Building A 65 Impala custom Advice Please?

[scalepeter]

Hi all.   Bout to embark on a custom 65 impala,   being inspired by the Foose Imposter.    I'm thinking of smoothing the side of the body by  removing that body lines( if thats the correct name for it?) that runs from front to rear? Hopefully that makes sense.   I imagine it's something that could be done but not sure if i"ve ever seen it done?   Will be doing a lot of cutting and i think trying to keep that in place will be difficult.   Will be cutting length out and id rather line up body panels than that body line.    I do things how i want but, opinions or advice welcome here.    Donner kit for this project will be a 2013 Camaro  zl1.     Thanks for any advice or opinions.  

[Oldcarfan27]

If you want it to still look like a 65 Impala and have it look like a real car, you should treat the the styling as if it is folds in sheetmetal not thick plastic. 

I have some glue bombs where the builder had originally intended to smooth off all the details for a custom and then gave up because the end result ended up looking like a used bar of soap.

The stamped creases in the metal of a real car are there not only for styling and character, but also to add strength to the sheet metal. These features would be difficult to smooth off completely on a real car without having the body as flimsy as a soda can.

My suggestion is to plan your modifications carefully, leaving some of the styling and character lines in for identitiy sake as well as making the end result look like the way a real car made of steel would look like.

Best wishes. 

[scalepeter]

Thanks for that.  I did do some sanding on a piece i have already cut out and noticed the thinning of material.   Think i've decided to leave in place the body line.   Means a little more body work but thats ok.   Thanks Patrick

[MeatMan]

I don't know if this is what you mean, but here I removed most of the body lines but left the lower line at the rocker.

I also added skirts, and used color to break the color up. I did not have issues with body strength.

Good luck.