>>> Paul S said:
\n>>>> Hi Carl, My name is Paul. I live in Las Vegas and just bought a 64
\n>>>> Impala. I don’t know anything about restoring cars but thought there might be
\n>>>> enough info out there to make this a fun project. The vehicle itself is in
\n>>>> really good shape. Original paint and a really straight body. The interior
\n>>>> is almost like new.I purchased the car from the second owner that has had
\n>>>> it in storage for over 12 years. The original owner made some
\n>>>> modifications to the engine.The engine is suppose to have only 31000
\n>>>> original miles. What i would like to do is get it as close to original as
\n>>>> possible but not sure where to look for parts and really where to
\n>>>> start.Can you help or point me in the right direction. Thanks for any
\n>>>> advise you could give. Hope to hear from you.
\n>>>>
\n>>>> Paul
\n>>>>
\n>>>> One quick question, when you first start her up, there is quite a bid of
\n>>>> moisture that comes out tail pipes.Any idea?
\n>>> Hi Paul,
\n>>>
\n>>> Congrats on the find. You don’t find too many low mileage 64 Impalas
\n>>> now-a-days. Check the codes and numbers to verify the authenticity.
\n>>> Casting numbers, date codes, serial numbers, suffix codes, and cowl tags
\n>>> can tell you a fair amount but this info isn’t the holy grail of
\n>>> verifications.
\n>>>
\n>>> The 64 Impala is a hot product and there are loads of new parts of all
\n>>> kinds for it. Sheet metal, moldings, interior parts, upholstery materials,
\n>>> chrome trim, tailights, etc… etc. You could almost build a new 64
\n>>> Impala.
\n>>>
\n>>> What you aren’t likely to find accurate reproductions of are, the
\n>>> fasteners, clips, ground straps, etc. The little things. I’ve seen the
\n>>> ones that the producer claims to be “original” but there is always
\n>>> something off about them. The purist would take his old screws and get
\n>>> them replated, or phosphorized. Most restorers prefer to pay a bit more
\n>>> for stainless when replacing fasteners.
\n>>>
\n>>> Get any chrome work done before the environmentalists have it outlawed.
\n>>>
\n>>> There are some specialists that make good parts but you tend to pay a
\n>>> premium for them.
\n>>>
\n>>> Good places to find new parts would be:
\n>>>
\n>>> Hubbards Impala (North Carolina)
\n>>> Classic Industries
\n>>> Impala Bobs (Arizona)
\n>>>
\n>>> You can find plenty of used 64 Impala stuff at Desert Valley Auto Parts,
\n>>> north of Phoenix, http:\/\/www.dvap.com\/<\/a>
\n>>>
\n>>> You’ll probably find the Impala sitting in storage can be just as harmful
\n>>> as leaving it out in the sun. Upholstery will still dryrot, metal and
\n>>> chrome will rust, at least surface rust. Lubricated (once upon a time)
\n>>> parts will dry up and then burn out quickly if not relubed before
\n>>> running
\n>>> it.
\n>>>
\n>>> Be careful about spending too much money on it up front. Get it titled and
\n>>> insured. Do a title search on it to be sure it was never stolen. If it sat
\n>>> in storage for a long time without being titled to the owner that stored
\n>>> it, you have reason to be suspicious.
\n>>>
\n>>> Keep me posted on your progress. I always like to track the restorations
\n>>> of other cars.
\n>>>
\n>>> Carl<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

> Paul S said:
\n>> Thanks for the email Carl. I just got it titled and insured,it had a clean
\n>> title.The owner i bought it from had it titled while in storage. Like i said
\n>> i am new at this,where would i find casting numbers,date codes suffix
\n>> codes,cowl tag numbers? Do you know what might be causing moisture coming
\n>> out of the tail pipes when you first start it up ? Or is that normal?
\n>> Thanks
\n>> again Carl.
\n>>
\n>> Paul<\/p>\n

