The transmission tunnel had been expanded to accommodate the Viper-spec T-56 6-Speed manual transmission, but the work was not as clean as the owner wanted to see, so we removed it to fab up a new one. More on this later.
There were also some “dots” that needed to be connected in the driver side rear wheelhouse, as new sheetmetal was installed but the wheelhouse to floor to quarter connections were not made. We normally would have elected to remove and replace the trunk floor and wheel tubs, but the owner challenged us to make the existing pieces work.
__________________ Kevin Oeste V8 Speed and Resto Shop
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The owner wanted the 6.0 LQ9 engine to sit as low as possible in the chassis, and he had a Cadillac oil pan in mind, so we notched the cross member to make it happen.
The doors had been butchered with speaker holes, so repair panels we made and welded in.
Under the car, this home-brew control arm support is going to be removed. The concept is solid, that is to reinforce the control arm mount for better traction and control, but the execution is below what is desired for this car.
The crew then lifted the body off the frame to be able to work on both sides of the floor on the rotisserie. There were still a ton of little holes to fill, and they wanted to get a good look at the repairs previously made to the bottom of the Impala’s body structure.
… and on the spit.
__________________ Kevin Oeste V8 Speed and Resto Shop
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Under the car, this home-brew control arm support is going to be removed. The concept is solid, that is to reinforce the control arm mount for better traction and control, but the execution is below what is desired for this car.
A very diplomatic way to say "this looks like crap!"
Thanks for the updates; can't wait to see more! '65 has recently become my favorite year Impala (at least until '95-'96).
A previous shop welded supports to the floor to make the transmission crossmember. This isn't a good idea, as the engine and transmission are bolted to the frame, which moves independently of the body, albeit slightly. Also, the floor of the car was never intended to support a transmission, much less a manual behind a high horsepower V8. We removed it in favor of a traditional frame-mounted crossmember.
New fuel tank supports were installed, as these were neglected when a previous shop installed the floor pans. We also finished welding and grinding all the floor welds.
__________________ Kevin Oeste V8 Speed and Resto Shop
V8TV
Muscle Car Of The Week
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