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1959 Chevy Impala----Just a tease! 4/9/16


MrObsessive

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This is a fantastic thread and the quality and level of workmanship is awe inspiring! Socalculture - would you be so kind as to post all the photos of that fuell injected car or email them to me please? The '59 Chevrolet is to me, the ultimate as far as cars do and I save any good pictures that I can find of them for my own pleasure and to salivate and drool over in my private moments. :P

I am blessed to own a few of them in 1;1 but no automobile quickens my pulse as does a '59 Chevy or El Camino. The fuelie car that you posted the photos of is even in my favorite colour - Crown Sapphire.. and it probably has a white roof and deck lid? Am I right? :rolleyes:

Edited by impcon
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  • 11 months later...

Well, it's been quite a long time since I worked on, let alone did any updates to this one. :o

Before I get into what been going on with the Chevy----I'd thought I'd fill you guys in on what's been happening with me this past year. It's been a very rough year family wise. My Dad was quite ill for the better part of the year.......in fact, he was in and out of the hospital since about the beginning of this year. I've lost track of how many times he had to be rushed to the hospital as he suffered from very severe COPD. Dad was 80 years old and he smoked for as long as I can remember--------long before I came along.

Well, he passed away on September 1st. Before that happened I guess I went into somewhat of a mild depression where I didn't want to work on any models, let alone keep up with anything as far as new releases or any of that.

I would come here to the board, but I wasn't interested in commenting or adding my 2¢ to anything.

It's now been over three months since he's been gone, and it was just recently in the last few weeks or so that I've become fired up again over models. It had been so long since I worked on the Chevy that it literally had dust sitting on it from just being parked on the shelf. I did build the '03 Viper in the interim, but building that didn't break the burnout that I was going through.

Just the same, I'm back on track with the '59 Impala. I finally got the engine done for the most part, and I've moved on to the chassis floor/interior area.

Here's what I've got after a very long hiatus!

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I wanted to add some detail to the carbs.......while not every not and bolt is true to the 1:1..........I'm not sweating it as it'll be covered up by that big 'ol air cleaner in the end anyway! :) I've also added the oil tube since these pics were taken...........I thought Iost it somewhere!

Originally, I was going to do a fuelie engine, but I just didn't want to part out the '57 Black Widow kit for it's setup. Funds are a bit limited these days, and I'm just not into parting out kits or buying them for just a few parts.

The stuff you see on the trans is Parafilm. I like to use that whenever I'm handling something for a long period of time to keep the paint from wearing off for the most part.

Ah yes.........for those of us who have passed the half century mark, these are quite useful when trying to see and work with those small details. I'd thought I'd never need these, but now they've become a necessity for me to build the way I do!

PC154926-vi.jpg

More to come so stay tuned!

Edited by MrObsessive
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Sorry to hear about your dad, but really glad to have you back, feeling good. Your work has always been an inspiration to me, to stretch my skills and go farther. I'm certainly looking forward to seeing a lot from you in the future.

That engine is just incredible.

Edited by Ace-Garageguy
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Since the engine was done for the most part, it's time to move on to the chassis/interior floor.

Since the model will have opening doors, I can't use the platform/ tub interior that Revell gives you. This would make the interior floor too tall, as these cars should have a slight "stepdown" from the door sill.

Actually, I wish Revell would tool most of their newer kits this way. They still insist on the tub/platform method, instead of taking a page from AMT/RC2 and making their interiors from the flip side of the chassis floor.

The main part of the floor was cut away with just the driveshaft hump left and the rear seat.

pc154919-vi.jpg

I went ahead and blended in the driveshaft hump along with the firewall/cowl to the chassis floor. The channels on the top side of the floor needed to be filled in as well------at least those areas that won't be covered by the seats.

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One of my dislikes when detailing chassis' is having to mask off the gas tank and paint it. I never have good success doing this, so I figured might as well take the time and cut away the tank.

It makes for much easier painting, and I can also make gas straps while I'm at it for down the road.

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It occurred to me that when I put the firewall in place, the front inner fenders were going to be in the way as far as painting. So out comes the Exacto blade, and I cut these away as well. The firewall should be body colored as this was all painted as a unit as the car came down the assembly line. The inner fenders were part of the front clip assembly and were semi gloss black according to many pics I have of the car.

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I wanted to make a hanger for the fuel and brake lines before I go ahead and paint the chassis.

Since this is dual exhaust car, the fuel and brake lines run pretty much through the driveshaft tunnel. If you had a single exhaust car, your fuel line ran on the opposite side of the exhaust pipe.

This is going to be kinda tricky to route, as I don't want to the appearance of the driveshaft scraping against the lines! Hmmm..........I'm gonna have to file away those molded in "lines" on the frame rails and floor it appears. :angry: Wish they wouldn't mold those in...........

Pc224930-vi.jpg

.........And yet some more to come!

Edited by MrObsessive
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Well, except for a few minor tweaks here and there, the bodywork is all but done! The paint job will be one of the LAST things I do.............I don't want any surprises when it comes to final assembly after the body is all painted, polished, and BMF'd!

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Pc234936-vi.jpgPc234938-vi.jpgPc234939-vi.jpgPc234935-vi.jpg

Well, that's it for now........thanks for bearing with me! ;)

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This is...Wow! I don't even know where to begin. It looks perfect! Especially that W-Engine is a beautiful piece of art and it is a shame to cover it with an air cleaner... :lol:

Does this kit have the same issue as Revell '60 Impala does that the engine sits way too far back? My dad has a '60 Impala and when that engine position is compared to Revell's model it's way too far back. If this kit has the same problem, how are you going to be fixing that? I'm very interested in this, since I have many different versions of '59-'60 Impalas to build....

