Body off restoration or not ?

[STEVEIMPALA]

Guys - I'm trying to decide which direction to go here... I recently purchase a documented, '69 Impala SS... highly option vehicle with paper work going back to day 1. The vehicle originated from the mid west, it's really clean underneath ( floors, trunk, frame etc.. is spotless ), the areas of concern is both rear quarters ( around the lip and behind the tire - very common ) and both front fenders at the heel - very common as well with this year vehicle. I have nos rear quarters that can be used as patches and next month I'll be picking up a pair of nos front fenders. With the purchase of the vehicle came a lot of nos parts ( headliner, carpet, body side moldings, wheel well trim, rocker, scripts etc), I have friends that are telling me to just do a cosmetic restoration, but others are telling me to go ahead with a full body off restoration....I'm kinda at a cross road in which direction to go here... out of the total production of '69 Impalas, they only produced 2455 of the SS version, so I would considered it rare and with all the options that it has, it will only go up in value ( I hope ! ) I'm in no rush with this project, so I have time to look at the different options.

Thanks

[Charley Lillard]

We need pics..

[resto4u]

i don't like the thought of cutting up nos panels for patch panels, they must be hard to find panels.

[STEVEIMPALA]

[STEVEIMPALA]

Here are those pic.... the nos panels are actually the lower section from a 4 door sedan ( my mistake, I should of made that clear ) which are exactly the area that is needed.

[Postsedan]

I love this Impala.....however I would say that you will most likely be upside down on this car....as these '69`s just do not bring the money.

Having said that....I would love to see it restored.

Best of luck. Great car. Love the Green on Green [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/biggthumpup.gif[/img]

Dan

[chevyman0429]

Upside down or not I say restore it. Very cool color and a big block.

[SS427]

Having owned MANY Z24 SS427 Impalas I have a special place in my heart for them. As long as you go into the project knowing first hand that you will be buried in it and that parts for these cars are very expensive I would say DO IT! There are not enough of these left out there and they need to be preserved and enjoyed. I reluctantly sold my 69 Z24 convertible when I moved my restoration business to Illinois and am now considering buying it back. They are just neat pieces of history.

There are several Facebook pages and www.impalass427.com dedicated to these cars and they should help you get your heart pumping again.

He is a Sport Coupe I recently located but passed on due to the cost of the restoration and the fact that it no longer had it's original driveline but still a neat car.

[STEVEIMPALA]

Thanks everyone for the comments, I appreciate it....I have just about everything in NOS to do this car correctly, if I was to go the route of a body-off, ball park figures, what would a project like this end up costing ? ( engine &amp; 400 trans have been already rebuilt )


Thanks

[STEVEIMPALA]

Few more pic