1961 Impala Bubbletop Ls1 Turbo on 2040-cars

 Up for auction is a 1961 Chevrolet Impala Sport Coupe equipped with a turbocharged LS based 6.0 liter engine and T56 6 speed manual transmission. I drove this car for the first time to the LA Roadster Show on June 14 of this year, it has been my daily driver since then and now has approximately 1000 miles on it. Overall it's an incredible driver especially on the freeway, but it is also very streetable and not nervous or difficult in traffic. The car gets a ton of attention, we had 4 other finished cars at the LA Roadster Show and this one got all the looks.

 I found this car about 6 miles from my home in Pasadena California, it is an original Los Angeles car that was off the road for many years before I brought it back to life. The body was very solid with minor rust in both quarter panels and the trunk well. I have repaired the rust in the quarter panels using donor quarters from another 1961 Impala that was the same color as this one. The trunk well was replaced with a reproduction piece.  I also patched a small section on the passenger side lower front fender. There are two remaining minor rust spots on the driver's side, one in the rocker and one on the bottom of the fender. The floors and frame are 100% rust free. Besides the hood the paint is all original, a careful application of CLR removed 53 years of surface rust. The hood that came with the car was not original and it was white, so I painted it in Jewel Blue. The side trim and headlight bezel assemblies are reproductions, the rest of the trim and bumpers are original. The windshield is new but the rest of the glass is original.

All the suspension is completely redone. The front was totally disassembled and torn down, everything that could be replaced was. All the hard parts were powder coated along with the core support, inner fenders, hood latch brackets, battery tray and fender brackets. New parts include the upper and lower ball joints, inner and outer tie rods, center link, control arm bushings, idler arm, rag joint, shocks and adjusting sleeves. The rear suspension got the same treatment: the control arms, panhard bar and upper locating arm were powder coated and all bushings replaced along with the shocks. The stock rear axle was used, it was also gone through with new seals and fully inspected. It has 3.36 gears and is open.

The front brakes are from Wilwood and feature 12.19" rotors and 4 piston Dynalite calipers. There's also a Wilwood tandem master and adjustable proportioning valve along with a Wilwood clutch master. The rear brakes are stock, and all new as are all the brake lines.

The motor is a 6.0 liter (364 cubic inch) LS based iron block from a 2004 Silverado. I tore it down and everything looked great, as most of these motors do. I replaced the stock head gaskets with GM multi layer steel ones, and used head studs instead of the TTY head bolts. The heads were gone through and I replaced the valve springs with PAC pieces, they are nothing crazy just strong enough to close well against boost. Internally, the motor is otherwise stock with the stock camshaft still in place. Externally I added an Edelbrock Victor Jr. single plane intake manifold and low profile elbow. The oil pan is a heavily modified Hummer H8  unit.

The transmission came from a 2004 GTO and works exceptionally well, very quiet and smooth. The clutch and flywheel are from Centerforce, the disc is a Dual Friction unit.
I made my own swap mounts out of .250 cold rolled steel to get the motor just where I wanted it. The transmission crossmember is also custom made.

The turbo system is based on a Turbonetics TC78 with the 1.15 A/R. I used a 38 mm Tial MV-S wastegate and a no name 50mm blow off valve. I made all the turbo piping, the hot side starts with stock cast steel truck manifolds flipped side to side and flows into 2" mild steel piping and a T4 flange. The downpipe is 3" and runs under the car into a single 3" oval tubing pipe setup with a single resonator and out the side. The car is surprisingly quiet around town. Everything is joined with stainless steel V band flanges and heat wrapped. The charge piping is all done in aluminum, it starts at 2.5" out of the turbo and goes to 3" through the air to air intercooler. It steps up to 4" out of the intercooler and into the throttle body.

The fuel system starts with a Bosch 044 pump mounted on a custom made hanger in the tank, which is new.  Dash 6 fuel ines (in push lock, hard line and braided steel) feed the Aeromotive fuel pressure regulator, which is boost referenced. Fuel goes to through the Edelbrock fuel rails to 60 lb/hr Seimens Deka injectors. There is enough fuel system and turbo to support 700 wheel horsepower, if so desired.

