Very kool project, loved going through it and will spend more time going through it again tonight. I'm in the process of rebuilding a '60 Impala flat top. Looks like I can benefit and use some of your tech. Thanks for posting the progress and keep us posted.
thanks guys, this thread is more of a diy and show how someone can do the work from home. this is a home build not a shop build. and straykatkustoms your 60 and my 59 are identical, just body lines and trim changes so you can benefit from the tech. but old cars have a lot in general, only changes are minor tech but a lot of the work I do to this can be applied to any old car. heres more =)
this car sat abandoned since the early 1970s, now she lives and is given a new life. another video of the first startup http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMPsI_vJzDs&feature=player_embedded
got this today so i can get going on getting the front end in remember i said the brackets these boosters come with are too small, look at the new 59 impala ones compared to old ones. now itll clear the steering column and shifter got a question, see if anyone knows. the brackets came with rose end clevis joint instead of standard clevis joint. thats actually pretty cool because it rotates so seems like a better application heres next to an og style clevis that uses a rod and cotter pin to hold it to the brake pedal lets say this thing is the brake pedal, this is what the original style would go on the brake pedal and this is the rose end, would have to be bolted to the side of it instead of around in on both sides like og clevis have any of you used the rose end clevis to hook up the master cylinder to the brake pedal? seems cool but not as secure as the og style clevis. have any of you used the rose end one? if not would you trust it compared to og?
started my day tightening up the rag joint to the column since im not going u joints so now it steers and popped this in, brackets were perfect ok so you see the brackets are longer so it makes the distance from the actual booster to the brake pedal and the mounting holes farther so the extended brackets SHOULD have come with a longer connecting push rod, but it didnt and theres no way thall work, its way too short, here it is with the clevis as far as it will extend out that wont work, but this will now its actually too long so cut almost 2 inches off with a dremel now because the brackets are at an angle up, means you have to use the lower hole thats already there i had to hone it out alittle with the dremel and a sanding tip, but went in perfect bend the cotter pin up, and its done. here it is put in and sitting here it is pressed now i have pedal pressure and that part of the brake unit installation is done. now just connect the lines to the proportioning valve and bleed it then adjust the rear brakes and the whole brake job is done completely with all new brakes, lines and master cylinder and booster like a new car. i went with the og clevis instead of the heim joint because i didnt like it that it bolts on to the side, just seemed unsafe and it threw out the way the rod lined up from straight in to off to the right a bit. and the og style one pushed in straight and was secure on both sides of the pedal not just on one side. tomorrow i plumb in the lines and start the bleeding process
just got back from truck and car shop, got everything i needed to complete all the mechanical on the 59 =) after this goes in, just put the driveshaft in and you know what time it is got this new visor brackets and coat hooks new pedals radiator core support bushings, it has rubber bushings like on the rag joint and the grease boot for the upper steering column that mine was ripped and leaking old ass grease sway bar bushings finally and my transmission cooling lines fit for 59 since 59 never came with transmissions with cooling lines ok now i got these two, you need both to make your powerglide 2 speed column shift work with your new 350 transmission since it has different gears and shift different ill post sat or sunday how that goes in when i put it in, but you need it if you go from powerglide to 350 tranny. doesnt look like much, but still took a bite out of me, $315 for what you see. but worth every penny, i needed it to get me going and on the road i work tomorrow and friday, saturday i might go to the beach so no work that day but back to it sunday, ill post pics then
its good i got both kits, i can play with both and see what works best. here they are in the catalog, i got both to make sure i had it down this weekend and take back one of them if i only used one. i got both because they both say theyre needed for converting 350 tranny but keep checking in this weekend for sure to see how it turns out, ill have it done for sure. this is one thing tho you do have to work on when putting in a 350 tranny and have original column shift designed for 2 speed power glide. but ill get this figured out by sunday the latest i have a homeboy 2 houses from me that has a 64 impala, ill crawl under his car too and post pics of the kits mocked up to see which will work best for 64 incase the shifter is different than 59. and yea white rouge if the piece doesnt have deep scratches you have to sand out. i used black, then brown, then green each color with theyre own polishing wheel but realized white will do the same job but you just have to hit it alittle longer on the polishing wheel as long as you dont have to sand out deep scratches. and again, thanks. im trying my best, showing too anyone can do it from home
