Customs '62 Impala build story.

While I wait for some filler to kick, here are some pics of the underside. The underside of the drivers rocker panel, the (crudely) hammer out left inner fender, done when the left quarter was replaced after a collision in the car's distant past, the right side inner rocker and body mount supports. It's pretty nice underneath.
The drivers side rocker skin and door look to have been replaced when that side was repaired, back in the day.

 

How much of a lip are you leaving to bond to behind the new panel ? @flynbrian48

 

As big as the pneumatic flanging tool makes, about 1/2", more or less.

 

Ok, I get how youre doing it now. I thought it was overlapped and then you bridged the gap with filler. I all but forgot about those flanging tools....duh. Thanks for the info.

 

Done for today. Yesterday I worked on it until about 6 pm, was knackered. My left hip is bone on bone, I had a cortisone shot while we were in Florida that is wearing off. Oddly, that makes my knee hurt, which kept me awake until the wee hours. I'm taking it a bit easier today. I discovered I'm out of 80 grit DA paper, which I need to get the thing ready for paint. The hood and trunk lid are pimply, so most of that paint has to come off and a couple coats of primer/filler on those along with the right quarter. It was painted with lacquer, but I'm going to shoot it with urethane in the same colors. I'm happy with how it's going.

 

Your knee probably hurts the entire time but the hip is drowning it out
You are getting right after it! Well done.

 

This hip is making me feel my age. While I'm waiting for body shop supplies I think I'll swap the 4.11 pumpkin in the rear for the 3.36. That'll give me a break from sanding. Laying on may back under the car, lifting heavy things...

 

Had an extra beauty ring from the roadster (Wheel Vintiques sent me 5 rather than 4), so I slapped on one of the Impala's rims. Man, does that look good. Matches the Chevy script caps on the Ralley's perfectly. Now I need one more 15" and 2 14's...

 

Go ahead and get the Steve Austin hip. My wife waddled around for a few years before she bit the bullet and finally had it done. No more pain, she walks normally now, but the other one is showing signs of needing replacement before long.

Digging the trim ring! Knew it was missing something but couldn’t put my finger on it, trim ring makes it look more finished.

 

I DA'd the paint (lacquer) off the hood and deck lid, which were both "pimpley". Happily, the only paint on them was the 35 year old repaint by the guy I got it from, and it wasn't very thick, so it came right off with 80 grit. I wasn't surprised by the amount of filler on top of the left quarter, which had been replaced decades ago, but I admit I was a little surprised by the filler on the left side of the top at the B pillar. The paint was checked there, and, no surprise after getting into it, the filler there was too. So all that and the filler by the deck lid has to come off and be redone. That side has to come up a little bit as well, the deck lid stands proud of the quarter by about 3/16" at the leading edge on that side. I don't see any up/down adjustment on the deck lid, just fore and aft, so I get to use my new "Port-O-Power"!
I'm not sure how to get the belt line trim off, probably from the interior? So, the back seat and quarter trim has to come out to get to that. If I'm luck I can access the fasteners from the trunk, but my arms may not be that long...
(Edit Duh, it just occurred to me I have a shop manual, so I can just look it up!

 

Don't sweat all the comments about panel bond showing a seam. Years ago, when I still had the parts store a friend who had owned a body shop for 50+ years came in and we were talking about a job I was doing on an OT truck. I told him I was flanging and welding the quarters and he just looked at me and said, "why are you going to all that hassle?" He had been using panel bond since it came out and said he never had a problem or a comeback. I had faith in him, as I had seen a lot of his work, and it was top notch.
I tried it and never went back. Not having to correct the warpage you get from is worth a lot. Besides, the heat of welding can make panels more susceptible to corrosion if you aren't really careful about treating it with something to prevent that.
I've been hearing these stories for years about how somebody's 5th cousin twice removed who know a guy who knew a guy who said he knew a guy who had this happen. I've never seen this show through defect in pictures or in person.
Maybe somebody out there can post a picture showing this, but I'm not holding my breath waiting for it.
By the way, your car is great. Always felt that big Chevies should have big blocks and the 62 is one of the best years. My grandparents bought a new Belair every two years from 1955 to 1976. The 62 was their all-time favorite!

