Start to finish. 2.5 year Resto-mod of 1963 Impala Wagon

[G.O.B.]

Look out!! More updates for ya.

Mark,

Here are the pics of your finished steering column. I was really happy with the results, hope you are too.

I think going with the new steering wheel is a good idea. Looking at repair factor and paint work, you can save money here and have new material...important since it will be exposed to the sun frequently.

Hope you have a great day,
Rockin Rick














And here is a picture of the rear seat brackets.

[audtatious]

Your car is gonna be purdy

[BallzDeep1.9L]

Glad to see its back up and going, ll have to drive down and see it in person later this year

[BallzDeep1.9L]

apparently me saying i was going to drive down to Mark's and see this thing personally when it was done was enough to put him into shock and stop this thread cold...

[mdawg4x4]

That is going to be sweet!

[G.O.B.]

apparently me saying i was going to drive down to Mark's and see this thing personally when it was done was enough to put him into shock and stop this thread cold...

Of course it stopped cold, just look outside in the Midwest. Brrr chilly. As to you stopping by that’s no biggie, but the car is still in Macon being Rick-O-sized *and I will not bring it home until the roads are clear from here to there. Remember I’ll drive it spring, summer and fall BUT no snow or ice (unless it happens before I get home from a trip. Then you will see the G.O.B. really baby it any way I can).
* Rick-O-sized=What Rick does best, turn old new again!

[G.O.B.]

Hey, gang.

Sorry it's been so long since the last update, but I had to deal with something unexpected in my family, which I won't discuss, having to work extra due to all the snow and just being my usual grouchy old tired self.

Anyway, Rick was busy a couple weeks ago and sent me a couple updates with a few pictures.

As usual, you'll get the e-mail from Rick and pictures to go along with the messages. ENJOY!!!


Mark;

I will have to bed liner the 2 pieces. The picture explains it all. I will do the pieces when I spray the bed liner in back floor area.

Rockin Rick

NOTE: Rick is talking about the small angle pieces at the back of the car by the tailgate on the floor on each side.






And this mail came a short while later.

Mark:

Here are some more update pics of the rear floor area and heater box components.

I'm keeping this short as it is getting late and I'm tired...

The floor actually looks better in person than in the pics. Must be something about the flash that seems to magnify the texture of the finish. I was really happy with the finish and color match. Interior should look great with the light blue, dark blue contrast.

Ole Man in MO



























More to come as I get it.

[Gold Digger]

Hey, Pop...

Good to see things are looking good.

And if he's reading this..."HI RICK!!!"

[BallzDeep1.9L]

Keep the updates rollin'....

[BallzDeep1.9L]

where are the pics?

[G.O.B.]

Good evening gang, how are all of you doing?

Well, it's been a bit, so I figured I'd whet your appetite for now.


Last weekend, I took a little trip down to Missouri to visit Rick and see how things were looking in person. I have some photos for ya to view and...well, do whatever it is you all do with photos.

What I have are some old/new tire and wheel comparisons, pictures of a painted but unfinished roof, a floor pan that has some nifty paint on it, and just some random tid bits.

Anyway, here you go...


Here some pictures of, as I mentioned, the new and old tire and wheels on the rear. You can see the difference in height.







Now, take a look at how close the tires are in width.




Now, some nice pictures of the suspension for you.






Now for some roof pictures. Please remember, these are of an unfinished roof.














Now, here are some pictures of the floor pan with POR-15 on it.
(POR-15 - Paint Over Rust!)

Once rust and corrosion starts, it must be properly treated or it will ruin your classic. POR-15 allows you to paint over rust. POR-15 is a high-tech, high performance rust-preventive coating designed for application directly on rusted or seasoned metal surfaces. POR-15 dries to an incredible rock-hard, non-porous finish that won't chip, crack, or peel, and it prevents rust from recurring by protecting metal from further exposure to moisture. POR-15 is great for painting over rusty frames, floor pans, farm equipment, marine equipment, or even a heavily corroded battery tray.







Now for some randomness.















And here are some pictures of the man behind the scenes doing all the work and sending pictures and e-mails to me.
Say hello to Rockin Rick!!

[GrilledCheese33]

Things are looking great! Can't wait to see the finished product!

[audtatious]

Very nice....

Can't wait to start my own project

[G.O.B.]

Howdy, ladies and germs...guess who's back with more pictures? That's right...the Grouchy O.B.

What I have to offer you today are some pictures of a few days before the last post I put up. I went down on the 19th to view the car with my own eyes, and the pictures I show you now are from around the 17th and 18th of February. So now you know why in this post you can see the roof being done after I showed you pictures of the mostly completed roof. (Mostly completed at is only painted. No buffing, sanding, etc.)

