95 Impala SS Barn Find Project

32569 Views 196 Replies 19 Participants Last post by smelonas, Jun 26, 2020

ace72ace

Discussion Starter · Oct 12, 2016

15

Took a ride with my 17yo son out to my buddies farm to get a better look at the SS that came with his property that I think was purchased ~2 years ago. Under a coat of dust sits a complete '95 Impala SS, with a dead battery and a bad transmission. Was a lot better to have an inspection in the daytime, and overall it's in pretty decent shape considering the year and mileage - 120k.

Decent sized dent in the driver's rear quarter, and the front passenger wheel trim is dinged up. Underneath shows fair amount of rust, but not too bad for a New England car. Can you tell if those are the original shocks from that sticker on it? Speaking of stickers, is there a decoder site for the Service Parts tag in the trunk?

Rotors and pads are in good shape. Motor oil was a nice gold color, not burned or nasty smelling at all. The trans fluid (yes I know you check it hot while idling in park...) was pink, but with a large amount of metallic particulates showing on the paper towel when I swabbed the dipstick. Something inside the transmission has decided to disintegrate, so I'm not surprised by the contaminants.

On to post 2 for additional pix.

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smelonas

· #20 · Oct 20, 2016 (Edited)

I read this, but maybe I missed it. You should rotate the engine over with a breaker bar or ratchet after fogging the cylinders. The rings can get destroyed after sitting for so long and then you try and start it at full torque.

Fog cylinders real well, then rotate the balancer 20 times or so, should fire right up.

FWIW, my car sat for 5 years in a custom sized hole in a garage in west texas after being hit by a deer and I had to do a new fuel pump, sending unit, filter and all that. Needless to say, once we had fuel pressure, it started very easily. It sat for 4 years untouched before I bought it off the guy. I think it may have ruined or damaged one of the injectors though. I have a pulse I cant get rid of. Before you crank, make sure it has fuel pressure! Prime the fuel system by turning the key on and off 5 times, letting it stay on for 5 seconds each time. It should start like it did the day it was new.

smelonas

· #24 · Oct 20, 2016

To be honest, when I started my car for the first time we just dumped in 5 gallons over whatever the hell was in the tank. When we dropped the tank, we had nowhere to put the gas in it, so we left it and just put 5 gallons of fresh 93 octane and injector cleaner over it. It drove fine!

What would I do? I would get a new ACDelco sending unit (it is updated and wont get inaccurate over time or break) and a new pump and sock as well. Replace it all, take the old gas out if you have another vehicle you can pump it into, throw in 10 gallons of 91+ octane. Prime the system 5 times, and start.

MAKE SURE TO CHECK THAT THE SENDING UNIT AND PUMP ARE WORKING BEFORE YOU PUT THEM. Ask me how I learned this.

smelonas

· #27 · Oct 20, 2016

Haha. Well I put the whole tank back together in the hot west Texas summer and went to turn the key, and no fuel pump. Checked rail no pressure. Tried to jump pump, nothing. Had to drop tank again to replace it. Had to do it twice, which if you don't already know, isn't easy!

The spectra stuff seems good. It should hold up well. If it starts to read off, use BG 44K in the gas to clean the resistor on it. It should restore the proper reading.

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smelonas

· #29 · Oct 20, 2016

The fuel gauge in these cars is dependent on resistance for readings. Which I am now realizing makes the sending unit a rheostat. The arm that floats on the gas in the tank rubs a rheostat which changes the gauge reading as the fuel level changes. You will see once you see the sending unit.

I buy the 3 pack on amazon. It's like 18 bucks a can that way. I can only say it works though. I use it every oil change and once that tank is through you notice it is more responsive and runs much better.

Fwiw, Lucas cleaner and even techron don't work half as well as 44K.

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smelonas

· #31 · Oct 21, 2016

Oooooo a time lapse gopro video! Noice! Gonna love it

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smelonas

· #33 · Oct 22, 2016

Or that. I got a little excited for that.. lol

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smelonas

· #35 · Oct 22, 2016

Mine loped hard for the better part of a minute until it pumped all the old gas back to the tank and the injectors unclogged. Then it idled nice and smooth. Then ran like it were new.

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smelonas

· #37 · Oct 23, 2016

That's pretty sweet. That thing started RIGHT UP. Idled well straight off the bat. Time to get a hockey puck some pvc and delete that oil fill tube! Lol

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smelonas

· #39 · Oct 24, 2016

2

Hey, you might make fun of me for saying to test it before, but it would be your mistake to make if I didn't make it for you. Lol

For the coolant flush. I recommend a backflush tool and removing the coolant reservoir and shaking that out. I'm convinced the chambers in it were designed to catch debris, hence the shaking portion.. here is what came out of mine

I also recommend a remote coolant filter to keep the system clean. Plenty of people on here and every other lt1 site always say reverse cooling creates silt, reverse cooling this and that and xbjdhrjk a jfbrudhdbebcdisjs. Well if it makes particles, filter them out them out. People are just way too frikin dense. Anyway rant over about that. You can make a system for about 40 bucks or so.

