Well it's a snowy day here on the West Coast of British Columbia and being a newbie to A/R, I spent a fair bit of time looking at groups. It's a bit overwhelming to say the least. I stumbling on a few car groups, and really enjoyed your stories and pictures. Being a classic car enthuisist I thought I would start a blog on my current project. 42 years ago my first car was a 66 Impala. Thinking back to that real first feeling of freedom and all the memories that car gave me i have always wanted another one. Having had various cars through the years I will always be a Mopar guy. My 70 Dodge Dart Swinger is done and somehow the shop is a little boring with nothing to tinker with. Last year I came across a black 66 Impala SS that seemed to have seen better days. It had original paint and red interior, 327, bucket seats and console.
The Project had to sit in my neighbor's garage until I could find a suitable new home for the family and my toys. A year later it now has a spot to begin
the major restoration.
After the glass, interior, wiring, front sheet metal and anything that could be taken off the car it was decision time. Is this going to be a driver car or ? Upon further inspection it turned out that everything was original to the car except for the carb. Well I like to drive the cars so I decided it would be a nice but not to nice restoration. Trunk floor, quarter panels, trunk brace and floor extensions were ordered and while waiting for them the process of paint stripping could begin. Not a fun job.
Thankfully there was only the original paint to come off. A little aircraft paint stripper, razor blade and elbow sanding brought it down to bare metal. Each section was stripped, cleaned and etching primer coated.
Here is the major surgery on the trunk floor being fit, new patch panels made and welded.
Once its all fit and screwed together I can align the trunk, doors, fenders and hood to make of the fit and edge gaps correct before welding on the quarter panels.
Once the quarter's are on, fitting and alignment is done a heavy coat of primer will go on and the body will come off and sit in the front garage while the frame, suspension, brakes, exhaust and drive train gets rebuilt and detailed.
I hope you enjoyed this look into my project and will keep you updated along the way.
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