Bossman's 66 Impala

[BOSSMAN]

Been busy over the weekend, didn't get too much of a chance t creep but had to come back and check this post out. Nice build! I kinda like the rust...adds a bit character! I like the stock interior as well. A nice foil.

Thank you! The rust really isn't all bad but it started to spread so I opted to fix it now before it got worse. I more or less want to maintain and clean up what is already there. The color combo is odd and unique but it as grown on me the more I look at it.

[BOSSMAN]

Nightshifts right now Bob, back to days in a week. I usually get good sleep but I still work entirely too much (as you well know). I've been brought up that if you want to accomplish something hard work, determination, and an eye for detail will get you there so that's what I do!

[Bob Holmes]

Nick, when do you sleep!!

That is such a great looking car, and I certainly understand experimenting on your own car in order to figure things out.

[Huskinhano]

Been busy over the weekend, didn't get too much of a chance t creep but had to come back and check this post out. Nice build! I kinda like the rust...adds a bit character! I like the stock interior as well. A nice foil.

[cantvalve16]

Great stuff, man. Hope to see more of this car and your engine work. Love to read about the intricacies of Hi po engine building.

[BOSSMAN]

Have you ever tried concrete with thin walls for stability? It seems to me the 400 stock blocks sure have their limits but the bore size is nice. I like your idea of the small journal rod size that seems like the way to go for strokers to get extra clearance for pan rails and the cam.

Yep, that one had a short fill in it (up to freeze plugs) but a tall fill (up to water pump holes) would have been better. I would have had to run a oil cooler for street duty if I did a tall fill. I think the excessive piston to wall clearance was more of the issue, the stock block didn't help either. Interesting thing about that crank and rod combo in the 427 was that I didn't have to notch the block one bit but the 406 needed notched on one side (core shift and rod design) even with a stock stroke.

[OldMachinist]

Have you ever tried concrete with thin walls for stability? It seems to me the 400 stock blocks sure have their limits but the bore size is nice. I like your idea of the small journal rod size that seems like the way to go for strokers to get extra clearance for pan rails and the cam.

[mlcraven]

IMHO the most beautiful Impalas ever made, the 65s and 66s. Love the yellow...Mellow Yellow with a bad attitude (under the hood).

[BOSSMAN]

I like your approach to building engines-it looks like you know the advantage of good machine work and cylinder seal. Did you determine the reason for blowby in the original engine?

I sure did! I was experimenting with a larger piston to bore wall clearance using 1.2 / 1.5 / 3mm low tension rings. I went to wide on a thin bore wall with low tension rings - lesson learned. Some people told me certain things would work and others told me things wouldn't work with what I was experimenting with. Pry 5-6 different things I was playing with and learned what you can really get away with and the limits of others. I felt I better experiment on my own stuff and learn what the reality is vs listening to conflicting stories. That motor is actually betting put back together after I pitched the stock block, I found some of the limits lets just say. I have a seasoned Bowtie Block that I plan to use the majority of those parts for, it wll be a 399ci motor now.

[OldMachinist]

I like your approach to building engines-it looks like you know the advantage of good machine work and cylinder seal. Did you determine the reason for blowby in the original engine?

[JOES66FURY]

Great stance and I like the plain jane color......My moms hubby has a blue one with a blue interior...I have been trying to "borrow it" since he never dirves it...for some reason he wont hook a brother up...

[BOSSMAN]

So this pretty much brings me to the present day. I have some rear suspension work to finish up, parts are sitting here staring at me to get to work. I had a custom Ford 9" built with 35 spline axles and I have multiple center sections to pop in and try out from my Drag Car (70 Nova).


I'm also building an adjustable rear suspension like a Drag 4-link but using stock style parts. This is a custom setup so it should be pretty interesting to see how well it works out (also using coil overs). These pieces are for the upper trailing arms.


The car is currently in the body shop getting rust repairs done and getting a fresh coat of 1966 Lemonwood Yellow. I have this other motor I've been playing with the idea of sneeking in for a little bit to surprise a few local people but undecided as of yet. All the parts are there I just need to finish it up. This is a 413ci SBC with 14 degree Heads, I'll leave the rest to your imagination!

[Impalarod]

mee too

[BOSSMAN]

That should be on a T shirt.

I'd buy one and wear it with pride! Its sooo much harder to make a heavy car fast!

[BOSSMAN]

So in the early summer the following year I pulled the Experimental 427 SBC and put in the conventional 406 SBC.

After tweeking on the new combo and getting comfortable with everything over a couple of years (since I was so time limited) I decided to finally take it to the track and see where I was at.

http://youtu.be/QrwPtAiwvu0

The car is really quite due to smaller 2.5" exhaust and 3 chamber Flowmaster mufflers, again to keep it sort of sleeper like. This video was taken in October of 2010, car ran best of 7.58 ET 91.93 MPH 1.68 60' on its first outting! Keep in mind this car now weighs 3900# (aluminum heads and lighter motor) with me in it, it still has 3.36 gears, and I run a 28" tall Mickey Thompson ET Street (9" wide). I drive the car to work on the weekends when its nice out and it cruises down the road like a caddy LOL! It always seems to get some attention when ever I cruise it around.

Fast forward to May 2011, I put on a little event at our local race track in which I raced in a 7.50 Index class (1/8th mile track). Thanks to Kyle of 1320 Video, who came out and filmed the event. I ended up getting Runner Up at the event this day so I was pretty pleased with this car as you can imagine. This event also had a Heads Up Fastest Street Class. Side note I did some cylinder head work on the Silver and Black Camaro in the video.

http://youtu.be/g0-hRTiAKH0

First round I raced a Green Chevelle (a customer of mine)
Second Round I raced a Brown Camaro
Third Round I got a Bye Run (Losers bought back in)
Final Round I got the Green Chevelle again and lost by a hair!

The Car has ran best of 7.42 @ 92 MPH at its only second time being at the track. Unfortunately at this ET I'm required to put a roll cage in it which I'm not wanting to do just yet (if at all). Here are some more pics from the track.