'69 Impala SS 427 Convertible

[drodg]

Looking really good.  

[Plowboy]

On 8/11/2021 at 9:26 AM, drodg said:

Looking really good.  

Thanx David!

I got the paint polished. Still have to do a final polish. The foil work is done. The windshield frame was quite tricky to do. I kinda wish that I had got rid of the wheelwell trim. Just a little too much chrome for my liking. But, it is what it is now. I may stick the steel wheels and hubcaps back on to see what it looks like. 

I'll be glad when I can finally glue the body to the frame so that it doesn't look like a car with the engine and transmission missing!

Something hanging me up at the moment is figuring out how to do the beltline chrome strip. It's not solid chrome on the full scale. The center rub strip is typically body color or black. I see no way of successfully painting it. Not with my shaky hand anyway. I'm thinking about trying to cut a piece of foil the width I need for the center, painting it and then apply it. Then touch up if necessary. I think that's my only hope. I have some black foil that I can do a test run with.

[Foghorn Leghorn]

Nice Work!

I've owned a few 1969 Impalas, including a 4-speed convertible and an SS427 Sport Coupe. So i shut up now.

[Can-Con]

1 hour ago, Plowboy said:

 

Something hanging me up at the moment is figuring out how to do the beltline chrome strip. It's not solid chrome on the full scale. The center rub strip is typically body color or black. I see no way of successfully painting it. Not with my shaky hand anyway. I'm thinking about trying to cut a piece of foil the width I need for the center, painting it and then apply it. Then touch up if necessary. I think that's my only hope. I have some black foil that I can do a test run with.

Black 1/64" Chartpak tape. 

Just put it down the center of the chrome strip and seal it with some clear acrylic like Tamiya.

Edited August 29, 2021 by Can-Con

[slusher]

2 hours ago, Plowboy said:

Thanx David!

I got the paint polished. Still have to do a final polish. The foil work is done. The windshield frame was quite tricky to do. I kinda wish that I had got rid of the wheelwell trim. Just a little too much chrome for my liking. But, it is what it is now. I may stick the steel wheels and hubcaps back on to see what it looks like. 

I'll be glad when I can finally glue the body to the frame so that it doesn't look like a car with the engine and transmission missing!

Something hanging me up at the moment is figuring out how to do the beltline chrome strip. It's not solid chrome on the full scale. The center rub strip is typically body color or black. I see no way of successfully painting it. Not with my shaky hand anyway. I'm thinking about trying to cut a piece of foil the width I need for the center, painting it and then apply it. Then touch up if necessary. I think that's my only hope. I have some black foil that I can do a test run with.

Roger love the Chevy rallies on your Chevy with the foil..

32 minutes ago, Can-Con said:

Black 1/64" Chartpak tape. 

Just put it down the center of the chrome strip and seal it with some clear acrylic like Tamiya.

Beautiful Chevy Steve…

[ewetwo]

Nice.

 

[bisc63]

Coming together beautifully; paint color is particularly handsome on the big body bow tie.

[Plowboy]

Thanx guys! I did a test run with the black foil and it's going to work great! It makes a huge difference in the appearance of the trim as well as the model. I'll post a photo once I get it all applied.

[Tom Geiger]

Looks great!  As a kid in 1969 I lived a few blocks from AC Chevrolet and kinda became a mascot there so the 69 is close to my heart ❤️ 

I never did own one but had a 1970 Impala formal coupe and my dad had a 71 Belair sedan forever.

[mustang1989]

That sure is a purdy car so far. Color and finish are tops.

[David G.]

The engine looks great! Nice work on the wiring and fuel line.

David G.

[gotnitro?]

Love the color  ! Another gorgeous car for your collection 

[Plowboy]

Thanx for the feedback guys! I finally have the body glued to the chassis permanent. I had a little bit of drama with it. But, not too bad.

But, from that point on, it's been one step forward and two steps back! First thing was I immediately saw that the breather was too high. So, I had to remove it. Luckily, no damage. I grabbed the breather from the '67 Impala and got the room I needed. Or so I thought.

I had made a piece of hood insulation from a piece of .010 styrene and a dryer sheet that looked the part pretty well. Well, it was just a touch too thick and wouldn't allow the hood to fit flush. So, I had to rip it back off. To cover the damage, I taped the hood off, dipped a large paint brush in flat black paint and dabbed it on. It gave it some texture. But, it's still not like the dryer sheet piece that I had. But, it'll have to do.

The rear seat isn't fitting like it should. I may have to modify it and repaint. I took the front buckets back out for room to install the dash. I knocked one of the visors off in that process. I haven't checked to see how it fits. Fingers crossed. 

 

[espo]

A thought on your Hood and Air Cleaner contact. The 1:1 cars had a pretty close clearance in this area as well. Not all, but often the manufactures would leave an opening in the under Hood insulation directly over the Air Cleaner. Those that didn't it would be common to see a slightly crushed area in the insulation where the Air Cleaner made contact with the Hood. I like how you have strived to make your build as much like a stock car as possible. 

[Plowboy]

29 minutes ago, espo said:

A thought on your Hood and Air Cleaner contact. The 1:1 cars had a pretty close clearance in this area as well. Not all, but often the manufactures would leave an opening in the under Hood insulation directly over the Air Cleaner. Those that didn't it would be common to see a slightly crushed area in the insulation where the Air Cleaner made contact with the Hood. I like how you have strived to make your build as much like a stock car as possible. 