alot of things came up but i got some things figured out about the tranny shifter issue on this i got the upper steering link boot changed and repacked with new grease instead of that old ass grease it had since the 50s that stains your skin and looks like milk chocolate took me a while to get that shit off, couldnt figure out how it was done. turns out you take that bottom clip off and hold the bottom shaft part with pliers and just twist the housing like if you were unscrewing it and itll slide up. when it does you pull the lower shaft off and itll have two square pegs it rides along that pop right off and you can get the housing off and change the boot. to put back on its the same process in reverse. if any of you need pictures ill take it apart and show you just let me know. ok so far this is what i figured out. the kit you use is the kugel kit only, you dont need the bar one. here is what the link from the column looks like with the original shifter linkage bar that wraps down to the tranny link and is supposed to connect to this to change the gears well the bar lever i posted pictures of will and wont work. from the column when you hit the park dial it stops so it wont go any farther. just like when you hit the last gear it stops too so it doesnt go farther either. on the outside it has two stops thats shaped like a C and the tab that comes out from the column to the bar has a tooth that rides on the inside of that C. so when its put in park the tooth hits the top part of the C, when its in the last gear the tooth hits the bottom of the C. well with the bar which i put on first to see if it works, it cant be adjusted the hole on the tab that connects to the tranny link is too far out. what that means is when its put on, the shifter will only do PARK REVERSE NEUTRAL then DRIVE. the bottom of the C i was talking about the tooth hits and stops it there, and wont shift into the 1 or 2 gears. yes it will work since it hits drive and you never really use 1 or 2. but i would rather know the shifter works the way its supposed to even tho i wont use those gears. now with the kugel kit, the link that connects the bar to the transmission lever IS adjustable. the closer you tighten the bar to the center of the link, the shorter the stroke when you change gears. the farther out you put it on that link, the longer the stroke when you change gears. so if you put it really close to the center of the link, all P R N D 1 2 gears will shift within an inch both inside that C and on your shifter dial on your column inside your car. if you put it out all the way on the end, itll do the P R N D 1 2 gears withinn 2 1/2 inches inside that C and on the shifter dial, so thats too much and wont work but adjusted to the inch will if this is all confusing, tuesday ill post pictures that will be very easy to explain and youll understand exactly what i mean. i have to go back to truck and car shop tuesday since theyre closed mondays to take the bar and the kugel kit i got and exchange it for the same kugel kit but the LONG bar. the one i have the bar is 3 inches too short. but once i get it it goes in in under 30 min and its ready to go. but with it ill post pictures of every single step of the installation and adjusting and what im talking about the C and the tooth. so tuesday this will all be done finally and its ready to go. tomorrow i bleed the brakes and finish that off.
did just a few small things today, had to go buy more parts and fittings for things going in the car. didnt have time to bleed the brakes like i wanted to but tomorrow finally ill do it. got pedals now cleaned up my battery tray grinded
BRAKE LINES some of you might be thinking of replacing your brake lines, especially if theyre reall old or worse if theyre leaking. the brake system is the last thing you want to go out on you or cut corners on. most kits you buy unless theyre pre bent come with extra lines and longer than theyre supposed to be. thats because its better to be longer and cut them than too short. if theyr really long like how my back brake lines were where i had to loop them around the differential to pick up the slack had to loop it around the back and to the front just to take the slack off. would have worked but looked ugly so today i decided to cut and flare the lines. this is how its done go to auto zone and borrow this thing, its 30 bucks it double flares these size lines i need to cut right here where my finger is so it goes straight into the link you get this thing, it cuts lines really good you unscrew it to open it, put the line in and screw it down as tight as you can. it has two rollers on the bottom and a pizza cutter looking thing on the top and the line will crade between the three when its tightened, you spin it by hand around the line. itll get really loose after about 3 turns then you tighten it some more and spin it a few times again till it gets loose again and tighten it again and spin it. you can see it cut a line as you turn it after about 3 times you do it itll just fall off
now you see its the length its supposed to be the piece i cut off, this is how the double flare is supposed to be now you put the screw part in the line threads toward the cut end. if you dont youll have to cut it again to put it on to screw it to the link now you take this thing and put the line you have to its size hole and tighten the butterfly screws till its nice and tight you have to leave about 1/4 of an inch at the most coming out the top you take the size adapter and you put it in the hole and then put the small vice thing on the flare bar tighten it pretty tight, the adapter is supposed to make the top of the line bubble out like this when it gets hard it bottomed out so take it off and the top of the line will be bubbled out then you take the same vice thing and without the adapter you screw it down again so the point flattens out the bubble making the flare take the flaring bar off and this is what itll look like. ugly cause of the teeth on the flaring bar that holds it in place but double flared. doesnt matter, the screw covers that part now just bend and line it up how you want the line and bolt it in the link and youre done. line is perfect length thats how you cut and flare brake lines
