76 caprice w/ 66 impala.

[ranma]

My project is taking the bland 76 caprice and use the 66 impala chassie engine wheels and make the 76 look better.

[ranma]

Well so far everything is lineing up perfectly. the engine is 90%done and painted chevy blue the 66 chassie fits good I will post pictures asap.

[Austin T]

Chevy blue?Don't ya mean Chevy red.

[ranma]

76 engines were chevy blue as chevy used orange,red and blue.

[ChrisPflug]

The color of Chevy engines changed from orange to the corporate light blue at the beginning of the 1977 model year (some early '77s might still be orange but a '76 would definitely not be blue)

A '77 model year vehicle may have been built in 1976 with a blue engine but not a '76 model car (not to mention that no '77 model pass cars would have been offered with a big block)

The relatively lightweight '65-'70 chassis is also quite a bit different in detail than the super beefy underpinnings of the massive '71-'76 cars

[ranma]

If you look at the chassie the 76 comes with and look at the 66 impalas they look the same. the 66 chassie also fits better. and ive seen three 76s w/blue engines not rebuilt orig motor.

Edited January 1, 2012 by ranma

[ranma]

Getting closer to being completed. I haue to do some research on the type of hub caps that caprice had choice wise. added the rear view mirror inside .

[ChrisPflug]

Just trying to be helpful- I've only run across a few original big block '76s and they've all had orange engines- saw a wagon, convertible, and hardtops, so likely to havecome from different assebly planta as well

Caprice had full wheel covers standard- kind of resembling the ones in the MPC kit- the Landau should have full wheel covers but the style that was optional on that years Impala with the center section color keyed to the body. Wire wheel covers were also offered. Not sure if a factory option for all years, but the "truck rally" wheels were not uncommon on real world vehicles

[ranma]

Thanks I'll try and find spoked that will fit the 66 impala tires since I used them on the 76 caprice I need a new hood as the one it came with was poorly molded deformed not warped.

[Greg Pugh]

Let's see some pics.

[Erik Smith]

Let's see some pics.

I am on the same page. What's the point of posting a WIP with no pictures?

[promo55]

I was a Chevrolet/Oldsmobile service writer at the time these cars were popular. Every '76 car I saw had an orange engine in it, whether small or big block. I did see some early production '77 downsized cars with orange engines in them, but by winter of '77, the engine color had changed to GM corporate blue, as other posters on this forum have pointed out. And, since GM had a controversy over using Chevrolet engines in Oldsmobiles at the time ( A pointless factor), I do not doubt that some Chevrolets from '76 had blue engines in them. Although I did not see any in my job, they were probably Olds 350's!

[MrObsessive]

Well you know what they say............................

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[Dr. Cranky]

Here's a picture Ranma sent along to show eveyrone:

Edited January 11, 2012 by Dr. Cranky

[Dr. Cranky]

Here are a few more pictures:

[ranma]

Thanks doc for posting a few of the pics I sent as our phone gives error messages such as badgateway or bad minetype hope you can post the rest of the pics I sent.