1961 Bel Air family project

[1961BelAir427]

Where is it being held? Do you have a web link?

I just noticed the list of toys you have. Nice. My daughter and I put together a 1997 Pontiac Trans Am. 6 speed of course... It's a fun car, much nicer than the '76 TA that I owned back in the early 90's. She will drive the '97 for a few years to finish out high school and then have the '61 for weekends and shows.

http://www.348-409.com/forum/threads/348-409-national-convention-no-2.24450/

Thanks for posting that link Dick! I wasn't have been able to reply earlier.

I have a good time with my "toys" but I'm afraid not a single one of them doesn't show the ravages of time and just being played with. The F-bodies were (are) fun, but I sure wish I hadn't started messing with them at all. I could have done at least a basic restoration on one of the worthy cars if I'd left the late models along. I think some of it was to try to get the kids a little interested in cars. I figure after they think a Camaro or Firebird is cool, then maybe it won't be such a leap to appreciate REAL cars. I sure hope they don't take to ricers!

Your daughter is lucky.....none of my kids are getting my Bel Air before I'm dead. If she takes to the '61 like I did to mine way back then......it'll be in safe hands for decades.

 

[tripower]

Very cool car... Good luck with your build. Looks like someone put a later Impala steering wheel on at some point.

 

[Phil Reed]

Very cool car... Good luck with your build. Looks like someone put a Nova or Chevelle steering wheel on at some point.

Phil Check thinks it's a 64...maybe a Belair.

 

[tripower]

Phil Check thinks it's a 64...maybe a Belair.

Yeah I took a better look.

 

[Tom Kochtanek]

What a great family project, and with long term curation in mind, I like it!

You probably know this already, but that particular body style (1961 Belair Sport Coupe) is very low production, and having a 348 in it is even more rare. There were nine thousand some made (I can look that up) and even fewer had V8s. We don't have any way of knowing just how many had 348s (the other V8 was the 283), but I would venture to guess very few.

Keep us posted as you move along, we can help with advise and encouragement .

Cheers!
TomK

 

[Shake-N-Bake]

Very cool car... Good luck with your build. Looks like someone put a later Impala steering wheel on at some point.

Good eye. He says the steering wheel has been changed a few times over the years. This is the 3rd or 4th steering wheel. I asked him to dig around his storage sheds and see if he can find the original wheel. He never throws anything away so he probably has it somewhere...

 

[Shake-N-Bake]

What a great family project, and with long term curation in mind, I like it!

You probably know this already, but that particular body style (1961 Belair Sport Coupe) is very low production, and having a 348 in it is even more rare. There were nine thousand some made (I can look that up) and even fewer had V8s. We don't have any way of knowing just how many had 348s (the other V8 was the 283), but I would venture to guess very few.

Keep us posted as you move along, we can help with advise and encouragement .

Cheers!
TomK

I didn't know how rare the car is but I am starting to get the idea now. I have a '55 Bel Air (4 door sedan) myself so I am more familiar with the tri-fives and don't really know much about the W engine cars....but I am learning. Seems like Impalas are much more common than Bel Air models, at least in the Sport Coupe model. Back when these cars were new, my dad didn't really fancy the Impalas very much but he liked the Bel Air because it seemed like it had a little less 'bling' (to coin a modern term). He said he wasn't in the market for a new car but when he saw the Bel Air roll in on the train he had to have it. He says there was something about the car that spoke to him and he claimed it immediately. He told the sales manager to set it aside and he would pay for the car when his shift was over. White car, red interior, 348 4 barrel, dual exhaust manual trans (3 on the tree). He later converted it to a floor shifter because he got tired of the shift levers binding up on the column and getting stuck between gears. If you heard the story about how he broke the engine in you would probably cringe. He took it out to a long stretch of road and buried the speedometer. Then on the second day he let the shop have it so they could change the oil, retorque the head bolts and paint the center of the side body trim red to match the interior. It's pretty fun when he gets to talking about that car....lots of great stories.

 

[Shake-N-Bake]

...
Keep us posted as you move along, we can help with advise and encouragement .

