Start to finish. 2.5 year Resto-mod of 1963 Impala Wagon

[bundy26]

Beautiful Impala station wagon, enjoy.

[G.O.B.]

I thank you so much and I am sure Rick does to for the photo clean up. Damn what a change that made.

[audtatious]

Shoot me a larger resolution and I may be able to clean it up more, but, it's better as it is.

[GrilledCheese33]

Wow the car turned out great mr. GOB, absolutely beautiful!

[Jesda]

Stunning!

[Solar_Runner]

Other than having your car for a weekend, nothing (automotively speaking) would make me happier than getting to see your wagon driving down the street. Thank you for sharing this project - it was great. Enjoy yourself - best wishes!

George

[G.O.B.]

Other than having your car for a weekend, nothing (automotively speaking) would make me happier than getting to see your wagon driving down the street. Thank you for sharing this project - it was great. Enjoy yourself - best wishes!

George

George,
How close are you to U.S. Route 66? We might be planning a trip in April or May of 2012 to see the Mother Road and would like to meet Greg and Becky. So meeting one more NICO family member seems a good idea. So seeing my wagon driving down the street could just happen.
G.O.B.

[Jesda]

I just went back and read this from beginning to end. What an awesome story!

[Jesda]

Are there any videos of the car starting and running? Videos of the digital gauges in action?

Thanks!

[Gold Digger]

You read every single post? Holy crap, Jesda...lol.

No videos as of yet, but I'll make sure that if it's not done by the time I go home for Christmas, I'll get it done while I am home.

[G.O.B.]

Good morning ladies and gentlemen.


Well, it's been a busy week...wait...been a busy year and a half if ya want to know the truth.

I finally had a few days to get together with one of Neal's friends here in town to get some pictures and videos. I don't have the pictures yet, but I did get a few videos, a couple of which Neal uploaded to YouTube for me.

The vids aren't of me doing anything silly, just a couple of drive-by runs with me getting heavy on the go-go pedal.

Anyway, hope you all (and you as well, Mr. Jesda) enjoy them.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_fQ5eThLv8[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5JfcGpMFI4[/youtube]

Again, thank you all that have followed the thread from the beginning.
Mark

[Jesda]

OUTSTANDING!

[Gold Digger]

Damn!! Ole girl is loud, Pop!

But, Jake needs to learn to use a tri-pod or steady his hands a little bit...lol.

[G.O.B.]

Damn!! Ole girl is loud, Pop!

But, Jake needs to learn to use a tri-pod or steady his hands a little bit...lol.

But Son,
Jake was steady, the ground just shook that bad when the car drove by.

[MinisterofDOOM]

The car looks amazing. I LOVE '60s Impalas, and I love wagons.

I've always said I'd never own a car I wouldn't be willing to drive every day. And I'd drive that car EVERY day. With the windows down and Nobody's Fault but Mine turned way up.

[Solar_Runner]

Other than having your car for a weekend, nothing (automotively speaking) would make me happier than getting to see your wagon driving down the street. Thank you for sharing this project - it was great. Enjoy yourself - best wishes!

George

George,
How close are you to U.S. Route 66? We might be planning a trip in April or May of 2012 to see the Mother Road and would like to meet Greg and Becky. So meeting one more NICO family member seems a good idea. So seeing my wagon driving down the street could just happen.
G.O.B.

I'm close enough - if that means getting to meet you and having an opportunity to admire your Impala!

I'll PM you some contact info that you can keep handy - Thanks!

Edit: I must be missing something - shoot me an email at [email protected] - I'll give you my cell and we'll see how it works out.

George

[G.O.B.]

Good evening, boys and girls. Been a while since I've posted, so I thought it was time for me to pop in and say hello.


Well, have had the car home for a few weeks now and have driven it several times. I do need to get some headrests for it, but I can just make due for now. The old girl seems to run a bit rich, but that could be something to do with possible injector issues that I am trying to get sorted out. But, as you saw in the videos, she does run pretty good. Other than that, been pretty happy with having her home.

