More towing with '65 C30 and a new piece of 60's GM steel for the collection

[66Submarine]

More towing duty; this time it was my new '68 Impala I bought today. SUPER nice straight/almost totally rust-free car that seems to only have 98,000 miles on it; for all of $880 it should make a very nice low-budget "economy car" for me. Liking it so far.

Like almost every time I buy something, it was raining hard enough to drown a fish when I was loading it and driving back. WAY too much tongue weight, I know (I wasn't the one who said when to stop). Would have rolled it back a little, but with the rain I never went over 50MPH anyway, so it wasn't an issue... (I would have fixed it anyway, but it didn't look nearly as bad before I got rolling; the rusty old leaf springs must have settled down or something.)

Thought I should make a post in case people have started thinking I don't work the old POS...

[spacedebris]

a 68 impala for under a grand?!?! DAMN where are these deals when I'm looking

Congrats

[66Submarine]

Originally Posted by spacedebris

a 68 impala for under a grand?!?! DAMN where are these deals when I'm looking

Congrats

Thanks! I think a lot of the deals are piled up in my yard now...

[TJ's Chevy]

Nice!

[Dillon Rock]

I'd love you like a brother if you found me a decent 1447 code 64 impala ss for under a grand. Lol nice find.

[Gargoyle]

Nice score! I like the '68 front end and tail lights better than the '67. Looks like it could be a daily driver, what's under the hood?

[66Submarine]

Thanks again, guys!

It's still got the original 307 and Powerglide it came with right now. I figured on doing an immediate engine & trans swap (I also have a Muncie 4 speed that's not doing anything...), but the PG has nice red fluid in it, and the 307 seems like it might still be good, too! If they both check out OK I'll probably run them for now.

BTW, there are some more pictures here if anyone wants to see them: http://s1067.photobucket.com/user/66...?sort=3&page=1

[JBX66]

Wow, nice car. I love pictures of old trucks pulling old cars (my dad's still kicking himself because he pulled a '65 Mercedes with a '48 Ford F1 and didn't take a picture), especially our truck years. Personally, I'd put a 327 4 barrel with that 4 speed. I'm not so much of a fan of the PG, but hey. Didn't they come in our trucks at an additional cost? My friend and I are trying to determine the advantage of a Powerglide over a standard 3 speed automatic.

[66Submarine]

Originally Posted by JBX66

Wow, nice car. I love pictures of old trucks pulling old cars (my dad's still kicking himself because he pulled a '65 Mercedes with a '48 Ford F1 and didn't take a picture), especially our truck years. Personally, I'd put a 327 4 barrel with that 4 speed. I'm not so much of a fan of the PG, but hey. Didn't they come in our trucks at an additional cost? My friend and I are trying to determine the advantage of a Powerglide over a standard 3 speed automatic.

Thanks!

I already have the Muncie four speed (and a Saginaw with a tall-gear friendly 3.11 first) and a 350 block with no crank ready to be a large journal 327. The initial plan was to covert it over straightaway, but after seeing that both the 307 and PG are in real good shape, I figure I'll run them for a while (at least until I collect all the clutch stuff). Free locomotion for now!

BTW, the Powerglide wasn't an option over a three speed auto in the '60-'66 trucks; only '66 3/4 ton and up could be ordered with the three speed TH400. Everything else got a 3/4 speed manual trans or a PG.

[JBX66]

Oh, so the Powerglide was standard for an automatic transmission in the 1/2 ton. Ok. Thanks for clearing that up. Was the highest (or lowest, I forget the way it works) gear ratio 1:1?

[66Submarine]

Yes, the Powerglide is 1:1 in high gear.

Everything but the optional overdrive 3-speed manual was 1:1 in "high gear", BTW. It's because "high gear" isn't really an actual gear. For example, a three speed only has two reduction gears; "third" is really just the input shaft being locked to the output shaft.