Jake Dykstra's 1962 409/409 Impala!

[napa68]

Originally Posted by RPOLS3

Might as well do things right........

Doing your Dad proud!

[RPOLS3]

Originally Posted by Too Many Projects

Do the drums have the hole in them for the adjuster ?

Most self adjusting brakes I've worked on still have a hole in the plate, or drum for manual adjusting too.

No adjusting holes on the drums Mitch - just the backing plates. Not sure I've ever seen that before.

[RPOLS3]

The correct backing plates showed up last week and the rear seat is uncovered so I will drop both off at the blasters today to get cleaned up. Dropped off the drums this morning on my way in to get cut.

[RPOLS3]

While not a lot of physical progress was made - today was a big day. I brought the 409 to my house to be able to dedicate more time on the balance of the work as we are getting close to having the exterior trim done and the interior work will happen the last week of October fingers crossed. I left the Regal down at Mom's on the lift and will take the Chevelle down soon to have more room at my place to work on the 409 this winter.

I installed the NOS Stewart Warner temp gauge before I left as I wanted to monitor engine temps since this would be the longest trip in it (50 miles) since we installed the new engine. I was able to complete the install without drilling any holes and using existing fasteners to mount the gauge under the glove box door.

Outside temps were high 70's and at 60 MPH it ran at 200 degrees. In town it would quickly get to 210-215-220 when waiting at a stoplight but then come right back down to 200 when we got going along.

Dad was with me from the start on this one as I needed a special 5/8" wrench to tighten the new temp sender fitting and by golly he had just what I needed in a custom bent 5/8" open end wrench in his stash.

No real issues on the ride. Was able to get a proper Dykstra Motorsports sticker installed when I got home - for some reason this car never got one. since I now have the car with me I will be able to take my time and fine tune some things that have been bugging me in addition to the De-SS'ing project this winter.

[markjohnson]

“De-SS’ing” is my new favorite word . . . .

[olredalert]

----My all time favorite 409, either SS or not (prefer not though)!....Bill S

[scuncio]

Nice work! Gauge looks right at home there!

[Stihl]

What a great story to go along with a great car. I would love to have a family heirloom car to pass on for generations, much less a spectacular car such as this one. You are blessed my friend.

[RPOLS3]

Some progress today.

Picked up the rear seat frame Friday at the blaster and painted it Friday night. Dropped it off this morning at the upholstery shop and they said "your ears must've been burning". They had started work on the front seat and wanted to get on the rear seat too. I'm really happy I spent the time and money to clean up the seat frames. Like Dad always said, you'll never regret doing it right...

Still planning on bringing the car to them the last week in October to put it all together on the inside. Little by little....but moving forward.

[dykstra]

Like Dad always said, you'll never regret doing it right...

AMEN!!!