENTICAL to a 94-96 Impala SS except it was ONLY sold overseas and has no O2 sensors or ability to run in closed loop because of the leaded fuel they run where it was sold...slightly different tune in the PCM, no O2 sensors...Caprice SS badging, and an otherwise identical car...you used to be able to buy the Caprice SS body color quarter panel scripts and dash plaque's right from GM...don't know if you still can.
Some rarer trivia is that 1 94-96 Impala SS was made in Calypso Green (caddy color), and there was to be a 4th color that never made it to production on the Impala SS but did on the Caprice(medium granite metallic)...used to be able to buy all the unique "Impala SS" body color trim pieces in that color right from GM too...like the trunk emblem, bumper and side moldings, lower door moldings, side scripts, grille...a friend of mine has a Caprice in that color with some of those trim pieces bought direct from GM.
People think the 94's are the rarest (all of them are black, and only 6303 were made)...that production number was mostly limited by the OEM wheel supplied (Superior). The 95 DGGM SS's are actually the rarest though. There are even a few of us who have the VIN lists and know what production numbers specific cars were (because the VIN sequences includes the whole product line, not just Impala SS's)...can you tell which of my 2 cars I know WAY WAY WAY more about?...I've had B-Bodies since I bought my first Caprice 9C1 on my 18th birthday in 2000...hard to believe 2000 was 8 years ago lol. My current one is undergoing an LSx heart transplant though
...the T56 conversion behind the LT1 was a LOT of fun when I did it in 2002...but the Gen 2 engine drives me mental with idiosynchracies and nonsense that the Gen 3 and Gen 4 completely got rid of...and I feel it is a lot easier to make big power in a "reliable" street car with a Gen 3/4 than a Gen 2...unless you go through the hassle of swapping on an LS1 ignition, and still have to deal with the nonsense of header bolts that suck to tighten, old style gaskets everywhere that ALWAYS take forever to scrape (rather than the sweet steel gaskets with rubber/silicone inserts that newer stuff has)...LOTS of ease of maintenance and engineering/design improvements that get rid of LOTS of headaches I had with Gen 2 V8's...absolutely LOVE the car though...I like my Camaro a lot...but when the B-Body is back on the road...it'll be hard for me to find any reason to drive the Camaro on a sunny day...a big B-Body with a well done suspension (which is part of the reason my "engine swap" is taking so long...I'm pretty much re-doing everything mechanical about the car) and good power is just too much fun to drive...it was a lot of fun before with a mildly modded suspension, a T56, a healthy cam, intake, tuning, headers/exhaust and a 4.10 rear...
Some rarer trivia is that 1 94-96 Impala SS was made in Calypso Green (caddy color), and there was to be a 4th color that never made it to production on the Impala SS but did on the Caprice(medium granite metallic)...used to be able to buy all the unique "Impala SS" body color trim pieces in that color right from GM too...like the trunk emblem, bumper and side moldings, lower door moldings, side scripts, grille...a friend of mine has a Caprice in that color with some of those trim pieces bought direct from GM.
People think the 94's are the rarest (all of them are black, and only 6303 were made)...that production number was mostly limited by the OEM wheel supplied (Superior). The 95 DGGM SS's are actually the rarest though. There are even a few of us who have the VIN lists and know what production numbers specific cars were (because the VIN sequences includes the whole product line, not just Impala SS's)...can you tell which of my 2 cars I know WAY WAY WAY more about?...I've had B-Bodies since I bought my first Caprice 9C1 on my 18th birthday in 2000...hard to believe 2000 was 8 years ago lol. My current one is undergoing an LSx heart transplant though
...the T56 conversion behind the LT1 was a LOT of fun when I did it in 2002...but the Gen 2 engine drives me mental with idiosynchracies and nonsense that the Gen 3 and Gen 4 completely got rid of...and I feel it is a lot easier to make big power in a "reliable" street car with a Gen 3/4 than a Gen 2...unless you go through the hassle of swapping on an LS1 ignition, and still have to deal with the nonsense of header bolts that suck to tighten, old style gaskets everywhere that ALWAYS take forever to scrape (rather than the sweet steel gaskets with rubber/silicone inserts that newer stuff has)...LOTS of ease of maintenance and engineering/design improvements that get rid of LOTS of headaches I had with Gen 2 V8's...absolutely LOVE the car though...I like my Camaro a lot...but when the B-Body is back on the road...it'll be hard for me to find any reason to drive the Camaro on a sunny day...a big B-Body with a well done suspension (which is part of the reason my "engine swap" is taking so long...I'm pretty much re-doing everything mechanical about the car) and good power is just too much fun to drive...it was a lot of fun before with a mildly modded suspension, a T56, a healthy cam, intake, tuning, headers/exhaust and a 4.10 rear... 
