67 Chevy Impala 4 door hardtop

[boxer3main]

I love it. I grabbed at a 1974, horrid green, including the interior. The same friend that laughed at me and the 90hp straiught six sold me a v8 I wion't ever forget.

b-pillars.. its part of being a winner.

the 60s chevies are of course immortalized, just the shape of them helped gain years...and some came with 283 etc... they could literally keep it as a 50 year daily driver with a cheap mig weld standing by.

This car reminds me I am headed for mid life "not-a-crisis" crisis...

I spotted a 79 4 door malibu (the little ones) with a vwry causal clutch fanned 5.7 liter with a/c..hubcaps, sleeping away just to look at. Part of the thrill of owning these types is letting the warship open up in on the little cars and young drivers that forget there is a king..... sailing by as a bass drum versus a tinny screaming guitar with a snare drum roll...and then it hits top gear after winning..calming down even more.

 

[krazykarpenter]

that thing is big pimpin' dude, can't wait to see the finished product. Other than the spoker's i like the direction that you are headed in with the car

 

[patsti]

So it has started to undergo surgery over the last week... It has 2 coats of SUPER THIN (50/50 Rusto-Mineral spirits) Flat White. Basically makes one coat of paint on it.

It was sanded with a DA with 220 grit and most of the rust was removed (only a few spots). It was coated with the paint above to protect it from rusting and to keep the "RAT ROD" look that I am going for. I have decided to only have the floor pans fixed and leave the lower rear 1/4 and front fender with the rust spots so it looks "USED".

I was very impressed with how "FLAT AND SMOOTH" the rolled on paint came out. No orange peal... It actaully looks as if it was sprayed on.

The first light coats have dried and have been "DRY SANDED" with 220 grit again. It has been cleaned down again and is ready for the next 2 coats of the flat white paint... this time mixed 70/30 to leave enough room for wet sanding after with 800 and 1000 grit.

As far as the rest of the car goes... It has been gutted and cleaned, new plugs and 8mm wires, new cap and rotor, cleaned carb, and some parts have been ordered to dress the engine up.

The 305 that is in it runs great with no smoke. I plan on having new chrome valve covers/ breathers/caps/ hoses installed and the engine pulled and cleaned/painted black. I am researching carbs right now and am thinking about getting a quadrajet 4b carb and a new mainifold as well as headers/ dual exhaust. This should free up a lot of power and make it run even better.

As this wont be a daily driver I don't know when it will hit the road. I hope too get a lot of help from some friends over the next month and have it out on the street by the end of the summer. It sucks that I can't do any of the work with my back problem but I think I might hang on to this as a project to work on with my dad once my back is better... unless something better comes along! I really want to get into a Stingray but that's down the road a bit.

 

[Meyagi]

that things f'ing cool as **** Pat!

 

[Apollyon12]

View attachment 2997

 

[patsti]

So we found out that the original fuel line had been replaced but... no one put a fuel filter in the new line. LOL

It runs great except for a slight hesitation and over fueling while running cold. I am pretty sure this is because of the lack of the fuel filter (too much fuel getting to the pump) but we will know tomorrow when the new one goes in.

I am going to get it registered tomorrow morning and get some new tires put on the back so they match. I hope to also get the wheels (steelies) painted red with some trim rings so it has that old school rat rod look.

Some pics of the paint job. It needs two more coats rolled on but this stuff needs to harden for a week or so before it gets wet sanded and the other coats are added. We left the rust that was on it not to go along with the rat rod look.

Sorry the pictures suck but the car is SUPER WHITE and I tried to snap a few quick shots with my hd video camera. I will post some tomorrow with the wheels updated.

 

[patsti]

Rust shots... Gotta love rust.

 

[Tyler]

Mmm, sexy.

 

[Stein]

That rust looks a little bit bad to be considered part of the rat-rod look IMO. You could repair the rust and then paint fake rust on top if you wanted

.

Looks sweet though. Are those chrome things on the front just hubcaps? They're pretty convincing, possibly because I'm not sure what hubs/brakes look like on 40 year old cars.

 

[Chris]

That rust looks a little bit bad to be considered part of the rat-rod look IMO. You could repair the rust and then paint fake rust on top if you wanted

.Looks sweet though. Are those chrome things on the front just hubcaps? They're pretty convincing, possibly because I'm not sure what hubs/brakes look like on 40 year old cars.

Hmm, the rust is a bit much :/ personally I'd fix it.

Which pit are you talking about? Brakes have always looked more or less the same, haven't changed a whole lot over the years.

 

[IBratmanI]

I'm with these guys, I have a deep hatred for rust! Surface rust is one thing, but holes are bad.

 

[patsti]

haha well the guy who would be welding in the new parts just had a baby last week... I can't do it because of my back so its either rock it or get someone to slap some bondo on it for now. I would rather have the weight reduction... Plus when I get the new wheels this summer it will look bad ass.

 

[bigsxy]

its not as bad as it might seem ive seen worse on dsm's a little work and it will be fine