Doing a restomod 1971 Chevy Impala Coupe
05-15-2015, 11:54 PM
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Doing a restomod 1971 Chevy Impala Coupe I owned a 1971 Impala coupe from 1972 until it rusted out around the front and rear windows. At the time I couldn't afford to have the restoration repair so I scrapped the car and thought I'd be able to find another one later on. Turns out that the model I had was rare. It was a fastback coupe which means that the rear window was convex not concave like most 1971 Chevy Impala coupes.
When I heard about the Lambrecht Chevrolet Auction in Pierce Nebraska I decided to see if there were any fastback `71's. I ended up buying two and paid to have them hauled to Quincy, IL, my current location. I stripped the one in the worst condition and decided to hire a restoration/custom rod builder to help fix the manufacturers mistakes and poor workmanship and create a restomod 1971 Chevy couple.
As most of you know, there's no logic when it comes to loving a specific car. Once you make the commitment to bring an old car back to life, you can't quit because you have too much money in it. Turns out the venerable LS2 that's suppose to fit into just about any car isn't as easy as it seems. I had to buy a different oil pan and my restoration guy, Dave had to fabricate a new cross members. Hell, there weren't any body mounts so we had to buy Suspension Performance body mounts and take them to a machine shop for modification so that they'd fit.
Rather than turn the 350 cu. in. motor with 13,719 miles on the original motor into a stroker, I bought an LS2 with a T-56 transmission with 36,000 miles on it from a 2006 GTO. I joined LS1TECH hoping to find information about shifter relocation kits. The car has a bench front seat and the shifter on the T-56 is too far back. I seached for vintage bucket seats for the `71 and found very expensive and very worn bucket seats, so I decided to move the shifter back. I have seen other T-56 transmissions that have been modified, moving the shift about 11 inches forward. Anyone with information about manufacturers of shifter relocation kits for T-56 transmissions please email me or leave a message here.
Thanks,
Jeff
When I heard about the Lambrecht Chevrolet Auction in Pierce Nebraska I decided to see if there were any fastback `71's. I ended up buying two and paid to have them hauled to Quincy, IL, my current location. I stripped the one in the worst condition and decided to hire a restoration/custom rod builder to help fix the manufacturers mistakes and poor workmanship and create a restomod 1971 Chevy couple.
As most of you know, there's no logic when it comes to loving a specific car. Once you make the commitment to bring an old car back to life, you can't quit because you have too much money in it. Turns out the venerable LS2 that's suppose to fit into just about any car isn't as easy as it seems. I had to buy a different oil pan and my restoration guy, Dave had to fabricate a new cross members. Hell, there weren't any body mounts so we had to buy Suspension Performance body mounts and take them to a machine shop for modification so that they'd fit.
Rather than turn the 350 cu. in. motor with 13,719 miles on the original motor into a stroker, I bought an LS2 with a T-56 transmission with 36,000 miles on it from a 2006 GTO. I joined LS1TECH hoping to find information about shifter relocation kits. The car has a bench front seat and the shifter on the T-56 is too far back. I seached for vintage bucket seats for the `71 and found very expensive and very worn bucket seats, so I decided to move the shifter back. I have seen other T-56 transmissions that have been modified, moving the shift about 11 inches forward. Anyone with information about manufacturers of shifter relocation kits for T-56 transmissions please email me or leave a message here.
Thanks,
Jeff
Last edited by jseabo; 05-16-2015 at 12:41 AM. Reason: Make it more personal and more detailed
