I’ve been hard at work replacing the floor pans in my 64 Impala, and shot video of the whole thing. So far I’ve got 2 hours of floor pan replacement shots that catch plenty of detail on how to get the job done.

I spent a fair amount of time capturing the details on how I dealt with most of the challenges. Some of them I expected to run into and some I didn’t . I’m not going to spill the beans just yet. When I’m done with the post production stuff, I’ll put some small segments on the website but I’m reserving the big stuff for a DVD I’ll be soming out with in the fall.

I put a lot of thought into trying to make sure I didn’t use tools in the process of doing the floor pan replacement that would be a great cost to the average person. After all, the idea here is to demonstrate how anyone can do a good job without a lot of expensive tools and equipment. This meant that I took more time getting the floor pan replacement done since I resisted the urge to pull out the air tools and the torches.

I also made use of a few techniques I picked up from some of the metal shaping video DVD’s as well. It’s nothing difficult, and I explain what I’m doing as I work the metal.

Here’s a snippet that’ll play in Windows Media Player.

Stay tuned this fall.

In the mean time, if you’re planning on doing a floor pan replacement yourself, you can check out the Metal Shaping DVD’s by clicking on one of the Fournier Tools banners or the Smartflix DVD rental page on the main Impala Project website. You’ll pickup some useful skills.

Click Here!

I’m no expert. What you’ll see in the upcoming floor pan replacement DVD when it’s done will show you what I did on my first try after watching the Metal Shaping DVD’s.

Carl

Spring is here and so is spring cleaning. Part of spring cleaning is getting to those piles of junk in the basement or the garage, and along with that comes the great deals you’ll find on Craigslist when people decide to unload that box of 64 Impala parts they’ve been hangin onto.

This past Monday I found the mother load of new chevy restoration parts on Craiglist.

A guy in Richmond Virginia was selling a huge list of new chevy restoration parts left over from a 64 impala restoration project they sold the year before.

I live in Baltimore. You’d think I spent hours on Craigslist but I really don’t. I spend about an hour a week.

If you want to know how I can search Craigslist across the entire country and not spend all week doing it sign up for the Impala Project Newsletter on the left. You’ll get a free Ebook as well.

So back to the list of Chevy restoration parts. Here’s a snippet of the craigslist ad with the prices he was asking:

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• Front parking light lens, GM restoration parts. $30.00
• Cross flags emblem (Pair) Genuine GM in box. 25.00
• Door handle and gas tank crome trim. Not sure if new or used but VERY nice. 25.00
• Horn ring button. GM restoration part 30.00
• 1/4 panel “Impala” letters. reproduction. 35.00 (both sides)
• 1/4 panel “Impala” letters. Original GM 60.00 (both sides)
• Rubber bumper set (doors, hood, glove box etc. reproduction 20.00
• Quarter window rubber vertical seal. 35.00 for pair
• New seat belts (front) lt blue with hardware 40.00 for pair
• complete set of moulding clips for SS restoration parts. 75.00
• Rear body seal 15.00
• Door weather strip and moulded end (hardtop and Conv.) 45.00
• V-jam Rubber seals 25.00 pair
• Roof rail weather strip for hard top (Fits 63-64 Chevy, Olds, Pontiac and Buick) 75.00
• 63-64 Impala, Chevelle, Nova side view “Bowtie” mirror. Have a Pair 35.00 ea.
• 63-64 Lower Steering Column seal 12.00
• 64 Impala lock set. Ign. door, trunk console and glove box. 45.00
• Console shift indicator bezel for powerglide. 20.00
• turn signal lever 10.00
• Windshield washer bottle and bracket 30.00
• License Panel clips 15.00
• “SS” badges 50.00 for pair new reproduction.
• 64 Impala tissue dispenser (complete with mounting braket) 75.00
• “Impala SS” trunk emblem GM restoration part 55.00
• 61-64 chevy assemble manual 30.00

ALL items are listed as OR BEST OFFER, If you want it and price is not right I will MAKE it right. Will all Accept Fair offer for everything.
Owner would rather have cash in hand than parts in box for car she does not own!!!!!!
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If you feel like doing the math it adds up to roughly $880, and these prices are less than the full retail prices. Check `em out if you want to. They quickly add up to well over $1000 at full retail price.

He was asking only $500 for the whole thing!!

chevy restoration parts

chevy restoration parts 2

chevy restoration parts 3

I’m no dummy. I wasn’t about to wait for this deal to disappear. I left right from work the next day and headed straight to Richmond.

It was a good deal. I got them for less than half price.

There’s plenty of deals on chevy restoration parts out there on Craigslist right now. If you’re in the market you just have to find them but they’re only a good deal if you don’t have to spend hours looking.

Sign up for the newsletter series and find out how I did it.

Friday in Carlisle, PA was promising to be a beautiful day, 70 degrees and sunny. I had to take the day off to go since rain was in store for Saturday and Sunday.

The line down the west bound side of I-76 leading up to the Carlisle exit was over 2 miles long. This is the first time in years I’ve had to sit in a line that long so I was anticipating the grounds were going to be packed with people.

I was right. The place was jammed. Every year I usually park at the house on the corner of Cavalry rd and Cavalry st, but this year they were sold out. I had to park an extra block away from the entrance in someones driveway who was all too excited to take my $5 to park for the day.

Even though I left Baltimore at 7:30 Am, I still didn’t walk thru the gates at Carlisle till 11:20AM.

The crowd was thick with the usual classic car guys, as well as girlfriends and kids. You usually see girlfriends on Saturdays tagging along with their boyfriends looking or hubcaps, fuzzy dice, and chrome valve covers.

There were a lot of cars for sale this year. Far more than there were last year. In fact it looked like an ocean of classic cars for sale, and project cars too. I don’t think anyone was there to blow off their cars if the price tags were any indication.

Classic cars for sale

Classic cars for sale

Classic cars for sale

I saw a couple of 55 Chevy project cars for sale. One was mostly a shell claiming to be a rust free California car going for $5000 with a sold sign on it,  and the other was a “barn find” they were asking $16,500 for. Apparently the barn find was drivable.

My mission this time wasn’t parts. I was looking for tools, mostly metal shaping tools. I found a lot of small hammers that would be perfect for work in confined spaces or for working on trim. They were so cheap I can grind any shape I want on them to suit the job at hand, and not feel like I was destroying an expensive body working hammer.

I got the idea from watching one of the video rentals from Smartflix called Metal working basics: Hand tools where Ron Fournier was showing the different hammers he used for different types of metal shaping work. This is a beginners DVD, you won’t find much advanced information in this but it’s a great primer for anyone wanting to equip themselves to get started.

So at the end of the day, I’d spent $260 on tools, 64 Impala show room sales literature ( in really good shape), and an intake manifold, and of course food and gas.

The sun burn was free.