my 66' impala hardtop :)

[ari666]

were gonna have to fabricate using the old cancer patches as guides. its gonna be a lot of fiddly work but if you know of a 66 impala that has not rusted in the same spot and the owner is willing for me to cut it off, LETS GO GET IT!!!! lol. not gonna happen

i cant even find new panels in the states it seems that the 66' is not a very common rebuilder for the yanks. its either 67 or 50's

 

[ari666]

sadly, this car may have hit a snag. the missus and i have decided to move closer to the city and work cos' we cant stand driving for an hour and 20 mins each way.

i have no room at my workshop for the beast so will have to prolly put it up for sale.

 

[Jo3_Blo]

Gee, thats a shame.

 

[Morton]

Oh no! You're kidding! This is sad news!!

 

[ari666]

well, the weather cheered up a little so i decided to blow the money i had saved for moving and buy myself a MIG welder. which i am really happy about cos' now i dont have to lean on my friends for their equipment.

i have not MIG welded or touched any sheet metal since high school (15 or so years ago) so this was my first panel pathc and i think it went quite well.

this is the patch itself, created out of 4 VERY rusty panels. there were huge holes that i either has to guess dimensions or take measurements from the other side. also i am pretty proud of the 'curl' on the edge of the patch.

i took a pic of it completely welded in place, but it didnt look very good, as it was my first bunch of welds EVER but here is the patch fitted.

all up a very good day. the next patch is harder again that this one because it 'fans out' which will mean a lot of standing over the vice and hitting. usually hitting the bit that i just hit wrong in an attemp to fix it, then hitting that bit that i just hit in the wrong spot

the sill panel and door hinge are gonna be reallllly tough, and i might even get a panel shop to do it cos they have to be 100% right or the door will not line up. i think there is about a 5mm margin of error and i am sure to mess it up.

 

[53cr3t]

Love the Impala's specially the 62 hardtop ..

 

[ari666]

i was busy re-fitting my inlet manifold to the VK today so didnt get much done, but here are some bits that got painted.

and the rad support ready for paint

hopefully i will have the rust panels finished tomorrow, but not sure if my mate is gonna help or be too hungover, so will have to wait an see

 

[ari666]

ok here is the next patch

and fitted

and... ummm after a few beers, did i hear someone say... BLACK?

 

[Turd Ferguson]

dude thats starting to look awesome. <3 impalas sooooo much

 

[Morton]

Ooooooh NICE patch work This project is finally gathering some momentum!! Good on ya for not selling it, that would've been such a shame.

Bet it's starting to get you a bit excited seeing it all come together? It's sure got me sitting on the edge of my seat

Oh , by the way - I'm getting you around to my place next year to patch up my Kingswood