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TUTORIAL: Converting Revell Impala SS to a Caprice 9C1 (cop package)


tigeraid
09-26-2005, 01:40 AM
So I had done this conversion once before, to mimmick my real life car... but my skills hadn't really come along far enough to do it justice. Now I think they have, so I grabbed another Impala SS kit to give it a go. Revell has a stock Impala SS kit, as well as a "lowrider" Impala SS kit which comes with some nice wheels and can be used as well.

http://www.budgetperformance.com/model/impala_kit.jpg

First, a little background. The 1994-96 Caprice, in normal old-person form, is a chromed up, hubcapped sedan with a 200 hp, 4.3 L V8 and single exhaust. However like many of these sedans in the past, from all of the Big 3 manufacturers, a "police package" derivative was created as well. RPO "9C1" denoted a law enforcement package. Like the regular Caprice, the 200 hp 4.3 was standard, with a 260 hp iron-head 5.7 L LT1 optional. Most municipal cruisers and supervisor cars got the 4.3 (like mine,) with most highway vehicles getting the bigger engine.

Regardless of the engine choice, the 9C1 package also received heavy duty springs, Bilstien shocks, heavy duty sway bars, 140amp alternator, HD boxed frame, uprated 8.5" 10 bolt rear end, lifetime silicone cooling hoses, and badass-looking 15x7" heavy duty black wheels with chrome center caps. In addition, the 9C1 package received 12" vented disc brakes on all corners, with special aluminum PBR calipers on the rear. These allowed the 4200 lb beast to slow from 60-0 in an amazing 120 feet, matching many sports cars of the time.

Thousands upon thousands of these 9C1 packages were put into use by law enforcement in that period. Some are in fact still in use, reconditioned to avoid the "5 years old" rule, so police wouldn't have to resort to the weaker, slower Crown Victoria. 9C1s can still be bought relatively cheap, especially from police auctions.

The 94-96 Impala SS was a last hurrah of sorts for GM's fullsize rear wheel drive muscle, built using the same car. Jon Moss took a 1994 Caprice 9C1, lowered it, added 17" wheels, blacked out all the trim, and made a luxurious leather interior standard. The Impala misses a few 9C1 components, including the life-time silicone hoses, and brake cooling ducts. The car was a huge success, so much so that when GM announced that production would end in 1996, buyers crammed the dealers showrooms, resulting in an extension of the production year to meet demand.

http://www.budgetperformance.com/model/small_caprice.jpg http://www.budgetperformance.com/model/small_impalass.jpg

Essentially, the Impala SS is a 9C1 with flashy wheels. While I love the Impala SS, owning one in real life will not happen anytime soon due to their exorbitant collectability price. As a result many enthusiasts like myself buy 9C1s instead. So what's a 9C1 guy to do when he wants a scale version of his car? The only one sold is a 91-92 style Caprice (with the scalloped rear fenders and TBI 350) and it's a Skill 1 Snap-tite model. So, this tutorial will show all you 9C1 fans, and law enforcement vehicle enthusiasts, how to get a 9C1 from an Impala.


The Engine

Under the hood, the two engines are identical, except that the 9C1 features life-time silicone hoses, which are a sort of dull pea green. So you'll have to paint those.

http://www.budgetperformance.com/model/impala_engine.jpg http://www.budgetperformance.com/model/9c1_engine.jpg

In addition, a popular modification for GM B-body enthusiasts is to remove the stock air silencer ("1st base") and large engine cover ("home plate.") Removing both free up horsepower and make the engine sound like a real V8 (see my article (http://www.budgetperformance.com/articles/caprice_cai) for info on how and why.)

Some examples:
http://www.budgetperformance.com/model/clear_image.jpg http://www.budgetperformance.com/model/super_stealth.jpg

So just don't include the parts right? Wrong. Revell took a shortcut in the engine molding, by leaving off the intake manifold! :banghead: Instead, we get one big pin where the home plate mounts. This is no good for my purpose since I removed 1st base and home plate on my real car. If you're building a *stock* 9C1 with these pieces still on, you can skip this part.

The best solution is a new engine. You can get an LT1 with a full, highly detailed engine from any 93-97 Revell Camaro kit (and possibly a C4 Corvette kit too, not sure?) As you can see from the pics, the Camaro kit is so detailed it even includes the injectors on the intake manifold, and the opti-spark distributor! This particular engine is from a '93 Indy Pacecar kit...

http://www.budgetperformance.com/model/camaro_kit.jpg

As you can see below, the two short blocks and transmissions are fine, but the parts from the good kit will fit their own engine better, so I recommend using it. You'll notice the Camaro engine (right) has a standard transmission, while the Impala has the correct 4L60-E automatic. I will be cutting the transmissions off of the back of each engine and swapping them. For those who aren't comfortable with such a task, maybe leave the standard transmission in? Someone even makes a swap kit (http://www.bigfastcar.com) for this in real life. :grinyes:

http://www.budgetperformance.com/model/both_engines.jpg

Here you can see the difference in the details. The Impala kit has a vague engine "top" with a crappy intake manifold and molded in exhaust manifolds. Terrible :shakehead ...The Camaro pieces on the right are complete and detailed. You'll notice they're a little wet, as they're currently soaking in Castrol Superclean to remove the chrome. None of these components on the real engine are chromed.

