Projects 1959 Impala Hardtop

Hi there,
Not too sure about the crack, but it could be shrinkage over the time? Hot and cold weather?
About the fuzzy weatherstrips I was talking about the strips, not the stainless mold itself. If your car is in original condition the it might be that the fuzzy strips are on the outer side of the glass and the ones with the squeegee rubber lip on the inside of the glass. That would square with some of the photos of that show.
When I got my car it already had an early repro interior kit in it and the there are only the fuzzy strips on both sides of the glass. So no squeegee strips on my car, but that is not necessarily correct. So I am still in the dark on this, but it would be great to figure out what is correct. I got a new kit from Classic Industries (made by PUI) and it has the fuzzy ones and the squeegee ones in ot. Go figure!?
I'll keep looking to find out!
J

 

Oh, yes! Those Wingfest show pix were something else. Great pix of great cars. Wow! Definitely a lot of time and work in those cars, but what works of art they are. Trust me, yours will be a standout, too, even if a "humble street cruiser." Thanks so much for checking with your buddy about additional pix of the El Camino. I really appreciate it. I've had a thing for '59 El Caminos for years and I'm thrilled to have one. I'm not a "red car" guy, so I was going to change the color scheme. But, after seeing some red & white ones that have been redone, it just pops. So, I'm going to leave it in that color scheme. It is all original right down to the red, steel wheels with deluxe hubcaps, so it still has the original gray interior that I want to change. I want to paint the dash and column red, and I have a red & white '59 Impala wheel all ready to go on it. I want to redo the seat and door panels in a red & white scheme. The Wingfest El Camino looks to have a red dash and possibly a red & white seat. I wudn't be so concerned about repainting the car if I was in So Cal, but it's not real practical in my area. The humidity is high all the time. It was in the 90 percentile yesterday and then it rained. It has rained some amount almost everyday for the last couple weeks. My El Camino was a rust free western car, but I can see rust forming where the paint's thin just sitting in my garage. I'm so envious of those who live in areas like So Cal where you can work on your car in the driveway and leave it sit there until you're able to work on it again.

 

Hi Reyes,
I found a site, restorationspecialties.com that has all of the window fuzzies you could imagine.

See page 13 of the catalog; It has item YM3 which looks like the correct GM fuzzie for 1959. They have a kit for it part # 202001 for $120.
Then look at page 14 for what look like the squeegee style window seal. But these are for cars later than '59.
Not even sure if these guys are still in business. I'll be checking them out.
Cheers, j (Aussie)

 

For the window felt kits, including fuzzies and scraper seals, see Steele Rubber. Their products are high quality. They have these kits for many years including '59 and '62 Chevy as well as many other products. The kits come in two types, original and standard. The originals are exact reproductions for show purposes while the standards are for use on drivers. I'm looking at their paper catalog, but they have a website, www.steelerubber.com, or can be reached by phone at 800-544-8665. They're located in Denver, North Carolina, in the U.S. eastern time zone.

 

im just going to end up doing so it doesn't come back to haunt me later. meanwhile I started to tear down the front end a bit to start the body repaint today



I was playing with the wiring on my switches, wired it now does front back side to side, its loud because the compressors aren't bolted down right I have them loose in the trunk since I haven't decided where im mounting them

 

yea guys im confused on that right now. my kit has both squeegee AND fuzzy seals. but it has the squeegee on the inside and the fuzzy on the outside which seems completely wrong to me. im calling the company that makes them tomorrow and find out exactly how they go and what Is correct. but im seeing different types on different cars of the same year im confused =/

 

Hey Reyes,
I tried to call them this morning but it was after hours there in the US. It seems however that if you assume that the idea was for the rain water to go down into the door or quarter and come out the drain holes at the bottom, then having the fuzzy strip on the outside to let the wter out makes sense. Then the chrome topped strip with the rubber lip along it goes inside the window glass.
In the end I went and had a look at my '62 Convertible (currently in storage) and found that the fuzzy is on the outer side and the chrome topped strip with the reubber lip is on the inside of the door or quarter glass. My '62 I restored so thta is what the Ciadella kit had at the time, some years ago.
Also there's a couple of your photos of the Wingfest cars seems to show the fuzzy on the outer side too. I'll wait to hear from you after calling the makers. Steele have an interesting site, I also need to get replacements for the glass channels in the doors, but there's a chance I might be able to get that locally saving the hassle of getting them imported as usual!
Cheers, J

 

More on this; I got an email back from the folks at PUI who said that the fuzzy goes on the out side glass and the rubber strip with the chrome bead or top goes on the inside.
(The funny thing with my '59 is that who ever installed the repro interior years ago put fuzzy on both sides of the glass. I think I'll go with PIU on this. J