The wife and I even took the car on a little drive for the Knox County Scenic Drive.

Recently, a friend of Neal's, Jake Snider (who is also a member here on NICO, I believe) and I got together to get some pictures of Clare. We stopped at a couple locations here in Galesburg. One is the Maid Rite. A nifty little sandwich shop on the South East end of town. The other locale was Lake Storey, which is directly North of town on U.S. Route 150.

Also, a big thank you to Jake Snider of Galesburg for taking the time to get some shots for me! Much appreciated.

I'll start with the Maid Rite shots first, followed by the Lake Storey ones.

Enjoy.


Maid Rite








Lake Storey

[nklndym]

Bwahaha.. You know, right before we did the video's I thought, im glad I brought my tripod, but then decided against it thinkin id be alright. WRONG!! I did have my camera just setting on top of the mailbox tho, I could upload that if you'd like. Thanks for letting me get out and get some practice with the camera, and especially for the ride, it was fun!! Hopefully the weather will be on our side and we can get some better *unedited* pics soon, these didnt turn out as well as I hoped.

[Ace2cool]

Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful.

[G.O.B.]

Hello all from the GOB,

Tonight, I am going to live up to the moniker...

This is going to be a less than sweet post this time, so up front I am sorry if I piss off anyone.

It came to my attention that some thought my car may have been built incorrectly. They had problems with the way Rick did things. Things that were not of the norm. With that I take issue.

Rick and I talked back and forth during the whole time of the build. I knew exactly what was going on. It was my choice. All you have to do is look at the build thread pictures and you can see the quality that went in to the build.

This car was built the way I, emphasis on I, wanted it. The bedliner coating on the bottom was so I could drive her without the ground beating her up underneath. If you don't like it...that's your choice. But you have to respect that everything that was done to this car was done to my specifications. No one eleses. Rick made a few suggestions and after review of many of those, we either went through with them or axed them. And the score card is proof that the car was done right...with the exception of the 1 opinionated judge who didn't like bedliner underneath.

Also remember, she is not meant to be a show car that is driven, she is meant to be a car that is driven and could be shown, should I so choose.

So to those of you who do understand, thank you so much for the ride we are on.

And for those of you that say the under carriage is ugly and under the hood needs work; where is all the MONEY? Money that you owe Rick and I for YOUR part of this car? Oh wait...it is not your car.

So remember, girls and boys, not to let others tell you what you want. These are OUR cars and if you want to win shows, then you build a car the way it needs to be built to win a car show, to do it their way (the judges of said car shows). BUT I DON’T CARE ABOUT WINNING. I care about my family (of which you are a part of) and my dream that Rick helped come true.


Thanks to all for the time to get this message out there.

[MinisterofDOOM]

Also remember, she is not meant to be a show car that is driven, she is meant to be a car that is driven and could be shown, should I so choose.

DAMN straight. The only kind of car worth having. Cars are for driving. Having others appreciate them is a bonus, but it's not necessary and not the point. Especially not when you're the one behind the wheel and smiling.

[Solar_Runner]

Good Lord, someone was critical of this build?!? Crazy... you had/have the right philosophy about this whole thing. One day I'll be able to build a nice driver and that's exactly what it will be, a DRIVER. Thanks again for 2.5 years of lusty entertainment.

Enjoy the Drive, You G.O.B!

[Gold Digger]

Don't worry, Pop. I got your back.

If anyone decides to post some hateful stuff about Clare here, I'll just abuse my powers as a moderator and make them disappear.

Notice that Oatmealman hasn't posted in this thread after I pretty much told him to go fist himself...?


LOL!!!

[nklndym]

I have no idea why ANYONE would have anything bad to say about this car. Like he told me, it may not be barrett jackson perfect, but its a driver. A damn good lookin one too if I may say so myself. Anywho, here's one more pic for ya guys.. sounds like we may be heading out again today for some more *hopefully better* pics. Might be the last nice day of the year.

