'60 Chevrolet Impala

[W-409]

I thought I wouldn't start a new project before my '50 Oldsmobile Mild Custom is completed, but it seems that I can't keep my hands off from this one so I'll have to get started with it. The Olds will be done soon, though.

So the plan is to build an Impala that my 1:1 scale Impala will hopefully be in a few years time. This means that I will install a 383 Cid Stroker Small Block Chevy from Revell '69 Nova kit as that is what will be under the hood on the real thing when I get the money to build the engine, tranny, driveshaft and rear axle.

I'm planning that the real thing should look a little like an old Junior Stock Drag Car with front end a bit higher than the rear end, high profile blackwall tires with black steel wheels on the back and whitewalls and Chrome Reverses on the front. I took AMT 9" Slicks for this project as that's what I would use on the 1:1 car when driving at the Drag Strip, front tires come from AMT Firestone Parts Pack. The wheels are resin cast by a friend of mine. The front wheels will be painted with Alclad Chrome.

As I said earlier, the engine is taken from Revell's Special Edition '69 Nova kit. I'm planning to use aluminum heads, Victor Junior style intake manifold (Where to find one in scale?), Mickey Thompson valve covers and of course headers. No kit seems to have correct headers for this car so I will have to scratchbuild them. Of course the engine needs to be detailed properly.

The kit has some flaws in it, even if it is pretty good quality. Originally the engine sits way too far back and there is the spare wheel cover next to the fuel tank (It was there in '59 but not in '60) etc. But more on those modifications later as I go....

First Here are a few pics of how the real car looks right now:

And here is the kit. When I bought it, the first thing was of course to get rid of those horrible wheels and tires(How could someone ever install them on a '60 Impala?! :lol: ) Luckily a friend of mine bought them.

As you can see the rear wheels are actually meant to be installed on the front. I need to try removing the center knobs somehow. Buying a new set of wheels might be another choice, we'll see which one I'll do.

The real car will probably have a TH350 automatic trans (Currently it has a PG) so I had to try finding one. Luckily my friend Matti (ChevyCoupe41) had a "junk engine" with a TH350 transmission molded in. So I cut the transmissions separate from the engine blocks and now I have the engine from the Nova with TH350 trans.

Thanks For Lookin'!

[cobraman]

Nice project. I'll be looking in.

[MrObsessive]

Beautiful 1:1 '60 you got there Niko! I'll be following this one as well from time to time. I really get into '59-'60 Chevies as they were very common on the streets back when I was a kid in the '60's.

Yeah, you're right about the '60's engine (as well as the '59's), sitting too far back. It's something I was going to fix on my '59 build, but it would have required more work than I was willling to do than just moving the engine forward.

..............and yes, those wheels do NOT belong on a '60 Chevy anytime!

[GMCMAN52]

One of my all time greatest Chevy............................nice start .

[Guest]

This well be sweet!

[bisc63]

Subscribed! One of my favorite cars ever.

[Southern Fried]

My first "bought" car was a '60 Impala. $400 bucks....a note co-signed by my Dad. Back in '74.

White, complete "rolled an' tucked" black interior.

283 4 Barrel. Looked good when washed...BUT rust lookin' brown would come from tha' side trim.

Enough room in tha' back seat ta' have a party.(had a few)

Drum brakes that would stop it at 60 MPH....in 300 feet.

I'll be watching....

[slusher]

Awesome project Niko. What did you cut the transmission with?

[W-409]

Thanks everyone for the comments, they are appreciated!

Bill: Yep these are great looking cars. I did a little mock up with the engine and as I'm going with a Small Block there is a bit more space to move the engine just a little forward. It won't probably be perfect, but at least it should be better than if built box stock. I have already built one as a Mild Custom with the 348 Cid engine and I can remember that there was no space to move the engine forward enough.

Philip: I'm glad this brings memories! My 1:1 has some rust issues too. Currently the rear quarter panel from co-drivers' side is partly disappeared... Needs to order a replacement quarter panel for that...

Carl: I used a Razor Saw to cut the transmissions. It works really well and makes straight cuts. I can't remember for sure, but it wasn't very expensive either, maybe something like $15 here in Finland. I think every modeler should have one of these on their toolbox, mine is made by Zona and it looks pretty much like this:

Thanks for the interest guys, I'll have more updates soon.

[TooOld]

I started drooling when I saw the first photo of your Impala !

You're off to a great start , the engine from the Nova kit is really nice .

[W-409]

Thanks Bob! I knew you'd like the 1:1 car . It's true that the engine is really nice in that Nova kit. I built one of those Novas a couple of years ago as a Stock Eliminator Drag Car and when I started looking for a kit that has a good SBC that Nova came directly on my mind. Luckily I was able to find one cheap at local model car show.