 

doesn't make a lot of sense putting the fuzzy on the outside but I guess its how it goes. more water obviously on the outside but I guess, ill install it that way as well thanks for the info aussie

well I figured i don't want any surprises later and have to redo it so down to bare metal and start to get the metal as straight as possible. wasn't pretty so its not going to be perfectly straight but as straight as i can get it so its not just caked with filler







plan is to have it filled, blocked and primered by tomorrow, then painted white, flaked and clear coated by tomorrow. if im done early with the filling and blocking the wings out by 4pm, ill have them also painted and flaked and clearcoated by tomorrow night and i can get on the body a day early

 

Wow! That's doing the job right. Problem with '59 Impala fins is that they are easy to sit on and bend, unlike say a '59 Caddy. At least with the fuzzies out side that glass is less prone to scratching.
It took a lot of work to get my car's fins right, especially as they are black. Cheers, J

 

The chrome bead and scraper seal is on the outside on my '63 Pontiac, as I recently bought new ones to replace them. I believe the '63 to be original, but not sure. My El Camino is all original. I'll try to get down to the garage this afternoon and look to see how it is on the El Camino. Like you, it makes more sense to me to have the bead and scraper seals on the outside and the fuzzies on the inside. Will let you know what I find.

 

cool thanks bowtie. what I was thinking, and makes sense is that the reason the scraper seal/squeegee would be on the inside is to keep the moisture out of the inside of the car just like the weatherstripping along the windows and doors that provide a seal if you know what I mean so I can understand that now. otherwise if it was the fuzzy on the inside it would blow a draft through it when driving and blow water or dirt into the interior of the car. I was just confused because im used to seeing the scraper on the outside on newer cars to keep water out of the inside of the door. thought about it and made sense so I can see why its that way.

getting ready to fill and block the wings, hope its a quick process and I can actually paint and flake today but I doubt it, the primer I use says I can sand and paint in 4 hours after spraying but when I touch it in that time its still a bit sludgy even though its hard I can push on it hard and itll still mold a bit so looks like ill have the wings done by tomorrow. either way just glad I got past that part, painting the body will be a lot easier and quicker since the metal flake part of it is out Its just primer base coat clear coat and don't have to spray extra layers of clear to bury any flake itll be done quicker and easier

 

When I got all new beads/scrappers for my 60 I put the scrappers on the outside but could not get the back windows done so I went to an auto glass shop and he told my I had them backwards. FUZZY on the outside! literally made no sense to me but that's how they are made I guess. He mentioned that they did that because they made holes in the bottom of the door for the reason to have water run down the door and out the holes rather then sit and puddle on the window edge.

 

59 60 is same, so if its that way for yours its that way for mine. not a good design idea to have the fuzzy on the outside, lots of water will get in but I guess its going to have to do =/ nice 60 by the way,like the colors =) is it on supremes?

back to work today, getting those wings flat took way too long but finally sealed them












thank god for that in line sander, I can only imagine how long it would have taken to do the work without it. worth the 39 bucks I paid at harbor freight, thatll do pig, thatll do



















thick direct to metal high build primer. pain in the ass to clean out of your gun but its like shooting filler so itll make the wings extra flat after sanding. sat or sunday I sand, paint flake then clear. then Monday I can start on the body spraying the blue

 

Hi Guys,
I was sorting out some of the leftover parts from my '62 Convert. build and found a couple of the stainless beltline moldings, one for the door and one for the rear quarter window beltline.
Guess what? The strip mounted to the molds on the outer side has the rubber flap along it, i.e., the squeegee thing. I know that they changed things in the early '60's so that the fuzzy went on the inside and rubber on the outer.
In spite of that, it still seems that we can be sure that for our 1959 cars the rubber is inside and fuzzy out side. Maybe they changed things from that later because relying on the drain holes in the doors and quarters to get the water out was not working too well!
Jsut to change the subject I bought a set of NOS Foxcraft fender skirts recently becuase a local dealer had them and I had some trouble fitting the repro ones that I had bought earlier. I hope these fit better. Big trouble with the repro scuff pads as well.
Great work on the fins there Reyes.
I once had a really rough '59 Impala convertible body that had been lifted off the ground by a chain wrapped over and under the rear end of the car, which crumpled the fins of course, but the guy who bought it from me fixed them perfectly.
Cheers, J

 

Mine is rubber in fuzzy out. Seals the interior and scrapes the condensation off. Because the water is meant to go through the door, we used window sealant to glue a thick plastic sheet to the doors behind the door cards. And I sprayed cavity wax in all the doors, make sure the drain holes are all clear.

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Good ideas mate!

