Originally published in the September 1990 issue of Hot Rod magazine
By Gray Baskerville
I've gotta recall game for you. Betcha can't remember what you were doing on August 29, 1989. I can't… and I'll bet my fellow gearheads, who cluster around HOT ROD'S ancient offices, haven't the haziest recollection of what happened to them 365 days ago, either. But Troy Trepanier (pronounced "Tray-pan-yer") can. On that day, the 20-year-old automotive technician and one of his pals were headed north on a 12-hour, 1000mile return run from Dallas/Ft. Worth, Texas, to their home in Manteno, Illinois. The white antelope in which they were ensconced was Troy's newly acquired '60 impala. Say what? A '60 Chevy Impala? Yes, a real, live, Uncle Daniel, two-door Sport Coupe with only 40,000 miles showing on its 30-year-old speedo, and it was Troy's for the princely sum of $6000.
Troy's background includes building both a Porsche Raspberry Pink '66 Chevelle ("Hot Pink," HRM October '88) and a like-painted '73 Riv. In other words, our boy Troy boogies to a colorful combo. Even as the Impala's original 283/Powerglide power team was pulling its 3540-pound envelope through the Midwest at 90 "purr," Troy was already deep in thought, conjuring up a modern image for a car that gained fame as a low-riding, Metalflake, twice-piped cruiser. Troy saw something more. "It wasn't just the '60s body style I liked," said Troy, "You just don't see them around here. I got a feel for the car when I drove it home. Then, after I took it to the U.S. Nationals the next weekend, I knew when I slammed it down and tubbed it out, I would end up with a car that had the look."
The "look" began to take form soon after it entered "Grandpa's Garage," a one-stall affair that occupies a small spot next to Jack's Auto in downtown Manteno. Now, Gramp's garage ain't all that grand, but it does contain one incredible feature: a ¼-inch steel floor. In other words, the floor acted as a giant platform, which Troy called his big frame fixture.
You need a big frame fixture when you consider that Troy's winner was 210 inches long and rode on a 119-inch wheelbase. After work and including weekends, Troy, along with his dad's help and a loan of $30,000, transformed a mint, four-wheel living room into a Winter Mint greenhouse.
At this juncture, I would like to take a different tack. Instead of boring you with a sequence of events performed by Troy, his father, Jack, and his mother, Judy, which brought the Impala up to its present state of perfection, I thought it would be neat to let some of Judy's photographs and Troy's captions help describe the action. Therefore, I'll use this space to share a little insight into what was going down as Troy readied his Winter Mint green machine for its initial outing at the Super Nationals.
Troy's toy is built for comfort, not speed
Note that the Impala's exterior was left untouched with a couple of exceptions. First, the front-fender body line and rectangular bars behind the headlight bezels were removed, and the turn-indicator lights were placed in the bumper. Then, both the door handles and Impala name plate emblems attached to the stainless-steel side moldings were lost.
You see, when you're 20 years old, you can put in a full day working on other people's cars, then spend an additional 60 hours per week in the evenings on your back welding up your own set of wheels. And because his dad's shop does a lot of street rod work, Troy's next plan is to build a '48 or earlier.
Other than some minor "K mart rash," this is how Troy's '60 appeared the day it arrived in Manteno after a 12 hour stint on the interstate. The one-owner, two-door Sport Coupe was originally driven to Texas by a little old lady from California.
Shown is the semi-smooth, semi-race small-block floating on one of Mr. Gasket and John Buttera's billet-built motor mounts and water pump units. The '79 350 was assembled by Troy and Jack, and has been filled or fitted with parts from Crane, TRW, MSD, B&M, K&N, and AirSensors. Kerker supplied the stainless-steel headers. Torque multiplication is handled by a TCI-stalled and massaged 'Glide that is hooked up to a B&M trans cooler.
Only if the threads are cool can you style and profile down the highway. The original seats were covered with Seafoam/Pale Jade furniture-upholstery tweed by Keith McCoy of Pro Stitch in Bradley, Illinois. Cyberdine gauges occupy the modified stock dash that was rewired by Troy's dad. There is enough volume—thanks to a 150-watt system attached to 16 hidden speakers and turned on by a JVC tuner with a 12-CD disc changer—to out-audio a dropforge. The glovebox is used to house the fuel injector electronics.
