Well, My buddy (and, technically, my boss) Phil (Staypuft) and I have been good friends since the early nineties and throughout our friendship, we have both owned some very large cars. Phil had "The Chimpala". A 1976 Chevy Impala 4-door.



Originally painted Light Blue, Phil pulled a few dents out one day and had to sand, Bondo, sand and Prime afterwards. He used an Black Primer and after a year and a half of pizza delivery, that Black Primer had faded to more of an Asphalt Grey (WE called it "Stealth Grey"). It gave the car such charachter, we always said it would have a flat, dark grey primer for a finish no matter what wound up under the hood.
We always saw her as a sleeper.

I'm attempting to build the Chimpala in one of the incarnations we had imagined. A sleeper, of course. With a little help from an AMT Monte Carlo NASCAR car (Kodak MAX) gleefully donating a bunch of parts (including engine, rear end, and rims and tires), I will attempt to turn an AMT 1976 Chevy Caprice two-door (with Trailer!), into a 1976 Chevy Impala 4-door.




Here's a comparison. On top we have the bodystyle out of box, and below, we have the intended bodystyle.





So, look forward to seeing this build unfold in all it's phone-cam glory over the next few weeks.

For now,
Cuhail

I can't wait to see the Chimpala take shape. This'll be a great build.

Well, I started the Chassis and some bodywork. Thought I'd share.

First up, the Chassis.



I had to remove a lot of plastic from the frame, it being AMT and all, I was surprised the rearend wasn't molded in. It did have the "pillars" that hold the metal axle, but I got rid of those and installed two "seats" for the coil springs to sit in. I filled the "pour stubs" in the gas tank and added the mounts for the new traction support from the NASCAR donor on the sides of the frame.

After all was said and done, we have the new rearend installed.


Now, the body modifications scared the bejeezus out of me even after the GTO/El Camino hybrid. I could attempt it and succeed or attempt it and fail, so I didn't really want to face it. I called Phil and asked how he felt about "Dreampala" in which it was a two-door...he kicked me in the butt and said something along the lines of..."what kind of modeler do you claim to be if you can't...." Yeah, I couldn't deny him his Chimpy and I started cutting.
I actually added more plastic than cut away, but, the results were pleasing.



I cut the new doors, door handle recesses and filled the old door lines. I filled the lines for the rear wheel skirts, but after checking some refs, I have to lose the skirts altogether anyway.

More tomorrow, including the NASCAR engine were dropping in there!

Cuhail

Very interesting project Murphy. I'm sure it will be as successful as the GTO/El Camino hybrid.

I'm glad you got the 'push' to go 4 doors. It looks pretty good.

The photos are bit blurry so I can't tell if the line I'm seeing is the old 2 door seam you filled or the back door. I think it's the filled flavor... I hope it is cuz your door would be set to far back.

Hi guys, got the better camera for the weekend, so, I snapped some photos of the build.

First, let's show the body mods









So, yeah, it looks like a mess as of now, but, it's going well I think.

Now, some engine shots. (The engine from the AMT Kodak Max Monte Carlo Stock Car) I didn't really route the S.P. wires since ya can't see 'em from the top when the engine is installed.





The Chassis





So, I have to add some brake lines and other stuff to the chassis, but, it's good progress none the less.

Thanks for looking,
Cuhail

Awesome start Murph, love the new panel scribing. Your engine looks as it has a handful of ponys love the engine stand. What interior tub are you using for the rear seating, or are you tubbing out the wheel wells.

One thing for sure, the photo shows it age. $2.90 for smokes :-) Their double that now if not more.

Looking forward to the next post.

Joe

Yeah, the Interior. He he. I've been really working hard on that downstairs. I originally was going to cut apart the tub, but, I decided to just keep it whole and modify it to 4-door status. I'll put the center post in and re-scribe the panels. Phil says he wants to keep the bench seat setup, so I'll have to modify that to accept the stick shift and I think I'll update the interior with power windows (something he never had).
The trunk will be open, but, I'm not sure what I'm gonna put in there yet. I still have to do the rear window mods to turn it into a convex instead of concave.

Yeesh, what a world!

Cuhail