You can also see the Camaro's air induction system, already partially painted matte black. Since my real life one looks very similar to it, I've decided to just use it, rather than fabricating a custom one.

http://www.budgetperformance.com/model/engine_parts.jpg


Front End

Next up is the front fascia, which is mostly the same, except for one glaring difference--the grille. The stock Caprice grille is chrome and multi-ribbed, with a classic Chevy bowtie hood ornament just above it. The Impala grille from the kit has a centralized bowtie, is a finer mesh, and is incorrect chrome. If doing an Impala SS, the correct process would be CSC the chrome off and paint it body colour.

http://www.budgetperformance.com/model/grilles.jpg

The Impala SS grille is a VERY popular swap among the B-body crowd, so you may wish to keep it, as it's quite stylish. If you're going for the cop look however, nothing beats a big chrome grin. The grille and hood ornament to your right is from the Snap-tite Caprice kit. I was lucky enough to receive this grille from members of our AF forum, but you can find the kit on ebay, your LHS or swap meets, as it was reasonably popular. Note the hole drilled for the hood ornament, using a pin vice. Since my grille is painted black in real life, I will soak this one in CSC and paint it as well, but stock it is definitely chrome.


Body

In terms of colour, Impalas came in GM Black, Dark Cherry Metallic, and Dark Gray-Green Metallic. Caprices came in a variety of colours, though a vast majority of 9C1s ended up white or black (supervisor/detective/FBI/etc) or black with white doors like a cruiser. Obviously you can paint it any colour you want though...

Now this is the part where you can go crazy or be very subtle. While the Impala SS and Caprice are indeed the same body, the Impala SS has much thinner trim surrounding the bumpers and along the doors. In the pics of my car above you'll notice the trim is all black, like an Impala, but stock it is chrome. I won't lie to you, I do take a bit of shortcut in this, by leaving the trim the way it is. Many B-body enthusiasts actually remove the chrome trim and replace it with the Impala trim anyway, so the look is common. If you're looking for a perfectly accurate 9C1 build, I would suggest using some very thin styrene strip, 2/10-3/10" tall and chrome it with BMF for the door trim. The bumper trim is reasonably close to Caprice anyway, so just BMF that and you have accurate Caprice trim. Also note that the window trim on both cars is chrome, unless it's been blacked out like my car.

Now, the other major modifications all take place at the back. The "Impala SS" script on the quarter panels, as well as the leaping deer emblem on the trunklid will need to be sanded flat:

http://www.budgetperformance.com/model/impala_rear.jpghttp://www.budgetperformance.com/model/caprice_rear.jpg

You'll also notice in the right pic a bunch of putty on top of the drunk. This is probably the single most difficult modification in the conversion process. The Impala SS features a small lip spoiler on the trunk, whereas the Caprice's is normal. Ths wouldn't be a big deal, leaving the spoiler off, except that, much like the engine fiasco, Revell made a recessed area in the trunklid, along with two holes to mount the spoiler. This recessed area needs to be filled and smoothed flush with the trunklid in order to look correct. Those with putty skill will do well in this aspect... this is the main reason I'm doing this project over. :tongue:

http://www.budgetperformance.com/model/spoiler.jpg

Oh, also note that the Caprice has a normal gold and silver bowtie on the back of the trunklid, in place of the leaping deer. Many Caprice owners remove it and just leave the bare keyhole, but if you want this conversion to be accurate, you'll have to find a small bowtie from somewhere, perhaps a decal from a truck kit...

