1968 IMPALA FAST BACK "TEXAS TOAST" - quick project lol

[RosharonRooster]

I mentioned this car in another post and had some feedback and interest in seeing the progress on this car. Here is the back story on the car. My buddy bought this car in about 2006. drove it a year or 2, and parked it and it sat ever since then. He came over for a cook out one weekend and we got to talking about the car and he said its kind of in the way, it could go. I personally at the time wasnt a fan of fast backs, but we got to talking and i thought it would be a great project for another mutual friend of ours. long story short, in about a weeks time, we were at his house loading it up. This car was an extremely solid project to start, with all original sheet metal and no rust anywhere other than a small spot on the hood. my friend bought the car with the intentions of a paint job. some seat cover refresh, get the 327 running again and drive it. once he brought it over, all of that was out the window and it turned into a full blown frame off build. here is the car when it first came over.

 

[RosharonRooster]

we started tearing into the car the engine and transmission went to scrap. gutted all the interior. the body at one point had the side molding holes welded up and it resulted in the doors and fenders and quarters being wavy. as you can see in one picture i took a block and 180 to the car and you can see the low spots in areas where there would have been trim clip holes

 

[RosharonRooster]

without his approval i took the car off the frame for him. lol. put it on a body cart and we then shaved the firewall. deleted the wiper motor and all the heater stuff.

 

[RosharonRooster]

one of the things that isnt done very often in a fast back is, installing a moon roof. the 80-89 lincoln town cars and other model lincolns have a 44 inch moonroof which is the biggest moon roof every produced to my knowledge. another friend of ours scored one of those cars with a factory moon roof, so we gutted the roof and sold the car to someone for parts. before selling the car, my friend made a metal jig or dolly out of the contour of the lincoln roof skin. with this home made tool, we could hammer form the roof opening for maximum strength just like the factory and minimal body work.

 

[RosharonRooster]

once that was done, we DA the entire car with 180 grit and got it in 2 coats of spi epoxy to start a foundation. did our filler work. if i recall, we ended up spraying the quarters and doors in super build poly primer. and continued blocking. then we used SPI 2k primer and hit that with 400 wet then we were ready for color. My friend opted for 1968 GM butter nut yellow and black interior. excellent choice IMO.

 

[RosharonRooster]

after the round of 2k primer and before the 400 grit, we got the belly, and trunk in tinted raptor liner. these floors cleaned up really nice and are all original, no patch panels .

 

[RosharonRooster]

once the car was painted it was ready to go onto the chassis. we broke down the whole chassis and rebuilt all the suspension with new bushings, ball joints, brake lines and fuel lines. CPP 500 gear box, front disc brake kit, and the rear end was narrowed 1.25 inch on each side to run the reverse wheels and clear rear skirts. my friend opted for an LS motor, with a 4L60, and an LS1 intake. CVF pulley kit. This paint job and seat cover refresh got out of hand

 

[RosharonRooster]

back on the frame. I have a friend in missouri that is an expert in the 44 inch moonroof department. he makes metal covers that go on over the glass. so we got one of those from him.

 

[RosharonRooster]

once the car was assemble, i towed it back to his house. he then had the seats recovered in a black seat cover kit, new door panels, dash pad was recovered. new carpet etc.

 

[RosharonRooster]

fast foward, about 2 years since the car first came to my place, and now, its back. the car now runs, and moves on its own. it doesnt quite drive because it doesnt have any exhaust. next weekend we plan to install an exhaust kit he bought so it can finally go for a test drive. it starts, runs, moves and stops on its own power. it also has a digital dash that appears to be functioning as well.

 

[RosharonRooster]

while its here its getting a custom hydraulic setup. this is where the fun is for me. i love to work in the trunk and come up with things. but this isnt a 1 man show. its a 4 man team i have over here. next weekend the bolt in removeable rack should be done and ready for powder coat, paint, or if we are lucky, chrome! this is where this project is now. up to date.

 

[123pugsy]

Man, that is a nice body to start with.
Cool project.

 

[RosharonRooster]

Some contraptions we whipped up today. Going to powder coat this week.

 

[RosharonRooster]

Racks are back from powdercoat and got the batteries in there and wired up. Objective is to hide as much of the wiring and cables as possible. Painted the batteries with free knowledge I gained from this forum.

 

[RosharonRooster]

Next weekend should have the pump assembly plumbed up!!

 

[1A Rock]

Next weekend should have the pump assembly plumbed up!!

Dang! what kind of power does it take to run the pump that it needs so many amps? Looks like you have 5000+

 

[RosharonRooster]

the motors are 12v. at minimum u need atleast 2 batteries to lift the car. this setup is going 72v. which is kind of a standard. a basic setup usually is 48v. this one is 72v, 3 starter style solenoids per motor. if you run too little voltage sometimes the solenoids can stick and the motor takes off on you and could cause problems. this ground disconnect is under the seat on this car.

 

[RosharonRooster]

Got the pump assembly mocked up. Going to plumb it up in the next couple days or so

 

[1A Rock]

the motors are 12v. at minimum u need atleast 2 batteries to lift the car. this setup is going 72v. which is kind of a standard. a basic setup usually is 48v. this one is 72v, 3 starter style solenoids per motor. if you run too little voltage sometimes the solenoids can stick and the motor takes off on you and could cause problems. this ground disconnect is under the seat on this car.

Is there a battery for the regular electronics or do you steal from one of these?

 

[RosharonRooster]

Is there a battery for the regular electronics or do you steal from one of these?

No. There's a battery under the hood