I had a four door hardtop years ago. Almost every day someone said how good it looked. Anybody says anything against it, they don’t realize those were the top-of-the line models.
Spent the day pulling all the trim and the front and rear glass. The only real rust through I found was the channel for the trunk gasket. Trunk floor is good and solid. Now for a whole lotta sanding.
It would be nice if when you post pictures you would select to post them as "full size images" that makes it better for people wanting to follow along on your build.
Got the other quarter stripped. I probably won’t get back to this for a few weeks but when I do I’m going to start fixing the channel for the trunk gasket. That’s going to suck the most; might as well get it out of the way first.
Just a tip from a hack, but when I make a patch I round the corners, I do it because seems my Mig likes to have its lunch on the corners
I really like the looks of this one although its a two door. Might have to ditch the rallys and go back with steelies and poverty caps.
Wheels, consider the widest 15" wheel that fits, ralleyes are fine. Jam as much rubber in the wheelwell it will hold and use an understated full wheel cover. Caddy and Buick had some nice hubcaps in 15", easy to swap the emblem. It will give a mean stance and people will have to look close to figure out what you did.
I had a little time today so I did a small patch. This old furnace front panel had just about the right size channel already bent into it.
Thanks …. It was a great riding car…plenty of power, sounded mean as hell, and was a killer sleeper…heads would turn when it fired up..but cutback fears at work caused me to unload it…sold it and a lot of stuff in 2019 over the course of a month…thankfully still have my job and a little money in the bank..
Great project . The 61 s are unique as all are the years of Impalas. I like the original color combo and it still retained the original steering wheel . Steelies and poverty caps will look good . However I think the 61 small caps are pretty pricey for nos or decent driver quality ones. Perfect cruiser with the comfort of the Impala ride. A lot to be said having 4 doors versus the bubbletop where the back seaters got baked under the dome.
I finished up the channel across the truck bottom, just need to grind it down. I also was looking at the left quarter panel patch I welded on several years ago and realized what a crappy job I did on it and that I should have fixed the inner panel first. I cut it back off for a do over.
This is what my first car looked like six months after selling it, must have been too much power for the kid, it had a 348 with a Hurst shifted three speed. When I bought it in 1969 at fifteen years old it had black painted five spokes like that white one.
Damn, I’ll bet he was bummed! Reminds me of about 30 years ago I bought a really clean, straight 67 Malibu two door. Just a regular 283 power glide car but it was nice. I paid the guy cash and about 10 miles from his house hit a deer and wiped out the front end. ☹️
I was watching a video of guy doing a 4 door to 2 door conversion on a 57 Chevy by using two sets of front 4 door doors and sectioning them together to make a 6" longer door, moving the B pillar, and using the rear doors to make the quarter panel extension. I've got the parts car which is a 4 door post and has decent doors. You see where I'm going with this; build a two door hardtop but with the standard roofline rather than a bubbletop. Since I wouldn't have 2 door side molding, do a trim delete and badge it as a Biscayne, which also didn't have most of the trim. Not that I'm opposed to 4 doors, its more of a "can I successfully pull it off" thought. Nothing set in stone but I'm tossing it around. I can see this roofline in a hardtop looking pretty good.
There was a time when that roof rear overhang on the two sedans made my stomach feel a little upset, but in my old age they have (kind of) grown on me.
The Jalopy Journal