 

Thanks. I REALLY like this car. The more I get into it, the more I like it and better I want it to be. If my wife hadn't insisted I paint it, I wouldn't have started, but it's the right decision.
Re: bonding panels, it's the same as seams showing on a Corvette after panel replacement. I have a seam on the hood of my roadster that I can see in certain light. It's a 'glass '32 hood top I cut up and sectioned to fit the Model a body, and one of the 4 seams shows a bit. I don't think I feathered that one back enough, and it bothered me initially but now I just ignore it. We shall see, I think it'll be OK.

 

What do you suppose is under all that 45 year old filler? And, why doesn't the trunk lid, standing proud of the top of quarter panel? Funny you should ask!
What was under the (1/2" or so) of plastic was the replacement quarter panel skin which had been gas welded and brazed to the cut off edge of the original quarter. Much of the seam was in the gutter under the deck lid, but it had been spot welded to the remains of the tulip panel, and some brass used, it looked like, to fill pin holes in the weld. The tulip panel looks like it got walloped hard enough to fold over on itself, I don't know how else there'd be a crease in it inboard of the quarter panel seam.
The top was also wounded in the collision, there's a lot of ancient filler at the bottom of it, also where the replacement quarter was gas welded to the body.
All that heat from welding must have pulled the panels downward, explaining why the deck lid looked too high.
I pushed the lip of the quarter up as far as I dared with a Port-O-Power along the trunk lid opening, and used a stud gun to set some studs to pull up the (really low) area just forward of the trunk lid.
It's much better, but I've still got some work to do.
I'm not trashing this old job, it lasted 45 years, give or take, and it still looked good, but it illustrates how used cars were "fixed" back in the day. Get it close, slather some Bondo on the seams and call it done. All the sheet metal, by the way, under the filler on the top of that panel especially close to that quarter/tulip panel seam, had surface rust, illustrating why plastic filler over weld seams, or even bare sheet metal, can bite you, and why you never, NEVER, put more filler on top of old stuff.

 

This afternoon I got ambitious and dragged the lift from the back bay of the shop to the front and got the Impala on it. These X frame Chevys don't lend themselves well to this type of lift, but I got it positioned over the lift enough to get the pads on the frame. It'll be nice getting the primer blocked out on the sides where I did some work, and when I paint it I can take the wheels and tires off and set it right on the ground. Should make it easier to paint the top, hood and trunk. That's all that happened today, I finally got started on getting the power window motor and regulator in the tailgate of my son's '65 Ranch Wagon. I gotta do it, I broke the original regulator. At least, the pinion gear stripped on it when I put the window down earlier this spring. I'd still be doing it if it had happened at his place, so, it'll all work out.

 

Those repairs & new paint should last a lot longer this time around. We know it wasn't what you expected but your attitude about it makes it nice to follow along. Do the windows still fit & operate correctly on that side?

 

Oh yes, door gap is perfect, windows operate and are aligned perfectly. On closer inspection the last 5 inches or so of the tulip panel on the left side is a chunk of another car. The seam is an angled gas welded seam (that I first thought was a crease). It looks like whoever did it used brazing rod to fill pinholes in the gas weld, hence the warped, bondo-ed over area. There were a couple places where the paint was lifting, that turned out to be from the rust under the half an inch of filler. The main give-away something was amiss was the deck lid not fitting, it was raised from the (too low) quarter panel. It's gonna be better. I knew something wasn't right, but until the paint came off, I wasn't sure what was going on under there.

 

Nice work so far.

Someday I'm going to tackle my '64.