Oh...one more thing. Some of the pictures have the date set as 2003. That's because Rick, the master of bodywork that he is, didn't switch batteries quick enough in his camera and everything was reset back to default. Well, guess you can't master everything, right old friend? HAHAHAHA!!!

So, as always, here is Rockin Rick's message.


Mark,

As promised, here are some more pics for you.

As you can see, all of the interior color has now been finished and awaits assembly. All of the doors and tailgate now have their blue paint work done. All of the mentioned parts have had their second block down done (exterior), primed, guide coated and now await final sanding before paint.

The black mist on the parts is guide coat. Its purpose is to help you find imperfections before painting. It will show up as black spots so they can be fixed before paint.

The gentleman helping me prep the roof for paint is a fellow premier car builder Tom Peek. Tom is the person in the pictures painting your roof. Tom came in and helped me on the roof, as my injured left shoulder (rotater cuff ) prevented me from being able to hold my arm up for painting the roof. This roof is so long that you must be able to switch hands in the application process. I'll be fine on the rest.

I get by with a little help from my friends, as the Beatles' song goes.

Thanks Tom!!

I'll send more pics as they come.

Ole Man in MO.


And now for more car p0rn!!


























And as final note, I would also like to extend a very hearty THANK YOU, TOM PEEK for taking time out of your presumed busy schedule to help out Rick with my car. I am very appreciative of your help.


Until next time, Nico crew!!!

[float_6969]

Thanks again for the updats GOB!

[G.O.B.]

Well, boys and girls, it's the grouchy old one back again with an update for you all. And, I might add that things have picked up quite a bit on the old lady and have begun moving at a decent pace. Still not sure when the resto-mod will be finished, so I won't speculate on that.

Anyway, as usual, here is Rick's e-mail that always accompany the pictures.


Mark,

Here are some more pics for you.

A lot of work has been done over the last few days as you can see. Tom was a little slow on his end so he came over and helped me prep and paint the wagon. That really helped out as I was unexpectedly slowed down early Tues. morning and had to drive to Shelbina and take care of some personal business. That delayed me and I really wanted to get the body painted that day due to the warm day.

I gave Tom a call and he bailed me out. Went home at 9:30 that night...long day!

Paint came out very nice.

The body remount went off as a snap. No problems whatsoever. The lift makes this part easy and precise.

I'm installing wiring today and will have more pics as I progress.

By the way, the American Autowire Update wiring kit is VERY NICE and the quality excellent!! This will make my job much easier.

Rockin Rick

[BallzDeep1.9L]

look at you, rollin' on them old skools

[G.O.B.]

Well, gang. I am back for another update, but first I would like to say a few things.


With the events in Japan the past few days, my wife and I are relieved to hear from Neal on a regular basis that he is doing ok. We are keeping a close eye on the situation and hope that things don't spiral out of control. Please keep him and his family as well as his in-laws in your throughts/prayers/etc. I have also seen the other thread and am happy to read the support you have offered by your words to him and other residents in Japan affected by this tragedy.

May God bless you all, and may my non-religious friends be blessed in what ever way you can be. Thank you.


Anyway, on to the topic at hand.

Here is the e-mail received from Rick.


Mark,

Here are some more pics. I'll keep this short as it's getting late and I'm tired.

I've been busy assembling the wagon, plus prepping the doors and tailgate for exterior paint. I plan to paint doors and tail gate tomorrow (Tues.) if all goes well. After that I will install doors and tailgate, then on to front fenders, hood, etc. until I get all parts painted and installed.

More to Come,
Rick






















Take care, my NICO brethren. I'll give ya more as it comes in.

[audtatious]

Progress is being made....

Do you have a "done date" in mind?

[G.O.B.]

At this point a "Done Date" is when Rick hands me the keys and I hand him a ice cold drink of some kind and say “Damn that is just what I wanted, but I thought we said the color was to be White, not pink and green.” Rick knows what I mean. So when the time comes, that is when She will be done.
P.S.
We will be adding A/C and may be rack and pinion steering when the coin of the realm is back in the coffers again. Just like anything else, they are never DONE.

[Ozzie]

I've said it before, and I'll say it again.
"I'm lovin' this build thread"

I have been keeping an eye on Neal's Facebook updates, and I am glad he and the family are safe.
Is he still going back to the US in late April?

[G.O.B.]

Good evening boys and girls, the G.O.B. is back for another update, but this time, I have my boy watching over my shoulder...literally.

He made it home this past Monday, although he and I really wished his wife and youngest could have made it. But, things be damned, it just wasn't in the cards this time.

Anyway, as always, here is the message from Rockin Rick.

Mark,

Here are some update pics for you.

The doors and tailgate have been guide coated and ready for final sanding. The dull white coat in the next pics is sealer which is applied after final sanding and right before painting. This promotes good adhesion of the top coats (paint) and helps protect the bodywork under it.

