1996 Impala SS
This is the car that got it
all started for me. I bought this car from a dealership
outside of Detroit in the Fall of 1998, and before the
end of that year it had a Borla exhaust and a K&N cold
air kit installed. The mod bug bit me early and bit me
hard.
The Spring of 1999 was my first trip to the drag strip
to see what it would do. I purchased the car with
36,000 miles on it and it had a little over 40,000 on
it's first trip down the 1/4. I don't still have those
original time slips, but I do know it was running high
14's... and I wanted to go faster.
Since I don't want to bore you with descriptions of each
step I took, I will just list them in chronological
order:
- K&N cold air --
replaced in 2005 with Clear Image
- Crane Gold Race roller
rockers
- SLP headers -- replaced
with Tri-Y's and cat-delete in 2000
- Vigilante 2800 stall
torque converter
- 3.73 gears and new posi
unit
- Self ported iron heads
with screw-in studs.
- Engine blew on a chassis
dyno when it lost the oil pump.
- Used Camaro block went
in, I rebuilt it with new rings and bearings
- Self ported aluminum
heads and new 845 cam.
- BBK 52mm throttle body --
later replaced with a Holley 52mm
That set-up with good
rubber got me running low 13's very consitantly. But in
2003, at the ISSCA Nationals in Tulsa, my focus
changed. At that event members competed in a road
racing event at Hallet. I fell in love with road
racing. I had done it a couple of times before in St.
Louis at the Gateway Raceway, but the tracks don't
really compare.
With that, the course of my
modifications changed. Now I wanted to take corners
fast instead of just go straight fast. So my next
"batch" of mods looked like this:
- Eibach springs --
Replaced with Rustic Racing Springs
- BMR tubular rear control
arms -- Replaced with Rustic Racing arms
-
Rustic Racing tubular front
control arms
- PST front bar and HO rear
bar
With these mods under my
belt and a set of Kuhmo V700's, I joined NASA and began
a full season of road racing in their HPDE program.
Half way through this 2004 season I realized that I
wanted more and decided to build a car to run in the
NASA American Iron Series (see the other project car).
So, once I had progressed through the HPDE program, I
enrolled in the competition licensing school and got
qualified for my racing license.
Since this Impala was no
longer going to be flogged on the road course it could
now become a dedicated bracket racer and show car. With
that in mind, here's another list of mods:
- Aluminum front and rear
bumper supports
- Diamond racing wheels
with Mickey Thompson ET Streets
- Aluminum drive shaft
- Custom seat
striping/dying
- Brushed aluminum trim
under the hood
- Powder
coated acc bracket and valve covers
- New carpet
- Leaping
Impala SS badge from 1962 on front quarters
-
Stereo upgrades include:
--- Phoenix
Gold speakers front and rear
--- Custom
down-fire sub box with 2 Orion 10"s
--- 250w and
45w Concept amps
--- Audio
Control EQX equilizer
This car has
brought home a host of trophies from events all over the
country. Below is a list of accomplishments by
event:
Impala SS Club of America Nationals
- 1st place
Sound-off Low Wattage (2003 Tulsa)
- 2nd place
Sound-off Low Wattage (2004 Tulsa)
(this car did
not attend the 2005 Nationals in the Poconos)
Impalafest (Arlington, TX)
- 2nd place
Bracket class drags (2002)
- Class Award
Car Show (2002)
- 2nd place
Bracket class drags (2003)
- 2nd place
Heads-up drags (2003)
- 3rd place
Car Show (2003)
- 2nd place
Bracket drags (2004)
- 3rd place
Car Show (2004)
- 3rd place
Autocross Race Class (2005)
- 1st place
Consolation Bracket (2005)
Southern Super Heavy Shootout (Commerce, GA)
- 2001 "Best
Bracket Racer"
- 2002 2nd
place Bracket
- 2003 1st
place Bracket
- 2004 2nd
place Bracket
- 2005 1st
place Bracket
Herdfest Car Show
- 2003 2nd in
Class
- 2004 3rd in
Class
One of the
most "interesting" events I have attended with this car
was the "Triple Crown Tuner Challenge" put on by Speed,
Style and Sound magazine (known as S3) at the Mid-Ohio
road course.
