I couldn't find my son a C10, but a 65 Impala coupe straight 6!
 

Need help and advice to get this straight six running as good as possible, and my overall concerns with 4wheel drum brakes!
Any advise will be appreciated completely.
The impala forums don't have much traffic, so I'm here looking for knowledge.
Thanks in advance!
-Matt

Re: I couldn't find my son a C10, but a 65 Impala coupe straight 6!
 

Sweet ride.....cheak, for any frame damage/rot....then build, from there!crazy L, still lost in the 60's today? I have a west coast truck, that is saweet as molasses......whatreally kicxks me down,are the gals sweet sun glasses....oh yea! longhorn

Re: I couldn't find my son a C10, but a 65 Impala coupe straight 6!
 

The single pot master cylinder is what I'd worry most about !

Beautiful car , anything on it should be easy to access and simple to work on.

Re: I couldn't find my son a C10, but a 65 Impala coupe straight 6!
 

Pull that sixbanger!!
Drop in a stroked dual quad 409!!
She's real fine, my 409!!

Time to put the 'shine' away Mr. Longhorn!!

Re: I couldn't find my son a C10, but a 65 Impala coupe straight 6!
 

1965 was the prettiest Impala ever (next to the ultra rare '58). I drive a 1970, last of the Heavy Chevys. Back in the day I would have yanked that six for a V8. Now, I would have a hard time yanking it after it has survived in there this long. 4 wheel drums aren't all that bad but the single pot master cylinder isn't up to todays safety standards. I don't remember if they ever made a dual master cylinder for drum brakes. I should know because I converted mine to discs but I can't remember. You could look up a master for a 70 Impala with 4 wheel drums to see if they were updated by then.

I hope your son appreciates the cool ride. A 6 cylinder Impala is a great party buggy for a high school kid; lots of room for friends and not too much power to get into trouble while showing off.

Re: I couldn't find my son a C10, but a 65 Impala coupe straight 6!
 

Nice looking ride you got him. I would sport that around any day. I would definitely update the breaks to disk. It was hard to get my son to understand that drum breaks just don't stop as fast as disk breaks do. I'm surprised my knuckles aren't permanently white when I was teaching him to drive in the 58 pic-up I had.

Re: I couldn't find my son a C10, but a 65 Impala coupe straight 6!
 

http://www.langdonsstovebolt.com
http://12bolt.com/home

Re: I couldn't find my son a C10, but a 65 Impala coupe straight 6!
 

http://www.mpbrakes.com/

Start here.

Re: I couldn't find my son a C10, but a 65 Impala coupe straight 6!
 

Thanks for all the help!
This site rocks!

Re: I couldn't find my son a C10, but a 65 Impala coupe straight 6!
 

I went through the same thing years ago with a '66 Chevelle. It really is not that hard to upgrade it to a later model dual reservoir cylinder.

My first car (69 Camaro) had non-power disc with drum rear from the factory, so there are all kinds of options out there. It's just a matter of parts combination.

Re: I couldn't find my son a C10, but a 65 Impala coupe straight 6!
 

First thing you do is get the wife out there and with the engine not running have her mash the gas pedal as hard as she can to the floor. You get under the hoodand adjust the throttle linkage so the carb only opens 3/4 of the way. (poor mans Govenor!) those impalas are nice. Ive got a super sport and a 4 door Biscayne junked out. the disk brake rotors from a 69 Camaro will fit the 65 spindles you would need to fabricate a mount for the calipers. that car master cyl is the same as the Pk. I would change all the rubber brake lines. That 6 is enough engine and just run it until the valves get bad from the unleaded gas. nice looking ride your son should be proud to drive it.

Re: I couldn't find my son a C10, but a 65 Impala coupe straight 6!
 

I was just kiddin' about the 409. Only because I had one in a 65 convert. Six bangers will run forever.
Here's a short read on everything about brakes!!
http://www.pirate4x4.com/tech/billavista/Brakes/

Re: I couldn't find my son a C10, but a 65 Impala coupe straight 6!
 

Sweet!! My '68 Impala had 4 wheel drums, couple big hills in town and the brakes would fade. Needless to say, the lower gears in the trans got used. It did have a dual master cylinder.
I didn't keep the car long enough to do a front disc swap.

Re: I couldn't find my son a C10, but a 65 Impala coupe straight 6!
 

I may have missed it, but AT or stick? I had a 65 Bel Air with a 230 3 on the tree. Loved driving that. Brakes were not great but not bad. Not really a heavy car for its size.
Have fun with it! Beautiful car!

Re: I couldn't find my son a C10, but a 65 Impala coupe straight 6!
 

Congrats to both of you. **unsolicited opinion** Drums are just as good twice as disks. If you can stay away from needing them a third time, you're golden.

That said, I just got rid of the single pot master cylinder on my son's '65 Skylark, sticking with drums for now. Go to Inline Tube and check on their dual master conversions. The simplest thing (if the rest of the lines are in good shape) is:

BLK202LP
BLK202LM

http://inlinetube.com/Preformed%20Li.../CF-CAT-06.htm

Then head down to NAPA with your old M/C and rod in hand. I'd bet that a M/C for a '69 Impala would be what you need.

Re: I couldn't find my son a C10, but a 65 Impala coupe straight 6!
 

Is there anything wrong with the way it runs now?

Re: I couldn't find my son a C10, but a 65 Impala coupe straight 6!
 

Looks like a nice car.

As previously mentioned, slightly later cars/trucks had a dual reservoir master cylinder and drums; my '68 Impala does.

Re: I couldn't find my son a C10, but a 65 Impala coupe straight 6!
 

HOTROD THAT STRAIGHT 6!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Here's some encouragement!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7VIZpI4lfQ

Re: I couldn't find my son a C10, but a 65 Impala coupe straight 6!
 

I think I would be wnating to upgrade to front discs, but that is about it. That looks like such a nice, original car, it would be hard to molest it. (Not saying I am above doing that, but food for thought.)

Re: I couldn't find my son a C10, but a 65 Impala coupe straight 6!
 

Its at the paint shop now, getting a medium blue metallic paint job.
My plans for now are power 4 wheel discs, hei ignition, better intake manifold, holley 390 4 bbl and a T5 MANUAL transmission out of a S10 pickup, possibly headers or split manifolds as well...
Tuned and running well, what mpg can be obtained with a small 4 bbl and a 5 spd manual?
This picture is my inspiration...

Re: I couldn't find my son a C10, but a 65 Impala coupe straight 6!
 

I don't have any results yet, but I'm expecting mine to get good mileage; the 60-66 half ton trucks seem to be able to get mileage in the upper teens pretty easily, and I'm hoping for/expecting over 20 with the much sleeker/more aerodynamic car.

A 390CFM 4bbl is still a big carb for a tiny six with no HP, though. You can't really get a good intake design with the siamesed intake ports anyway, so most aftermarket stuff is really just going to be bigger. I'd probably just stay with a 1bbl or small progressive 2bbl like the Weber carbs if I was looking for economy and good overall driveability.

Re: I couldn't find my son a C10, but a 65 Impala coupe straight 6!
 

Great looking impala! You may have stumbled on my build thread on here in the alternate tinkerings of my 65 SS.
I have had my car since I was 16, and am pretty versed with this model. I've done quite a few upgrades to mine as well. Let me know if you have any question or are ever looking for parts!
-Nick