64 Chevy Impala Lowrider...

This is a 1964 2 door hard top Chevy Impala belonging to Jonny Smith and it's getting the full Lowrider treatment... not only will it be capable of some fancy gravity defying up and down stuff, it will also be built to show standard with more bling than a lottery winning chav(innit!) so as you can imagine it's gotta be strong... very strong! you dont want that big buck metal flake paint work flexing and cracking up because the chassis is twisting as she three wheels past Central night club do you now? :shock:

So how do you strengthen a X-frame Impala chassis? just wrap it in 6mm steel sheet of course... easy as that :|

Jonny has rented space and use of equipment in my workshop and employed Rocky(Lowrider builder and metalwork expert) to carry out all the mods on the chassis to take the full Hydraulic suspension system.

Here's the car as Jonny got it, a semi stripped project with some parts missing but not a lot of rust and rot at all which is a big bonus.



Stripped bare of almost every part and most of it's paint...



here's the chassis pretty much as it left the factory but 40+ years on



Previously someone had started to do the chassis 'wrap' with the 6mm steel but they hadn't seem welded all the original chassis seams and there were gaps upto 5mm between the plate and the chassis so it all had to come off again! it wasn't as big a job as Rocky feared as it had only been tacked to the chassis in far too few places to add a lot of strength at all...



after the badly fitted plates had been removed Rocky seem welded the whole chassis(only stitch welded from factory) to give it extra strength from the start. then cleaned it all back to that he could get every bit of plating to fit against the chassis so it will fit back under the car just as it should...





Rocky at work cutting through the 6mm steel with a plasma cutter... like a knife through butter...best thing since sliced bread i reckon



the next 2 shots show how close Rocky has got the plate against the chassis, it touches all the way! this is no 10 minute job, especially when you consider the curves and twists the chassis legs have, plus the fact bending 6mm plate is not easy!





Here is the centre section fully plated, a small gap is left and the edges of the steel shamfered( :?: ) first the whole plate sections will be tacked through the gap and then when the whole chassis is plated it will be carefully seem welded to the chassis corner... this bitch will not twist or flex!



Every body mount, hand brake bracket etc has to be cut off, cut down by 6mm then remounted in exactly the same place...



The front cross member has at some time in it's life taken a hard hit, luckily ity has not affected the steering/suspensio geometry but it's a very strong section and had to be cut apart to straighten







That's pretty much up to date, i will try and keep on top of it from now on, as you can imagine this has taken many many hours already and will probably take the same amount again before its ready to start mounting the hydraulic rams etc!

good work Rocky! :cheers:

Blimey charlie! i wouldn`t want to have to push that to start it. Is it longer than the Buick Tim? The chassis and plating look heavier than my bus. And no sign of westwood, which is nice.

Front crossmember is looking straighter not that you can see the original one anymore



another shot of the chassis rail armory...



This is the start of the front upper spring cup reinforcement, seeing as this is where the top of the ram will be mounted it's gotta really strong!

max last wrote:

Blimey charlie! i wouldn`t want to have to push that to start it. Is it longer than the Buick Tim? The chassis and plating look heavier than my bus. And no sign of westwood, which is nice.

I'd like to see anyone try and push start it... it's an auto

i think it maybe 6" or so longer than the Buick...

Would that be local boy Jonny Smith of Fifth Gear fame?

Tis the very same Jonny smith self aclaimed car pervert...

Haha. I heard that Tom Ford fellow had a pontiac lowrider?

Must be a fifth gear thing.

This is Tom's, it's in a container he rents of my workshop landlord the same yard...







http://www.lowriderforums.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1154&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

Bit of a lowrider fan myself

Any progress pics to post on this most marvell-arse piece of chassis artistry sir Glover? I have to say that although it's making me broke I do like to see that sexy X-frame. This week is time for metal flake and POR15, yeah? :pirat:

keep us up to speed on this one Tim a friend of mine , mark at infinty limos in wakefield got one , does the shows with it and also registered it for private hire (not sure if restricted psv) so he can take kids to their school proms in it , he had a lot of calls for it

Super craig - has your mate got a 64 on juice or another car?

marks cars a 65 and can be veiwed at www.lowriderhire.co.uk

Chassis as of tonight! Grey POR15 rust killing hammer-proof paint first then white 2K top coat followed by lacquer and a healthy portion of gold flake...

top job that , im looking forward to seeing more pics when its finished . will it be ready for the nasc nats in ipswich ?

Not sure to be honest. I am getting hitched in July and wanna finish it for then but it's gonna be doubtful. Got lots to do, as you can probably see...


:pirat:

this chassis has physically ruined me over the last couple of days

You may be ruined Tim but your talent excells you>

wow that looks the bollocks
good job matie

wow what a finish that looks ace

wow :shock:

woops, somebody spilt glitter on it

Chrome front disc brake conversion kit and steering box on its way from the USA :o

Then it's just a matter of urethane bushes, finishing the reinforced A-arms, the back axle and brake lines/drums/shoes!

its going to be well nice when its finished

For anyone who was waiting for pics, the waiting is over. Paint done. Gold leaf and pin stripe done. 28 litres of primer/paint/lacquer. We got the paint matched in the end with Chevy Granada Gold Champagne. Ermine white roof. Neil Melliard from Prosign did a really top job with the gold leaf and the paint is really slick. Top coated over stone chip underneath. Oh, and the wrapped frame fitted no problem (thank f*ck).




















As of tomorrow it leaves the paint shop in Dorset and then heads north to Wolverhampton where Andy Frost (the man with the fastest street legal car on pump gas - www.redvictor1.co.uk) is fitting a 350 V8, modded TH400 and then rebuilding and reinforcing the back axle. Not sure whether to use sheet metal or bar for the back axle yet. Any suggestions?