Customs Oh no, I don't need another car...

It looks brawny squatted down on those blacked out wheels. It's a nice looking car, but I like the color change direction you're headed. Congrats and enjoy!

trivia: As a young man, I liked the two toned impalas best, but as I've aged, I prefer the single-color ones. It might be subliminal, but the two-toned ones seem 'white-collar', while the single color ones seem more 'blue collar'. Somehow I just get more of a hotrod vibe from the single color ones.

 

That thing must be fast, it’s got 2 shifters! I like the color change you are thinking about.

 

I disagree with the title, you do need that, and I'm happy for y'all.

 

That's the attitude! Actually, you are absolutely correct. I've given it some thought, since retirement, and I do need to be engaged and excited about things. Might as well be cars. I can only mow the lawn once a week or so, the house here in Michigan is finished, our home in Sarasota is nearly finished (actually we're watching others get things done on the security cameras but it is a project), I can't just set on the couch and watch TV or play solitaire on my laptop.
Now that I think about it, that touches a pretty deep philosophical need, and makes me think. Thank you.

 

I likey...

 

I realize you don’t like the color, but I’d have hard time grinding that down and doing it over.
Glad you have it home!

 

Yeah, that colour combo doesn't really do the body justice.

The original rear gear is most likely a 3.36, I don't recall there being a 3.26 option. My 62 is a 3.36.

62's are my favorite of the 61-64 B-bodies.

 

That's the ratio! The gear set is in the box the 4.11's came in. I'm going to have them swapped back in.

 

I saw that and thought the same thing. I hate those things...

 

Good catch. Very narrowly avoided that myself (noticed it was leaking immediately before leaving on an hours-long highway trip). I can't believe they still sell those things.

 

That will make it a nice cruiser.

 

Ive also been a literal c*** hair from burning down a car with one of those modern glass fuel filters.. Congrats on the car, always enjoy following along for your projects !

 

A little traveling music, AND AWAY WE GO! I took it for about a 20 mile drive right after this, it drives GREAT! But, those 4.11's are going away ASAP...

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=869123681239045

 

Man I dig it as it is.. I like that color.. not common and looks subtle

 

I totally agree. You guys know I'm a custom guy through and through and like stuff as low as possible, but this isn't a custom. I really don't dig on muscle cars, but I love these big-bodied, pre-muscle-car muscle cars like 409 and BB powered Impalas, SD Pontiacs, R code Galaxies, Super Stock Mopars and so on. And the right look on these, IMHO, is up with poverty caps. This one has the look.

And FWIW, I love the color. It's not a color I would go out of my way to paint a car, but seeing it on this one, it totally works. Era correct color for sure, but not in a cliche or played-out sense. More business and less flash, which is sort of the vibe of the car. A quality paint shop can match that paint, and fix a few of the dings while they're there, without a complete repaint. Not sure if you've been tuning in on my 61 Olds project, but that's getting painted this week. The price of which is going to far surpass what I paid for the car. Obviously you can do whatever you want, but IMHO, if the color is that big of a deal, then you have to just go buy the car that is already that color.

I think generally what I like a lot about this car is how cohesive the styling is. It's really a complete package.

 

Anniversary gold may have been what they were going for.
What does the trim tag show?

 

I always find that advice funny. Rather than making your car what you want, if you don't like it buy a different one... with new problems and issues to sort out. Add to that that 62 Impalas are hard to find in nice driver condition.

So on this car say you get the front clip painted, and maybe a door and another panel for dings. At that point, why not just paint the whole car? Sure, a colour change is more work, but it's a legit cool car that he can make his own. A colour change with fresh paint will increase its value too.

 

It's not funny, it's simple economics. Changing the color of the car does virtually nothing to increase the value of the car. It's basically the same car, just a different color. Sure the fresh paint will increase the value a bit, but it's not like you're comparing a rotted shitbox to a finished painted car in terms of value here. He's already starting with a really nice car. If you're building a custom car where you want every detail to your specifications, then sure, get it painted. But understand that it's a big time money losing enterprise and be OK with that. If the goal is to just have a really nice driver of a basically stock bodied Impala, then it's virtually always better to buy done. You come out ahead of the game in both time and money.

Think of the work it would take for a proper color change on this car. Dash out (gonna paint that right?). Complete drivetrain out (firewall needs to be painted). Glass out (need to paint in the window channels and not just mask that off). Weatherstripping and interior out (need to jamb the car, can't be different color when you open the door). Then calculate the number of hours it will take to do all of that, block down the entire car, remove all of the exterior trim and door handles, and then multiply it by the shop rate of $75-$125 an hour. Then add materials, which have exponentially increased in recent years. I'd venture that by the time he'd be done with that venture, he could have bought 3 in the color he likes.

You could also do all of that, or a lot of it, yourself and save that labor rate. But that's incredibly time consuming, and puts the car down, which defeats the purpose of buying a car to drive when it's blown apart in the garage.