was done early with that, so i popped in my transmission cooling lines theyre pre bent so self explanitory which goes where wraps under the tranny along the side and between the oil pan and frame crossmemeber right up to the transmission cooling line ports next, put in my driveshaft. i had mine redone and made it telescoping and new carrier bearing so its ready to go it just needed the transmission yoke end to have the u joint put in take the caps off two opposite ends and slide it inside the holes on one side of the driveshaft be careful with the caps they have little roller bearings that if one falls out you can just pop back in but if it falls out when youre hammering in the caps youre fucked came in was tired so im going to sleep. 2am is now my last call for working on my car ill just be up earlier now to work on it, no more 4am work under a dim shop light. tomorrow i wrap up and connect my driveshaft and put gear oil in the rear end and bleed and adjust my rear brakes and put in the kugel transmission link im going to go get in the morning from truck and car shop. brakes, check. tranny and driveline, check. starts up, check. you know what time it is will be ready for thurdsay to get filmed drive off for the first time in years
i try to show as much as i can so others can do it themselves. sometimes i cant take as many detailed pictures of what im doing because im either cramped tight under the car or im too greasy to use my camera or need both hands to do what im doing but i try to explain as good as i can. getting alot done tho, its getting there =) put in the battery tray i cleaned up. painted for now, will chrome later. put in the radiator core support bushings. the complete bolt kit and even the body mount kit i bought didnt come with any rubber bushings i thought it needed so i got this kit and put it in old ones i mikey moused up replaced
my brakes now. when you put in the master cylinder for the first time, you have to "bench bleed" it. that means you put it on a vice and put fluid in it and put bleeding hoses in it. you put the two adapters in the holes on the bottom, put the hoses on them and with the clip it comes with you run the hoses back in the bowls i have a vice, but didnt feel like running way back there so i bench bled it right there where i took that last picture. what you do is fill it with fluid and you take a rod or screwdriver and pump the cylinder all the way in to get the fluid flowing thru the internals of the master cylinder. you keep pumping till no more big bubbles come out and flows clean. youll see it in the hoses when the bubbles stop but remember to keep the hoses inside the bowls and not let them come out and suck up any air. you cant tell it was too high but im pushing the cylinder in with a screwdriver http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOumk1_J8Bw well its bled, here it is all completely hooked up and ran and everything tightened. tomorrow ill bleed it and thats easy just takes a bit of time but my brakes will be 100% done all the way around and dont have to mess with that anymore. theres no manual for how brake lines go since 59 never had disc brakes, so you pretty much form them yourself. the lines that drop from the master cylinder you have to bend and make a circle. its so they dont snap if theres vibration if you shot it straight down and is better for the pedal pressure. this is the kit i bought, its good because its very easy to bend. comes straight but you bend it easy by hand http://www.ebay.com/itm/Complete-me...1959|Model:Impala&hash=item5895af3477&vxp=mtr its very easy to bend by hand like they say and it look good. see just by hand i made some tiddys tomorrow i finally get the shifter issue fixed and drop the driveshaft in
just got back from truck and car shop, changin now to jump out there and hook up the new shifter lever i got and finally solve the tranny/shifter lever problem. ill post plenty of pics so you can see how its installed tonite and i can never walk in there with just one thing in mind, so i bought some goodies flywheel cover air cleaner my door handles rear view mirror adaptors for the tranny cooling lines. ill post pics so you can see what i mean brake line clips i needed air breather for the rear differential and the clips that will hold the back end of the driveshaft to the differential back to work. will post pics around 9pm tonite
