Picked up a 1960 chevy impala last spring and I'm finally getting around to working on it. Plans are to patch the floors, sand all the rust down and rattle can it satin canyon black with a copper roof, copper between the side chrome moldings and possibly some copper scallops or flames. Not sure on the flames or scallops yet. I did drop a new radiator in it and some fresh gas in the tank. After about 20 minutes of running it idled perfectly. I'm probably going to go with the original rims painted copper and some baby moons. If I can locate a parts car I wouldn't mind scoring a set of rear springs to shorten for a little lower look in the rear. It has what I believe to be the original 283/4 barrel with a powerglide transmission. My first actual cl***ic car was a 1960 biscanye back in 82 when I was in the army. Thats what pushed me towards looking for this one. Doing this one on a budget. Probably fab my own floor brackets and pans. Probably paint it for about $50. Enjoy the pictures.
Thank you, what do you have? Impala? Belair? Biscanye?. One thing I'm really liking on this project is nothing has to be perfect. A lot less stress. No serious body work, it is what it is.
Just curious how many out there have side grab hoist and have you ever lifted a X frame on it? My brother has a 63 impala that we lifted on it. The legs wouldn't reach to the frame so we lifted it on the pinch seams. It worked but his car is really solid. My 60 has floor and inside rocker rot where the drivers seat mounts. I would like to lift it on the hoist to weld in the new metal but I keep having these visions of the body starting to buckle and the gl*** blowing out.....maybe I worry to much.
This is what I've been working on for a new daily driver. I have a lot of body & paint work to do. Like yours she is not perfect but still having fun with her...
That is sweet straykat. I like it. How much is that lowered? I may pick your brain on that when I get to it. I like what you did for trim across the bottem/rocker. I might borrow that idea for mine if you don't mind. I like that color too. My first one I had years ago was the lighter blue. The one I got now was originally suntan copper.
Cool project. Glad to see it being saved! You cannot be too safe so I'd error on the side of caution if the floor is that bad. When I've had mine on the lift, I use the pinch seams too. I think my next lift will be a four post for reasons like you are concerned about.
I know......Just would make welding in new braces so much easier. Welding on a creeper tends to burn up sweatshirts. If I had room I'd put a four post in also. Thanks for your reply.
I understand where you're coming from. If you decide not to put it on the lift and weld from the creeper, look for a leather welding jacket. The one I have works wonders.
Thanks I'm having fun getting her back on the road. Most important thing to do is change out the carrier bearing. That is the first thing that I was told on the HAMB to do and they are right. You don't want that to go out while driving her around. I did a power disc brake conversion, drop spindles with 2 inch lowered coil springs. I still had to cut a coil to get the front end where I wanted her to sit. I wanted her to sit with a rake so I lowered the rear just with 2 inch springs. Also running 205/75/15s on front and 215/75/15s on the rear. I had bought Bell Tech drop spindles but wasn't able to use them because of my disc brake conversion. If you want them I will sell them cheap. Just let me know... Any more questions just let me know and I will tell you how I screwed up..... Lol!
I have a welding jacket, putting it on is the problem. I keep forgetting too. I put ear plugs in to for those stray zingers that roll down into the ear c**** and sizzle as they burn out.
Just a new stock carrier bearing? or a aftermarket one?. I might want those drop spindles. From all the searching I've been doing, I'm understanding that the stock 14 inch rims won't fit if you do a disc conversion. I have manuel brakes, drum all the way around. I was thinking of looking for a brake booster and new drum brakes at all four corners. My 71 scout II is set up that way and I've never had a problem getting that stopped yet. Good solid pedal and brakes well.
Stock rims with the copper color I'm using and baby moon. And yes I'm so **** I painted the tire weights also
I made a patch panel out of some sheet metal. Just used the bench vise to bend and contour it. I'm happy with the results, contoured nicely. I like welding on the older bodies more than the newer ones. Never burned thru once.
I bought just a stock carrier bearing. I ordered it from my local NAPA store. It was a good thing that I replaced it because it wasn't on my list and mine was wore out. Don't want to be stranded a long the road if I can keep from it..... The drop Spindles I paid $340 for them I'm thinking about selling them round $150. I will see how much it will cost to ship them to you. Could you tell me your zip code and I will get a price for you.... I wanted to run power disc brakes because my family will be driving the car and they are not use to standard drum brakes. I was going to run chrome smoothies and spiders so going to a 15 inch wheel was not a problem.... I like the idea that you painted the wheel weights to match your wheels, that's not **** at all. You are just paying attention to detail. Kool idea.....
whats the drop on the spindles? I haven't had a chance to research much on this so bear with me. I would like to know what I'm getting into before I'm neck deep in a bad place.
No problem at all take your time making the decision. They are just sitting in the garage, I don't want you to buy them and not want them.They are Belltech 2110 two inch drop spindles that I bought from Summit racing.
RE your lift-Cut some pieces of something like 4X4 and make pad extensions that will let you reach the frame without hitting the body .put the long pieces of 4x4 across the lift pads under the car and screw wood pads to that-2x6 works well-to reach the frame when the car is lifted.You will likely have to position the car on the lift and jack each end up slightly to get the pieces in.This works just fine.I owned a 61 Biscayne for years and had to do that more than once.
2 inch isn't alot. Do you know if I installed these would I have to do anything else? I've never done drop spindles and know zilch about them. Basically is this a simple drop in and go, nothing else needed. I was thinking of 2-3 inch lowered springs in the rear with air shocks. That way I could let it down for a show and air up to go home. I haven't had time to research this yet to be fully schooled on it. Actually, after I post this I'm headed out to the shop to try and get the ol girl painted tonight. Gonna grab some beer cause the Mrs gets off at midnight and she will stop and pick me up on the way home to avoid the ol DUI. And then she's going with me to retro rewind tomorrow. Glad I married this one.````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
It will look ok when you finish the body work, I like the slots pretty good too... I will be lookin forward to seeing what it looks like when you are done.
Not going to do anymore to the body. Its a driver. I'm trading out the slots for the original rims with baby moons
I would at least finish out the places you welded up, with filler, but thats just what I would do, what it looks like is gonna be a representation of what you can do, not me, so carry on as you please
Didn't do anything to it saturday. Me and the better half went to retro rewind. A lot of nice rides and talked to a lot of good people. Sunday I went back to the shop and ran scotch brite over it and gave it another coat of black. Today it looks acceptable. Not bad at all for a rattle can job. Spent a little time pulling pieces of chrome out of the trunk and trying to figure out what goes where. I did notice I have a lower front valance that I didn't notice before. Pretty good shape too. Hoping to get all the chrome on this coming weekend. Once the trunk is empty I can go to work patching the holes in the trunk and inside.
Great project. Always love those years. Try putting your weights on the inside of the rim where they can't be seen.
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