The front suspension is an eclectic package comprised of Aldan coil-over shocks, Heidt 2-inch dropped spindles, '84 Chevette rack and pinion steering, and JFZ disc brakes. The Impala's four-wheel-disc braking system is activated by a dual-reservoir master cylinder that is mounted under the dash. Details include hard lines and cables retained with hand-built aluminum brackets.
Jeff St. Aubin of St. Aubin Auto Body in Manteno was responsible for painting everything that moved in Ditzler Deltron Winter Mint green. The wheel/tire combo mixes both 15x5.5 and 15x15 Boyd's wheels with Michelin and Mickey Thompson meats. The doors and deck lid are operated by remote control.
Mother Judy's photo shows the back of the original frame. The radically narrowed rear was fashioned from portions of mandrel-bent 2x4-inch mild-steel rectangular tubing. The narrowed rearend is based on a '79 Lincoln pumpkin (filled with a 4.11 Traction-Lok ring and pinion) and axle housings. The third member has been fitted with Morrison coil-overs, a Pan hard bar, and Ford disc brakes. The rear frame member supports a 23-gallon aluminum gas tank.
The trunk is so large that the giant wheel tubs are of no consequence. It took Troy and his father four weeks to get the modified '79 Regal hood pistons to stop lifting the front of the deck lid when it was closed.
When your dad owns an automotive repair shop, advantages like a body-supporting hoist come into play during reassembly. All-new body mounts and rubber were supplied by Soff-Seal's Fred Wick.
First of all, Troy figures that he and his dad did 75 to 80 percent of the car themselves, while his mom acted as the project's "financial engineer." According to Troy, "Because we don't do that sort of work around here, the bodywork and painting were my biggest expenses." And note that this car relies on visual impact, as rods should. I know we're gearheads, but remember this: Rods, like books, are judged by their covers. Troy's original plan was to put a 409 in it. "But," he said, "I'm too much of a small-block freak. We also do injector work here, so I figured that I'd better have one in my 350, too." Therefore, our boy Troy stepped up to an AirSensor's TPI, which he bought from Lowe's Speed Shop in Kokomo, Indiana.
Troy also stepped up to a set of one-off Boyd's wheels, which was designed by Steve Stanford. The 15x15 rears that retain a brace of bodacious 33x21.5-15 Mickey Thompson baloneys spin inside a pair of the largest wheel tubs that Troy could buy. Yet the rear portion of the 80-inch-wide Impala is so spacious that he was able to keep the stock rear seat. Moreover, looking out on its generous trunk lid reminds Troy of an aircraft carrier's flight deck; his slammed-down Impala has that taking-off look. Speaking of sheetmetal, imagine what you would do if you were to mess up a portion of the two-door Sport Coupe's body? You see, during Troy's 7-month ordeal, the sandblaster managed to destroy the hood. One would think that finding gennie tin for one of these wide-body warriors would be a sweat, especially in uptown Manteno. But no. Troy located a replacement that was still banded in its original crate one mile from the bodyshop in a storage barn. We now call Troy "Lucky Pierre."
Just because it's different, unusual, well done, or safe, a street-style hot rod isn't squat if it isn't functional. A rod can have all the whistles and bells, the doo-wop ditty, the full-on, and finesse; but if it doesn't see anything but the insides of a trailer and can't operate on its own four wheels, then, as far as I'm concerned, it's a failure. Troy has every intention of driving what he calls the Greenhouse Effect. Maybe not to work on a daily basis, nor to weekly cruise nights, but don't be surprised if Troy's so-low Impala doesn't do a CadZZilla and boogie on out to Las Vegas with Baby 'Bolt in October. On second thought, I hope Troy fills that cavernous trunk with Impala cleaner. After a couple of thousand miles on the interstate, Troy's gonna find out what happens to the underhood spiff when you lose those inner fender panels.
Photography: Scott Killeen, PPC Photographic; Judy Trepanier, Financial Engineer and Street Machine Central
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