1963 Impala
Matt and Pete (son and father) wanted to learn how to do custom metal work so they signed up for one of our metal shaping seminars that we host here at Hammerfab. They came all the way from Florida to attend a class where we explained how to do the metal work the right way. During lunch break Matt and Pete approached Levi about doing some work to Matt's 1963 Impala four door hard top. Whenever someone says "Hey, I've got classic. Can you work on it for me? Oh, by the way it's a four door"! Most of the time we car builders cringe unless its a suicide door 62-67 Lincoln Continental or a super rare Paeton or 32 Ford or something like that. The sad truth is that most of the desirable two door versions of all the classics are getting harder to find and very expensive if you can find one. Such was not the reasoning for Matt and Pete wanting to build a four door hard top. As they explained the back story of the car and their vision to see this car turn into a ground pounding twin turbo custom it all started to make sense, wink wink. Matt drove this very 63 impala in high school before he set off to become part of the most elite fighting forces this world has ever seen. B.U.D.S. training is where it begins and S.E.A.L. is where it ends. Matt is no longer in the military so he and his dad wanted to rebuilt the old Chevy except this time with a twist, two twists to be exact! That's right, this time it will be a full chassis, twin turbo, 20/22" wheel, suicide rear door, B-pillar delete, full cage, pro touring, resto mod with a timeless appearance and a two door hard top swap! In other words we like to call this one the "Chelincoln", a Chevy Lincoln lol!
Now that the Nelson Racing twin turbo LS is installed we have been packaging all of the pluming components such as the custom PWR radiator with dual brush-less electric fans, PWR custom air to air intercooler with billet top plenum designed in house by Hammerfab. Custom aluminum air filter boxes direct the cold air into the turbos before chilling one last time upon engine entry. Retaining the stock hood is a must so things get pretty tight in the core support area. Eliminating the stock hood latch opens up the creativity for some cool hood pins.
A custom laser cut firewall is in the works which will house the Master Power Brakes booster and master cylinder. We modified the Morison chassis to accommodate the large 20 and 22" wheels and tires. Once the firewall is in place we will make all new 14ga steel floor pans and wheel tubs before removing it from the frame table.
Stay tuned for more updates.