Cheers!
TomK

I will try. What usually happens is that I get to knocking down the tasks that I forget to take time to document and post updates. My wife and I are trying to make a stronger effort to document the process with video and photos because she plans on making a video presentation for when we turn the car back over to her dad. He is having serious withdrawals right now. All these years the car has always been close to him....within 200 feet and to have it in a different city is really tough to get used to. He is in Tucson, we live in Mesa AZ.

I don't consider myself to be a restoration pro....more like an enthusiast so I'll take any help and advice that I can get. I've done a few cars before so it will be helpful to have some experience to draw from. I've already taken advantage of some tricks that I learned when I replaced the floor pan on my '55....it seems much easier to replace the pans on the '61 by comparison. I welded in new quarter panels on my brother's '68 GTO convertible several years ago so I am hopeful for a similar experience once I get to that part. I expect some curve balls but that is part of the fun.

My '55 is a complete numbers matching type of restoration....down to the smallest detail. We aren't going that route with the '61. Our plans are to get the car close to the way it was when new with whatever changes he made along the way. Red paint on the body side mouldings, vintage accessory gauges for oil pressure and amp draw, radio fader knob for the rear speaker, shifter on the floor, secret kill switch etc. He added some coil over shocks to the rear to get the rake he likes....I'll probably keep the stance since it looks vintage. I guess we'll see how it rides and make whatever changes necessary.

 

[Shake-N-Bake]

Here is what it looked like after the body was blasted. The hood and hard top was near perfect as well as the body above the side trim line. The truck deck lid was heavily pitted from the rust so I'll probably source a new deck lid from a salvage yard. There seems to be a lot of Bel Air models at the local salvage yards (mostly 4 door cars) but the deck lid appears to be the same so that should work. The rear quarters have some rust spots down low by the ground and both rockers are rusted. Front fenders have some little spots that need to be patched. Overall, not really that bad I guess..
.

 

[Last 60]

Great to see that you are getting the young folks involved, way to go!! I believe your daughter will appreciate and care for it more by being involved in the process. As far as rust, be glad that you are not in Ohio!!

Lonnie

 

[Don Jacks]

You're right Lonnie.In Ohio,that car would have been in showroom condition!

 

[Shake-N-Bake]

Great to see that you are getting the young folks involved, way to go!! I believe your daughter will appreciate and care for it more by being involved in the process. As far as rust, be glad that you are not in Ohio!!

Lonnie

I think you are correct. She is already somewhat protective of the car. Unless something drastic happens, the car will never leave the family. To us it's quite valuable for reasons other than money.

My daughter is in charge of the interior. She and I climbed in there, removed and tagged everything together. When the stuff comes back from Ciadella, she will help me install everything. She installed the interior of her TA all by herself so she is somewhat familiar. This car will be more tricky though so I'll have to help her along. I'll probably do the headliner and windlace and then let her have at the rest. She wants to try her hand at spraying the garnish trim pieces....I'll probably let her give it a go. Worst case is we have to sand and re-spray....not the end of the world if that happens. I'll have plenty of red paint on hand just in case. I have a spray booth at work with a mixing room off to the side so she'll have good equipment to work with....sometimes that is half the battle right there.

Is the Impala interior trim all stainless? The Bel Air garnish pieces are painted same as dash color. Also looks like the Impala has a padded dash....the Bel Air is rigid. Is that correct?

 

[62impala409]

The padded dash was a pretty rare option. I have only seen a few on the '62 Impalas. Never seen one on a '61 Chevy. I did manage to find a dash set about 20 years ago that needs to be recovered. Still undecided if I am going to use them. Leo

 

[61belairbubbletop]

I didn't know how rare the car is but I am starting to get the idea now. I have a '55 Bel Air (4 door sedan) myself so I am more familiar with the tri-fives and don't really know much about the W engine cars....but I am learning. Seems like Impalas are much more common than Bel Air models, at least in the Sport Coupe model. Back when these cars were new, my dad didn't really fancy the Impalas very much but he liked the Bel Air because it seemed like it had a little less 'bling' (to coin a modern term). He said he wasn't in the market for a new car but when he saw the Bel Air roll in on the train he had to have it. He says there was something about the car that spoke to him and he claimed it immediately. He told the sales manager to set it aside and he would pay for the car when his shift was over. White car, red interior, 348 4 barrel, dual exhaust manual trans (3 on the tree). He later converted it to a floor shifter because he got tired of the shift levers binding up on the column and getting stuck between gears. If you heard the story about how he broke the engine in you would probably cringe. He took it out to a long stretch of road and buried the speedometer. Then on the second day he let the shop have it so they could change the oil, retorque the head bolts and paint the center of the side body trim red to match the interior. It's pretty fun when he gets to talking about that car....lots of great stories.

