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1996 Chevrolet Impala SS
(SOLD - 8/12/2004) |
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This Impala SS
was a 1-owner car, purchased new in June 1996 (manufactured in May) with 4
delivery miles on the odometer.
Click
here to see the original window sticker. As of July 4, 2004 it had just over
88,000 miles. It was tastefully modified to improve performance,
while maintaining the comfort and drivability of stock. Full details
are described below.
This car was
listed on eBay for a starting bid of $1 and no reserve. The
marketplace determined the final selling price of $15,500. The
auction ended on Thursday, August 12, 2004. The buyer flew in two weeks
later and drove the car a couple thousand miles back to his home, after
which he installed a Corvette Grand Sport LT4 motor and a Camaro 6-Speed
manual transmission. I'm happy knowing it's in a good home!
Click on any image below to view a full sized photograph
(All
photos taken July 4, 2004)
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The wheels are
custom 17" x 9" Forgeline
RS, selected for their strength and light weight as well as their
similarity to the stock design. Bridestone Potenza RE750 tires are
mounted and are brand new. The original wheels are
included with a set of BF Goodrich Comp T/A R1 tires that I used for a few
BMW CCA autocrosses. There are plenty of runs remaining, or you can
discard them and use the wheels to mount snow tires.
The paint is all
original. The car has never been hit or dented. There are no
door or fender dings. With 88,000 miles, there are tiny paint chips on
the hood, as can be expected from a daily driver. But you can't see
them from a few feet away. |
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The suspension
is modified, but the car maintains its stock ride height since I
can't stand bottoming out over speed bumps or scraping when turning into a
steep driveway. Rear springs are stock 1990 Police Caprice and front
springs are from Global West, along with reinforced lower control arms with
zero deflection Del-A-Lum bushings for better steering response.
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Shocks are QA1
and are fully adjustable on the car. Front and rear swaybars are
Hotchkis, as are the rear upper and lower control arms. For safety,
the car was fitted with larger 5/8" ball joints, standard on the Police and
Limo models, in place of the original 9/16" ball joints which have
been known to fail. |
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The rear axle
ratio was changed from 3.08 to 3.42 and the result was much improved pull
off-the-line without making the car unpleasant to drive on the highway.
A lightweight balanced driveshaft was fitted to avoid vibrations at high
speed. The change made the car feel as if it had shed 500 pounds.
A HyperTech Power
Programmer was used (and comes with the car) to recalibrate the speedometer
to the different gearing It is also used to recalibrate in winter when
installing the snow tires/wheels. I changed the timing to the
HyperTech
recommended performance settings, thus the car uses 93 octane fuel.
This can be changed back at the push of a button if you really want to trade
off some power for cheaper gas. |
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The small device
on the front plate is not a laser jammer. It is an E-ZPass device for
paying highway tolls. (Not included) This Impala has the
optional SunGuard solar windshield, which keeps interior temperatures down,
but also makes it impossible to use a windshield mounted E-Z Pass
transponder. You can also forget about using a windshield mounted
radar detector. The fact that you are driving a vehicle which looks
like an unmarked patrol car will probably help. I've never been pulled
over in all the years I've owned this car. |
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The brakes on
this car are rather unique. They are Porsche 993 Turbo calipers and
rotors with adapter brackets and rotor hats made by a company called
Mov'it in Germany. The front brakes
were installed in February, 1998. The rear brakes were installed a
year later. This combination totally changed the feel of the Impala's
brakes, resulting in a rock-hard pedal feel and very easy modulation.
These feel like racing brakes and instill tremendous confidence. They
also make the car feel 1,000 pounds lighter. You have to experience
these brakes to believe it. |
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The brake
combination valve modification was done, so the rear brakes do their fair
share of the work.
New Porsche
rotors and Hawk HPS pads were installed in the last month, so it will be
many years before you need to worry about servicing these again.
Replacement pads and rotors may be purchased at any Porsche dealer. I
also sell pads for this application. See:
www.zeckhausen.com/Chevrolet/Impala_SS.htm |
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You may notice a
few changes to the interior. The steering wheel has been replaced with
a Momo Runner wheel which has a fatter grip and a smaller diameter than the
stock steering wheel. The thumb cutouts are perfectly positioned for
the proper hand positions on the wheel.
The Momo Runner
can be replaced in five minutes with any other Momo steering wheel, in case
this model is not to your taste. There are dozens of styles to choose
from. The hard work has already been done. The steering column was
modified to accept the Momo adapter and the adapter was also machined.
