Hi, my name is Hal Sanguinetti, and I'm the proud owner of a 1963 Chevrolet Impala 4-door 9-passenger wagon..... with an OEM 409 and air conditioning! It belonged to my good friend Ron Miller, who passed away exactly a year ago today at his home in Winslow. Ron let the way for drag racers in Northern Arizona by founding and running the Winslow Drag Strip for many years. There are many people around the country who were touched by him as part of his membership in The Standard 1320 - we miss him tremendously. Ron loved the 409 engine, and for some reason I'll never know now, this car had been in his 1/2-acre lot behind his home and shop (Ron's Speed Shop) in Winslow for 33 years. Time and the neighborhood punks had shot/broken out most of the windows, and time and rain has taken it's toll on the car... but I don't care. The body is very straight and the engine turns over smoothly with a ratchet, and that's all I care about. I'm not planning on a 12-point restoration, I don't have the patience for that - I'm not a rivit counter, as we say in the model-building world. But it's going to be a classic mid-60's dragster crew/push vehicle, complete with permanent push board on the front and a pair of M&H pie-crust sidewall slicks permanently mounted on the roof rack, which is in amazing shape considering the elements in Winslow. Also, a set of period-correct, water-slide decals will be in the window: Engle cams, Moon Equipment, Hilborn Injection and maybe a few more. It will ultimately push dragsters down for the cacklefest at the California Hot Rod Reunion. I'm the announcer and publications manager at Speedworld Dragstrip in Surprise, AZ, and do their track paper, Speedworld News. I've been announcing nearly 39 years, starting at Irwindale Raceway Motocross for the late, great Steve Evans. My company, TNT Distributing, is the Torco Performance Lubricants distributor for Arizona, and my hobbies include plastic models, Theatre Pipe Organ, European travel and drag racing. What I need for this car? The biggest thing is a complete tailgate assembly, followed by a rear floor pan. With the rear window broken out, the rain puddled in the rear floor pan and rusted it and the bottom of the tailgate completely through. Suggestions on where to get parts are welcome. Thanks for letting me participate! Hal Sanguinetti TNT Distributing/Torco Oils - SEMA Member AZ Quarter Milers Club on Yahoo Groups!
Nice to see a promoter come along. These links might help: Hal, have you tried DVAP in Phoenix? http://dvap.com/parts/ or CTC in Texas? http://www.ctcautoranch.com/index.html Also check out the For sale listing on our site, off the main page, down below. There's also some links in the Site Directory, just above the For Sale/Wanted sections.
aboard Digger sounds like great plans for the wagon...got any pictures? There you are Normy right back on board!
Posted pix OK, thanks for the help - I posted three pix, but didn't notice that I had put Canadian dollars instead of US - however, I think it's a good price either way, considering it's a 409! Hal
Digger. 409 aye? Keep your head tucked inside the window or your lipz will beat yah tah death:banana: BTW, If you're gonna run on the street, yah might wanna add ah little to the left rear. Runnin' that low profile only workz when you're out in the pucker brush
to the wagon train, dig. Great story and great save! That wagon, for sitting that long, has a nice patina! I would be tempted to enhance that a little & leave it if it weren't for the 409 in there. Please keep us posted on that save of yours.
Funny you should mention that.... all the tires were dead flat, so I went to a used tire place next to where I work and had some put on. The problem is that they don't have any really tall tires being turned in as usable anymore, just about everything is much lower profile - especially in 14"... so I had to take what I could get, just so I could roll the thing around LOL. No worries, when it's done, I'll have 15" Cragar S/S mags and correct height tires on it! Hal
from a NHRA orphan from up north I grew up on a dragstrip...and did the announcing for about 15 years ! spent a few years in the management end too. ...cept i went the other way....FORD...
Really? I'm so sorry to hear that...... about Ford, of course. But the dark side works insideously and people are often drawn in without being aware of the danger LOL I've been announcing racing for almost 39 years now, started at Irwindale, under the late, great Steve Evans. Where did you work? Hal
ya...we all have our crutch to bare my father was track manager and business manager of the local track here since about 1965..(i was 6 when we startded building the track)...he quit the track management end in 95...but is still the 'business manager' to this day. so like i say...i grew up on the tracks! Met Steve a million times over the years...stellar guy!! I retired from the sport about 5 years ago...when my brain finally realized ...theres more to life than drag racing( at least for me) so here i am at 53...trying to decide what i want to be when i grow up I retired
YO Digger. If your project iz gonna take ah while you might wanna consider stuffin' tubez in 'um. I did and I think it cost me all of $8.00 ah piece at the time. 4 'cross country trips, more short trips then I care to remember and ah whole 22 yearz of sittin' on 'um BUT I NEVER ADDED 1LB OF AIR TO ANY OF 'UM IN ALL THAT TIME BTW, I'm runnin 15"s now too. Factory Caliperz fit way better then on 14's without havin' tah get involved with AAJ out on the Left coast It's not your issue but anybody thatz ever been involved with Mopars of the '50s, and early '60s Knowz they came up ah tad short in the Whoa Department
