My 1972 Impala Convertible Restoration Project

I've been asked to share my trials and tribulations I've encountered over the years restoring my 1972 Impala convertible.  So I created this blog along with a Picasa Web Album to track the progress and also offer support to others trying to restore their B-Body Chevy.  A note on the dates.  I've intentionally fudged the dates to get the blog in more of a chronological order. 

So first a few facts about this car and mine specifically. 

The fifth-generation Chevrolet Impala are full-size automobiles produced by the Chevrolet division of General Motors for the 1971 through 1976 model years and was one of GM's top-selling models throughout the 1970s. Models included a sport coupe using a semi-fastback roof line shared with other B-body GM cars, custom coupe with the formal roof line from the Caprice, four-door sedan, four-door hardtop sport sedan, and a convertible, - each of which rode on a new 121.5-inch wheelbase and measured 217 inches overall. Station wagons rode on a longer 125-inch wheelbase.

The 1972 Impala introduced a lower height grille which extended below the bumper and revised taillights now set in the bumper. 1972 saw the last Impala convertible, the following year moving to the top of the line Caprice Classic. The Impala rag top sold 6,456 copies, placing fourth with just under 9% of the market, right behind the Corvette 6,508, ahead of the Mustang's 6,401. Total Impala production for 1972 ended up at 597,500 units and other series totals included Caprice, 178,500; Biscayne (in its final year), 20,500; Bel Air, 41,900; and station wagons, 171,700.

The 250 cubic-inch six-cylinder engine was offered in Impala four-door sedans and Sport Coupes along with a three-speed manual transmission and manual steering at the very beginning of the model year with 1,500 Impala sixes built. After the short run of early-1972 six-cylinder Impalas were built in the fall of 1971, the six-cylinder engine and three-speed manual transmission would be relegated to low-line Biscayne and Bel Air sedans. For most the 1972 model year, all Impalas were V-8 powered and came standard with Turbo Hydramatic transmission, power steering and power front disc brakes. The standard Impala engine was now the 165-net 350 cubic-inch Turbo Fire V8 with optional engines including the 170-horsepower 400 cubic-inch Turbo Fire V-8 (the base Caprice/Kingswood Estate engine), 240-horsepower 400 cubic-inch Turbo Jet V-8 (rated at 215 horsepower on station wagons) or the 270-horsepower 454 cubic-inch Turbo Jet V-8 - these were the engine offerings in 49 states, in California the only engines offered where the 165-horsepower 350 and 170-horsepower 400 Turbo Fire small block V8s due to that state's much stricter emission regulations. The Astro Ventilation system was redesigned for 1972 with the vents relocated from the trunk lid to the door jams for improved reliability and efficiency over the troublesome 1971 system that was a major source of complaints from owners to Chevrolet and its dealers.

The 1972 Impala was the biggest one yet, over 18 feet long, and wider than any Chevy before it.  In 1972 horsepower rating system changed, so now the 365-horsepower 454 from 1971 is rated at 270-horsepower.  From 1972 to 1976, the Impala outsold the nicer Caprice.

My 72 was well optioned.  It has the Small Block 400, Power Windows, Power Locks and Power Seat.  For as long as I've owned the car, it was triple black.  Black outside, black interior and black top.  Now that I'm a little smarter, I've decoded the cowl tag and determined the car was originally Ascot Blue.  I knew it was not black once I started to take the door panels off and it reveled the true color.  I just wasn't sure what it was.  I've owned the car for about 22 years now.  In 2007 I decided to do the car justice and do a complete ground up restoration on it. 

Now, I knew it would be difficult as parts are not readily available for the car.  There are very few aftermarket parts made for this car, especially along the lines of stainless steel trim and body panels.  This was going to be my biggest hurdle to over come.  The 2nd hurdle to overcome was money.  I didn't really have a lot of money to spend on the project.  I came up with a great plan.  (And God bless her, the wife bought into it!) In searching for parts I came across a pretty clean looking 1972 Caprice not too far from me.  It had some decent pieces on it that I could use.  Then I thought to myself, I suppose I could sell the rest of the car to other people doing the same thing, and keep what I need.  From that, Sharpie's Auto Parts was born.  This provided the funding for the project as well as a way to get more parts.  I sell most all of the parts through Craigslist and eBay.  Many times I "traded up" for better parts that came with each car, then sold the other one.  Sadly 6 Caprices and Impalas have given their life to get mine back on the road.  However, parts from these cars have made it to all the continents except Antarctica.  So they did have an honorable exit.  I've made some good friends all over the world restoring these cars.  I primarily stick to 71-72 Chevy B-bodys, but they are hard to come by.  So in a pinch I branched out to other deals I've come across locally.  To date I've parted out a 1996 Olds Aurora, 1987 Cadillac Allante and a 1998 Cadillac Deville.  I also came across a Big Block 402, 72 Impala.  In hindsight I should have kept it as it is much more rare than mine, but I swapped some parts on it and sold it for some good coin to keep the project moving forward.  Also early on I acquired a 1987 Fiero GT.  With that car I realized the old saying "The sum of the parts is greater than the whole" was just not true.  I ended up selling that complete car for a wash.

So If your reading this, your either a fan of my car, or your looking for parts for your classic car.  Through out my entries I'll tell you where I got my parts from, or where I had them reconditioned as well as the obstacles I've had to overcome along the way.  If you want to jump right to a slide show of my uploaded pics, click here.  If you want to check out my current list of parts on ebay, click here.  I have two rooms and 1/2 of a garage full of parts, so if its not posted, I may have it.  Heck I probably have two.  As an employee of General Motors, I have access to a vast inventory of data.  I've gotten old drawings for parts that we had to custom make from scratch, and used the systems for general referencing to dig through NOS websites to find just the right part.  So I do take special requests if your looking for a specific GM part.

So with that, I'll start going into my restoration. 
This first pic posted was taken in the fall of 2007 just before I started to dismantle the car.  As you can see, it was in decent shape.  It had some rust and bondo issues from shoty work of owners before me.  I knew somewhat of the trouble I was about to be in; as about 18 years ago, I had the car repainted.  It was at that time I knew the quarters were pretty bad and had quite a bit of bondo in other areas.  However as I post more pics, you'll see just how bad it gets.