 

hmm, interesting aussie. maybe it was changed back then. I ended up sealing the whole inside of the door with rust inhibitor because im not fond of the idea of water designed to run into the door and out the small ports inside the door. also going to line the inside of the door between the door panel and metal with a plastic lining to keep moisture off the foam and fabric like 34t8 said,good idea

so repop skirts don't fit well? I like the teardrop swept wheel well design on the 59/60s and wanted to swap out skirts once in a while to show it, the skirts I have now cover it completely

wrapped this up, just waiting a few days to wet sand flat and buff/polish

 

Gallogiro, what a wonderful effort you have done on your magic 59.
I have spent the past two days of spare time going through reading each post and being amazed at the transformation you have brought to that old hulk you showed us at the start. You were very lucky to have such a sound body to begin with, but that doesn't diminish the work you have done.
The time you have taken to show us all what you are doing and teach us some of the techniques you have used is so appreciated.
I can't wait to see what your car looks like when you are finished, and hope to see regular updates soon.
Thanks for sharing. Cheers.

 

thanks dad-bud, glad youre enjoying it =) im loving what Im doing that's why im so motivated and haven't taken a break. in the process of repainting the body now, so in a few days will be a whole new transformation again. might as well do it right the second time around. dog house off, time for the body. took them off like this because im shooting the inner wheel wells same time as the fenders in same shot and in one piece. wheel wells, radiator core support and firewall will be same color as body







keep an eye on this dad-bud, I got some cool plans for the trunk and some other little ideas I have up my sleeve =)

 

I've been watching this thread for a while. Enjoying the nice work. Thanks for sharing.

 

I hope you made sure and had some clean metal before you applied the filler it didn't look like it in the pictures, if not your going to be in the same boat as before.​

 

thanks herbet, slowly but its getting there =)

o yea I did kustom, I also used some metal prep, an aerosol can but some metal prep with rust inhibitor in it I used the whole can on it. when I took the filler off I noticed even though it wasn't cracked in some places, there looked like brown grime under it so I didn't want to make that mistake again.

I ran out of 5 star primer so I bought a gallon of euro direct to metal primer. it claims 75% solids so it may be better than the 5 star. I went in to buy 5 star but the guy recommended the euro one even though he would have made more money selling me the 5 star he had. I guess ill find out soon

 

Hi Reyes, just to mess with everyone's minds on the fuzzy thing, I found in my garage a '62 door panel and guess what, the inner side of the glass has a fuzzi fitted, but the top has the chrome strip as well.
But that's for a '62 Impala of course.
Have you seen that '59 Police Patrol car with the 348, i wouldn't mind one of those for sure! That must be the beer talking now.
By the way, I have half of a continental kit (came with the car way back when), but I'm not sure that I want to fit it, but the better thing is to go for it I think. A '59 Impala can never have too much chrome on it. J

 

hey aussie, glad to see youre having good time =) as for the fuzzies, im just going fuzzy out and squeegee in, see how after a while that turns out. and no I didn't see the 59 patrol car, on here? do you have a link? id love to see that

and as for the continental kit, is it ORIGINAL? if so, you scored, big time. whether you keep it to fly on your own car you scored because you have an original, or if you sell it you scored because its an original. look what an original 59 impala continental kit goes for here in the u.s. this is what I paid for mine,, $2400 u.s. dollars shipped from sam in Canada




and this is what my buddy brent sold his for on ebay, yes those numbers are correct and there was a bidding war over it



it cost as much as a very decent daily driver car out here. if its original and you plan to keep it, you can complete the missing parts from sam in Canada, or sell it on ebay and score. just be sure to calculate the international shipping correctly

was my birthday last weekend, took me a few days to recover but just when im back on track today, I have to stop after today tomorrow is the 4th of july and were celebrating here all weekend =) this is where im leaving off till Monday, paint and body overhaul, back down to bare metal to block, repaint and clear. I know it looks like im going backards but will look 100x better than before







body is very good, looks like im backtracking and created a serious project but in reality its only about 2 weeks work, in 2 weeks itll be blocked, painted, cleared, and buffed then all the trim goes back on.

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY EVERYBODY

 

That's what I'm talking about! Bubble tops and bubble butts

 

hi.

Hi agin and happy belated birthday to you! And also happy 4th July, but here it is already the 4th down under! We did not have such an event as we still have her majesty the queen! You guys gave the British the heave ho way back when so you have something to celebrate!
Thanks for the info on the Connie kit; what I have is the horseshoe chrome and the smaller pieces for a Connie. I also have most of a repro kit from Jeff's customs from Az I think. That guy in Canada seems to be the best kit maker so once I get the car together with more $ I'll order the missing parts. Can't see myself selling it. Some guy here in oz had a complete Canadian kit wanted 4k for it. Had to pass as he wanted to sell it complete.
Just got one of the roof drip rail molds back from the repairer today because I put some small dents in it when I was fitting it to the car a few weeks ago.
Try 1959 duntov patrol car video and you'll see a very fast '59. Car was souped up by Zora duntov, creator of the '63 'vette. They supposedly made around 40 I think so this car is a genuine 135 mph beast.
Cheers, j

 

Apologies to all for the delayed posting. I checked out the window felts on my El Camino, but forgot about posting my findings. This getting old is a real pain some times! For what it's worth, both door windows on the El Camino have fuzzies outside and inside. There are no scraper seals at all.