Tearing Apart a '61 Chevy Impala Before Giving It a New Personality - MuscleCar S3, E8

today on muscle car in with the old out with the new will show you our plans for the seemingly wasted piece of history and the correct way to tear one apart plus the return of the bandit and some serious tires friend [Music] no one knows how long the sixth win of Paul has been arrested and peace out in the field before we rescued it this thing's been laying around here for almost two years now the more we looked at it the more we tried to avoid it this is not an easy or quick project it's kind of like a marriage there's some mental preparation you got to do well we all got our tetanus shots we finally manned up enough to actually tackle this project Mike's not doing anything today and we could really use extra manpower besides I hear he's got a knack for ripping stuff apart yeah this is a pretty rare car too so we're going to show you how to take your time pulling it apart and salvage every piece you can now that's important because these two-door sedans where they were only made in 61 so there's not many of them left out there Chevy was pushing the convertibles in the Super Sport model with the choice of 305 340 and 350 horse engines and the optional power glide the sport tube or bubble top as it was called was also popular in 61 the smooth comfortable ride from the four coil springs hope make them disappear from the showroom floors so we're not gonna let this one disappear bottom line it may not have been a popular platform but just like a plain Jane LeMans in our bug it's still worth saving it's just screaming for a new personality and that's exactly what she's gonna get the body trim and interior will stay true to the original car but the rest hits in for a lot of change a new stance from extensive frame work bags many tubs and wheels plus a strokes modernized 409 and a four-speed it's gonna live up to the new name red sled now I know it may not look like it but there's still a lot worth saving on this car so the first thing we want to do is give it a good once-over just to see what we've got I think you're gonna need a truck man yeah I'd say you're right it's got some good doors on it some of its pretty bad when you can take pieces of floor out by hand we need that that's not oh sorry mr. Hitler bizzle here's the other side sweet all right realistically what the car needs floor pans lower rear quarters trunk pan some of the glass in the car front left and right fender I don't think the car is that bad you don't know polish it out it'll buff out now we know we'll be replacing a lot of these parts but it doesn't hurt to keep track of everything well will reassembling it'll make it easier to figure out what hardware is needed with the old carpet out of the way we got a good look at our floor pans right down to the floor oh there's a good shot of the frame when they're this bad odds are we'll need to replace the bracing as well but we'll get a better look once we get it up on the lift seats are next and more rust means more work the back side of the bolt is rusted off there's no way that's gonna come out gonna cut the granite hit ah yeah sometimes access is limited so you have to get creative and use whatever you can to get the job done this is a pretty important piece to save finding a replacement could cost lots of time and money well at least we got one good usable part out of this thing it ain't in the greatest shape but at least we can use it rebuild it I'd hate to have to track down another one of these suckers Tim looks good so yeah I mean posted turnout reuse it treatments good the back seat up there's 47 years of funk on this floor so we're feeding it to the shot back before we go any further to make seat removal easier the arm breasts are coming out first have better panty monopoly money or something from the early days there I say early day some of you watching might know exactly where that came from 1943 quarters well it really is holy tell command I found a 1941 nickel figure 20 21 year old kids riding around buying beer and stuff dropping changing the back seat that's very cool these panels may look like trash but they can be used as templates for the upholsterer to make new ones window glass and regulators are also parts we need to keep track of at least until we know whether we'll be able to find replacements removing trim can be a time-consuming effort not to mention a headache it pays to be careful and not damage it since most of this will be going to the plating shop to be reused one easy way to keep track of small hardware and tick off your wife at the same time is to get all the ziplock bags from your kitchen and label everything these taillights are garbage but we are plans for replacing these some know words now the front bumper button gave us nothing but problems hopefully the rear is gonna be easing up we're stuck next off are the deck lid and hood and since there's very little rust on these they will definitely be reused the damage of the front end could mean we have a bent frame but once the front clip is off we can get a better look at the damage great look that frame rail and that bent if at all actually it doesn't look bad all right Rick the left front fender is obviously not usable it needs a core support battery box pretty much a whole front clip do you think you can save anything good I got to be honest with you man I I really thought we'd have more usable parts on this thing than this this is this is pretty bad so this is gonna require some some