Hello from Lakes region New Hampshire

Hello from the lakes region in NH.
My first car was a 66 Chevy Caprice wagon and I wanted a Roadmaster wagon the first time I saw one. Finally got one last summer. It's a 94, 70K miles very rust free California car. The plan is to update it to drive like a modern car with modern features and use it as my daily driver. So far it has QA1 level 2 suspension, That's upper and lower control arms with adjustable coil-overs front and rear, Front and rear Hotchkis sway bars. Air bags with a small compressor in the rear for when its heavily loaded, Wilwood disk brakes kit for the back. (I was told I have the first one for the application) And some wheels and tires. With the front shocks set one up from the softest setting and rear to the softest the ride and handling are as good as I could have hoped for. Sloppy steering is still an issue. My dream is to put an L83 with a 6L80 in but the stock engine and trans are running just fine. Finding people I can trust to do the work is the big problem, I just don't have a space or the fabrication skills for that. I have never tried to modify a car this much before.

Anyway I'm glad to be aboard. I'm sure reading your articles will give my ideas the get me in way over my head, but that's part of the fun...right?

Welcome aboard. I'm sure others will chime in that there is an active B-body community in the NE. google BADASS of NE or something like that. There are a couple of NH folks in the 'family' here but don't think they are too active on the forum these days....

Welcome!  Lots have gone before you, so read up on the ImpalaSSforum.com and you should find much help.

That L83/6L combo is exactly what I'd buy if I hadn't already bought a nice LT1 from a guy who did an LS swap. And since I learned to build my own 4L60Es I ended up with a very stout powertrain for less than the total cost of an LS swap, along with a much more factory (and therefore easier to maintain) setup than a custom/hybrid one.

One thought - below 450hp, building the original Gen2 LT1 is price-competitive with LS engines, and LS-swapped cars generally don't add resale unless the swap is very well done and very well documented. What you will save in LS engine parts (per HP), you'll spend on adapting all the accessories to fit.

In my own experience, between buying a built LT1 and building my own 4L60E with most of the Sonnax catalog in it, I'm at $5300, but that doesn't include the torque converter and full Clear Image exhaust that came with the car. With the L83/6L combo, you wouldn't need a torque converter or headers, but you would need to buy/fab the rest of the exhaust.

Just do a very careful cost analysis before you pick one way or the other.

Greeting from Geneva NY, home of Wagonfest NY (in less than 2 weeks, if you are up for a drive). We have a place in Franconia, which we use as our detox center for stressed NY taxpayers.

There's a wealth of information on this forum, and while there is less traffic here, postings are remarkably free of pointless blather you'd be forced to wade through on Facebook.

Hi sherlock9c1, I was at Redstone 71-76 enjoyed my time there very much. You brought back some good memories.

Thank you for the advice, Ill be checking out the ImpalaSS forum.
Yes I did make at least a dozen or so spread sheets for the cost of different configurations and have pretty much decided on what I'd like to do as far as engine mods, ECM, TCM, accessory drive, oil pan, fuel system, engine mounts, gauges...ect. Have the money set aside and I'm ready to go. Problem is finding a shop to do the work properly. The one I hoped to use did the suspension work and there have been some issues. To be fair I have never had done a project like this before so I may not always make myself clear about what I looking for. Then there this covid stuff screwing every thing up. They do real beautiful work on customs and classic cars and have all the ability to do the work needed, but right now I just know.

They put all the suspension on. I also had them change the steering box, I wanted to cure excessive play in the steering also put in one with a quicker ratio. When I got the car back it steered like my John Deere lawn tractor, very stiff and lots of play. I was told “It will loosen up”. OK I get the car home and go looking for the play in the steering. Looking at the rag joint I notice there is no grease on the fittings of the new A arms. Remove the fitting to check inside and no grease in any of the fittings. I'm not perfect either so I grease them myself and move on. I notice there is movement in the ball joint for the pitman arm and drag link. I replace the drag link and it's idler arm and that takes care of about 30 to 40% of the play. Looking for the rest of it I see the shaft out of the steering box the pitman arm attaches to wobbles like a drunk sailor, this with the wheels off and the car on jack stands.

So I don't know, I have good electrical mechanical skills and it only took me a few minutes find these issues. But these guys build awesome cars at their shop why did they hand the car back to me like this? I have have talked to the owner about all this and they have another steering box on order. We'll see.

Changing out the engine and transmission is a much bigger job. Transmission tunnel needs to be enlarged, fuel system is all different. I don't mind spending the money but I want to have confidence it will be done right.

Hello Dmg4, Born and raised in Rochester N.Y., Escaped in 96. Still have family there. So I understand the need for detox. Southern tier is beautiful though, we had a camp on Loon Lake in Wayland.

Yes I am having thoughts about trying to make Wagonfest. If I can get the steering issues straighten out I think I can get the time off work. It would do me good, I could use the encouragement and support.

I've had similar experiences. Actually the same: new swaybar end links installed but NO grease fittings!!!  I drove it back to the shop and complained; the mechanic dug the box out of the trash and found the zerks in a baggie, still in the box. "Oh, didn't see them there." Those holes on the sides of the joints weren't a giveaway??

It all ends up being tradeoffs. A good shop is usually expensive and busy, so there's time and money there. If you do it yourself, you're likewise limited although in different ways.

A few points to consider:
We tend to forget/minimize the amount of engineering that goes into every aspect of a vehicle. We can fuss about what the weak points of a particular design is, but miss the development that made the other points strong. I'm reading a book right now about WW2 aircraft engine development, and it's mind-blowing how much work was put in to these incredible engines, WITHOUT computers. Did you know that the Germans had a fully automated engine control system in the early 1940s, and had developed gasoline direct injection in the 1930s?  Thousands of hours of R&D went into each of these alone.  

So if we think of reengineering a new powertrain into an old car, there will be more challenges than you realize. On my wagon, for example, I'm having to figure out how to do packaging on a class 3 hitch, full aftermarket 2.5" exhaust with resonators (stock pipes are 1.75" past the mufflers), and adapting a swaybar from another vehicle and figure out how all this will play nice. The more you deviate from the factory design, the more engineering work you will have.

Link to the book reviews:
https://smile.amazon.com/Secret-Horsepower-Race-Special-Development/dp/1911658875/

Buy the book here:
https://www.mortonsbooks.co.uk/product/view/productCode/15057

Welcome NHRoadmaster!

Glad your aboard. Post some pictures when you can. I am about an hour from you in Littleton. In the fall we have a gathering of the guys and their rides. Good time to be had by all. Last year we didn't have it, because of Covid but hope for it's return this year.

Tom