That's a great idea David! I'll give a try and see how it goes. I think that might even improve the look of it. Thanx for the idea! Right now, I'm just trying to address each issue one at a time. I'll keep picking away at it. I'll have to get it done at some point. It sure is trying my patience though. 

[slusher]

Roger did you glue the dryer sheet to the.010 piece?

[StevenGuthmiller]

2 hours ago, Plowboy said:

Thanx for the feedback guys! I finally have the body glued to the chassis permanent. I had a little bit of drama with it. But, not too bad.

But, from that point on, it's been one step forward and two steps back! First thing was I immediately saw that the breather was too high. So, I had to remove it. Luckily, no damage. I grabbed the breather from the '67 Impala and got the room I needed. Or so I thought.

I had made a piece of hood insulation from a piece of .010 styrene and a dryer sheet that looked the part pretty well. Well, it was just a touch too thick and wouldn't allow the hood to fit flush. So, I had to rip it back off. To cover the damage, I taped the hood off, dipped a large paint brush in flat black paint and dabbed it on. It gave it some texture. But, it's still not like the dryer sheet piece that I had. But, it'll have to do.

The rear seat isn't fitting like it should. I may have to modify it and repaint. I took the front buckets back out for room to install the dash. I knocked one of the visors off in that process. I haven't checked to see how it fits. Fingers crossed. 

 

 

Dark gray embossing powder makes pretty nice looking hood insulation too, but I don't think it will help in such tight quarters.

It adds some thickness as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steve

 

[Plowboy]

1 hour ago, slusher said:

Roger did you glue the dryer sheet to the.010 piece?

Yeah. I glued it with Elmer's glue. It worked great. It was just too thick. 

[Plowboy]

8 minutes ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

 

Dark gray embossing powder makes pretty nice looking hood insulation too, but I don't think it will help in such tight quarters.

It adds some thickness as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steve

 

That would possibly work. But, if it didn’t, it would be a pain to get back off.

I tried David's idea and it would have worked. Except when I did the paint method, the area was bigger than my insulation and a different shade of black. No way I want to risk masking and spraying the underside of the hood. That was the whole point of making it a separate piece. So, I'm gonna leave it as is. I'll file that idea away for future use. 

[StevenGuthmiller]

24 minutes ago, Plowboy said:

That would possibly work. But, if it didn’t, it would be a pain to get back off.

I tried David's idea and it would have worked. Except when I did the paint method, the area was bigger than my insulation and a different shade of black. No way I want to risk masking and spraying the underside of the hood. That was the whole point of making it a separate piece. So, I'm gonna leave it as is. I'll file that idea away for future use. 

Actually, if you should decide to try the embossing powder, it's not difficult to remove.

I use slightly thinned Elmer's glue as the adhesive, so just dropping it in a tub with some warm water will have it peeling off in no time.

 

But, as I said, it does add a very small amount of thickness, and from the sound of it, you don't have a lot of room to spare.

 

This is one of those variables that can be very difficult to judge when you begin swapping chassis and engines.

Even after going through all of the mock-up procedures, sometimes tolerances can be so tight that even the thickness of paint in a couple of areas can throw things off enough to the point that the hood won't seat as it should in the end.

It can be pretty frustrating when you find that out at this point of the project.

 

 

 

 

Steve 

[David G.]

Great looking detail under the hood. It's a shame about the fit issues, I hope you can work them into a satisfactory conclusion.

David G.

[Plowboy]

21 hours ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

Actually, if you should decide to try the embossing powder, it's not difficult to remove.

I use slightly thinned Elmer's glue as the adhesive, so just dropping it in a tub with some warm water will have it peeling off in no time.

 

But, as I said, it does add a very small amount of thickness, and from the sound of it, you don't have a lot of room to spare.

 

This is one of those variables that can be very difficult to judge when you begin swapping chassis and engines.

Even after going through all of the mock-up procedures, sometimes tolerances can be so tight that even the thickness of paint in a couple of areas can throw things off enough to the point that the hood won't seat as it should in the end.

It can be pretty frustrating when you find that out at this point of the project.

 

 

 

 

Steve 

I like the dryer sheet method best. It looks just like the hood insulation on a full scale to me. I could still make it work if I were willing to repaint. But, I'm OK with it as is. Especially since the underside of the hood has no other detail anyway. 

I always make sure to allow room for paint on hoods and trunks. I use strips of .010 to check for clearance. If I can place a strip around the perimeter, it's good.

Turns out, my rear seat actually does fit well. So well, that it doesn't need glue. Once the bucket seats were out of the way, I had room to finesse it in much better.

I have all of the engine details finished. All I like is adding the wipers and everything under the hood will be done. I'm going to hit the wipers with some satin or flat clear before I install them. Then I'll get the exhaust done, finish the interior, bumpers, valances and a few other little details and it'll be done!

[Plowboy]

3 hours ago, David G. said:

Great looking detail under the hood. It's a shame about the fit issues, I hope you can work them into a satisfactory conclusion.

David G.

Thanx David! The only real issue was the breather and that was an easy fix. Hopefully, there won't be any more.

[seabiscut88]

Truly amazing 

[Plowboy]

Thanx Colin! I now have all of the engine bay details done!

I also have the interior done! I ended up knocking the other sun visor off. I'll install them last as I'll have to flop it over to do the exhaust. The box of parts is getting pretty empty now!

I'll try to take better photos once it's finished.