The case of the incredible shrinking car! Hope you have more than the firewall left when you get through cutting the bad stuff off. As far as the spindles go, somebody probably thought they were the only thing worth saving on this one. It good to see someone go to such extremes to save an old chevy.
Where was that thing setting...in the creek...??? Damn, ain't no way I'd tackle something like that...I'da left it buried... R-
Thats exactly why I wanted to show me putting this thing together. W/a little thought/effort (and a parts car) a car that some people might think too far gone could be brought back w/out a lot of work. It really isn't that big of a deal, it just looks like it. So far I have only about 8 hours all together where I'am at in working on the rear body in these pics. I've only been working on this car after I'm done for the night ever so often, and on weekends when I can. Oh, and as for why they cut the spindels?? Who knows? I will tell you that it made pushing it in the shop by myself with just a floor jack under the front crossmember fun! I'll post more tomorrow night, I removed a little more today.
Well, with the fact these cars will never be made again, I'm glad someone's got the talent to save some of em
It's alot better than my 55 was when I got it. At least it's in basically one piece unlike mine. I've grown to like the 58s alot more than I ever did ,oh, and there's nothing wrong with it being a post car and not the Impala. 2 door post makes a great looking car done up right. Good luck with it and keep us posted
Thanks for the positive feed back guys, I do appreciate it! Here is what I got done this weekend, about another 6 hours in all. The starting point. About 6 hours later....all the cutting/trimming is done except there is a little more clean up to do under the deck lid area where it will be grafted back together w/the other quarter by the gas door. While it may be hard to tell by the pics. the piece I will be using is super strait, and solid. After all the trimming was done here is what wasn't needed, nothing but a bunch of rust. By cutting out the spot welds the install will be very quick and easy in those areas, and will look pretty close to factory. I bet no one has ever view a 58 from this angle, and you can see how rust free this area was. Just to give you an idea of were I removed some of the spot welds. And what's up w/the only 1 speaker on one side??? Thats annoying, and will have to be fixed.
Well I must say... Your beginning to make a believer out of me! Will the body be coming off the frame once it's solid again? Planing to do any sand blasting? This is a fine time to blast and POR-15 a lot of the places that will be difficult to get to once it goes back together
Yes, I will take care of the areas that are now exposed, and won't be when put back together, and after I'm done setting up the suspension I have a friend that will be blasting the body.
phhhfff i just use some of that shit that turns the rust to primer, then fiberglass it all back together! Good Enough customs is what its all about! hahah Looking good! Oh i found you a nice clean 55 chevy 2 hardtop..only $16k!! haha
......you know when i saw that my 58' had a new floor pan welded in and the skin of what looked like a 5' x 5' peice of sheet-metal as the trunk floor, i was a little discouraged, not knowing what else all rusty was hidden. But damn. Good work my man, keep it up. Nice to know someone else is working on a Two door post along with me.
good work, check out this thread for some inspiration http://www.impalas.net/forums/showthread.php?t=686
Looks like it's coming right along. I'm not sure I would have tried to save this one myself, but I have faith that you'll see it through and get it done. Keep us posted ,we'll stay tuned. Hey Wicked Slammy, you're still around?
looks like you know what your doin. should'nt be too big of a deal for ya then. like you said, "it's just metal"! let me know when you get around to buyin air bags. i'll see what i can do for ya.
At the rate you were going,one more days work and you would just have a roof!!!!! Looks like a great project,which ,i'm sure you wouldn't have tackled if you didn't have the skills to pull it off. Can't wait to follow your progress. Always loved '58 Chevys...
NICE WORK !!! Being from Ohio and doing body work my entire life, been there done that and I,m impressed by your work,enthusiasm and choice of car
Thanks, but I've been selling bags/parts, and building custom air ride installs for a living since 1995. I will unfortunally not be getting anything done this weekend as I have a 71 Chevy truck that I'm in the middle of getting ready to paint, so I might be off the 58 for a couple of weeks. For the past 15 years I've been cutting up late model (sometimes brand new) trucks for a living and it has made me realize that it is, only metal. I've never thought twice about taking a truck that was less than a year old and cutting the entire floor out, or pulling the bed off and cutting the rear frame off. So this really isn't anything too out of the ordinary for me. As for the 61, I did make mention of that towards the beginning of the thread, because it proved the point that anything can be saved, which is the point of this thread, that hopefully a few cars might get saved that otherwise might not have. Again, thanks everyone for the positive words, and I'll update just as soon as I get back on it.
I can't get over the sound of them old Dodge starters! I think I'll let someone else install that in something of theirs, ....wannna 318? CHEAP!!! By the way that old truck has been running pretty damn good since I put a choke cable on it.
you sound just like me (only in a warmer climate). i started doing air ride (suspension work in general realy) in about 93 or 94. i've never been afraid to cut something up, new old or otherwise... can't wait to see it done brutha.
Glad to see a '58 Belair/Del Rey being saved. One of my favorite cars. Funny, I don't care for the Impalas though. When I was a kid working in a gas station, one of the customers had a '58 Del Rey show car. It was around '66 but it had electric doors with shaved handles. The car was raised all the way around with big-n-littles on chromies. Silver metal flake top and powder blue body with dark blue pinstriping. Based on the stance and the floor stick shift, you woulda thought there was a hot small block or a 348/409 in there. It was a hopped up inline 6 with a 3 speed.
All I can say is wow. You've done a hell of a lot of work! That's a project from which most people would just run screaming. You should change your screen name to "Huevos Grandes". God, what I wouldn't give for a plasma cutter. Keep posting the updates. I'll be following this one.
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