research on the internet and tracking some stuff down there's no way around it but anyway so let's let this thing sit for now let's get the doors pulled off let's do it we lucked out on the doors no problems get knees off and the cow looks pretty good too so it's going in the keeper pile we need to be careful with the back glass since this is a unique design we may not be able to replace it the best way to make sure it isn't damaged is to get the trim off first same with the windshield since the rubber as hard as a rock will remove it and the glass should lift right out a few more pieces we're almost ready to raise the body off of the frame grant went a couple of rounds with the rear bumper but it didn't want to cooperate you get frustrated with a tough piece sometimes it's best here are some of the parts we pulled off of the car that we might be able to reuse like this front bumper that we're actually going to have a little fun with before we send it to the chrome reap laters the front headlight bezels are the same way unless we can find new reproduction pieces they Cal all we got to do with that is blast it and repaint it now a steering column here is actually in really nice shape but since we're going to go with a four-speed we can't use it but we will find it another good home some other parts just flat-out aren't salvageable like this lower window frame here stuff like this can be really hard to come by so we're gonna take a little break I'm gonna go jump online see what I can come up with red sled comes apart and the LeMans comes together after the break [Music] I didn't have any luck in my internet search for this quarter window frame so we're gonna go ahead and put this thing up on the rock and get the body pulled off now we could use jack stands but since we got the lift we're gonna take advantage of it with the amount of rust on the underside of this thing we thought getting these bolts I was gonna be tough but they actually came out surprisingly easy and because I'm Paul of these X frames all the body mounts are on the firewall and behind the axle nothing in the middle that buddy mounts not even connected the gas tank comes out next a few spins of the cutoff wheel and we're in business watch out for all that 40 year old falling Punk now with all the bolts out we can lower it down reposition the lift arms out to the body and lift it right off so here it is the backbone of red sled we're gonna measure the frame to make sure it's square but the rest of its going back to the recycler the coils are gonna get replaced with airbags for this 283 this thing's get jumped for that stroked and poked 409 but the body looks like something you'd use to strain your spaghetti now we got a lot of work ahead of us some of these panels well they're just not available so some fabrications gonna be in order but before we can see what we really got bodies gonna have to get blasted so we're gonna put it on a rotisserie and get it out of the shop right motor and train is gonna come out first to lighten the load get this chassis a little easier to work with a 40 plus year old fluid well that's some pretty nasty stuff and unfortunately our two-speed Glide well it didn't come with a drain plug so there's no good way to avoid a mess well Mike had to head back down to horsepower and after seeing all the work we got ahead of us on old red sled we really needed a reminder that all this hard work will eventually pay off so today we're gonna finish up the LeMans take her out for a cruise now the last time he saw it we were almost ready to get the body panels on but first comes the glass Dante the glass man came by to give us a hand because he knows more about glass installation than anyone else around here the trim retainer clips go in first then he puts on primer to help the bonding he lays in to beat a urethane adhesive then carefully places the glass now once it's in place the trim pops right into the clips the doors go on next the alignment holes we drilled make it a breeze to get them on straight it's sure to attach the inner fenders before put the fenders in place the cowl grille repot bumpers went on then we finish the doors out with the handles trim or refurbished regulators and finally glass next came tail lights headlights turn signals the hinges hood and latches went on hidden we dropped in a hood tack for that signature Pontiac look the deck lid was the last body panel to go on and the trend finished it off but before we can hit the streets Brent how to take care of one little problem rear wheel clearance because we used aftermarket quarter skins some trimming was in order to keep them slicing up on VFT tires after taping up the edges to protect the paint a cut off wheel slices off at ten strip of metal some grinding smooths off the edges and some holes are drilled for the welds that will reattach the inner fender [Music] the welds are ground down sand it off and once the paint spotted in she'll be ready to ride our project LeMans had a budget now she's all done we can do the math add it up and see how close we came to our target speaking of numbers we're kind of curious what this thing is so forth so we're gonna call in an expert right after the break o-negs the bed that is back ready to roll into your garage today on flashback a year one bandit Trans Am you probably see in a few year one car is rolling around on the big screen lately but for the year one team present-day cinema is not enough a check this baby out year one's restomod version of the 1977 Trans Ams II will just made