The next pics are the paint itself after painting. Paint came out very well with excellent gloss.

The rest of the parts (primered) are the next set of parts to be fine tuned and painted.

As you can see, the hood required quite a bit of prep, even though it was a new piece. It had some distortion along both edges from the forming process and was not acceptable in its present form. Also had a few small dents here and there that had to be addressed before paint. Don't fret as this is very common even on new parts. I see this often as the reproduced parts are formed on dies which have had much former use. Hood has been fine tuned, and will be painted with rest of parts.

Also sent a few shots of the doors installed. I will send more as progress continues.

Thank you for the updates about Neal and his family. I've been keeping them in our prayers. This has to be very hard on all of you and hopefully things will continue to get better. Hope you have a good day.

Rick

P.S. Had a pretty rough storm here last night with hail and high winds but no twisters. Most of that was towards the north of us. Did get a few hail dents in the Jeep's hood and on Sharon’s Accord but they were slight. Thank Goodness, as I don't have time to fix my own stuff. Ha! Ha!



And, again, as always...moar piktrs!!!

[G.O.B.]

Hello Girls and Boys,

Welcome back to another fun filled round of “What’s next in the world of SS Going for Broke”.

Rick has had his hands full on this installment. What with the…WAIT a minute here. I am getting a head of myself. Please read on.

Mark,

Some more progress reports.

Dry fitted front end to make sure everything fit well before painting. I'm glad I did, as I needed to do some reshaping of the right side of the hood. You can see what I'm talking about in the pictures. So much for just painting the hood.

Whenever new parts are installed fitment is critical or you may get an unsatisfactory result. That’s expensive to fix. Plus wasted time and material.

OK. Off the podium, but for the good people following this thread and might be following in procedure, this is a very important tip.

After fitting, aligning, and fine tuning I bolted everything down in place. Now I'll mark alignment on all the major attach points, disassemble all primered pieces, sand and paint.

Now I can reassemble all the painted parts with confidence knowing they will all fit well. AND no scratched up parts trying to get things to fit. Hope that this maybe helps someone out.

Also got the ECM installed and all four rubber door seals installed. After that, I fine tuned all door fitment and adjustment, as you can see results, in back towards front pics of each side. Installing the door seals was also important for proper door panel alignment and final fit. Much easier to do now before other things could get in the way.

Also sent a couple of dash pics for you. The pics are a little deceiving as the pad in reality is a darker blue in color, which really complements the dash.

Well, Mark, that is about it.

Enjoyed talking to Neal. Wish it was under better circumstances, though.


Ole Man in MO.


































So as you can see, Rick (with the help of his friend Tom Peek) has been using TLC
on my old gal. And other than the hood giving him problems, I think she may just respect him for what he has done for her. I know I do!

I know that this is his job, but to do this kind and caliber of work, you must put a part of yourself into what you do. So again Thank you Rick and Tom and to the ones in the background that help and do not get mentioned (Rick's wife and his friends down the road).

I am so grateful.

[G.O.B.]

Well, my NICO faithful, it's time for an update on the old girl.

Was nice having Neal and the boys home and looking forward to him being back in a couple more weeks. Maybe I can get him to clean the garage out for me...


Anyway, as usual, here is the e-mail from our ever hard-working Rockin Rick.

Mark,

Just some more pics to show you what I've been doing.

Much time spent cleaning old paint overspray off the moldings before assembling them. Moldings came out great. Now assembling doors, progressing from front to back.

New window channel felts and seals all going together nicely.

Haven't painted the front end yet but will in the near future.

Back brushed aluminum trim, as you can see. Came out very well and can be used over no problem. I think I removed a pound of caulk from the backside of it.

Will send more as I progress.
Rockin Rick




























I have front windows!!!

[sbird1]

I've missed a few update. Progress looks awesome!

[audtatious]

Very nice work.

[Ace2cool]

AH! Body, frame. Looking like a car again! Awesome!

[Gold Digger]

Thought I would bring this back to the top since it hasn't had any posts in a while.

Also.

Rick, I know you like to read, but maybe you could register up here and if people wanted to ask you questions about body work or painting, you could answer them. It's easy to register and if you need help, just let me know and I can walk ya through it.

Would also be cool for the members of NICO to meet such a fine example of quality work face to face, in a message board sort of way.

[G.O.B.]

Well, gang, here we are again with some more updates on the Old Girl. The more the pics come in, the more excited I get about getting her finished. Shouldn't be too much longer now!


Mark,

Some more eye candy for you. It's very late, so this is short.
Making very good progress and everything is going back together nicely.

Talk to you soon,
Ole Man in Mo

Well, since there isn't very much to read, it's time to get you on to the pictures.

Enjoy!!!

[Gold Digger]

Hey, Pop.

Glad to see the car is going back together smoothly. Hope to see it done soon as I know you want to as well.