MsChevy's 1963 Chevy Impala Convertible aka Maybellene

[vaporlock]

I figured I'd make a little thread for my Impala, I never made one before for some reason and having one for my truck is kind of nice and it's easy to keep track of things. Comments are fun too!

HOW IT STARTED
In 2001 I saw a picture of a 1963 Impala Convertible in a music magazine and I just knew one day I was gonna have my own. So I started saving cos at this time one of these in desent shape cost around $20-30k up to over $60k for one in really good or original condition and they didn't (and still don't) come up for sale very often, especially not here in Sweden.

Fast forward to 2006 and I'm searching the Swedish equivalent to Craigslist and there she was, litterally the one and only 1963 Impala Convertible for sale in the whole country. It was exactly what I was looking for, a 1963, Impala, Convertible, V8 w/ Auto and so on, it just happend to have about 9 different colors, no electrical system, no interior, no exhaust and not a lot of those other important things that make a car, but it was perfect! I spent the next 6 or 7 months looking at the ad probably every day and on April 26th, 2007 me and a friend made the 12 hour, 530 mile roundtrip across the country to pick it up.

The plan was that my friend was gonna help me get the car drivable and then I would just drive it but as it turns out, my projects happen to get a bit out of hand... it ended up being a full frame-off restoration, pretty much everything is new or replaced with original parts in better condition.

I named the car Maybellene (Belle for short) after the song by Chuck Berry back when I saw the ad and it just stuck, I love Gone in 60 Seconds so giving it a name kinda made sense.



PICS FROM THE AD
(September, 2006)

I don't know what to say but apperently this is perfection, lol. I guess I'm really good at seeing the potential in things.

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[vaporlock]

12 HOUR ROADTRIP ACROSS THE COUNTRY
(April 26th, 2007)

I remember walking into the shop and seeing this piece of perfection with my own eyes for the first time, I kinda hate to admit it but I giggled like a schoolgirl, lol. The car was actually in better shape below then up top. We did the paperwork and loaded the ol' lady on the trailer. To be honest this wasn't exactly the most safe and legal trip, the Impala and the trailer weighs more then the Blazer, we were pulling a few hundred kg over the limit but we made it (it didn't go very fast and it was a bit sketchy going downhill).

I just have to say, whoever said money can't make you happy or buy you happiness clearly hasn't found their dream car and been able to buy it!

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

Stoping for lunch a few hours later, a guy walked up to us as we where "borrowing" a few sidewalk stones to even out the weight a little and asked about the car, he had seen the ad and recognized the car, I thougt that was pretty fun.

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

Snack break! Driving this combo is like driving an elephant, it's big, heavy, slow and impossible to park. Even tho this was also a truckstop there was no space for us. So we left it right outside the entrance to the gasstation store, people stared but nobody seemed to mind.

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[slowburb]

This has the makings to be a great buildup/restoration. Congratulations on finding it. That car is a piece of history in automobilia. Subscribed for updates.

 

[grampadirt]

Cool old classic.My dad had a '63 Impala Hardtop for a while and had bucket seats and center console.Is that a 327 or 283? Good Luck with the restoration.

 

[vaporlock]

This has the makings to be a great buildup/restoration. Congratulations on finding it. That car is a piece of history in automobilia. Subscribed for updates.

It'll be a full resto-mod, since a lot of things were missing it was never gonna be a restoration.
Thanks, I know, when I found it I'd been looking for a few years, the 63-65 are pretty common here but nobody wants to sell them.
Car history is pretty much the only history I find interesting. I'm actully trying to find out more about it's past but it's not easy, I only have records back to around 2001 I think.
Thank you!

 

[vaporlock]

Cool old classic.My dad had a '63 Impala Hardtop for a while and had bucket seats and center console.Is that a 327 or 283? Good Luck with the restoration.

Then he probably had an SS, the came with buckets and center console. I actually don't know, all I know is it came with a V8 but there is no way of telling which one. The 283, 327 and 409 all came with a powerglide. When I bought it it had an 307 from a 70's Chevelle... it has been replaced with something way better now tho.
Thanks, it's actually "almost" done.

 

[vaporlock]

BELLE GETS A MAKEOVER
(November-December, 2007)

A few months after we picked it up I started working in another town so it was no longer possible for me and my friend to work on it. In early november I moved the car to a shop to get the job done.

Moving day, November 10th if I don't remember it completely wrong.

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[vaporlock]

5 days later Belle looked like she had been left in the wrong part of town. I was like "damn, poor car!", lol.

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

6 days after that the body and frame was seperated, it came apart pretty easy so even tho it looked like a mess it may not have been so bad after all.

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[vaporlock]

(January-May, 2008)

The last thing they did before christmas was to ship it of to get mediablasted, it came back end of January. It was nice to see it in more or less one color.
Since both front fenders, hood, both doors, trunklid and even the gastank door was replaced before it came to Sweden there was only a few bad places on the body. The floorboards up front, a bit of the lower quarter panel on both sides behind the wheels, a few inches of the rockerpanels on both sides and both rear bodymounts on the body was replaced. Not bad for a (at that time) 45 year old car that spent the last 5 or so years in a field in North Dakota before it came here.

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[vaporlock]

Replacing the rusty parts, the passengerside rear lower quarter panel turned out to be two layers so the bad one was removed and the good one was in such great shape the only thing to do was weld it on.

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach