A True Barn Find - Impala SS

[Danspeed1]

A True Barn Find

1995 Chevy Impala SS



This actually has been a dream of mine I will finally have the opportunity to fulfill. I always wanted to find a true "barn find." Something that is in relatively good shape but has been neglected, forgotten, oh and, did I mention, sold to me for cheap. It was a unexplainable feeling to open up this barn the other day, and reveal this car that has been forgotten for almost 7 years. The owner apparently had life catch up with him and didn`t have the time for this vehicle any longer. Put in storage for about the last 7 years ago, the car actually only has 30,000 miles on the odometer... unfortunately it was put away dirty, and stored in a humid old barn, it resembles more closely a vehicle with closer to 130,000 miles. It is my hope with the help of the Autopia community I will be able to get this last real muscle car back into shape. Take a look at the pictures....















Stay tuned for more. My goal is to keep this thread going with weekly progress until the vehicle is finished. I have alot of work ahead of me, and alot of questions also...



DG

[Danspeed1]

This picture was taken before the end of the day. I just couldn`t let it sit outside with that filth on it any longer... so after a quick was this is what it looked like.



DG

[Danspeed1]

Now back at home in the garage, I did a through inspection of the vehicle. I sure have my work cut out for me. Brakes are shot, and the front brake lines rusted through... so there are no front brakes. A/C Compressor seized so the engine wont turn over, but I cut the belt off, and after 10 or 15 minutes of cranking with fresh oil in the engine, sea foam, and fresh gas in the tank...... she runs!



However I am just beginning to uncover the some more issues... this is a car with 30K miles and yet the under carriage resembles a vehicle with 230K. The rust is bad... it has not made its way through the floor pans however the under body looks awful. Any ideas on how I can fix this???? I was thinking of sanding or maybe having somebody sand blast the under body and then repaint it? Any thoughts?



DG

[Danspeed1]

So Today I couldn`t help myself... I had to do a half and half on the hood. The "paint surfaces" of the vehicle really have a lot of promise. I think with some work the paint is really going to look great. The only issue I am not sure how I want to tackle is the horrendously bad acid etching on the hood, roof and truck lid. As a test I picked a small spot within the 1/2 and 1/2 and wet sanded with 2000 grit. After 2 passes of M105 on purple foamed wool and one pass of 205 on a white foam pad, this is how the hood looked....



BEFORE:



HALF AND HALF



AFTER:





Looks good but as I mentioned you can see pitting all over the hood EXCEPT where I wet sanded. I am very tempted to wet sand the whole hood with 2000 grit, however the only thing holding me back is the fact that I don`t have a paint thickness gauge and i am concerned about removing too much clear. What do you guys think i should do????



DG

[steelwind101]

Oh wow what a job that will be! It looks like fun and some hard work! I have no idea what to suggest about the underbody, though i look forward to reading about it!



Good Luck!

[JonP]

On the under body, go to Eastwood, they offer plenty of auto body things to fix this rust problem. Beadblasting, primer, and undercoating is one, or you could just cover up the rust with a rust converter and paint/undercoat it.

[nyyankees22]

Yeah Eastwood has lots of stuff for it. If you plan on keeping the car I would suggest having somebody do some blasting under there to eliminate the source of the problem, then spray rust converter to prevent it from coming back and undercoat it....Then you wont have any problems down the road, that stuff is TOUGH

[subygirl]

Yeah Eastwood has lots of stuff for it. If you plan on keeping the car I would suggest having somebody do some blasting under there to eliminate the source of the problem, then spray rust converter to prevent it from coming back and undercoat it....Then you wont have any problems down the road, that stuff is TOUGH

:werd: I have dealt with this before. Sandblasting + rust converting chemicals is a must. BUT .... be prepared for that rust to show up in more places than just the undercarriage.



On another note - that is an awesome color of paint! I had no idea it was more red than black until those hood shots!

[Danspeed1]

Dark Cherry Metallic, only produced in 95-96... very cool paint... looks black under low lighting, is bright cherry in the sun.



About this sand blasting. I was thinking of maybe pulling the engine and transmission out and then having it sand blasted and painted. Where would I get this done, and its it unrealistic to expect them to be able to do it with the body on the frame. This is a nice car and a cool find, but I don`t want to get in over my head.



the body looks really good otherwise, I think many of you would be surprised.



Dan

[Accumulator]

Danspeed1- Ah, DMC *is* nice! And `95s are my favorite year for those b-bodies too :xyxthumbs



+1 on the Eastwood stuff.



How involved you wanna get? Gonna pull the body off the frame?

[S&S Detailing]

That is an AWESOME barn find, when i first saw the thread I thought it was a old 60`s SS, BUT just awesome!!!! Keep us updated on the progress, formerly had a Black 95`, love that dark cherry though.......and how much of a good deal did you get, if you don`t mind me asking....



More pictures too please!!!!!

[Dan]

Nice find. I had a 95 in the same color. Very fun car but the factory paint was TERRIBLE. Its thin and chips when you look at it wrong.

[Accumulator]

Danspeed1- Gotta be careful about media-blasting with things still together lest you get media (such as sand) in places where it might stay, retaining moisture and causing other problems.



I`d try to figure out just how bad the rust actually is and see what can be done without taking it all apart. If it *needs* extensive disassembly that`s one thing, but it might not. Surface rust can make things look worse than they really are.

[acrbill]

I would recommend getting the car high up on jack stands and start taking stuff off the underside of the car. Exhaust, drive shaft, entire rear end assembly etc.



With those pieces gone you will have a clearer picture of what needs to be done.

[longdx]

I second "acrbill" If you are trying to restore on a budget, then Eastwood`s rust converter followed by a chassis paint should stop the rust in its tracks. Great find on a modern classic.