Oh and about hoses, look into getting the green silicone hoses that came on the 9c1 caprices. SAMCO also make a real nice silicone set for about 150. Silicone hoses never need replacing just make sure you use the 'correct' clamps if you choose to go that way.

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smelonas

· #43 · Oct 26, 2016

Good thinking.

If I were you, seems to me dropping the pan would a really good idea. If all the metal has settled, it will be indicative of how bad it is. If it is.

New ACDelco filter and gasket of course with 8 quarts of fluid, Plenty to get the job done.

You cant drain the TC on these cars short of flushing the tranny. There is no bolt sadly!

I think if I were you I would flush it. You will still need to drop the pan though to clean it up and get the magnet clean. I would then put in 4 quarts, then flush first thing. If you do flush, you will need 11 quarts to do it all.

Grey metallic is typically clutch plates with some of the steels wearing as well. My tranny looked the same if I recall.

FWIW, flushing wont be worth your time unless you drop the pan first and get all the sludge out first.

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smelonas

· #45 · Oct 26, 2016

Yessir.

I'll be honest, I use synthetic because it breaks down at higher tempertures, but that is the ony reason. With a car that sat like that, I would add some lube gard to it as well. I use it and I can't say much of anything about it other than it seems to help with shifting. It is supposed to keep seals fresh as well. I like the idea of it more than Lucas oil.

Have you ever dropped a pan before?

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smelonas

· #47 · Oct 26, 2016

Oh man. I think so. Or 12mm. The threads are great on this subject. You will learn a lot.

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smelonas

· #52 · Oct 27, 2016

For your records, or whatever, my car had 147k on it when I got and I am 99.9 percent sure the fluid was never changed. There was A TON of clutch material in the bottom. The fluid, however, was not burned, but dirty DUH. Cleaned the pan inside and out, did new filter, 4 quarts of fluid and knock on wood, has been fine since. I did add lucas oil treatment because I had feared the car wasnt going to get me where I was needing to go. Has done well since. So I would go ahead and say that if the tranny still goes forward and backward, it can be ran with new fluid.

Like I said before, I would flush it and good luck to you!

smelonas

· #54 · Oct 27, 2016

Let me just add one thing that I have been missing this whole time. Get a magnefine filte for the tranny. It's a magnet and a filter! And it just goes in line of the rubber cooler lines.

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smelonas

· #56 · Oct 28, 2016

Oh man. It's on amazon. Just go on there and search 'magnefine'. The hose is 3/8", so that is the size filter you will need. They ain't cheap though, to be honest.

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smelonas

· #59 · Oct 28, 2016

I don't want to ask this, but the question is begging itself. Do you not have a to go mechanics toolset? That should have every size you will ever need.

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smelonas

· #61 · Oct 28, 2016

ace72ace said:
Yeah, I have SAE & Metric sets, and have 4 toolboxes. Since I like to keep the SAE and metric separate but my new SS has both, I will have to get a cheapo set of sockets from HF so I don't have to mix and match. One thing I hate is to be missing the one tool I need when I have the hundred I don't need because it's in the OTHER toolbox. I just added a 5th toolbox for all my impact stuff. Eventually will get a decent tool chest/drawer setup. I like to have a complete set of 'what do I need' when doing a project, so I didn't think it unusual to ask what size the pan bolts were.

Just looked up the magenfine on AZN, can get a Wix for just over 15$, seems like good idea.

https://www.amazon.com/Magnefine-In...UTF8&qid=1477666995&sr=8-1&keywords=magnefine

An external filter of any kind is nice. I think 15 microns is the magic number. The pan filter is kind of a joke, because its not really a filter, its like a sift. Pretty much frikin useless. And now that I said that SOMEONE is going to read that and say WELL IF IT DOESNT DO ANYTHING THEN WHY DID GM WASTE THE MONEY ON IT? or ITS BETTER THAN NOTHING, and yes that is true, but calling it a filter is a fallacy and prosecution should follow for actually thinking its a filter..

I feel ya on the tools. I just know if I have my kit with me, I am good. The only odd thing I see on these cars is the external torx for the OPTI, but there are ways around that as I had to find out as well.

smelonas

· #66 · Oct 29, 2016

Are they rusted at all? Mine came right off.

First thing to do when you get there is hit them with pb blaster just in case. They should come right off.

On the topic of shooting, I finally got to break in my scar last weekend. Owned it 8 months and never shot it. Lol

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smelonas

· #73 · Oct 31, 2016

Well when you look at, you will see that one line has a spring clamp, and the other is a crimp clamp.

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smelonas

· #75 · Oct 31, 2016

Lmfao! You got me rollin! I forgot to designate a side.. derp

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