See A Penny, Pick It Up

"Four Score and Seven Years Ago, I Had A Funny Hat."

While my brother was cleaning out the floor of the Impala, he found a penny.  Big deal, right?  But this was no ordinary penny--this was a penny from 1967.  The same year as the car.  From the condition of the poor thing, that penny may have been on that floor for the past 45 years.  It's a special penny.  And we all remember how much Dean likes Abraham Lincoln.  Now I'm on a mission to find a special way of preserving it.  My brother and I are thinking some kind of keychain.  Any ideas?

Welding Complete!

The floors are in!

Welding action shot!

No more holes!

 All in all, the floors are looking pretty good.  Stay tuned for an update on the carburetor!  It's looking a lot better than last time.

Welding Part 1

The floor pans have begun to be welded into the floor!

The first weld!

Goodbye Rust, Hello Shiny New Floor!

It's getting colder and I think Fall is finally upon us.  Both my brother and I are big lovers of Fall, and I'm sure my brother is excited to sweat less as he crawls around the Impala. :)

Floor Pan Installation Post #2

More pictures of the installation of the floor panels:

Everything is now ready to be welded in!  Cutting out the old floor pans is apparently very hard and dangerous work.  My brother has his very first major battle scar!  While using one of those scary looking power tools, he got a little too close and cut out a chunk of his finger almost down to the bone.  Solution?  Pour peroxide on it and keep working on the car. 

Floor Pan Installation Post #1

This past week, my brother began to tear out the old floor pans of the Impala and install the new ones.  He had some help from an awesome 71 year old gentleman who was a mechanic for years before retiring.

The first step was to take out the seats.

The seats are really busted up as well.

The second step was to do a thorough cleaning of the existing floor.  And if you recall, it was pretty bad.

Front portion of the car.  Good shot of the dash and steering wheel, too.

You can see some of the holes where the rust ate through the metal completely.

My brother tells me cleaning this was particularly time consuming and rough.

I imagine cleaning this part up was a little gross as well.

Good shot of the back portion of the car.

After clean-up, the next step was to fit one of the floor panels to the car.

The left side was done first.

Making sure it's secure.

Then bolting the piece into the frame.

Sparks!

 Here's a picture of how she looks right now:

The other panel still needs installed and then they need to be welded into the car.  My brother and his helper did all this work in one epic work day, though!  I think she's looking much better already.  And at least our Impala's roof isn't crushed in with a missing hood.

New Alternator

The newest upgrade to the car has been the installation of an alternator.  My brother figured out how to install it all by himself!

The old alternator.

The new alternator--installed.

 I haven't been to see her since she got this installed, but I am told she runs even better now.  Even though we're just beginning the restoration, I'm already getting very excited about riding around in her. :)

Fuel Pump

Baby has recently been given a brand new fuel pump.  Here's a picture of the old one:

Sorry it's a bit blurry.

And here's a picture of the new installation!

The brown stuff is just grease.

Just to show how the engine runs and a full 360 view of the car, here's a video taken just after the new fuel pump was installed.

She's rough, but at least she runs!  We're gonna keep on working on her, trying to make her just as beautiful as the Winchester's Impala.

New Floors

So remember those horrifying pictures of the floor of the Impala?  Here's a refresher:

I know, it makes me want to cry, too.

Well guess what was delivered yesterday!

New floor panels!  Look how shiny and new they are!  My brother will soon be learning how to weld so we can get these installed.  I think it'll drastically improve her appearance. 

Photo Beginnings

Here are photos of how The Car came to us.  She's pretty beat up, but think how many times Dean's Impala was crushed and came back. I do warn you, some of these pictures will be quite graphic.  There's a lot of work to be done.  So, without further ado, the pictures:

The rear of the car.  As of right now, she only has a coat of primer, not paint.

Rust around the rear window.

 

More rust.

Rust on the side.

Floor of the front of the car.  All of the floor panels are going to be completely replaced.

The steering wheel and part of the dash.

Front of the car.

Under the hood.

The inner-workings.

Top edge of the hood.

I warned you it would be painful.  It breaks my heart a little to see what happened to such a beautiful car.  From the paint number, it seems she was originally a strange, yellow-green color.  Naturally, we will eventually be getting her Back in Black. 

Comic-Con Supernatural Panel

This may be a blog about the restoration of a 1967 Impala, but let's be honest--neither my brother nor I would be doing any of this were it not for Supernatural.  That being said, I thought this video might be of interest:

The Supernatural Panel from this year's Comic-Con.  Please note Jensen's comment about Dean's only lover being The Car.

Day #1 - The Delivery

Baby came to us on Saturday, July 14th.  She's in rough shape, but with some hard work and a lot of love, we hope to bring out her full potential.

More pictures with further detail of the extent of the restoration next post!