Rescued From A Field: 63 Chevy Impala Convertible

[vaporlock]

I've had this car for 15 years now so this is gonna be a long emotional story. I was around 16 or 17 when I first saw a photo of a 63 Impala, it was red with black interior, and I instantly fell in love, in my opinion the 63 is absolute perfection, the most beautiful vehicle ever built. I told myself that one day I was gonna have my own and once I got my license the hunt was on!

Less than a year later I found it, right here in Sweden! It was exactly what I was looking for: a 63, Impala, Convertible, V8 w/ auto it just happen to have like 9 different colors, almost no electro-digitals, no interior, no exhaust or almost all other, you know... important stuff that make a car... She was perfect!
I spent probably everyday for the next 6-7 months looking at the ad, one day my friend Nico basically said "that's it, let's go get it!"

Let the emotional rollercoaster commence!

Photos from the ad, probably not what most people daydream about:

 

[CK5]

Thanks, @Bent77
I only saved it as a draft, maybe why? I thought it was waiting for me to publish it...

Yeah, saving as a draft is just as it sounds, it allows you to start a post and finish it later without posting it, you can then come back to it and then post it (go live) at your convince.

 

[82355]

Post some pictures.

Martin

 

[vaporlock]

At the (butt)crack of dawn on April 26th 2007, Nico and I hooked a trailer to my dads s10 Blazer and went on a 12 hour, 530 mile roadtrip across the country to pick up my very own 1963 Chevrolet Impala Convertible, she was a mess but I was in love! At the time it was the only 63 convertible for sale in the country, they still don't pop up very often.

We arrived around 1PM and I could not stop smiling, there she was in all her glory:
1963 Chevrolet Impala Convertible, non SS
307 V8 out of a 70's Chevelle & Aluminium PowerGlide
Originally azure aqua with matching interior and white top.
9 different colors, no interior except bench seats, very little electro-digitals.
Hood, front fenders, doors and trunk lid was replaced in the US before it came to Sweden with original panels.
The only weight reduction was a couple holes in the floor pans in the front, parts of the rockers, a little behind the rear wheels and 2 body mounts in the rear.
It obviously did not run.

The day we picked her up at JACS Performance:

Lunch break a couple hours later, since we were a bit overloaded everything was squirming, going downhill was terrifying. So we added some tongue weight, it definitely helped but still sketchy as hell! I think the Impala and trailer weight about twice the legal tow limit for the s10.
While we were standing here a man walked up to me, he recognized the Impala from the ad and thought it was so cool that a 20-something year old girl bought it so we chatted for a bit. Sweds in general don't talk to strangers, we don't say hi or make eye contact with strangers unless very necessary, if you do that we'll probably assume your a serialkiller, lol. But if you have a dog or a classic car that all changes, somehow that makes strangers safe!

Last stop before we made it home, it's not always easy finding somewhere to park when you have a trailer so (almost) right in front of the entrance it was... this is probably the prettiest gas station I've seen, both the store and the structure over the pumps was build out of wood.

 

[vaporlock]

At first Nico and I was gonna get it running and driving but after the summer I started working in a different town and there was just no way we could make it work. November 2007 I moved it to a shop that was gonna fix it for me. If I had known the things I know now this would never have happened...
The Impala was at this shop from November 2007 to April 2010 and while there were a lot of progress it wasn't exactly smooth sailing...

Loaded up and on the way:

A few days later the disassembly had commenced, the new floors had been burnt in and the body and frame had a divorce. Some more of the weight reduction was taken care of in preparation for mediablasting. At the end of December she was sent out to the mediablaster.

 

[82355]

Pulling an Impala with an S10 sounds fun!

Please keep posting.

Martin

 

[Chickntrk]

Pulling anything with an S10 sounds fun!

Please keep posting.

Martin

Fixed it . Agree, keep posting!

 

[vaporlock]

@82355 and @Chickntrk I guess that depends on how you define "fun"!

 

[vaporlock]

End of January 2008 the Impala came back from mediablasting, this was the first time I saw it in more or less one color! This is also when the first "bump in the road" came about... I liked the way the dash, firewall and front half of the frame was, it was painted satin black, and there was no talk about changing it. I didn't care about the front part but the dash... I asked why they did it but didn't get an answer. My biggest issue was that they also mediablasted the button and bezel for the power convertible (it's supposed to be chrome with text in the front, now it's black and the text is unreadable) and they don't make those anymore... it's a small thing but it's important to me. I'm by no means interested in doing a full on "every screw, nut and bolt needs to be original"-restoration but I still want things to be the way they were! If I change something there is a good reason...

Back from mediablast, that color tho, it looks exactly the same as "messmör" and when I see the color I can taste it, there are no words to describe how gross it is!

 

[vaporlock]

For the next couple of months there was a lot of bodywork and burning in some new metal and things ran smoothly, I think they worked on it everyday. For a car that spent probably 5 years in a field in North Dakota I was surprise there wasn't more rust.

Burning metal, the guy that did most of the work, Adam, did a really good job over all imo.

The amount of sanding was insane, I could never do it, mostly because I'll go down that rabbit hole but I also lack the attention span to ever finish it.

Prepping for interior and underside paint.