here we go. i got those fittings for the transmission cooling lines. if you have an aftermarket aluminum radiator, the lines are female connection port, means you need to screw in the line coming in. well the lines were also female connection, so i needed a double male fitting to connect them cooling lines are all ran and connected. thats all done. FIGURED OUT THE SHIFTING ISSUE you use the kugel kit only! spend the extra 20 bucks and save yourself the headache. this is a must when you go from the powerglide transmission and original shifter to 350 or 400 transmission with original shifter. and the one you need for all impalas is the LONG bar yes it is too long, i had to cut off about 3 inches on each side to make it work. the measurement from pivot to pivot is 19 inches, the short kit is too short, the long kit is too long but not if you cut 3 inches off each end of the long kit. now here it is, its adjustable so once you get the pivots to the lenght theyre supposed to be for your car (for 59 is 19 inches, other years may be different. just put the shifter to park and the tranny setting to park and measure the distance from about an inch to the left of the tranny link bolt to the center of the shifter lever on the column). the closer you bolt the bar to the center of the lever, the shorter the distance between the gears when you shift here it is up in park here it is down in second gear up in park down in second gear its better if you see it. if i sound funny its cause im cramped under my car while trying to sqeeze in more room to film it http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Ce5VCoDroig shifting problem solved, thats how its fixed. now going back out to finish bleeding the brakes
had to get help with the driveshaft from my homie herminio, i ended up hammering in the caps on the u joints with the pins falling out while i was doing it. i even told you guys to be careful with that and it happened to me, so i had to have them busted back out and put a new one in. the hole process i ended up putting in dings on the yoke. if its the part that the tranny oil seal rides on then youre going to leak so to fix that you get some of this or jb weld smooth it out and let it get hard after 5 min and file smooth steel strong, like nothing every happened prepping do drop in rear end extended out and put in and installed. its really easy just u joint clips and bolt it in center bearing installed and tranny end put in thats all it is to installing a driveshaft. slip in in the hole if you have an x frame, slip the yoke end on the tranny tail, bolt down the center bearing, and bolt the rear of the driveshaft u joint to the differential with u joint clips. you might have to jack up the car from the differential to be able to spin the tires and rotate the u joint seat on the differental to line it up. thats it, all needed to install the driveshaft. then you drain the differential by taking out the lower bolt on the case put it back in and take the side bolt out and fill with gear oil till it leaks out the side hole thats it for today. not much because that cut 2 liter bottle i used to drain the old gear oil i knocked when i was tightening the differential bolt and it got on the right side of my face and in my eye and ear. fucken burns and is red but im not seeing blurry out of it anymore but im pretty sure its going to get infected, i can feel it irritated still and i feel like im getting a cold cause of it since your nose and eyes are connected so irritation travels from one to another im still going to work on the car tomorrow, but not getting under the car
i bled my brakes today finally. used that one man bleeder kit. the way it works is you take the cap off your master cylinder. you tighten up all the bleeders on the wheels and you go to the back passenger side wheel and put the hose on the bleeder screw and connect it to the bleeder bottle. it has a magnet so you stick it anywhere higher than the bleeder screw. you loosen the bleeder screw one turn and get inside and pump away at the brake pedal. after every 5 pumps, check the fluid in the master cylinder so it doesnt go low and suck in air, and check on the bottle. when you see the bottle get about 1/4 fluid in it, pump it 5 more times. the clear hose should be solid fluid in it, no bubbles. after that tighten the bleeder screw and go to the next rear wheel and do the same process. then the passenger front wheel then the driver side front wheel. always make sure you have fluid in the master cylinder. thats it, and your brakes are bled like mine took me 30 min to bleed the whole car with that bottle, and did it on my own so it really is a one man kit. took a break after that to go eat since i planned to be bleeding my car for a few hours. after that had some time to wash it off and wash off my driveway. looked nice and clean so i took some shots of it put my air cleaner on bought 2 bottles of brake fluid but turns out i only needed 3/4 of just one bottle had to take this pci, its the first time i ever put gas in my car, first time in years im sure this car had gas even kept the receipt, again cause its the first time i put gas in my 59 why did i need gas? the brakes are bled so theyre done 100%, driveshaft is in, flywheel is bolted to the torque converter, gas line is ran, fluids are topped, transmission shifter is put in and shifts perfect, new complete front end and everything is bolted down tight, all this means its ready to drive
All the long nights, all the blood and sweat and hard work, the frustrations, the sacrifices, all my hopes and wishes, led to this one single moment... http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=QmC6_xABuGY i brought my dream to life, my 59 is alive. Thank you God, and again, I owe you one
