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Stripped 1958 Chevrolet Impala body on a jig in the shop, rear quarter view, with the new trunk floor fitted
Build · 1958 · In Progress

Chevrolet Impala

A '58 Impala in the middle of its metalwork. The trunk floor and pans had rusted through, so instead of patching over them we cut the rot out and formed new sections in-house — ribbed to match the original pattern — then fitted them with the body braced on the jig. Structure first; paint only after the metal is right. More as the build moves.

Rust RepairTrunk FloorFloor PansMetal FabricationPanel Replacement
Stripped 1958 Chevrolet Impala body on a jig in the shop, rear quarter view, with the new trunk floor fitted
Body braced on the jig — new trunk floor in, quarters stripped to metal
Technician inside the stripped Impala body cutting out the rusted original floor
Cutting the rot out — original floor coming out in sections
Rusted-through original trunk floor section lying on the shop floor after removal
What came out — the original trunk floor, rusted through
New hand-formed ribbed trunk floor pan on the workbench with dimensions marked in pen
Formed in-house — new trunk pan, ribbed to match the original
Technician checking the fit of a long fabricated sheet-metal section on the bench
Test-fit before it's welded — checked against the car, not the drawing
Close-up of a hand-fabricated sheet-metal section with a formed rectangular opening
One-off section — formed and finished on the bench
New ribbed trunk floor pan installed in the 1958 Impala between the rear wheel wells
New trunk floor welded in — factory ribs, fresh metal
View forward through the Impala body from the trunk with floors removed and bracing bars across the openings
Floors out, body braced — looking forward from the trunk
Technician grinding welds on the lower rear quarter of the primered Impala body on a rotisserie
Lower quarter on the rotisserie — welds dressed by hand

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