The reason you don't paint the whole car instead of fixing a couple minor door dings is to avoid what I outlined above. Fenders are removable, or could just as easily be left on and the trim simply removed. The door could be masked and jamb foam taped to avoid having any repair work into the jamb. The hood can be removed with 4 bolts. It's a solid color, so it's not as if it's a candy that needs to be blended. A full repaint, and especially a complete color change, negates any value there is in buying a turn key car, which is essentially what this is.

And I'm speaking from personal experience on this issue.

 

Well,,,

 

Why would you need to paint the dash? It's off-white. Dashes in these cars don't match the exterior colour. Your big plan pivots on the fact that there will be a car with a good body in exactly the colour he wants available. Making the car you have into what you want is hot rodding. Selling something you have to buy the same in a different colour is car collecting. Sure, if you're in the hobby simply for the economics, painting anything that is already painted makes zero sense. It also sounds like Brian paints his own stuff, which changes the conversation.

As far as the value, a fresh, good paint job on a car that has 30-year-old mismatched paint will most definitely increase the value. Something that's old and brown versus new and minty green will be more desirable to others as well. Yes, it's a lot of work. I do my own work, I don't pay someone to do it. If I had to pay someone for all those tasks, it would be hard to justify having any of my collection. The majority of people I've known that have bought a "nice driver" have had to do a ton of work to them in order to make them something reliable. Whether that's paint work and rust repair, drivetrain, wiring, steering, suspension, etc., it's very common to have to do a ton of work on something to make it what you want it to be.

I get it, selling a good car you know and buying something in a different colour makes sense to you. It's nonsensical to me. And that's fine.

 

Personally , I would only paint the front fenders to match the rest of the car.

3.08:1 is the rear end ratio you need for cruising [ 70mph = 2840 rpm]

A 3.08:1 is only slower off the line for the first 20ft but you have a BBC to compensate for that.
Does this car have the "drop-out pumpkin rear" [if so just buy another diff head]

Seriously, Less is more !!! The less you do to it, the more you will enjoy it

Our 57 has a similar in paint scheme [Sierra Gold, Adobe Beige] with stock ride height and wheels and we get endless praise for it

 

Cruise RPM depends on rear tire height, and I don't believe he told us. Anywhere from 3.08 to 3.42 can be a good highway gear with the right rear tire. My 62 has a 3.36 with a 350 and it cruises nice at 70.

 

Congratulations,that is one good looking car. HRP

 

3.08's would be great, but... I have the original 3.36's that came out of the pumpkin, they're going right back in.

 

I haven't measured the rear tires, but the car wears "big and littles", 15"rear and 14" up front, Wheel Vintiques Ralleys. The tires are 2 years old, they're staying on it until I need to replace them. Painting the front fenders, if I paint anything, is what I'm thinking.

 

I like the color, it will stand out in a sea of red and black Chevys.
Only thing I’d change would be put on a set of polished TTO wheels that look like the originals.

 

I'm a decent hobby level body and paint guy, the issue with this car is, it looks SO good as is, do I want to spend a month to paint it overall, or even a couple days to repaint the front fenders? I want to have fun with it, I kind of like the even level of wear that the car shows. The paint isn't perfect, the chrome isn't perfect, the grill and headlights have some "sandblast" wear from a former life in the desert SW, the windshield has an eyebrow and like the grill is dust damaged. The interior shows wear, but it matches the rest of the car.

If I paint the whole thing, the rest of the stuff I mentioned will look really bad by comparison, whereas now, it all happily matches. Yeah, the front fenders don't match, that's because the previous owner matched them to the valance panel between bumper and grill, painted them separately from the car (after the engine swap when he said he scratched the fenders up taking them on and off), and was so disappointed that they matched the valance panel, which was lighter, not the rest of the car that it's one of the reasons he didn't really drive or even have it out after that. He never put the gun sights on nor the fender flag emblems. He said worked hard to make them that lighter shade, I think it soured the whole car for him. It hadn't been licensed and driven since '14.

As car spends more time here in it's new home, the look, the vibe, the personality it has is growing on me. I don't want a perfect car, I want a car I can use. It really fits the "as found" look that's popular now, but not in a cheesy or artificial way. I don't like the gear ratio, and I REALLY don't like the ratchet shifter, which I find difficult and awkward to use. I'm not shifting it anyway, I'm not drag racing, and I'm not going to street race it. I think I'm going to remove the redundant column shift lever, and put a short lever Gennie Shift or the like in it. I have one in the roadster and really like the look and they way it works.

I appreciate all the input and enthusiasm from everyone on this car, it's going to become, I think, one of my favorite rides.

 

The color the car wears is a mid 80's Chevy color, sort halfway between the Fawn Beige and Anniversary Gold colors. I have about a quart, in one of the original cans, with the PPG color code, so if I paint anything, I'll have a quart of that made up and shoot just the front. Or not.

 

I have 27" tall rear tires on my 62. With the 3.36 it is great on the highway.