Jake Dykstra's 1962 409/409 Impala!

[napa68]

All of the little tasks and victories are oh so satisfying. Looks great Jake!

[67since67]

Jake, I can only imagine the feelings of working on and driving your Dad's prized automobile. We all should be so lucky to have a younger generation to carry on.
Kudos to you and Dave!!

[olredalert]

Originally Posted by 67since67

Jake, I can only imagine the feelings of working on and driving your Dad's prized automobile. We all should be so lucky to have a younger generation to carry on.
Kudos to you and Dave!!

----Jake and Dave are the best care takers a guy could find. They were trained by the best,,,Jake senior!!!....Bill S

[RPOLS3]

Originally Posted by napa68

All of the little tasks and victories are oh so satisfying. Looks great Jake!

The victories keep you motivated.....

[RPOLS3]

Originally Posted by 67since67

Jake, I can only imagine the feelings of working on and driving your Dad's prized automobile. We all should be so lucky to have a younger generation to carry on.
Kudos to you and Dave!!

Thanks Bill - we spent a lot of time together on this car over the years so there are a ton of great memories. We are truly fortunate to keep the car(s) in the family and are blessed to be able to keep improving them as caretakers.

[dykstra]

Originally Posted by 67since67

Jake, I can only imagine the feelings of working on and driving your Dad's prized automobile. We all should be so lucky to have a younger generation to carry on.
Kudos to you and Dave!!

Thanks Bill W. That means a lot coming from a guy like you!

[dykstra]

Originally Posted by olredalert

----Jake and Dave are the best care takers a guy could find. They were trained by the best,,,Jake senior!!!....Bill S

Thanks a lot Bill S. That means a lot coming from a guy like you too!

[RPOLS3]

We have had this car back in our possession going on 15 years now. When it was previously restored by another owner he made the decision to restore it as a Super Sport - it came from the factory as a standard Impala. The original trim tag is still in place confirming the bench seat interior (non Super Sport). Personal preference by the previous Owner - just not mine. I have been going back and forth since we got it on the effort involved in unconverting the car back to how it was delivered. It was never a big deal to Dad - he was just happy to have it back. I always thought the car deserved to be put back. I have been casually trying to come up with some sort of list and chasing down parts over the last year. There are lots of pieces to this conversion. In the last couple of weeks I was able to pull together a large scope of the correct parts to begin the process from single source I found over at the 348-409 site. Today we met and I picked them up. In addition to the SS to Standard Impala conversion, a different previous owner (the guy we bought it from) installed a retro power front disc brake setup on the car. While it stops great - it ain't right. Unfortunately he did not keep any of the original parts. Part of the load I picked up today was a set of front spindles and drums to correct that as well. Everything I picked up today with a few small exceptions needs to be restored (bench seat, spindles, brakes, stainless trim, etc.) so that will keep me occupied for the next several months. In addition I have several smalls to acquire (brake lines, hoses, fasteners, etc.) I met with my upholstery guy yesterday to get the ball rolling on new front and back seat covers (part of the conversion) and while it is there I will have him put in a new headliner and do the carpet (again). Will drop off the hard parts for blasting as well and search for stainless trim people to send that out. My hope is to have all of the sub-assemblies restored/ready to go to be able to install over the winter and maybe get the interior stuff done this summer/fall. I have a few more significant things to source like a proper/correct master cylinder - but my guy from today is working on rounding them up in the coming weeks/months. If all goes well this time next year it might be done- but if it's not then that's OK too. Will provide updates as I go along. I'm sure this will be another learning experience but I know Dad will be watching.

[dykstra]

Yeah buddy!!!!

[Bill Pritchard]

With so much personal/family history associated with this car, it certainly makes sense to return it closer to as-delivered condition IMO. Kudos to you for taking on the project!