57b Impala, heavy duty work in progress.

Any brand, any year, show us your projects.
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Tinman
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57b Impala, heavy duty work in progress.

Post by Tinman »

The resurgence of the 57b Impala thread helped me to decide the next model to start working on (a 57b Impala). In the real world, this guy looks like it was involved in a bad roll-over accident. Either that or someone wanted to create that chop top look the hard way.
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Viewed from the front, the window insert looks like it's popped loose and might be OK. I don't see any cracks on the front or back.
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Looks like noting but play wear from this angle. At least the base won't need much more then cleaning and new paint.
chevy4 VBD.jpg
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So the model is all apart. I went to town on it and got so involved I forgot to take more photos of the progress. The left side of the model was pretty bad. With heating, working and reheating I have managed to straighten the part of the door that was bent down and save the two A-pillars on the left side.(although one broke loose at the top but no big deal). I thought for sure that I would loose those two A-pillars and probably be able to save the two on the right side. Just the opposite happened, to my surprise. The window insert is in very good shape and just needs to be cleaned and polished. I've got the roof all back in shape and the window insert fits perfectly.
chevy5 VBD.jpg
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Having that window insert is going to make the replacement of the A-pillars easy. I will coat the area of the windows (where the pillars go) with the liquid masking film. Then I can temporary glue the insert in with some Elmer's school glue. The window insert will provide the perfect "Jig" to glue the new A-pillars in place. I wasn't sure I would be able to get this far but patience (and heating everything before you attempt to straighten) is a virtue.
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chevy10 VBD.jpg
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To be continued ...
It might be time to start my "Bucket List."
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