Jake Dykstra's 1962 409/409 Impala!

[dykstra]

The ol niner has never looked better Jake! Bravo!!

[BJCHEV396]

Looks great in front of the Sunoco pumps! Keep 'er going!!

[olredalert]

----Good progress for you, Jake. So glad the drivetrain is working well!....Bill S

[SS427]

You're dad is grinning ear to ear. Likely slammin' some gears as well!

[RPOLS3]

Couple of updates......

In regards to the seat trim issue, Jody Anderson had a pair of Impala seat backs in his inventory, I received those today and dropped them off at the upholsterer's to strip down so I can get them blasted and painted. The brackets are noticeably different so I'm thinking we've got that problem solved, just need to get them cleaned up and get the seat backs swapped out. Sounds easier than it will be (just time and some money) but fingers crossed there.

The wiper motor showed up today from Steve Hackel - jewelry for sure. Will try and get that re-installed one night this week.

What does a guy do when he's getting close to the end of the original scope of the project? Tear things apart again.....that's what.

I decided to pull the carbs and send them to Eric for him to work his magic on them. Will have him do the full monty since everything else will be done.

Since the carb's were off it was pretty easy to yank the distributor and make sure all is well there too. I will clean it up, make sure it doesn't need re-bushed, and put new points, rotor and cap on it. Having the distributor out makes the wiper motor re-install a bit easier too...

Good thing is the carb's are the correct numbers (3361/3362) and dated appropriately for the car - they might even be the originals. The distributor has the correct 1110919 tag. I assume the date of 1 L 9 translates to December 9, 1961? That lines up for this January of 62 assembled car, so that could be the original distributor as well.

With those components dialed in, every major component like the block, starter, and generator has the correct part number and date for the car. I think one of the 690 cylinder heads is dated a month too late, but the other is perfect.

I am still in conversations with my contact in the suburbs for the correct idler pully, non power steering idler arm, correct radiator tanks, and some other small items. He has what I need, just hasn't rounded it all up yet from the garage.

The correct chassis fasteners are ready to ship - hope to have later this week.

Since the car will be laid up for a bit waiting on the carb's to come back maybe I'll tear the control arms off for a clean up as one of the bushings is bad on one of the lower's..........we'll see how motivated I feel.

[napa68]

Before you know it.........the frame will be out from underneath it

[RPOLS3]

Originally Posted by napa68

Before you know it.........the frame will be out from underneath it

Trying to avoid that............

[Too Many Projects]

Originally Posted by napa68

Before you know it.........the frame will be out from underneath it

"I'm just going to do a light restoration"

[RPOLS3]

Originally Posted by Too Many Projects

"I'm just going to do a light restoration"

I can accomplish what my vision is WITHOUT taking the body off.....

I was able to clean and polish the area under the cowl vent prior to re-assembling everything. One common theme I have found on this car - when the previous restorer cut and buffed the paint he left compound slag/spatter EVERYWHERE. It was under all the trim and moldings - and now under the cowl vent and on the wiper arm spindles. It has all been properly cleaned up. The fasteners that attached the cowl cover were improperly painted body color. I wire wheeled the paint off to re-install for now but have a set of correct and properly plated fasteners coming in the bunch that is on its way with the chassis stuff.

Wiper motor is installed and functioning. Probably the first time the washers have worked in decades. Probably never need them but they need to work in order for things to be properly sorted........

https://youtube.com/shorts/A7zU9mVJo14

[big gear head]

Might be a while on those carburetors. According to his facebook page he's pretty backed up.