1964 Impala SS body restoration

Where do I start? A bit about the car, I suppose.

This car has been in this town it's whole life, since new. Two of it's three owners were standing under it with me as I took pics, and I think the first owner raced it a bit. They know the full history and all the memories, and I got lost in the stories. The 77 thousand miles is verifiable. Anyhoo ...

Its a 1964 Chevrolet Impala Super Sport. Blue inside and out, with a 327 and 4 speed. Its gonna be NICE. Painting by Halloween or deer season hopefully.

A few things are up in the air, but the body resto I'm about to do is a straight up frame-off stocker in the original color. The chassis was separated and refurbished several years ago but it remains unfinished and will likely be taken back apart and powder coated this time around. Among the choices to be made are whether to use the 327 or a dual quad 409. Not a chalk-mark resto here, just preserving a legend.

I still haven't looked at the hood and decklid, but the hood is rusted through and may be replaced. Fenders are nice. Three quarters of the cabin floor and also the trunk "tub" will be replaced with new butt-welded steel. Some flat stock will be needed for other areas. Dent-wise, shes a real nice specimen, comparatively speaking. Also the glass beds are perfect. The car has been previously soda blasted and epoxy-primed. A long time ago.

So without further delay, I offer you a visual walkaround in these photos. I'm just the guy who is gonna do the metalwork and paint. This is where I'll post updates until its finished. Feel free to look, comment, ask, or poke fun.
















































 

i don't have any s/a godfather comments for this
BUT...i wonder if i could get college credit for this online course...
after you get some in progress shots up AND the temps drop by +/- 10* i'm gonna strip mine down for metal work since you're gonna be showing what it should look like...right?

anxiously awaiting the next installment  

Yer gonna shuck the Monte? Great googly moogly, I better get crackin'! Seriously, we took it off the frame today.  Stay tuned for more triage.  

In the meantime, direct all questions to Boneroni:  

 

Can't believe I forgot to post the starting point- woops. The cobwebs were impressive. Best I can tell, the Imp sat in this spot for at least five years.

 

temp gauge reads ~~150*
what's it reading...ambient?? from where
mines been in the sun all day and only reads ~~130*...it's officially 95 w/h.i. of 101...sweating buckets

done enough um, ehhhh, maintenance around the house/garage that i found space to store the parts while the car's apart...gotta be done and i don't have an abundance of zeros in which to pay someone to do it...so i guess the time to learn has come...poop or get off the pot  

Aw so now we have an Impala and a Monte Carlo going? We bad!

I'm pretty sure all those guages are broke. I dig how old school they all are though.

PAINT FEVER, CATCH IT!  

well, i figured it wasn't charging 30 amps
thought the temp might be mechanical and maybe reading  

id, whats that bracket welded on the frame up front? I guess a good day for junk is gonna be a good year for junk. lol  

I'm hoping so!  Still working up a price but I have looked it all over now. The owner is a very cool, knowledgeable, and capable fellow. He may opt to do certain parts (like maybe floors) to save himself some dough. Fine by me but I'm up for all the money if thats how the chips fall. This car will be "done right"!

TQ'd- That appears to be where the stock z-bar bracket broke off at the tip, and was replaced with that hunk of crap. Looking at it, I can't imagine it working but they say it did. Maybe it was relocated for header fitment? Those X-frame cars are hard to put headers on, but theres a set in with all the other parts. Anyway the bracket is $19 at H&H Classic Chevy Parts. They are located closeby and are the source for the Frankentruck and for this Impala. They have everything, check 'em out!

http://www.hhclassic.com/Impala/index.cfm

Working on another round of pics, bear with me

I'm glad you guys are getting an eyeful. Its all fun 'til I'm covered in bondo.  

factory tach and is that a 9 inch rear end!!!someones's been playin! got some work ahead of ya there,might be easier and cleaner to just smooth out that firewall  

I said nine inch when I saw it, too! Evidence of racer history. What's it supposed to look like back there? Our firewall must have faced a firing squad at some point, LOL. I think the factory tach is wicked looking.  

YANK! Wow, this is gonna be dee-luxe! I've never had a body off the frame before.





This stuff is everywhere. I reckon its the blasting media that was used. Thought it was all varmint droppings until Lester noticed the colors.



Eat at the Y.



Pretty solid wheelwells!




Floor is nice, over the axle.



Now I have full access to the floors. They are making stands for the body so its mobile and the lift isn't in the way.




Fenders, nice also.




But not problem-free:




This decklid ain't real bad on top, but they didn't prime the backside and this thing is pretty much doomed to rust. Replacement recommended. Yep the brown is rust. And it has many small holes.




Then theres the hood, which only got primed on top after blasting. It was in a different room and the backside is pretty nice still. BUT ... the outer skin is hammered from one end to the other. Replacement recommended here, as well.



Heres how bad I need to paint MY ride. My primer is fading out ugly.


There ya go. What d'ya think?  

looks like a beautician with a bad hairdo

lots of storage dings!??
storage in less than optimal conditions?  

looks really good,i thought she'd be alot worse under there then that! lookin like you have your self a new home for a while. lucky for you and the owner they every panel you'll need for that year imp. be checkin back in soon and get some more miles in on your own car!!  

they SELL every panel......my bad