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...