 

[vaporlock]

Around this time, April 2008, I ordered and received the new wire harness, it was from a Swedish company named M&M Autowiring located across the street from where I picked up the Impala, unfortunately they are no longer around. I remember they had fantastic customer service, their products and the instructions are top notch. Since I know a bit about wiring I told them to let me know when they started so I could help them out, Adam who did most of the work didn't speak Swedish or English and the instructions are in Swedish so Adam appreciated the offer, he and I could still communicate pretty okay somehow, but the boss decided to ignore both our wishes... to keep things in order, we'll get back to this later on.

Look at it! Just. Look. At. IT! So pretty!

 

[vaporlock]

More progress and slowly getting rid of that gross color, they sprayed some extra protection in the trunk and underneath and shortly after, the moment I had been waiting for since I picked the color was finally here...

Rubberized undercoating, I think. They also sprayed the whole underside with it.

Oh yeah! While I would not have chosen to paint the underside purple it's one hell of a color! I wanted the frame, suspension and underside satin black and the firewall, front fenders, core support etc purple. But the boss decided to do what he wanted... This paint is from Harley Davidson so it's pretty expensive (meant to be used in small quantities I guess) and it's a lot like candy colors, it needs layers. They didn't do that so it's a bit blotchy in places, I'm glad it's not a show car. At some point, when it's running and driving I'll probably repaint it like I wanted it from the start. If I replace a suspension part I can't match it so it'll look odd.
It's metallic purple but the metallics are bright pink and bright blue, it shifts between purple/pink and purple/blue depending on angle and light.

This is the moment I decided The Carrot had to go! I named the 307 The Carrot because, you know, it's bright-ass-orange. I know it's Chevy orange but I still hate it, it doesn't look good.

 

[vaporlock]

In the beginning of May (still in 2008) they finally painted the interior, it's gorgeous because it's one solid color and it's black but unfortunately, again, not what I wanted. I wanted Satin like it was, to me this is Semi Gloss and to shiny. The boss basically said I was wrong and it's the same... I really dislike that little man.

Fun little story, in the first photo, that little oval brass plate hanging of the key was given to me by a former co-worker, it's engraved with the word "Raggare" on the other side, he found it on his way to work and instantly thought of me. "Raggare" is a Swedish lifestyle culture, the short description is: We go cruising in the city at night in a 50's-60's american car, dressed in 50's-60's clothing, playing loud music (Rockabilly/Country/Rock n Roll) and drink A LOT of adult beverages. Pretty much we are loud, proud and drunk as hell, dancing on the hood is optional but encouraged!

I love the first shot, there's just something about it.

What I wanted (left) vs. What I got (right), there's a significantly higher gloss.

 

[centexk5]

Sounds like you need a new paint guy. Regardless, I love the car and the pictures.

 

[Chickntrk]

I agree, you’re paying for it, they should paint it whatever color and shade you want….loving this build

 

[vaporlock]

Sounds like you need a new paint guy. Regardless, I love the car and the pictures.

Yeah, he was an a-hole... it's only the beginning of the story, gets worse. Thanks!

I agree, you’re paying for it, they should paint it whatever color and shade you want….loving this build

That's what I thought too, you know, my car and my money but apparently not in his world. Thank you!

 

[vaporlock]

My birthday is in May and I'm very lucky to have amazing parents and the greatest friend ever who also happens to be my parts supplier. For my birthday they all gifted me with 2/3 of a brand new engine (I paid the last 1/3), like I wrote earlier that Carrot with the purple paint is just a no-go!
So a few days after my birthday I picked up my brand new GM Performance 383 Stroker V8 with a Holley carb, MSD Ignition and some other shiny parts. I was over the moon!

Probably the best birthday gift anyone could ever give ya, at least in my opinion!

A s10 may be terrifying to tow an Impala on a trailer with but this one did a good job hauling my 383 to the shop, I think I maxed out on the legal load weight.
I miss this little s10, it was cute!

 

[TerryD]

My birthday is in May and I'm very lucky to have amazing parents and the greatest friend ever who also happens to be my parts supplier. For my birthday they all gifted me with 2/3 of a brand new engine (I paid the last 1/3), like I wrote earlier that Carrot with the purple paint is just a no-go!
So a few days after my birthday I picked up my brand new GM Performance 383 Stroker V8 with a Holley carb, MSD Ignition and some other shiny parts. I was over the moon!

Probably the best birthday gift anyone could ever give ya, at least in my opinion!
View attachment 415815View attachment 415819View attachment 415818

A s10 may be terrifying to tow an Impala on a trailer with but this one did a good job hauling my 383 to the shop, I think I maxed out on the legal load weight.
I miss this little s10, it was cute!
View attachment 415816View attachment 415817

I always wanted an eXtreme.

 

[vaporlock]

I dropped the engine of at the shop in the morning, I used to work on the other side of the freeway so every Wednesday I would swing by and check on progress and hang out for a couple of hours. While I was busy at my work they got busy in the shop and in the afternoon...

She's in! SOOO much better than the Carrot, oh and they had installed the painted front fenders too!

 

[vaporlock]

I always wanted an eXtreme.

It was awesome, super comfy, fast and had a V6! I was gonna try and buy it back a few years ago but unfortunately it had been totaled/junked a couple years before that. Here it's really easy to track down a vehicle because they have the same license plate number it's whole life and even after it's "gone" you can still find it at the DMV.