> Hi Paul,
\n>
\n> That’s good. You’ve done your homework.
\n>
\n> The moisture in the tailpipe is common this time of year. The exhaust
\n> system is cold and the air moving thru the engine is both hot and contains
\n> humidity. Granted, Arizona isn’t as humid as other parts of the country
\n> but it’s not bone dry during the cooler months.
\n>
\n> You could always pressure test your cooling system to be sure you don’t
\n> have an internal leak from the cooling system into the combustion
\n> chambers. Often when a car has been sitting a long time the gaskets will
\n> dry out and not seal properly. The intake is the most common since it is
\n> made out of a fiber material. Some early Chevy small blocks have sheet
\n> metal gaskets, but I doubt that is the case for your car. They’re not much
\n> better anyway.
\n>
\n> I would suggest you put a hundred miles or so on it and then re-torque all
\n> the head bolts, intake bolts, and water pump. Your water pump and fuel
\n> pump may even fail in the next 6 months or so. Your hoses and belts may
\n> not be far behind.
\n>
\n> You should get a copy of the shop manual. You can get them in paper
\n> edition or on CD.
\n>
\n> I have a link for the CD edition here:
\n>
\n> http:\/\/www.classiccarauto.com\/impala\/classic_car_books\/chevy_shop_manual.shtml<\/a>
\n>
\n> Each part that was cast has a casting number to represent the “Edition” of
\n> that part. You can use these numbers to verify the castings on your car as
\n> original. Casting numbers are well documented. The suffix code is a
\n> stamped number on the engine and is tied to the year and model of car the
\n> engine was installed in. The suffix code is also stamped on the
\n> differential housing, so if it doesn’t match the one on the engine, you
\n> know one of the 2 has been replaced, most likley the engine. The suffix
\n> code on the engine is on the block deck just behind the water punp on the
\n> passenger side. The letters in the number string are the suffix code.
\n>
\n> You can find a good casting number book here
\n> http:\/\/www.classiccarauto.com\/impala\/classic_car_books\/chevrolet_casting_numbers.shtml<\/a>
\n>
\n> Cowl tag numbers tell you some things that are already obvious, and some
\n> that aren’t. Option codes on the cowl trim tag can be useful to someone
\n> trying to restore a car that has been dismantled and parts are missing.
\n> You probably don’t need those since your car is complete.
\n>
\n> I have talked to guys that had suspicious or missing VIN number tags, and
\n> using the cowl trim tag you can re-assemble the VIN using the differnt
\n> fields of codes.
\n>
\n> If you want a complete number guide, you can get one here
\n> http:\/\/www.classiccarauto.com\/impala\/classic_car_books\/chevrolet_vin_numbers.shtml<\/a>
\n>
\n> These guides are more useful to a restorer than they are to someone with a
\n> complete car. For the price, I wouldn’t be without them.
\n>
\n> Carl
\n<\/a>Thank you so much for the information you have givin to me Carl. I will do
\nsome research and let you know what i find. I have taken the links you gave
\nme and saved them. I don’t know if i sent a picture but here is one shot of
\nmy 64. Thanks again Carl, will talk to you soon>\u00a0 Paul<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

>>> Paul S said: >>>> Hi Carl, My name is Paul. I live in Las Vegas and just bought a 64 >>>> Impala. I don’t know anything about restoring cars but thought there might be >>>> enough info out there to make this a fun project. The vehicle itself is in >>>> really good shape. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[25,24],"class_list":["post-31","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-finding-a-classic-car","tag-restore-a-64-impala","tag-storing-64-impala"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.classiccarauto.com\/wordpress2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.classiccarauto.com\/wordpress2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.classiccarauto.com\/wordpress2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.classiccarauto.com\/wordpress2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.classiccarauto.com\/wordpress2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.classiccarauto.com\/wordpress2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":331,"href":"http:\/\/www.classiccarauto.com\/wordpress2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31\/revisions\/331"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.classiccarauto.com\/wordpress2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.classiccarauto.com\/wordpress2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.classiccarauto.com\/wordpress2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}