Your dad has good taste in automobile style !

 

[Don Jacks]

Column shifter hanging up?????? Trying to do a little "Speed Shifting" there,Vern???????

 

[tripower]

Is the Impala interior trim all stainless? The Bel Air garnish pieces are painted same as dash color. Also looks like the Impala has a padded dash....the Bel Air is rigid. Is that correct?

The Impala garnish moldings are anodized aluminum. You might what to take another look at the dash color in your car as the dash is always a few shades darker then the garnish moldings. You can get a good match on the garnish molds from the back side and maybe the same on the glove box door. Red may be a exception in the case but I would sure research it before you go to paint. Here are some pics of my Bel Air dash and garnish molds. Also the steering column is the same color as dash but the steering wheel is same as garnish molds. Also the sheen is not a high gloss. See pics.

The padded dash was a pretty rare option. I have only seen a few on the '62 Impalas. Never seen one on a '61 Chevy. I did manage to find a dash set about 20 years ago that needs to be recovered. Still undecided if I am going to use them. Leo

I had two 61' Impalas with padded dashes, both 348 cars.

 

[Shake-N-Bake]

The Impala garnish moldings are anodized aluminum. You might what to take another look at the dash color in your car as the dash is always a few shades darker then the garnish moldings. You can get a good match on the garnish molds from the back side and maybe the same on the glove box door. Red may be a exception in the case but I would sure research it before you go to paint. Here are some pics of my Bel Air dash and garnish molds. Also the steering column is the same color as dash but the steering wheel is same as garnish molds. Also the sheen is not a high gloss. See pics.

Thanks Dan, that is very helpful info. From what I can tell, the red interior was only available in the Sport Coupe model for '61 so the pieces may be the same color....but I will check to be sure. As you can imagine, the Arizona sun has attacked the red paint over the years and it probably looks nothing like the original tone. I did notice the back side of the garnish moldings had a much deeper red tone so I'll use that as a baseline and compare that to something from the dash....glove compartment door is a good suggestion. Steering column would be my next choice since the under dash portion is protected from the UV.

Would you say the sheen is semi-gloss or satin? Your photo looks like the garnish molding and steering wheel is satin while the dash is semi-gloss....but it's really hard to determine from a photo....

Thanks for the pic....now I know what a '61 Bel Air steering wheel looks like. Where did you get the windshield with the tinted band on top? Looks great.

 

[Shake-N-Bake]

...Here are some pics of my Bel Air dash and garnish molds....

One more question...
I can't tell from the photo, is the lower windshield garnish painted same color as the dash or does it match the lighter color of the A-pillar moldings?

 

[tripower]

One more question...
I can't tell from the photo, is the lower windshield garnish painted same color as the dash or does it match the lighter color of the A-pillar moldings?

Lower windshield garnish molds are same color as dash. The sheen on my dash is same as garnish molds. I used PPG Duracryl Lacquer with no clear and did a hand rub for a semi gloss sheen. The steering wheel has gloss if your don't gloss the wheel the paint will wear off. My car has EZI Glass which means it has shaded tinted windshield. I was lucky and found a NOS LOF windshield locally.
Here is a color chart and it looks like there is only one red. http://www.oldride.com/library/1961_chevrolet_impala.html

 

[boxerdog]

My Belair sedan has all of the moldings plus the dash painted the same color and sheen, the same color as Dan's garnish moldings. I don't think anything has ever been painted, they appear to be an original lacquer semi-gloss finish. I just waxed everything up and I was done. I think it must be the medium fawn metallic???