A new chapter begins...

So, it has been a little while between posts. The Impala has been out and about, clocking up the miles, however that is set to change in the not too distant future; this turned up on the weekend...




Complete with this under the bonnet...




With low compression in a couple of cylinders and oil leaks everywhere, the factory original 327 has been on borrowed time since 2011.

After much umming and ahhing over rebuild/crate motor/2nd hand/conversion options, the decision was finally made to go with an LS swap from a later-model Commodore.

I was keen for a 6.0 litre for the low-down torque (over an LS1) and 4-speed auto (smaller than the VE Commodore's six speed, so a simpler fit into the Impala's transmission tunnel).

This left a very narrow Holden model range to look in, VZ Series II only... less than a year's production as VT Series 2 through to VZ Series 1 only had the LS1 and VE onwards had the 6L80E six speed.

Enter one statutory write-off VZ Series 2 SS-V Thunder ute, complete with L76 and 4L65E with less than 100k km on the clock. Perfect!

So let the fun begin!




J