I made my own radiator as well it's based on a triple flow core and tanks with a single 16" Spal fan controlled by the stock ECM. I also made the upper and lower radiator hoses in aluminum.
Engine management is all stock GM, I used a later LS3/LS7 card style MAF to for increased range in a forced induction application. I started with an engine harness from PSI and tore it all down to nothing, then re-loomed and tucked the entire thing.  The motor keeps the front O2 sensors but the tune deletes the rear O2 sensors, the EVAP, EGR and knock sensors. The rest of the car is completely rewired front to rear and everything works. There are several extra unused circuits which are ready to add air conditioning, power windows, radio, or any other accessory you might like.

The interior is all new from Ciadella, it's beautiful. I chose to use 1962 Impala seat covers with 1961 door panels. The door handles, sill plates, package tray, window cranks, armrest reflectors and chrome trim are all new reproductions.  I installed Dynamat on the floors and roof before the interior went in and it works great,  the car is tight and quiet. There's a period correct trio of gauges on the steering column and a super cool Stewart Warner Greenline manifold pressure gauge in the dash. I made my own radio delete plate and my own shifter console, it looks like a stock one from a 1962 Impala SS. The shifter is a reproduction part from a 1962 Impala SS with a white 6 speed shifter ball. Finally, I substituted a 1962 Corvette steering wheel for the stock one.

The car was dyno tuned by Steve Ridout at Powertrain Dynamics in Huntington Beach, California. We had issues with the rear tires on the dyno mostly because we could not spin the T speed rated tires(118 miles an hour)  much past 130 without distortion. On the street this would not be an issue, but I don't think many of you want to go much faster than that on the street? The car could only be run to 3700-3900 RPM but we consistently saw 346-350 horsepower and 460-470 foot pounds of torque at the rear tires. At the stock 5500 rpm redline this translates to 550-ish horsepower, at the tire. This was done on California 91 octane pump gas with very conservative timing. It starts making boost at 2000 rpm, makes 5 pounds by 2700 and full boost by 3700.

On the street the car is a blast. It is not squirrely or nervous, with the stock cam it idles flawlessly and pulls cleanly from idle. It is not a sports car, it is a big heavy Jet Age gem with a ton of power that floats down the freeway like a 550 horsepower couch. It's quiet, tight and smooth. At 75 miles an hour  in fifth gear the motor is turning 2300 rpm and there's a ton of torque just waiting to be unleashed under your right foot. You don't nail the throttle in this car, you squeeze the trigger. The turbo spools instantly on the street and make all kinds of noises a car like this just shouldn't, it's brilliant. It looks like a period NASCAR or an old street racer but works so, so well. Never runs hot, never loads up, no blow by, no leaks anywhere. Seriously, it's been my daily driver for the last 5 weeks.

This car still needs a few things. It needs all weather stripping (besides the windshield gasket). The glove box liner will not fit because of the relay pack for the engine management harness, it needs to be trimmed to fit. The glove box door is safety wired shut as well. The parking brake is not hooked up, and I am missing the wiper arms. The door glass regulators need rebuilt, and the vent window regulators need rebuilt and installed. There is no horn. The speedometer does not work and will need an adapter to convert the electronic VSS signal into a cable driven one. The back glass is scratched. I will include with the sale a new back glass, a stock radio, an ashtray, an extra cowl vent and a bunch of small parts.

There are plenty more build photos of the car on our Facebook page (Schraders Speed & Style) and on our website, please take a look. I own and operate a full service hot rod shop, we can take this car as far as you want. For those of you who flip cars this is an excellent candidate, just add big wheels, paint and Air Ride (although I hope somebody just enjoys it as is...!). Better yet, fly in and drive home!

I think I have represented this vehicle fairly and pretty thoroughly. However it is sold as is, where is with no warranty expressed or implied. Please ask all questions before you bid! You can write through ebay or feel free to call the shop at 626-804-3780. I reserve the right to end this auction at any time, and for any reason. Shipping costs are to be paid in full by the winning bidder or fly in and drive home. Please, somebody fly in and drive this thing home! I welcome international bidders, I will deliver the car to the freight forwarder of your choice in the Los Angeles area for free. Thanks and happy bidding!