1960 Chevrolet Impala Convertible

       I recently purchased this car with the intent to do a complete frame-off restoration. but I just found another car that needs a lot less work. so I am going to let this one go and let someone else do the restoration.

      This car needs floors. body work and paint.   Previous repairs on the floors and body were made sometime ago. but it needs to be done again and done right. All the pans including the trunk pans need to be replaced. but under the rear seat seems good. The inner rockers are salvageable. but on each side near the front they need to be repaired. All of the floor braces except for one. (passenger side under rear floor pan). are good. It will need the trunk drop down extensions on both sides. and some rear quarter work. The body itself is not bad. the doors. fenders. hood. trunk lid. nbsp;and upper body panels all seem pretty nice. The front valences are not bad but it would be best to get replacement rear valences. The frame looks very good.

   A lot of money was recently spent (about 3 years ago) on rebuilding the entire front suspension of the car. New upper and lower front control arm bushings. new upper and lower ball joints. tie rods. stabilizer links. shocks and alignment. The rear bushings look ok.  

    Most of the trim on this car is in good condition. better than you might find on some driver quality cars. there are a few dings here and there. but with some steel wool most of it should clean up good. The wing window and rear quarter window frames are very nice. Bumpers are driver quality. no dents. with some sections being very nice.

  The interior is not original. I suppose it could be cleaned up and used until you replaced it with a new original style interior kit. but it needs to be done. At some point someone painted the dash. and the paint is peeling. so when the car is restored the dash should be blasted and painted when you have the body done.

    The top is in good condition. a good cleaning and it is good to go. The power top mechanism works perfectly. you can hardly hear it when it operates. The top frame is also in very good condition but it should be cleaned up and painted.

    The 283 cubic inch V-8 motor runs very well. it has a smooth idle. There is some blowby. which tells me that at some point it will have to be rebuilt. but it does not smoke out of the tail pipe or knock. It has a mostly new single exhaust. The original generator and voltage regulator work great.   It has an aftermarket chrome oil pan. chrome water pump and Edelbrock valve covers. The intake manifold is not correct. as it has no hole for the temperature sender. but I am including a correct style intake manifold which is in the trunk. Also included is a set of original valve covers.

   The cast iron powerglide transmission shifts perfectly. and it does not seem to leak.

     The power brakes work excellent. it looks like a lot of the brake parts have been replaced. wheel cylinders. hoses. shoes. etc. even the drums look great. no need to turn them.   The power steering is the original style and it works perfectly.

    The glass that is there is in fair to good condition. no wiper marks in the windshield. and no cracks. The wing windows and rear quarter windows glass is ok. but there is no glass for the 2 large door windows. I have 2 nice upper frames for these windows. but you will need the lower frame pieces and the glass. nbsp;and they are available reproduction. All the regulators are there and are in great condition.

   It has the single speed wiper motor without the washers. Everything in this car works except the radio and the clock. I drove the car around my neighborhood and could not believe how well it performed. Just as it is the car could be registered and driven.

    As good as this car is. It really needs to be restored to bring it back to what it should be. This car is worth it.  

       I strongly encourage anyone who is interested in the car to come and see it.   I can answer any questions you may have by email or telephone. (413)-539-9769. (before 8 PM eastern time please).  ask for Dave.  

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