all down hill from here. its all just putting it together now which i already have all the pieces ready to pop on inside and out. i was ripping it up, when i got comfortable with the way the car felt and how the brakes felt and got a feel for the car i really let it have it, dont have a speedometer hooked up but i know i blew past 85mph easy. brakes were my biggest concern, turned out perfect and breaks like a new car and i dont even have the booster vaccum line hooked up yet. and let me tell you, my baby is FAST! Good job herminio and thanks wizzard, rusty, and fullsize. i have come a long way, all leading up to this one moment. and yes the feeling was great, even downright emotional. the neighbors seen me banging this car out for months in the heat and late at night. a few of them came out and gave me a thumbs up as i passed by, they heard me going up and down the street. what makes this build extra special is im an underdog, im not a shop or have alot of connections, im a home builder building his car on his driveway just like alot of the guys on here. so i face the same problems and issues they do. but ive been told ive inspired others and motivated them about theyre cars, and thats what i wanted all along because for years i sat on the sidelines wanting and wishing but couldnt get anywhere and i know the feeling. then realized you have to get down and dirty and put in work and itll get done. if you feel stuck because you dont know how? well i showed you guys how. well tried the best i can anyways. today i am happy, as i type this im smiling. ive been waiting for this moment since the day it came off the shipping truck and that day finally came today, the day drive it for the very first time and it comes alive i set up everything last night when i put gas in it. today wasnt much to get there, just charge the battery once its charged just hook up the ignition switch and connect the battery. then put my driver seat in and i was ready to go. and incase you guys didnt recognize it, thats the extremely rare factory option bucket seat for 59. to this day i havent seen anyone else have it, but would let it go for a pair of trailmasters, MAYBE. here it is when i brought it back home and got it ready to put back in the back yard. first time theres pics of it actually facing the other way uploading a better quality video of the drive, that one looks grainy cause i edited it. but its almost loaded ill post it in an hour. its the same video but better quality and the parts cut out where nothing is happening cause im on the next street
shorter better video of the first drive http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=pIvMkSgChMg
relaxed today, but drove everywhere looking for molding clips at lowes and home depot. didnt find shit, just got to get them from truck and car shop. just got home, put these on, much better now. cat eyes i work tomorrow, and saturday celebrating a girls bday from work. if i get the trim clips i need early enough sat morning then sunday ill put the front end on if i dont end up going to the beach
Got this in the mail today, its the 2.2 tip to spray metal flake out of my gun. Having second thoughts about the white, been thinking of going metalflake white pearl on the trunk and roof and stripe, what do you guys think? Also, this was all sent out testerday, triple Chrome, get it back next Friday. Bumpers, arm rest caps, rear view mirror bracket, hood hinges, hood latch, heater cover, super bases, wing Windows, dash heater control face, ignition bezel and roof scallop molding thing Met Mr. Impala, real cool guy, good people Saw in person his Chrome work, show quality. Showed me what he's working with, real lowrider putting in serious work. See you next week, will drop off bumper guard when I pick up parts, forgot to throw that in
taking him these things this week, forgot to throw them in but these too. before pic on the heater control plate
nothing done, had to work the last few days, working tomorrow too but its cool since i love my job got this in the mail finally, needed it for the front fenders now it can start to come together on tuesday. truck and car shop only had the quarter panel clips, online i found the complete kit also, if any of you might have one or know where i can get one, i need one of these brackets, its a rear bumper bracket that holds the little chrome bracket piece under the bumper. i need to replace the bent one. if anyone has one hit me up right now running through all my receipts and numbers to see how much ive spent so far. every time i go to truck and car shop they make sure i get a new catalog, every time i pop in there im around 400 to 500 bucks in on it. my totals with just them so far are around $3500 and thats for little odds and ends and pieces. ebay, online shopping with suppliers and private sellers are where most of the money goes. but its all worth it, not saying i have alot of money but i love this car so getting my wallet out for it never hurt or did i think twice. neither does all the long nights and labor, its not work to me even tho alot of times im all busted up, bleeding and grimey. will get back to work on tuesday, will get on it till thursay unless i have to cover for work. but the next post tuesday will be very good
My laptop cord took a shit. Tried to fix it myself and made the cord short and made the lighter go up in s little fireball flash Didnt work so now I have to wait a week before I can use my laptop and post good pictures so by then there will be a lot of good ones ill post up. Here's one last one till then, so u get an idea what's next
awesome thing happened. no front end, no plates, no grille, no seats, open headers, no lights, speeding, fuck it. cop sees me pull into my neighborhood hauling ass, gets behind me. follows me to my street where i live, on the corner pulls up next to me so i start to pull over cause im sure hes going to get my ass, stares at me for a min, just gives me a knod like whats up, and goes left down the street when i pull right. fucken cool =) neighbor let me borrow her computer to upload pictures since my laptop cord hasnt arrived. here you go filming
The Jalopy Journal