Another minor change in this conversion is optional, and involves the quarter windows. The Impala SS features a quarter window that is in the general shape of a triangle, but has a rounded edge at the back. This tiny change in the quarter window improved styling in many people's eyes, so much so that the change was adopted for the Caprice in 1995 and 1996. My Caprice however, is a 1994, and the quarter window comes to a point, like earlier Caprices. So I had to cut the window out to a point with a knife and smooth it down with a sanding stick. The change is minor but important for someone doing a '94. Note that if you are doing a '95-96 Caprice, you will still have to sand down the small leaping deer emblem in this area:

http://www.budgetperformance.com/model/quarter_window.jpg

One final difference is the sideview mirrors. The 1994 Caprice and Impala have the mirrors mounted on the doorskin, but this was changed in 1995 due to complaints of them sitting too far out of the line of sight. The mirrors were moved to the small quarter area of the front windows. If you wish to build a '95-96 Caprice (or Impala SS for that matter) you will have to glue them here instead, and fill in the holes with putty.

http://www.budgetperformance.com/model/mirror.jpg


Interior

Interior colour for the Impala SS was Light Ghost Grey. Caprice interiors came in Medium Beige, Light Ghost Grey, Ruby, or Medium Adriatic Blue (like mine.) By far the most popular in the 9C1 was the Blue. While I haven't found an exact match, Model Master's 2074 Dunkelblau RLM 24 is very close. The vast majority of 9C1 Caprices received the basic rubber floor mat and trunk mat, so painting the kit's floor semi-gloss black will suffice.

The changes at this point can either be minor or huge. The kit is a '94 Impala, so it has the digital gauge cluster and shifter on the column, as all Caprices did (the '96 Impala SS had a console shifter.)

The Impala seats are luxurious leather, whereas 9C1s received run-of-the-mill cloth buckets. The front seats look reasonably close in shape; if you're a detail freak, I'd suggest grabbing the seats from the Snap-tite kit or a similar GM model. Remember that some Caprices got buckets, some got a split bench seat. If you keep the kit's stock seats, you'll want to sand off the Impala emblem in the headrests.

The big difference is in the back seat. The Caprice, in 9C1 form, got anything from a cloth seat, to a vinyl drunk seat like mine (easy to clean vomit and blood from :wink: ), or some were converted completely to the fibreglass bench with the space for the perp's arms in cuffs. The Impala SS features a European-style buckets-in-a-bench arrangement with a gap in the center.

Because I've swapped my interior for Bonneville leather seats, I'm good to go, as they look basically identical. Again, for detail freaks, it'd be best to find the rear bench from the Snap-tite kit, or a similar plain vinyl bench from another GM kit.

http://www.budgetperformance.com/model/interior.jpg

Wheels and Tires

Finally, probably the biggest visual impact that changes, the rolling stock. The Impala SS features gorgeous 17" 5 spoke wheels with low profile rubber. While they're decent for handling and nice to look at, they can't take too many curbs during high speed pursuits, so we need 15" steel heavy duty wheels with nice chrome centercaps for that badass cop look.

Unfortunately, the Snaptite Caprice is a 91-92 kit, which featured flat, polished wheel-wide hubcups as was the style at the time. What to do!?! Two choices:

1. Find a kit of a 1980s Chevy pickup or Suburban. The wheels and centercaps are very similar, and will work in a pinch.

2. As I did, you can order a set of these wheels and centercaps from ModelHaus.com (http://www.modelhaus.com)

http://www.budgetperformance.com/model/wheels.jpg

I would suggest using any tire that looks like a 70 series, as these Goodyear GT Radials do.

Well that's it! Comments and criticisms welcome, I hope this helps at least ONE modeller! :lol2:

PS- I haven't finished the new project yet, but here's the old one, which still had the Impala grille and messed up trunklid putty :sunglasse

http://www.budgetperformance.com/model/finished_model1.jpg http://www.budgetperformance.com/model/finished_model2.jpg

tonioseven
09-26-2005, 06:24 AM
Now that's cool!!:sunglasse

Merkava
09-26-2005, 07:41 AM
Nice job! That was really an interesting read for a Chevy guy. A friend of mine has a 92 Caprice Classic, which is the same basic vehicle, only a station wagon. It still has the LT1 engine, and badass rims! Very cool project, and I hope the current one comes out as good or better than the first!

white97ex
09-26-2005, 08:04 AM
awesome write up

GvEman
09-26-2005, 12:15 PM
C :cool: :cool: l! Nice tut!

tigeraid
09-26-2005, 12:40 PM
Nice job! That was really an interesting read for a Chevy guy. A friend of mine has a 92 Caprice Classic, which is the same basic vehicle, only a station wagon. It still has the LT1 engine, and badass rims! Very cool project, and I hope the current one comes out as good or better than the first!

Just an aside, if it's a 92, it doesn't have an LT1, LT1s were 94-96 only. It'd have the L03 305 or L05 350 :tongue:

ModelHaus.com hasa resin kit of a 1992 Caprice Wagon, if he's looking for a kit to do up... The only mainstream b-body wagon I'm aware of if the "nomad" concept from a few years ago, which has a lot of one-off styling pieces.

Merkava
09-26-2005, 03:09 PM
Just an aside, if it's a 92, it doesn't have an LT1, LT1s were 94-96 only.

Ah, okay thanks... I do know it has the LT1, I guess I missed the year by a few.. :icon16:

Great tut!

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