New guy says hello

Discussion in 'The Welcome Wagon' started by Bone Stock, Jul 15, 2006.

  1. Bone Stock

    Bone Stock New Member Charter Member

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    Hello everyone. Nice site!

    I live in Kansas in the USA, but I grew up in Upstate New York and have lived in Florida and North Carolina. As I was growing up, my mother had a 1957 Plymouth wagon (I don't know the model), and my father had a 1960 Chevy Brookwood.

    My college roommate had a new red 1974 Ford Pinto Squire, and I always liked it. So starting my senior year, my first wife and I (we had just married) bought one almost just like it. The only differences were his had a 4-spd. and ours was automatic, and his seats had houndstooth cloth inserts and ours were solid black vinyl. We lived in the same apartment building, so it got confusing with both parked out front.

    My first wife had two other wagons, a 1987 Honda Civic 5-spd. she bought new, followed by a 1986 Dodge Colt Vista 7-seater that worked better for her growing daycare business.

    I remarried 5 years ago, and my wife came equipped with a 1984 Chevy Caprice Estate woody. It's about beat to death now and she rtequires something better. I belong to a club for owners of 94-96 Impala SS and other 91-96 GM B-bodies, and one of our members was selling his 1992 Buick Roadmaster Estate, so we bought it. It has 197,000 miles but you would never know it. He included a spare set of leather seats, but they're not needed yet.

    I was looking for a daily driver so I could put fewer miles on my Impala, and after driving my wife's Roadmaster I decided I had to have one of my own. So I just bought a 1994 Roadmaster Estate with 137,000 miles and still in very nice condition. It has the same Corvette-derived LT1 engine as my Impala SS and has the tow package, so the 2.93 gears are similar to my 3.08. (Standard gears on the wagon are 2.56). I will pick it up in August. I know other Impala SS owners who bought a Caprice or Roadmaster wagon and ended up liking it more than the SS. I wonder if that will happen to me? Hmmmm... I could buy a REALLY nice Roadmaster for what my SS would bring.... ;)

    I will post some pictures soon.
     
  2. wagonmaster

    wagonmaster Administrator Staff Member Moderator

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    Welcome to the forums :Welcome:. Looks like you're into wagon chicks ;) The Impala SS is a nice car and I wonder if anyone converted a B-body wagon into an SS wagon?
     
  3. Bone Stock

    Bone Stock New Member Charter Member

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    Thanks for the welcome!

    Quite a few people have built SS wagons. Mechanically, if you start with a 94-96 Caprice wagon, you already have the LT1 engine and dual exhaust. Put on a 3.08 rear end and rear disk brakes and you're 99% there,

    Visually, start with a wagon in one of the SS colors (black, dark cherry metallic or dark gray-green metallic), add an Impala grille and side-scripts, bolt on some 17" SS rims, get rid of some shiny trim, and lower the car about an inch. Inside you can substitute an SS leather interior, although the rear seat (middle seat in the wagon!) is a bit tricky if you want it to fold down correctly.

    Here's a nice example (with the wheels chromed -- stock SS wheels are satin):
    [​IMG]

    You can also start with a Roadmaster wagon. It will accept an SS grille provided you also use the Chevy bumper cover and bumper support. Then your SS wagon has a Vista roof, like this:
    [​IMG]
     

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