New Project, 66 impala SS 2dr.

[ProdigyCustoms]

Those are very cool cars. I bet it will be the only one in the country?

[deuce_454]

Originally Posted by ProdigyCustoms

Those are very cool cars. I bet it will be the only one in the country?

not quite the only one.. there are a handfull but thats all,

i too the front end apart, ground all the rivets off and disassembled it to teh last bit, found some rivet head 10-24 bolts on ebay so it will look stock once its back together..

i also decided to shave the firewall, and move the wiper into the drivers side fender so the only thing showing will be the hydraboost and MC,

the gen IV magnum vintage air setup i had planed for the bu has now oficially found a new home (nice to have cool parts on the shelves when you need them)

i took the doors off (drilled the hinges so i can bol the doors on in the right location once they are sprayed, you all propably know that little trick, but i thought i was prety clever.... (the fender shims are also marked so it should go right back togther without much adjusting)

ine thing im debating within my self is what fasteners i should use.. many of the j-nuts or were rusted together (its never been disassembled) so ill need to get new ones... do i get OEM looking bolts, stainless?? 12 point polished??? allen or somthing different?

there are also a couple of engine pics, i just had to share

[deuce_454]

more pics... (ill have to work on my photo skills i know...)

[WILWAXU]

Looks like a great project.

Even though they are the size of a small house, I've always loved that body style.

[JamesJ]

Originally Posted by deuce_454

i took the doors off (drilled the hinges so i can bol the doors on in the right location once they are sprayed, you all propably know that little trick, but i thought i was prety clever.... (the fender shims are also marked so it should go right back togther without much adjusting)

I did not know that trick ! I took my doors off just a few weeks ago, man I wish I would have know........

[deuce_454]

started on the trunk lid today... i know im no body man or guru fabricator... but comments are highly valued...

there were some rust in the inner skin, and some pin holes in the outer skin... im done making a patch in a corner, its yet to be welded in though.... but the bulk of the work is done

is there some secret ingredient im missing???

enough words, here are some pix

[black2002ls]

I would think that because of the construction, you would lose some rigidity there in that corner and possibly suffer some deformities later on because the edges of the trunk are "rolled over". I'm no expert just looking at it from a logical point of view....

However, that's a dang fine job on that patch piece!

[deuce_454]

Originally Posted by black2002ls

I would think that because of the construction, you would lose some rigidity there in that corner and possibly suffer some deformities later on because the edges of the trunk are "rolled over".

my thoughts also.. but ite edge where its rolled will be my weld bead where the outer patch, the new inner patch and the old corner reinforcement meet.... so i figured it would be plenty strong once the sanwich is welded together

[deuce_454]

finished the problem corner, and tackled the other one aswell, the corner ended up consistion of the outer skin, a flat middle reinforcement and an inner skin that was part of the inner structure, all three joined by a continous bead on high current and low wire feed..

the other corner was replaced by a little patch i poubded out using a ball peen hammer and anvil and a soft wood "anvil" to emulate the lead shot bag...

took the trunk lid down to bare metal with stripper and DA... and shot with two coats of priomat 1k 010 etch primer,

patch panel:


installed:


the inner skin:


in primer, with no filler of any kind:


the sealer was stripped and replaced with a PU sealer/glue...
the last pic is just the primer lid from another angle

[waynieZ]

Nice work its looking good.