Here's a minor update on the '60. The chassis has a spare tire bulge (Whatever it is called in English) and last time it was on X-Frame Chevy was in 1959. So I cut it away and started doing a styrene piece to cover the hole. It still needs some fine tuning, so I didn't take a picture of that yet either. I will work with it tomorrow and probably post a couple of more pics. Some Bondo was also put on the engine.

Edited November 2, 2014 by W-409

[W-409]

Here are the pics I promised to post earlier. I filled the spare tire bulge hole with sheet styrene and put some Bondo on to smooth the seams. Once that are is smooth, I will be adding some more styrene to get this side look similar to the other side with its raised areas (I don't know what they're called in English...).

[MrObsessive]

Good catch on the spare tire bulge Niko! I've seen a lot of models overlook that difference in the '60 from the '59. It's more work but worth it for the detail you're putting in.

That detail you're adding on the chassis are "stiffeners" or "stampings". Engineers designed this in to reduce flex in the chassis floor-------something that was needed in that '60............a LOT of real estate there!

[superbike-shaun]

Niko, way to do your research!, may I ask, what kind of reference material did you use? great attn. to detail for sure! Shaun.s

[bisc63]

Any progress on this?!!

[W-409]

Looks like I didn't see your comments until now...Sorry about that!

Bill: Thanks! It's true that many people don't know that difference (or then they just don't care) but having a full scale version in the garage, I just had to fix that.

Shaun: Thank You! I'm happy to say it, but finally it's easy to find reference material, as there is an 1:1 '60 Impala in the garage that I'm trying to get driveable for the next summer.

Rusty: Thanks for bumping this thread up, I actually pulled this one back to the bench a couple of days ago and I have done some minor work, but unfortunately I'm having very little time to build. My main progress has been with that 1:1 car and its rust repairs.

I should have a couple of pictures in the next few days...Stay tuned.

[peekay]

Hey Niko, get your priorities right - forget the 1:1 !

[ningoth4]

Have always loved this car!

Kevin

[taaron76]

Nice build, Niko. I'll be following this one.

Tim

[bisc63]

Glad you're back, Niko. Are you documenting your 1:1 build anywhere? I'd love to see what you're doing with it. Good luck on BOTH projects!

[W-409]

Thanks fellas!

Peter: You're too funny ! Actually I got my priorities right and "forgot" this one . I've done a little work with it, though, but not enough for an update I'm afraid.

Kevin: Yep, me too! Definitely the best looking X-Frame Chevy and of course it feels the best when I'm behind the wheel.

Tim: It's glad to hear that there are folks that enjoy following this build. I hope I can post a couple of updates soon...

Rusty: Yep, I posted that 1:1 build on 348-409 Forum http://www.348-409.com/forum/threads/60-chevrolet-impala-ht.29529/ . I've been doing pretty much rust repairs lately, but now I'm working with Bondo to smooth out where needed.

Thanks again!

[charlie8575]

I know this will be another nice build, Niko. You do some fine work, young man.

And yes, the Zona saws are very nice.

Charlie Larkin

[W-409]

Thank You Charlie (Even if I'm a bit late with the thanks)!

Those Zona saws are really nice as you said. There are some cuts that just can't be done so nicely with anything else than that.

Alright... Now since the 1:1 scale '60 Impala is in driveable condition and I've been Cruising around with it pretty much, it's time to slowly get back on the models as well. This was the most interesting one right now so I pulled it from my stash again and continued working. But first to get you guys in the mood for '60 Impalas, here are two pics of the 1:1.

I continued by doing some engine related work. As many people know, the engine in this kit sits originally way too back. When I built my other Revell '60 Impala, I noticed that it's not quite easy to move that 348 Big Block forward but looks like it can be done with this Small Block. So after figuring out what should I do to move it a bit forward, I thought the easiest way is to modify frame crossmember a little to make room for oil pan to come forward.

This is how the crossmember looks originally and how the engine sits originally:

And here you can see the crossmember and engine fitment after my little modifications. As you can see I didn't move the engine very much forward, but a little anyway and it definitely is a bit better. I'll see what else I can do to fix the problem in the near future...

I had some trouble finding a correct color for the engine. Humbrol's Orange wasn't red enough and Testors' Chevy Engine Red was too red and I had nothing from between and I couldn't find the correct shade anywhere either. Well luckily I had that paint in a bottle (I got some of it mixed up for me when I painted the engine for our '74 Chevelle Stocker). I took a little amount of it to a glass bottle and thinned it up pretty much because otherwise it would have hidden all of the details. I painted the engine parts with that using a paint brush and it worked fine, plus that color matches perfectly to the one I'll be using when I build that new engine to my Impala because I'll be using the same paint on that!

[om617]

Nice job moving the engine.

[bisc63]

Keep this one going! So far, so good!