The steering wheel air bag is gone, so an airbag simulator was installed to
prevent a dash warning light from being triggered and to ensure the
passenger side airbag still works as designed in a frontal impact.
The original
steering wheel is not available. It was shipped long ago to someone in
Florida whose stock steering wheel had been damaged by the sun. |
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The wood trim
around the radio and on the door panels and window controls is from a
Caprice Classic. The entire lower dash needed to be replaced, just to
get that bit of trim around the radio! But it was worth it. The
original trim was cheap looking and the Caprice Classic parts really warm up
the interior.
The original
black rubber shift knob was replaced with the leather piece from a Cadillac.
This is the shift handle the car should have come with!
The cigarette
lighter was relocated to the ashtray and the Police switch cluster installed
in its place. Now the trunk may be opened from the dash or the
glovebox. The police "OFF" switch serves a security function that I
won't describe here. To the left of the steering wheel, the coin tray
has been replaced with the switch cluster from the Caprice wagon with
"Wipe/Wash" controls. One switch allows the power antenna to be
lowered when playing a CD. The other is reserved for a future project
that I never started. |
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The standard
"Sport" seats on the Impala SS are completely flat and have no lateral
support for sporty driving. The Pontiac Bonneville SSEi seats from the
same year are an exact leather and color match and are much more
comfortable. A simple modification to the seat rails is all that was
required to bolt these in in less than two hours. The trick was
finding a pair of Bonneville seats in perfect condition. |
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The interior of
this car is in new condition. We have no pets and no kids and very
strict rules about food or drink in the car. There's no smell of
spoiled milk or spilled coffee in here. And it should go without
saying that nobody ever smoked in this car! |
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The engine has
the typical Impala club member modifications, including a Team SS cold air
intake. The K&N filter is brand new. Upper and lower radiator
hoses are SAAMCO Sport, purchased from Lingenfelter for way too much money.
The coolant overflow hose shown is one of those green "lifetime" hoses from
the police 9C1 Caprice. After installing that one hose, I disliked the
color so much that I gave away the rest of them to a friend who didn't mind
having his Impala look like it had garden hoses installed under the hood!
I hope to have a new black coolant overflow hose in place before the car is
sold. |
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The battery is a
brand new Optima Red Top, bought about three months ago. Headlight gap
covers were made by another Impala Club member and clean up the look
significantly when the hood is raised.
All the baffles
and resonators (Home Plate & First Base) have been removed and replaced with
Camaro and Corvette engine dress parts. The stamped steel valve covers
were replaced with the expensive heavy plastic Corvette valve covers.
The AIR pump delete software modification was performed by the dealer and
the pump was removed by me. That really cleans up the engine bay. |
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The headlights
are the T84 Export Capsules which were used on cars shipped to Europe.
These are no longer manufactured and very scarce. Instead of the 9004
bulbs, they use standard H4 halogen bulbs which are available in a wide
range of wattages. The Painless Wiring harness I installed allows you
to safely use just about any wattage you prefer. |
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Seen from the
front, the T84 capsule reverses the turn signal and the headlamp positions
and utilizes a small "positioning" bulb to meet the odd European regulations
for driving in the city. A thick protective film was applied to the
glass lenses to protect them from road debris damage and to keep them from
becoming pitted with age. This film is virtually invisible and may be
peeled off and replaced every few years. |
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Here is the
reason these headlight capsules were such a desirable modification.
The low beam is much more intense down low where you need it and there is a
razor-sharp cutoff to the beam pattern with a slight rise to the right to
enhance the view to the side of the road without blinding oncoming drivers.
High beam is much more focused and intense than the standard plastic
headlights. |
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Why did I sell
my Impala SS? It's not because anything was wrong with it. It's
because I found a new beast to play with. On July 3, I took delivery
of a 2005 Chrysler 300C with a 340 hp / 390 lb-ft 5.7 liter V8 engine.
After a brief test drive, it was clear to me that someone finally makes a
car that has the same sort of price/performance mix that made the Impala SS
so appealing eight years ago.
There are only
two drivers in this family and, sadly, only a two-car garage. So the
Impala needed to go so my 2001 BMW 540i 6-Speed didn't have to sleep outside
at night. |
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Now if I can
just find good high performance tires to replace the oddly sized All-Season
225/60-18 tires that came with the Chrysler. Or perhaps some 19"
wheels? It's already happened! The modifications have begun. |
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