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This is...Wow! I don't even know where to begin. It looks perfect! Especially that W-Engine is a beautiful piece of art and it is a shame to cover it with an air cleaner... :lol:

Does this kit have the same issue as Revell '60 Impala does that the engine sits way too far back? My dad has a '60 Impala and when that engine position is compared to Revell's model it's way too far back. If this kit has the same problem, how are you going to be fixing that? I'm very interested in this, since I have many different versions of '59-'60 Impalas to build....

Niko, It does seem to sit a bit too far back, but that might be due to Revell "overextending" the cowl a bit. When I swapped roofs I used the entire cowl and all ('60 is slightly different than the '59), but I got rid of the overhang that would sit beneath the trailing edge of the hood when closed. This seems to alleviate the problem a bit. In the pic below you can see this cowl extension on the original '59 roof before I cut it off.......

P7084358-vi.jpg

Sorry for the pic being so blurry! :blink:

In the 1:1 world, the cowls due to the massive windshields were quite steep. One way to fix this is to maybe move the firewall a bit rearward into the chassis, so the engine doesn't butt up so much against it. Doing this however can change the position of the interior, wheel placement, etc------so you'd have to check everything along the way as you're going along.

Thanks for the compliment, and later on I'll take a pic of the engine in the engine bay so you can see how it looks.

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Bill,

First thing, my sincerest condolences on the loss of your father. Having plenty of friends that have lost at least one parent as we all enter our late 30s and 40s, while I don't personally know the loss, I know what it can do. Speaking for myself, if you need to talk or anything like that, all you have to do is ask.

Second- those are cool magnifiers on your glasses. Where did you scare those up? I might get a pair myself.

Third- this car is shaping up into something else, as all your builds do. The workmanship is astounding. Even if you haven't been building much, you haven't lost a step.

Charlie Larkin

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Thanks for the kind words Charlie. :)

Those eyeglass loops I picked up off eBay for something like $10! They DO come in mighty handy as the eyesight ain't what it used to be. I had seen guys use these at work for various and sundry things, and since I worked around electronics I knew I had to get a pair.

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OK Niko, here's a pic of the engine in the car for the moment..............you can see where I had cut off the "extra" in the cowling which the '60 body had as well.

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Yeah, it does sit a bit too far back according to the 1:1 pics I'm working from..................but hold the phone...........

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The problem seems to lie in the placement of the molded in trans mount. Now I suppose I could move this piece forward a bit moving the engine forward, but then that would change the length of the exhaust------then there's the aspect of moving the engine too far forward, and having the fan butt up against the radiator. Not a good thing!

As it stands right now I think I better leave well enough alone.........I've got enough engineering troubles ahead of me for the moment. ;)

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Nice work as usual Bill. I like that you used flat stock for the hinge parts, looks more prototypical than the usual wire. As I recall, you swapped out roofs from the '60 to the '59 as there are flaws in the shape there. What about the WS frame if doing the convertible? Is that frame correct?

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Nice work as usual Bill. I like that you used flat stock for the hinge parts, looks more prototypical than the usual wire. As I recall, you swapped out roofs from the '60 to the '59 as there are flaws in the shape there. What about the WS frame if doing the convertible? Is that frame correct?

To my eyes Mike------no. If I were doing a convertible (I will be someday), I'd use the windshield frame from the '60. It just looks more accurate to me. In fact, I have another roof swap in mind for down the road.....using the '60 roof to fix that terrible Trumpeter '60 Bonneville hardtop. :rolleyes:

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My condolences also to you Bill. I'm glad to see you back as well. I love what you're doing to this car fer sure. I will be watching the progress you do. :) Dan

P.S. By the way, I installed the roof you sent me on the 60 that I have and it fits just good enough that I don't have to waste the 60 body. I couldn't do anything with it the way it was fer sure. Here is a pic of it with the 59 roof.

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I have glued it in place since this pic was taken and that's as far as I've gotten with it. I also filled in the 59 only recess on the rear of the roof. Thanks again for helping me save this one.

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What is that helicopter hanging from your ceiling?

That is an RC Bell 47 Helicopter that runs, but has no servos right now. Plan was where I used to live to get it up and running and in the air, but the house I live in now, I'd surely crash it through someone's window! There is an airfield not far from me that a bunch of guys get together and fly their RC planes and helicopters when the weather is nice.

Someday, I'd like to get the proper servos for it and get in the air once again. It just hangs quietly from the ceiling--------if the cats get out of line (getting into something), I can take it down and aim it towards them.......they're terrified of it! :lol:

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Hi Bill- So sorry to hear about your dad. I have lost both of my parents, and am now going through the process again with my in-laws. It's emotionally draining, so I certainly understand how you feel. One of the best things you can do for yourself is to immerse yourself back into life and things you like to do. It can make things seem normal again.

Glad to see you back on the board and building. I hope to see you at events this spring! Best holidays to you!

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Sorry to hear about your father, Bill. I lost my dad, the end of October. It's tuff, as you know. I've been building, as therapy. Tell me more about the magnifiers, you have on your glasses. They look like just what I need. Holding stuff under my magnifying light is a pain & sometimes not very practical.

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