Re: I am getting excited about my Panel!!
 

I really like the back door set up. Great idea Wes.

Re: I am getting excited about my Panel!!
 

I wish I could claim it... It was done one other time that I know of. It was a green 67 suburban. I was the first to use the 2008 Silverado extended cab rear door hinges. WES

Re: I am getting excited about my Panel!!
 

A little more progress. The rear door interior door handle is installed as is the lift gate actuator. Front doors bolted on, core support and left fender. Fitting the parts will be next then media blast seal and prime. Forgot pictures of the dash... :( WES

Re: I am getting excited about my Panel!!
 

Re: I am getting excited about my Panel!!
 

Not only looks great but they sound good when they latch...:metal:

Re: I am getting excited about my Panel!!
 

Well a few more pictures. We now know what it will look like with a boltless rear bumper... WES

https://youtu.be/gQqKfuy-drg

Re: I am getting excited about my Panel!!
 

A few more progress pics. The front clip has been fitted and the lines still need a little work. It may have something to do with the hinges being a little flexible, who knows at this point. I may need to order billet hinges to fix it. I also should have taken a picture of the NOS driver's side door. We will have to split the window frame to open up the gap in the front upper corner. Otherwise not only would the gap be bad, but the paint would be damaged when the door closes. WES

Re: I am getting excited about my Panel!!
 

Really nice work on the panel. Well done on the rear doors. Tagging along for the rest of the build.

Re: I am getting excited about my Panel!!
 

Thank you. Next stage should be fun. Installing the LS motor and 4L60E trans. I might even sneak a drive in.. LOL

Re: I am getting excited about my Panel!!
 

It's looking like a truck again. It's got to feel great getting it together.

Re: I am getting excited about my Panel!!
 

Ya, I'm loving it.. LOL. It's blown apart again now and parts are out to be media blasted...

Re: I am getting excited about my Panel!!
 

Say goodbye to the stock taillights...

Re: I am getting excited about my Panel!!
 

Looking good , have you decided on a color yet ?

Re: I am getting excited about my Panel!!
 

What are you doing for the tail lights?

Re: I am getting excited about my Panel!!
 

Don't forget a door handle Wes :)

Re: I am getting excited about my Panel!!
 

The color is going to be Cadillac white Diamond, with ghost pearl blue flames and my logo on the side. The taillights are going to be custom. It will be just a single lens with a billet bezel that will be copper plated and I will use LEDs. Pete, I think we are going to pass on the door handle on the back.. It would just look out of place.

Another unforeseen modification I am having to do is the brake peddle assembly. It will have to be modified for the 59 impala dash. Hope to get a couple pics today.. WES

Re: I am getting excited about my Panel!!
 

We now have the shape of the taillights! What do you think? They are completely custom. Not something removed from another vehicle. WES

Re: I am getting excited about my Panel!!
 

Looks great to me

Re: I am getting excited about my Panel!!
 

Thank you Dale. :)

Re: I am getting excited about my Panel!!
 

Taillights openings have been roughed in. Still more work to do but you can now see what the taillights will look like. I will be making billet housings that will double as bezels for the openings. The housings will be copper plated. :metal: WES

Re: I am getting excited about my Panel!!
 

I think they look good. The original always looked like an afterthought to me. How are you going to keep the copper from tarnishing?

Re: I am getting excited about my Panel!!
 

I am thinking clear powder coating. I will be checking different ways to preserve the finish, but from what I have been told the powder coat is best. WES

Re: I am getting excited about my Panel!!
 

That should do it and look pretty sharp too!

Re: I am getting excited about my Panel!!
 

Amazing work. Keep it going :chevy:

Re: I am getting excited about my Panel!!
 

Thanks guys. Now I need to decide if I am going to incorporate reverse lights or not. WES

Re: I am getting excited about my Panel!!
 

We got my parts back from media blasting. Now we can put it back together and body work it. Oh, and also evened out the firewall. :) WES

Re: I am getting excited about my Panel!!
 

There was a lot more body work done on the rear doors too. Most of that mud will be sanded off. WES

Re: I am getting excited about my Panel!!
 

Looking good, your parts look pretty straight.

Re: I am getting excited about my Panel!!
 

Thanks Dale. They are pretty straight. Media uncovered a few things, or someone did damage to the parts while they had them. They were all original paint parts and there's a few dings and some damage on the hood that's hard to see.

Re: I am getting excited about my Panel!!
 

What will you do for a heater/defroster?

Re: I am getting excited about my Panel!!
 

I am going with an Old Air Hurricane system that will be made specifically for my Panel. I have a 72 Suburban rear air that I will be incorporating into the system too.

Here is a real subtle customization that I am doing also. This is a power antenna mounted where I think GM would have mounted it if it were stock. The top of the antenna ant the little bezel will be the only thing showing when down. WES

Re: I am getting excited about my Panel!!
 

What did you have to do to the cowl to get there he antennae to fit?

Re: I am getting excited about my Panel!!
 

Looks great Wes! You deserve a beer...

Re: I am getting excited about my Panel!!
 

Not Oly Pete!! That's yuk around here... :lol: I had to cut the inner cowl area and build a box to mount the power portion of the antenna. Consequently I lost the fresh air duct. The box for the antenna had to be about an inch too large so I had to cut into it. But that's customizing some times. You loose something that is not used that much for something you think is cool. :metal: Here is a link to where I did the modification to the cowl. http://classicheartbeat.com/panel_10.htm Untill lately this whole Panel build is on my website. WES

Re: I am getting excited about my Panel!!
 

Nice, that's a nice looking way of getting it in there. As for the Oly "I seen em"... young people won't remember those old commercials. I drank a LOT of that stuff when I was a teen...

Re: I am getting excited about my Panel!!
 

I remember a lot of the old commercials. "It's the Water and a lot more" was the jingle. Then they had the comercials about the Artesians. They would act like they were secretive little creachers that you could only catch a glimpse of once in a while. I know some other stuff about the Schmidt family (owners of the brewery) and state legislators too, but I won't go into that.. :lol:
Anyway, more progress pics!

These pictures show the rear end of the panel getting closer to being done body worked and the parts are starting to go back on. I found it amazing how much work it took to get the NOS door to fit right. We found out that what I thought was original paint front fender had been worked quite a bit in the past. Must have been in an accident or something. They did great work fixing it, but this is the kind of stuff you find when you are restoring a truck. You will see more in the hood and right door in my next post.

WES

Re: I am getting excited about my Panel!!
 

These two pictures are of the hood and right door. Both parts I had purchased years ago as original paint parts. The reproduction doors were not fitting very well back then so I chose to go original equipment. The hood only had one ding that I knew of when I purchased it and after media blasting, boy did I find out how wrong I was. The door I purchased from one of the board members here on this site. He was in Arizona and I bought it because it was strait and rust free. We were both wrong about the rust free part... :lol: Had to repair the lower hinge pocket and some of the surrounding metal. So much for that... Oh well, I don't blame the seller. I looked the door over carefully myself once it arrived here and didn't see any rust either. It only appeared after media blasting. This kind of stuff happens and all you can do is fix it. WES

Re: I am getting excited about my Panel!!
 

The peak of the hood looks fun. But it looks like you can handle it. It was the artesians....lol

Re: I am getting excited about my Panel!!
 

:haha:

Re: I am getting excited about my Panel!!
 

Here is a short little video of the progress on the rear doors.

https://youtu.be/VdmKMK5IK-o

WES