Picture for XFIRE

[Black 03 Z06]

 

[nascar03]

Cars had Style!

Graham

 

[XFIRE82]

judging by the windshield height my guess the one up top he started with a 58 Impala coupe or convertible, put a roof on from a 5,6,or 7 Nomad , removed the side pillar in the glass, can't see what he did on the back end if retained the tripple Impala tail lights or just used the wagon single lights. Too bad GM killed the 2 door Nomad for 58, it would of been a real classic design. Thanks 4 the pics Black 03 , you are keeping the Heart Beat alive with the custom pics. Oh, how many of you noticed there are no door handles or lock ?

 

[Black 03 Z06]

X, I will keep looking for these cars if you keep telling us about them. Great when you have an expert point out the subtle things that perhaps most would not notice.

Here is another one that frankly hurts the eyes to look at. Custom paint comes and goes but this one may be over the top. Can't imagine the skill required to do this however.

 

[XFIRE82]

I never seen this one before. The painter must of used about 2 miles of masking tape and many weeks to lay out the designs and paint each color, a true artist. Not sure what is what with the sun shade louvers in the back window, that was never a custom trick that I recall. Car looks stock otherwise, original continental kit, tail lights, dual rear aerials ( hard to spot ) , door mirror plus dual spot lamps, door handle shields, a V8 car , yet the hood looks black ?? , wonder what the sides look like ? I see he took from a 58 Bonneville the narrow roof stainless moldings that go from the roof imitation scoop across to each side ---Impala never had them even though it was the same roof as the Pontiac. My guess a 60's or early 70's built car ? appears to have Alabama plates ?

 

[Black 03 Z06]

Another long roof under construction....

 

[XFIRE82]

Over the years I've seen a few of these wagons with the Impala sheetmetal grafted in. They reshape the lower tailgate to mate with the extra Impala tripple lights. Impala roof ornament added and the Impala rear quarters with the pitchfork molding . The sloped door pillar is a hard one to do but they look good and are unique to the 5-6-7 Nomads. Looks like a all steel car, no mud on it. Notice the leaded body seam at the rear corner going down to the outside tail light. I said lead cause that is what the factory used back then...real lead. The boys doing it with a torch and a paddle , not a easy task. I tried it once and all I got was lead dripping in the floor.
A few pics I had saved in my files. The yellow one just might be the project one you got posted up there Black 03. ??

.

 

[Black 03 Z06]

These cars just seem to lend themselves to the personal touch.....

 

[AxeZ06]

Lead solder!
They used to test our blood every 30 days, on the line. I don't remember the numbers, but if you were over (lead) you got a week out of the solder booth, which always involved heavy lifting. Lose / lose.
I'd burned, lierally tons of lead bars, in my first few yrs.......one roof ditch after the other......60/hr back then.

Sorry if off topic. Love this thread. The wisdom, and knowledge is priceless. (I have no pics, sorry)

 

[Black 03 Z06]

Nice looking sedan delivery...very cool cars

 

[XFIRE82]

The grill in the Impala hardtop is typical of what guys did way back......they used door knobs and pulls off kitchen cupboards , and to me it looks that is what he has there. Otherwise a basic stock Impala with skirts, coni-kit , exhaust ports , dual aerials , door handle shields, dummy spots and single outlet lake pipes , shaved hood. He also changed the front fender side moldings to a shortened rear quarter molding.
The sedan delivery is nice. He must drive it and pull a trailer too, thus the hitch and cb whip aerial. 6 cyl emblem but I see a exhaust pipe in front of the RR tire so that tells me a V8 is under the hood cause stock single exhaust ran on the left side. American built car as it has 3 piece bumpers.

 

[XFIRE82]

Hey AxeZ06 feel free to chime in , which factory did you work in ? , what year cars did you " lead " ? Black03 and I are having fun here digging this stuff up on the 58 which just happens to be my favorite that the General ever built.

 

[AxeZ06]

Thanks Xfire! Keep 'em coming. I too, love the old pics.......wish I had some to share.
I'm retired. Spent / wasted life at the competition. The assembly methods are pretty much identical (or, were).
The Torino was just on it's way out when they hired me ('73). The LTD, and the Merc counterpart followed. That's when I was in the 'lead booth'. Oakville plant. I don't think there was a dept I didn't work in, over the 25yrs I spent there. (early pension.......I was 43!!) I have a few fond memories, but no desire to own one. That's a Honda beside the Z in my driveway.
I watch a lot of resto / old car shows. I get a chuckle when the guys find empty booze bottles behind door panels, etc.

I can see solder winding up on the floor in the garage.........but the spoons, and heat source we had made it easy.........at least that's how I remember it. I'm guessing, but I don't think I spent more than 6 - 7 months in the booth.
Then.....I wanted to learn to weld........(man.......this is jogging my memory!)

 

[XFIRE82]

funny you mention the booze bottles in the doors. My buddy that was a painter in a body shop told me of a story of a guy who kept taking his new early 70's dodge back to the dealership cause it had a rattle someplace in the back of the car. The guys could not find it, they replaced the muffler, moved the pipes, under the seats, tried everything and it still banged and made noise. Finally the owner had enough and said it is coming from the rear side fender and cut a hole in the body to look inside. There he found a coke bottle hanging on a string with a note in it " how long did it take you to find this one ? " There must of been alot of fooling around on the assembly line back then. ......

 

[AxeZ06]

I had to laugh! I completely forgot about the bottles on strings.....that took time........ something we didn't have much of! Most were just tossed in.
There's countless units out there with bottles (several contain build sheets. I guarantee that ), cans, screws, rivet ends, and whatever your imagination can come up with........and........no one cared........fun times in the good ole days!!

 

[Black 03 Z06]

Miracle. Black, somehow this one is kept shinny and clean

 

[XFIRE82]

spit shine black 4 sure. Bone stock inside and out except for the wheels and wide whites, plus is slammed down to the ground

 

[Rruuff Day]

I had to laugh! I completely forgot about the bottles on strings.....that took time........ something we didn't have much of! Most were just tossed in.
There's countless units out there with bottles (several contain build sheets. I guarantee that ), cans, screws, rivet ends, and whatever your imagination can come up with........and........no one cared........fun times in the good ole days!!

.....

 

[Black 03 Z06]

Surfs up....

 

[Keith Tedford]

Lead solder!
They used to test our blood every 30 days, on the line. I don't remember the numbers, but if you were over (lead) you got a week out of the solder booth, which always involved heavy lifting. Lose / lose.
I'd burned, lierally tons of lead bars, in my first few yrs.......one roof ditch after the other......60/hr back then.

Sorry if off topic. Love this thread. The wisdom, and knowledge is priceless. (I have no pics, sorry)

In Oshawa in the early '70s, some of us tradesmen were laid off and I took a job on the line for six months. First man in the "B" body booth, left hand side grinding lead joints. We had coveralls, with hoods and air lines. Still the lead dust got up in the sides and arm pits and chest were covered by the end of the day. They took urine samples once a month. Everyone ALWAYS passed the test. I took Chelation intravenous treatments for a few years to help get the lead, mercury, arsenic and cadmium out of my system. Bad stuff accumulates over time, especially after 41 years in a factory.