1960 Chevy Impala

[ModelcarJR]

I started this one last night trying to get another body painted. Worked on it last night and all morning just trying to get rid of all the nitty flash. Everything had to be worked, window openings, wheel openings, hood and trunk (opening trunk but i am going to glue it shut as I am not big on opening trunks as you have to put stuff in it), A & B pillars, headlight area and underside of the rear fenr wing. I added inside hood plastic strip to hold the hood in place without having to rely on the front chrome grill. There was also a small sink mark in the left rear fender wing so I filled it. Several hours worth of work. I got it in primer and painted it late this afternoon. Two coats of Dupli-Color Universal Black with one coat of clear lacquer.  I will rub out tomorrow and then see if I need another coat of clear. Thanks for looking! ?

 

[slusher]

Nice start John, sorry I missed most of you 67 build bu I haven’t been feeling well"..

[atomicholiday]

Pretty hard to beat a black Impala.   I'm looking forward to thin build.   

[Zippi]

Good start on the 60 Chevy Impala.  I always liked this body style.  

[ModelcarJR]

Thanks, Carl, Jeremy and Bob! I appreciate your comments! Carl, hope you're feeling better! 

Rubbed out the paint a good part of the day. Still have some work to do on the trunk and the hood is not started. I did rub out some edges but used a sharpie for touch-up. I sorting out the rest of the parts for painting. May get some more painting done tomorrow and start on the foil. Thanks for looking! ?

[ncbuckeye67]

Very nice! I love the late 50's early 60's Impalas>

[ModelcarJR]

Thanks, Jeff! I appreciate your comment! 

I painted the interior red after taping off the seat inserts and door panels. Since the plastic  is white I used it as the accent color. I have some Scale Motorsports fabric decals that I have had for a least 10 years. I gave them a coat of clear lacquer yesterday in order to help keep them from breaking apart. Although they are houndstooth pattern, which is incorrect, its what I have on hand. I used a copy of the decal sheet to cut the patterns for the seats and doors and although they are not perfect, they are good enough for me. I add some Dullcote once the decals have dried.  Here are a few photos and I have started on foiling the body. Thanks for looking! ?

 

[espo]

Great OEM looking interior colors and layout. 

[Roadrunner]

I'm convinced that the more clear coats, the better, at least up to a point.

[TransAmMike]

Looking really nice John, gonna be a great looking '60.

[papajohn97]

Love the Monogram/ Revell ‘59/‘60 Impala kits/ car. The houndstooth decal seat inserts look fantastic with the red & white on your build. I’ve never had much success getting trunk lids to close flush/ straight (glued my ‘60 Impala trunk shut as well as AMT’s excellent old-tooled ‘49 Merc when I built it, no regrets!). Looking forward to seeing your black beauty come together! Enjoy the trip!

[NOBLNG]

Looking good John!?

[slusher]

Really nice looking interior, John!

[ModelcarJR]

Thanks, All! I appreciate your comments! 

Finished the foil on the body and I still have a little work to do on rubbing out the hood but its mostly done. I'll be moving on to detail the interior and the engine next. But first, I may get another body painted to back some up before the weather turns. Thanks for looking! ?

[espo]

Great looking interior and body color combination. 

[customline]

Man..... it's hard to keep up with you, John!  Wicked nice black finish, great interior scheme. Keeping it stock? These Impalas have really nice wheel covers and beg for fender skirts and dual aerials on the rear fenders.

[slusher]

John, foil really looks great with your black paint!

[David G.]

Good color combination, nice paint and foil.

David G.

[ModelcarJR]

Thanks, David, Jim, Carl, and David! I appreciate your comments! 

I am out of pre-wired distributors, so I decided to wire up the kit distributor. I have plenty of plug wire but I noticed that I had a package of four wires that were included with a plastic case that I bought some time ago that had wire tie-downs. These wires were already pre-stripped on the ends and if I cut them in the middle, I would have 8 lengths of wire 2" long. I also have plenty of boot material packaged with each of the pre-wired distributors that I buy. So I glued a piece of boot material on each of the kit distributor nibs and inserted the pre-stripped wire (I shortened the stripped wire a bit) into each of the boot pieces I had glued to the distributor. Voila - A wired distributor! I bent the wire around and I had to use some plug wire scraps to serve as wire looms since the tie-down wire was too big for my Pro-Tech wire looms. Then I just stuck the ends of the wires into the holes I drilled in the block without boots or glue, in case I want to replace this distributor once I get my pre-wired distributors.

I built the rest of the engine and added a fuel line with a glass filter by drilling a hole in the end of the line molded onto the tri-carb set-up and the fuel pump and gluing both ends. The only draw-back I see is that the distributor has to be pushed back a bit in order to mount the air cleaner. I can also use handy-tack to hold the air cleaner on so I can display with the air cleaner off.  I hope distributor won't interfere with the firewall but I'll have to cross that bridge when I get there because there is not a good way to mock it up  as the firewall also serves as the foot area for the interior.  Here are a few photos:

[Roadrunner]

Engine looks just great. I need to learn how to to do that one of these days.

[ModelcarJR]

Thanks, Kevin! Its not hard to do. Just buy a pin vise, a set of drill bits, #61 - 80, and some pre-wired distributors from Morgan Automotive Detail. For about $50 you're in business! 

[David G.]

Nice work getting the distributor sorted, very clever.

Great looking engine too.

David G.

[slusher]

Great looking engine, John!

[ModelcarJR]

Thanks, David and Carl! I appreciate your comments! 

Finished the chassis and installed the engine and radiator. Kit-supplied heater hoses will be added at final assembly. I also managed to get the door panels foiled and constructed. I really like the chrome window cranks they included in the kit and wish they would do that with more kits. They really pop! The frets at the top of the doors were a bear but I managed to foil them and then add a couple of brush strokes of clear lacquer to keep them from coming off. Thanks for looking! ?

[customline]

Coming along really nice, John.  Interiors from this era give us plenty to do to detail them. That's a big part of the fun. With the black exterior,  your interior will stand out beautifully. That's a real fine 409!