 

Back from our two week camping trip, when it was cool and breezy, sweatshirt and jeans weather. Now that we're home, it's 90+ degrees and I'm trying to work on the Impala in the heat.
I got the left side quarter top pretty good, not perfect, it was really badly warped when the replacement quarter was welded on. The trunk lid didn't fit right, stood too tall at the tulip panel, which was the result of the warpage pulling the trunk gutter down. I raised that 3/8" and was able to get the rest by shimming the trunk lid off the rear hinge bolt. Then I turned my attention to the right side, where there were some suspicious ripples in the top of that quarter. Sure enough, that side was a mess too.
When the left side got whacked, it buckled the the right quarter panel. Big stress ridges, and LOW between, with ball peen or pick hammer marks where the worst of the stress ridges had been simply smashed down. I pulled the low spots with the stud gun and dollied the ridges down. It's much better, I think a little work with the Port-O-Power and it'll be as good as the left side, but it's too hot this afternoon, I'm beat.
I'll attack it again tomorrow and get it finished up and ready for primer.

 

Impressive work. Sometimes you just need to dive in head-first

 

Thanks. I'll admit it's been more work than I anticipated, but the end result will be rewarding. Truth be told, I wasn't going to paint it, but my wife didn't like the mis-matched paint on the front clip. I'm glad I'm doing it all.

 

You do fantastic work, but I don't envy you one bit! Bodywork is a tedious P.I.T.A!!!
When you're done with it, it'll be a show stopper for sure!

 

I love doing this stuff, it's very satisfying to do the best I can, although I admit at almost 70 it's harder than it used to be. Realistically, I could have just slapped some filler on top and called it good enough to last my lifetime, but, I don't want the next guy to say, "What was he thinking when he did this?"

 

Gosh, it's hot... I think I'm done for today. I have to say though that this is going well, and I'm glad I decided to grind the paint of the tops of these quarter panels and find out what was underneath.

 

The end result is going to be fantastic. For me, there is no part of the process more exciting than when paint goes on. Not firing the engine for the first time. Not the first drive. It's when the paint goes on and the car starts to come together for a final assembly, and all of the elements are coming together. Chrome, stainless, paint, glass.... it's magical.

 

Yup.

 

Put a big DONE stamp on the Impala bodywork. I powered through the heat and got the rear quarter repairs done. Still need to block down with 80, then 120 grit paper, but it looks MUCH better.
The deck lid now sets flush with the body, instead standing proud almost half an inch at the hinges. I tightened up the gaps while I was at it too. The car must have been hit REALLY hard in that left rear quarter, the wheel house was crushed, and pounded back into shape as crudely as the right side quarter panel top was, body was twisted, stress buckles in the top and on the right rear quarter panel. The left quarter panel replacement was gas welded into place, not on factory seams, that cause so much warpage that the trunk gutter was pulled down, resulting in the trunk lid not fitting. It had to have spent some time on a frame rack, there's no observable damage to the frame and it tracks straight, so I'm feeling good about getting this part whipped into shape.
Now, primer and paint, get the rear gear swapped, a set of red-line tires and we'll be ready for a road trip!

 

You've given that 62 what it deserves, a lot more love than the previous hacks.

 

The Impala was joined in the driveway today by the DeSoto. I got it out and washed the bondo dust (I've kept the shop doors closed while working on the Impala, but it was covered anyway) off it and we drove it into town for dinner. First time out since we've been back, it felt good.

 

Well, after a day of wet sanding, finding a couple more tiny spots that needed some attention, more wet sanding, it's as ready for primer as it's gonna get. We've got plans for tomorrow and the 4th, the goal is to get it in primer by the end of the weekend, and start the wet sanding all over again. And, no, I'm not taking the side trim off. It's the same color, I don't want to take the interior out to get to the fasteners, and I don't want to have another car blown apart forever in the garage, but want this finished in my lifetime.
Oh, I got all the trim rings for the wheels, pulled the non-working (seized) wiper motor out to replace it with a
Newport 2 speed, and fixed a gas leak in the Holley carb, so, some stuff happened.

 

Nice work Brian. It's looking really good. The panel bond stuff scares me, 'cause I'm just an old Bondo slinger. I really need to start embracing the newer ways. Lacquer primer and single stage paint is as obsolete as I am.