[G.O.B.]

Please don’t get me wrong (me wrong, that will be the day, right. LOL) we all have the right to our opinions, it’s just be sure you know the reason things are done a certain way before opening said mouth and putting the large dark side in and chewing.

The way Rick built “Clare” for me is an over the road ride. By that I mean when the family is traveling and if she needs a short spa break then I just pull in and let the GM Techs pamper her back to health.

If she was all show I would be just sick if there was so much as a tiny nick under the hood, and these things do happen. So if Clare is a driver then on we go, to a town near you.

[PyR0NiAk]

Please don’t get me wrong (me wrong, that will be the day, right. LOL) we all have the right to our opinions, it’s just be sure you know the reason things are done a certain way before opening said mouth and putting the large dark side in and chewing. The way Rick built “Clare” for me is a over the road ride, by that I mean when the family is traveling and if she needs a short spa break then I just pull in and let the GM Tech’s pamper her back to health. If she was all show I would be just sick if there was so much as a tiny nick under the hood, and these things do happen. So if Clare is a driver then on we go, to a town near you.

I'm not a fan of old wagons, but I absolutely love this car for the fact that so much time, effort, and quality work was put into it. The bed liner on the bottom is a genius idea, and it's not uncommon. The fact that a judge actually had a problem with it tells me that they're not as familiar with vehicles as they may pretend to be. I hope this car serves you well for many years to come. She's a head-turner.

[BallzDeep1.9L]

Notice that Oatmealman hasn't posted in this thread after I pretty much told him to go fist himself...?


LOL!!!

LOL i forgot about that

[Gold Digger]

But, see...I really didn't do anything to him. I just lashed out and that was that. He never posted in the thread again.

[G.O.B.]

I hate headaches...especially after close to 30 years...

Well, I figured since I was up, might as well get some more posted on Clare for you.


Yesterday, I had an appointment out of town. I was to have a co-pilot riding along with me and arrangements were made to pick him up in the wagon and head out.

Well, when I got in the car, I fired her up and just about the time I got to the end of the driveway, I noticed that my voltage was low. I was showing 11.7 volts. Wait, what?

Well, I thought that maybe if I just got to driving, she'd peak back up to the 14 volts she was at the day before. Well, it didn't happen. Drove it out on the highway at speed, still nothing. So, let my co-pilot that plans had changed and we'd have to take the Jeep.

Called Neal's friend Jake and told him the situation as he was supposed to shoot some more photos for me again after I returned from the appointment. He suggested an alternator could be the problem and offered to help swap it out if I could source one.

None of the parts stores (Autozone, O'Rilley's, Advance or Napa) had one. So Jake said he would try to locate one while I attempted to get to my appointment.

He was able to locate on in Kewanee and arrangements were made to get it back to Galesburg. Swapped it out, fired it up, and wouldn't ya know it...11.5 volts. What's going on here?

Jake and I run every possible scenario and come up with nothing. The old alternator tested good, but had a bad bearing. Batter tested just a hair lower than what it was when I bought it last year. Well, as Jake and the parts guy at the auto store were talking, Jake mentioned that a wire that leads to the check engine light was broken. The parts guy said, "That's the problem right there. To check it just reconnect it and see what happens."

Well, I had to end up buying a new socket and bulb as the wiring came out from the original socket. After re-wiring it, re-installing the battery, and making sure everything else was good, fired it up and right back to 14 she went.

So, if any of you are having voltage issues, especially LT1 owners, check for any broken wires. Turns out, with that wire being broken, the circuit was now opened and the alternator wasn't charging the system. Now I know...

Well, after that, we still had a small amount of daylight, so Jake and I went out to get a few more pictures. Here they are.

Sheesh...now I'm tired. Gonna go try to lay back down and get some sleep.

[audtatious]

Car looks great. Have you had the alignment checked? In the 2nd video it looked like it was crabbing