Cool, Too darn!

There’s just something inherently cool about 409’s. I have many “off-brand” friends and when they introduce me to their like-minded friends it goes like this: “This is Mark and he’s a Chevrolet guy . . . . but he’s a 409 guy!”. The initial groans quickly turn into the slow nod of approval and I’m immediately accepted! Everybody loves 409’s! Giddy Yup!!

Great meeting you at MCACN Mark!!

Not much progress to report lately due to busy schedules and holiday gatherings....but some good news - the 6 exterior side trim pieces are done which were the last parts I was waiting on. I will run into the suburbs tomorrow morning and pick them up. I will need to paint the inserts silver (and the hubcaps too) so that will be the next step prior to installation. Lots of masking work on the hubcaps.

Simply Epic....the car, the family, the legacy. Good on you men!!!!:beers::beers::beers::beers::beers::beers:: beers::beers::beers::beers::beers::beers::beers::b eers::beers::beers::beers::beers:

Looking forward to seeing yous guys next year!

Cheers
Dave

Took some time off working on the car during December as our holiday schedule was a bit hectic (in a good way). As mentioned previously I picked up the restored side trim mid-December (that ended up being quite the debacle that I won't go into here).

Last night I spent some time masking things getting ready to paint. Got all of the side trim and one hubcap masked off. The hubcaps obviously take some time. I was able to find some 1/4" wide masking tape on Amazon that was a perfect fit for the center ridges and will save some time.

The side trim inserts are silver on a blue car and the depressed areas of the hubcap are silver as well for all cars. Through my contact over at the 348-409 site I was able to get the original silver paint formula and then took that to a paint jobber and mixed up in a rattle can to use. I am assuming the hubcaps are the same color as the trim. Hope to get the other 3 hubcaps done yet this week so I can paint everything before the weekend and begin the removal/install process on Saturday or Sunday.

Good news is that over the holidays I was able to sell most of the big parts (bucket seats/carpet/mats/rear panel trims) so in addition to recouping a small bit of money I got them out of the way.

Little by little.........making progress.

Lotsa patience and a keen eye....great job on the masking!

Did some painting last night......

Hubcaps were a disaster. I didn't do the correct prep work and zero adhesion was the result. The paint actually appeared to be "beading" on top of the metal like water does on a well waxed car. The good news is that it was the wrong color anyways for the hubcaps (different silver than the trim I found out). I was able to quickly get everything wiped back down with thinner and will start over once I source the correct silver.

The trim pieces I think will work out. No prep issues there. The color is very translucent and I put on 3 coats to finally be able to see some results. The trim pieces do not photograph well due to the color having a lot of blue in it (more than I realized) and the blue tape. I haven't decided if I am going to mist another coat on them yet or not.

Two steps forward and one step back......

Made some progress today.........didn't get started until after lunch but was able to get both fender and door trims swapped out - so I'm 2/3 done as I just have the rear quarters left to do. Also swapped out the door handles as the old ones were starting to pit a little so since I knew I had to take them off to get the trim pieces off, I ordered new ones a while back and had them ready (scope creep....but glad i did). I decided not to put any more paint on the insert trim as it looked pretty good compared to the references I had based on my internet research. I'm happy with the results of the color and finish - but I'm definitely not quitting my day job as I'm no painter.......Took about 4 hours to get this much accomplished today but feel like I have some momentum now.

The rear quarters will be next week/weekend as we have a visitation to attend tomorrow that will take most of the day. Will stop by the auto paint store next week to see about getting the correct silver for the hubcaps. Getting closer to having all the cosmetic stuff mostly complete - then I need to decide if I'm going to try and tackle the drum brake swap once this is done.

Also - yesterday I spent some time on the phone with Jody Anderson - a tremendous resource for all things 58-64 Impala. I still need to sort out the mounting bracket issue my interior guy had for the bench seat side trim. Jody is sending me some original brackets to see if the reproduction ones I have are the issue (he didn't think so).

Side note - I ordered a set of the Eastwood tire dolly jacks last fall knowing I'd need to jockey the car around at some point to get more room to work on it - used them for the first time today and they worked great. Glad I had them.

Last two pics - Dad was talking to me today. When I removed the door panels I found some of his notes from the last time he was in there.........gave Dave and I the chills. Just confirms why I am doing this :wink:

Super-cool!