Took the driver side wheel drum to Lee’s Automotive which is located just down the street from my work. I’ve taken other drums from various projects and they have alway had a quick turn around.
As expected they finished turning the drums before lunch time. I went and picked up the freshly turned part during my lunch break. How convenient is that!
The center caps came in today.
While checking out the Impalas front suspension. I noticed the worn parts underneath. This is like the proverbial chase a rabbit down the hole. There is a lot to be addressed under the suspension. The items that affect functionality will be be fixed first. Any cosmetic upgrades will be done at later date unless it makes sense to do it now. As an example, I want to paint all the drums black since you are really able to see it now due to the Supreme wheels I installed. The front wheels are off so this is a good time to do it.
I picked up a couple replacement front stabilizer bar links. These included the long bolt, bushings and plates.
The existing linkage appears to be the original pieces which would be hard to believe. It would seem by this time 54 years later the rubber parts would have been replaced. The linkage rubber was so bad it literally crumbled while trying to remove it from the stabilizer bar. You can the huge difference between the old and new parts.
Installed the new MOOG linkage kit. I had to use a jack stand under each drum and elevate the entire A-arm assembly to get the new set in. Almost like simulating a wheel was mounted and in contact with the ground. There was no way for me to get it installed with the frame just sitting on the jack stands.
While the car was jacked up I went ahead and pulled out both shocks to see if each were functioning correctly. These seem to be fine and expanded out once compressed. These shocks are not stock and had the name “OE Spectrum”. After a bit of research I found that the Monroe Company makes this model.
Once again, since I had the front wheels off and the car jacked up I started looking into the braking system. When using the brakes aggressively the car will want to veer to the right. This is a consistent and repeatable issue.
I had a hell of a time getting the drum off. I had to use the star adjust and set the brake shoes to the maximum distance away from the inner drum. It took a lot of turns to get the hub off. This is due to the brake shoes wearing the drum and developing a ridge along the outer edge. The star adjuster was designed for this type of situation. There is an access hole/slot on the web section, you can insert a tool or slotted screw driver to turn the star screw.
The drum is going to need resurfacing done. I’ve seen replacement drums online that are very inexpensive. I’m not to thrilled about using some cheap ass metal. I measured about 0.102” so I believe I’m still within the range to still safely have the drum resurfaced.
One thing nice about this older drum style brakes is not having to pop out bearings and having to use a press to re-install a set of bearings. The center section of the hub is removable and it has the collar attached.
Wrapping it up for tonight. I’ll need to take the drum over to wheel shop that can still turn old style drums. There is a shop at Rancho Cordova, CA. that has the equipment and personnel that can run the old time machine.
I need to work on the Impalas stance. Since it’s going to be static I need figure out the components I’m going to use.
The rear has an air shock which I believe is a Monroe brand that is available at any local parts store. I don’t know if the previous owner did the installation but it was mentioned that he wanted to at some point haul around a trailer. I air shocks would make sense for this application.
This photo is taken with the 14” Supremes and the air shocks with no air. The air valve had an extender going through the rear bumper and it had snapped the main inlet valve, this dumped all the air out.
I’ll be heading to the local auto parts store for a replacement inlet valve. Once I get the minimum shock required air volume I’ll set the stance. I believe the minimum air is 25psi and the maximum is 200psi. I’ll also include the model number once it is confirmed.
Finished up as much I could on the first wheel. This particular wheel had the worst rust damage of the set. Working on the 2nd wheel which was a breeze compared to the first one.
To get better results I used steel wool #0000. I had tried the heavier version #000 as recommended by a lot of folks on the internet but it seemed to be too abrasive and leaving a light scratch. Maybe it was the lighting or my imagination but I didn’t want to risk scuffing or scratching these rims. The lighter grade works fine, just needs a little more elbow grease.
It was a definitely a relief mounting the first wheel on with the lugs I got. I knew the wheel was the correct size and wheel pattern. One note, the lug nuts that were used to mount the funky S10 wheels were the stock 1/2” lug nuts that barely had enough reach around the 7/16” studs. I would consider it a safety issue as the there was not a flat surface for the lug nut to seat on.
Another interesting issue I ran across was the actual removal of the rear tires. These were so wide and tall they could not be removed easily. I had to release the air pressure on the tire and use the jack to lift the car a little higher for clearance.
Started bring the these old OG Supremes back to life. I’m starting off with the worst of the bunch.
I was able to get quite a bit of the rust removed using “Never Dull”. I’ve been using this stuff since I first starting messing with classics. Rust is ALWAYS and issue with 50+ years rides but there is no substitute from using good old elbow grease.
I picked up the proper high beam headlamps and fitted each into the bucket assembly. I selected the Sylvania H5001 model. This part is normally a stocked item at the local automotive parts store.
There are a two major difference between the low and high beam lamps. The high beam only uses two prongs. The connection to the high beam lamp is the proper 2 prong wiring. The connector can be oriented in any direction.
If you look closely the glass tabs and notched retaining ring are slightly different between a low and high beam bulb. This is why you can interchange the two and the proper bulb should be used for installation.
The low beam headlamps are now functioning as they should. I still need to order replacement tabs that secure the bottom section of the bezel to the grill. All four tabs were broken and missing.
I drove over to Vacaville after work to pickup the Supreme rims and tires. It’s not too far from work but a good distance from the Manetarium.
The wheels were in the condition the previous had disclosed. No unexpected surprises. One rim has a lot of rust that needs to be addressed, I think I’ll be able remove most of it. The rims are in very good shape. All four tires are in new condition tread wise and doesn’t have any compound hardness of being only 3 years old.
These wheels came off an early Ford Falcon build. The previous owner purchased the set thinking it would fit. Even though he was able to get them mounted the wheel wells were rubbing the outer side of the tire.
These uses a -12mm offset so this probably contributed to his issues. Also, if he was running disc brakes that may have pushed the whole wheel too far out. I’m running stock drums all the around so I figured I’d have enough clearance even with the negative offset.
I tested out rear wheel fitment and there is plenty of room at least jacked up in the air. The S10 wheel I removed is larger with a size of 205/75/15. The tire I have now are 205/70/14’s.
One note, the lug nuts I got from the owner will not work. These are for the larger Ford Falcon studs he was using. I have the stock 7/16” fine thread studs. I will need to purchase a set of lug nuts for this application.
I have a line on a set of Old school Supremes. Hopefully I can make the deal work out. One of the wheels are rusted out but I’ll see about finding a replacement.
The low beam headlamps did not work properly. The only time you get any headlamp illumination was by pressing down and engaging the high beams foot button. This of course is all jacked up since it means the high beam circuit had to be tampered with.
After some time for troubleshooting I was able to find out the previous owner(s) had tapped into the high beam circuit. One of the low beam lights was actually bad too.
In any case we have functioning head lamps when “La Bamba” goes on the night cruising action.
I know somewhere down the road I’ll be asking myself what headlamp did I purchase before that worked with the Impala. This is a reference photo.
One note, the three spades had to filed down on both edges. This allowed less pressure in the existing female connector. I also grabbed a couple universal connectors and these had a wider receptacle opening. The bad thing about these spades they are not weather resistant like the originals. The negative with the newer headlamp are the spade length. These do not sit down flush like the older headlamps. There is a gap that will need to be addressed with by weather resistant tape or applying some sort of RTV to prevent metal to ground contact.