famous by the movie Smokey and the Bandit the package that we came up with really is subtle but makes a pretty big difference again it's really just bringing it up to date more than anything else the minor details are pretty trick with input from Burt Reynolds the bird on the hood was redone to be a little bigger but uses less gold and instead of a decal it's hand painted the same goes for the pinstripes the theme continues into the eighteen by twelve snowflake wheels and up front the honeycomb grille that was once blocked out is now painted to match the rest of the accents the original four square headlights have been transformed into to modern sealed units and the taillights have been brought up to date with a series of blinding LEDs the rear glass was reworked and the front glass was made to mount flush with the rest of the car and don't forget the t-tops the epitome of 70s cool the Bandit stance has been lowered for more aggressive profile but the body lines have been left alone shaker hood side scoops and rear spoiler well they're all original hey why mess with perfection inside the gauge cluster door panels and bandit logo were all custom made just for this project and a five-point harness holds the driver and the performance leather seats that are just waiting for Sally Field individual cues when you're in the driver's seat our 77 Trans Am the feel of the car however is completely different as it should be a seven liter LS seven is what drives this bandit modified heads an upgraded can crank out six hundred and five horsepower a five-speed gearbox and twelve Bulwer and get it all out to the road a set of 14-inch rotors and six piston Baer brakes bring it all to a halt a custom fab three inch exhaust keeps the ls7 breathin right and the Magnaflow mufflers let everyone around enjoy all those ponies just as much as the driver the original front subframe has been replaced with a tubular aftermarket clip along with tubular upper and lower control arms full the adjustable coil over shocks front and rear and a four link Outback bring this cars handling and Road gripping ability to the next level from a performance standpoint the cars are really phenomenal that we knew that since we're gonna build this series of cars and a car that we wanted to drive and enjoy performance had to be a big part of it now if you're a die-hard Smokey and the Bandit fan or if you just want to get your hands on the oats and the Pontiac your one is building them to order with three different levels to choose from you're sure to find one to make your getaway in stick around we got more muscle car after the break coming up the LeMans gets its day in the Sun you after hundreds of hours of work our project budget Lamont is finally ready to hit the street but before we can cruise it we need to get insurance on it just because we're big TV people doesn't mean we can get away without it so I'm bringing in a guy here Barry Potts he's gonna come in and give us a hand I'm a cranberry doing good he's a professional appraiser his job is to come out and tell us what different things are worth he analyzes every physical aspect of a car from engine and interior to paint even upgrades but it doesn't end there a lot of research goes into finding the value of a car so don't expect to get an on-the-spot estimate so you said that we can expect an appraisal back in a few days yes so wonderful well let me get you all the paperwork and receipts and stuff that you request and then we'll get you good job let's go it's finally time for me and Brent to give our own appraisal of the LeMans and nothing but good old pedal-to-the-metal testing that's gonna tell us what we really want to know hit a man so he hit the streets it's the first time the girls seen daylight since her carcass was hauled into the shop almost a year ago it's a great feeling when all the hard work finally pays off I'm gonna kick it over how smooth it runs yeah we were both itching for some seat time first dent we put in it put the one under the gas pedal feels like every Philip nostoc 3:26 ever pulled like this purrs like a kitten going down the highway man and with a little finessing of the clutch now those bf G's didn't stand a chance now that was fun but for real monster burnouts nothing beats a line line [Music] we're running out of daylight and rubber but we managed to squeeze in just a little more destruction three days later well we got our appraisal back and it's got everything in here that you're going to need to get an accurate insurance policy written on your ride it's got pictures documents whatever they might require now Barry's set the value of our LeMans here at twenty four or five which is great because our budget was twenty three five and we actually even came in a little bit below that so we're looking great and I got to tell you we took this thing out and beat the tar out of it for like eight hours straight and the only thing that's worse for we're just poor tires back here they're looking a little ragged but hey that's what building muscle cars is all about man so we got the LeMans done and we got to move on to our next project so for now we're out of here

Channel: POWERNATION

Views: 1,469,076

Rating: 4.7037983 out of 5

Keywords: Car, PowerNation, howto, how-to, diy, automotive, cars, trucks, automobile, do it yourself, automobiles, auto, muscle car, impala, chevy, restoration, lemans, classic car, body work, chevrolet, chevrolet impala, chevy impala

Id: Lwzb694XGK4

Length: 17min 34sec (1054 seconds)

Published: Thu May 07 2020