1961 Impala 4d Sport Sedan

[Mike B]

Ok, here's an update on the car so far: Flint 283 Engine, High Lift Cam, Power Pack Heads. Cast Iron Intake # 3746829, Engine Block # F0420EB. It seems that this was the "base model" engine for the corvette that year as well. We took the old Rochester Carb off and stuck on a 650 Edelbrock to see it the car would run better. It seemed to help so we left it on there even though we could only get about 1/3 of the throttle because the butterfly was hitting the intake. We changed the plugs and the vacuum advance on it and that really helped it out. Even with 1/3 throttle I was able to make the tires sing like a scalded monkey.

Now, the problem I'm having now is trying to find a spacer that will allow us to use the Edelbrock on the Intake. I bought three different spacers that should have worked but none did. The Mr. Gasket was the closest fit but left a 1/16 inch gap between the inside flange and the outside of the intake top. We're getting closer but I need to find a carb adapter or spacer to make things work to give it a got road test to see what else it's going to need.
Here are some pictures:

[glow=red,2,300]Before we picked it up:[/glow]



[glow=red,2,300]After a bath and minor tune up:[/glow]

[Mike B]

After spending half a day on the phone with Edelbrock, Holley, and a few other Carb shops, I found out that they don't make an adapter kit that would allow me to put an Edelbrock Carb onto my stock 283 intake. My Solution..., make it myself. I needed to get the carb up off the intake so the butterflies would clear and open up fully. I've been told about racers using a piece of wood before but I would have never believed it until I tried it myself. I had to take the intake holes and taper them to line up with the Edelbrock holes. I used a digital caliper to measure everything and then mapped it out onto my $10 piece of mahogany wood from Menards. Once I got my holes cut I sanded on the new adapter plate I took a torch and burnt off the dust and smoothed the holes down. After throughly cleaning the dust it was ready for the test...
It was a success! Of course I had to road test it to see if it now ran as good as it sounds. My teenage years came back as I stomped the throttle to the floor and made the rear tires sing. When I shifted to 2nd, it again let out the sound that was once music to my ears. I had no ideal that is was going to burn rubber as easy as it did. Now that I have that out of my system, it's time to take the brakes completely apart to make sure everything is working as it should. My spacer might not be pretty on the outside, but it'll hold me over until I decide weather or not I'm going to change the intake or rebuild the old carb.

Stay tuned for the next update.

[Mike B]

While I was at a car show in Seymour on Saturday(9/27/08) I meet a very nice gentleman who donated an intake and carb to my Impala Project so I could do away with the wood spacer. I did have the motor tuned in and running good with the spacer but I think the new intake and carb looks better. I also spent most of the day suffering from a terrible tooth ache while I went completely through the brake sysytem. Of the 4 wheel cyclinders, only one was half working, the others where froze. I took the brake hone to them all and got 'em working pretty good. Tomorrows the road test to the gas station to get a fresh tank of fuel.

[Mike B]

Road test went great, I'm still riding on bias ply on the left and radils on the right . Went to the gas station and filled the car up with some fresh gas. Margie got to drive it home and she was impressed with the ride. The car has been starting right up on the first crank.

[skylark8]

Who has more fun than you? Keep us posted- Jon