'60 Chevrolet Impala HT

[Impala60]

I've been smoothing out that co-driver's side where needed with small amounts of Bondo and it's coming along pretty good. Meanwhile I thought I'd replace rear brake shoes. I bought Raybestos' brake shoe kit and installed the new parts on place. Surprisingly, those rear brakes were in really good condition so I believe they would have been just fine for a long time. But while front brakes had to be changed, I thought maybe I should replace these too. Maybe I should say that my dad had installed these old brakes on place in autumn of 1988 and brake drums had not been opened ever since.

Here's a Before & After pic':

So as I said, the front brakes were in need of new brake shoes. The old ones were completely dead and those "rivets" had made already a couple of scratches to the drums. But luckily those scratches are so minor that they don't matter the functionality and those drums can still be used. But as I said, shoes could not be used anymore...

On that Raybestos' set, there comes everything you'll need to swap these brake shoes. Those two upper springs that keep brake shoes on place were wrong shape though. Here in this picture, that upper bend is bent wrong way (Compare it to the black, old spring) and these springs did not stay on their place. Luckily I could reuse those old springs after cleanup.

Here is a picture of new front brakes:

 

[LMBRJQ 60]

Looking good,
I have done temp repairs and revisited them later (just dont leave it too long) ask me why!!!!

Just trying to read your paper there in the last picture

I might need new glasses as the letters are all muddled up

Keep up the good work.

Steve

 

[nomad59NZ]

Excellent thread, you are doing extremely well, good on you. You are certainly on the write sight for help and ideas.

Look forward to further updates.

Gav

 

[Impala60]

Thank You, both!

Reading that paper might be a bit challenging for sure. Even if you saw the letters well, Finnish language would probably cause some minor trouble if you're not familiar with it.

I've been doing lots of smoothing and sanding to get those rear quarter panels smooth. Now it's finally starting to look like I can spray a light coat of spray filler or Primer on them soon to check if there still are areas where more filling / sanding is needed:

But it's not actually a lot of fun to sand this spot :

Brake drums are painted and installed too. Now there will be no dust going to the brakes...

 

[Fathead Racing]

I started work on my 60 in 1990. I had hours and hours of satisfying work. I don't think I would want to do it again but I sure loved it then. You'll have lots to be proud of when your finished and showing and driving the Big Impala. Good job.

 

[Impala60]

Thanks! I like working on this as well, but of course I'm waiting for the day when I can go cruisin' around with this one. I bet it's fun to remember after 20 years that "This is what I did back then".

This evening I was able to spray a light coat of spray filler on driver's side rear quarter panel. That's good stuff as it smooths out the tiniest flaws and shows bigger flaws so they're easier to see. So far it looks pretty good, a couple of spots need minor sanding but there's nothing critical. Tomorrow morning I need to check it better though when the paint fumes have disappeared...

Soon I should be able to do this to the co-driver's side also...

 

[boxerdog]

That kind of persistence is paying off!! Nice work!!

 

[LMBRJQ 60]

Looking good,

Steve

 

[Shake-N-Bake]

...
But it's not actually a lot of fun to sand this spot :

...

I know what you mean. I struggled with that area as well. What worked for me was a Black and Decker multi tool with the sanding attachment. It worked great to rough out the filler and then I hand sanded the rest. It worked real nice....wish I had thought of that idea sooner.

 

[Impala60]

Thanks!

I know what you mean. I struggled with that area as well. What worked for me was a Black and Decker multi tool with the sanding attachment. It worked great to rough out the filler and then I hand sanded the rest. It worked real nice....wish I had thought of that idea sooner.

Yep, I used a Dremel at first when I was doing the rough sanding and then I hand sanded the rest, too. Now when I have added only a minor amount of Bondo as it's starting to be smooth, it's a lot more comfortable to sand it as there's very little Bondo to be sanded.

After a couple rounds of Bondo and more sanding, the co-driver's side looked pretty smooth so I decided to spray a light coat of spray filler on there, too. So far it looks pretty good, but I can't say it for sure until I see it dry tomorrow...

Driver's side looked pretty good after that spray filler, but there were a couple of minor problems that needed fixing. Mostly they were minor "holes" that filled up easily with very little Bondo and light sanding. Here in these two pics I have wetsanded that whole area and it looks pretty good now. Tomorrow my plan is to spray a coat of Primer on it and if everything looks good, I believe it's time to fire up my Chevy Van and drive to the nearest paint shop to buy some paint...

I ordered new tires for this, too. 215/75/15 Whitewalls to front and black 255/70/15 to back.

 

[Fathead Racing]

At the same age, your light years ahead of where I was. Your on your way for years of enjoyment in the hot rodding hobby. If you find the right partner, hold on!

 

[skipxt4]

Lookin Good

 

[Jeff Olson]

Reading that paper might be a bit challenging for sure. Even if you saw the letters well, Finnish language would probably cause some minor trouble if you're not familiar with it.[/QUOTE]

Only Finnish word I can remember as a child (excuse spelling, I am using hooked on phonics here) is gluenuppie. Which I remember was getting a whack on the head with my grandpa's middle finger. Hard to explain, but he held his middle finger with his thumb and let 'er fly. Got my attention.

 

[boxerdog]

At the same age, your light years ahead of where I was. Your on your way for years of enjoyment in the hot ridding hobby. If you find the right partner, hold on!

Fathead said it all. You are doing a great job, and your English is better than some of my friends!!

 

[1961BelAir427]

Fathead said it all. You are doing a great job, and your English is better than some of my friends!!

 

[Donny Hammond]

fgreat job and just keep busting away at that as you are way further along than most of at that at that age and your English is Great.....Donny

 

[Impala60]

Thanks guys, I highly appreciate your kind words!

I've been busy on working with this car, plus that I spent Friday night at a Rock 'n' Roll gig as an excellent Finnish band was performing there so I haven't been able to check in much on last few days.

Anyway after last pics I sprayed a bit more Primer on driver's side and after fixing a couple of minor errors I thought it was ready for final Primer coat. Same thing on co-driver's side, it needed only minor filling. Then I masked off areas that I don't want to paint. Big thanks to my dad's workmate who lent that brown masking paper as my own ran on out when masking a '74 Chevelle Stocker a couple of years ago.

Then I shot some Primer on both sides and I'm really happy how it looks...Very smooth. Now I'll let it dry for a while and then I will shoot some paint on those parts.

My front tires arrived today as well. As I said earlier, they're 225/75/15 Radial white walls. Just tall enough.

 

[Jim Sullivan]

Great job, can't wait to see it painted!

 

[Impala60]

Thanks Jim!

I can't wait to see it either. My paints should be ready on Thursday as I went to a paint shop yesterday with a piece of that old quarter panel that still had paint on it. The guy didn't find an exact match color so he decided to make one and on Thursday it should be ready. I can't wait!

 

[1961BelAir427]

My old car needs all of that done. If you decide you want to visit the southeastern U.S. for awhile I could fix you up with room & board.