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Classic Cars Classic Cars - Archived Discussions '64 Chevrolet Impala 
58 messages, Last post on Jun 09, 2000 at 1:34 PM
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| The good old days...he'd probably be attacked with a tire iron if he tried that at Sears today. | |
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Sometimes it was much easier to just give a customer their money back. He got a rebuilt engine for free! Something tells me the oil leak didn't bother him a bit after that! We also gave refunds on brake jobs sometimes. I think we guaranteed the lining/pads for something like 40,000 miles. Some abusive drivers would be back in our face once a month demanding we do the job over. After about the fourth time, I would refund their money and ask them to go elsewhere...anywhere! Then we had the people (like my dad) who would buy a lifetime muffler. The next weekend their punk kid would borrow the car, go through a tunnel, turn the ignition off for awhile, turn it back on...Back to Sears! Of course, in later years, I had to take a young punk aside a couple of times and let him know that we were tired of replacing the muffler! " One more time, and I'll tell your dad what is causing them to fail!" Worked every time! |
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| By 64 the main seals were rubber, but still were not the quality that is available today. I had a 62 Impala with the "mild" 409/340 and cast iron powerglide. It wasn't the original engine, it came out of a 63. I bought it for $100 with a bad trans, and then bought a used trans from a friend for $25. The cast iron powerglide handled it OK, but I considered putting a TH400 in it. It was relatively easy to do I was told, with a few mods. Never got around to it. As I rememeber it the car was used for many years this way, even after I sold it. Also had a 61 Bel Air wagon with a 283, that I used for everyday driving. It just went and went. These cars were very simple by todays standards, but also were rust buckets in snow country, and didn't have much in the way of safety features. | |
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283, and 327, Gm will never make anything to even match these timeless engines. BEST EVER MADE. 283 was Maintenance free, 327 was a real evil engine due to the short stroke. I still have a 327 Corvette block in my hot rod, and boy does that thing scream like nothing I've ever had. Puts 350's and YES even some big blocks to shame. |
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I need a luxurious looking car for business. I love the Monte Carlo but I am think it is more male oriented car. So, the Impala could be an alternative. Is it a reliable and comfortable car? Is it luxurious enough to drive high level corporate management clients? I know I should buy a Cadillac but this is too much money and I would like to stick in the Impala price range but still get somehow the luxury of the Cadillac. |
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I need a luxurious looking car for business. I love the Monte Carlo but I think it is a more male oriented car. So, the Impala could be an alternative. Is it a reliable and comfortable car? Is it luxurious enough to drive high level corporate management clients? I know I should buy a Cadillac but this is too much money and I would like to stick in the Impala price range but still get somehow the luxury of the Cadillac. |
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| If you're still considering a luxury car, I'd go with the Regal GS, even over an Impala LS (much as I love Chevys). The Buick is more comfortable and has the same engine as the Impala LS (3.8 liter) except it's supercharged (240 hp). The Impala LS costs less, but the Buick is a much better buy than other luxury cars such as a Camry or Olds Intrigue. I test drove both the Impala LS and Regal GS a few months ago (before the snow fell) and the Regal went like a bat out of hell! The Impala was also fast, but the Buick really flew. | |
| some fun stuff in this topic! A friend of mine has his mother-in-law's '64 Impala SS-195 horse 283, with 49,000 original miles. Black interior. He just had it re-painted the original color of light mettalic green. The paint was done right, and very expensive. There's one nice car that brings back memories of the brand new 62 SS my Dad and I brought home in 62! Anyway, this guy's son is a senior in highschool, and has taken an interest in the 64. Seems as though the 2barrel carburetor was leaking, so, "Dad, yasee" the remedy was to install a big 4barrel and manifold. The manifold, though has no hole drilled for the oil filler tube-so-the only solution for that will be...some aftermarket valve covers with oil filler tubes. The're aware that modifications lower the value of this very nice original Impala, but it's fun to watch the kid take to it and recall my own fun chroming up the 327 in my Dad's 62... | |
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| Regarding an affordable corporate-type car, anything with the supercharged 3.8 is going to be extremely quick and extremely thirsty. I average 16.9 mpg from my '98 GTP, and that's not much fun when the normally-aspirated 3.8 gets in the low 20s (I think). Yes, the blown version makes for some serious excitement in a straight line but, as someone pointed out above, the normal version isn't exactly a slug--plenty torque. If you're on the road a lot, and on a budget, go with the unblown engine. I've got a heavier right foot than most, but even I hardly ever use enough of that 240 hp to justify paying a premium for it. | |
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| I had a '62 Super Sport that started life as a 327/300 with 3-on-the-tree. Nephew of original owner acquired it, built the 327 nicely and installed a 4-speed with (what he said were) 4.11s. They probably were, or maybe they were 5.13s, because the speedometer would be at around 75 as I trundled along in the slow lane--and the slow lane was where you wanted to be, with that gearing. That car also taught me that short gears and a wide-ratio 4-speed really aren't the hot set-up, unless it's a Fiat 850 Spyder that revs to 7000 without batting an eye. | |
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