1958 Chevy Impala

The ’58 Chevy Impala is one of the most distinctive vehicles made.

Our restoration work on this car was focused on drivability and appearance issues. The most obvious problem this vehicle had when it came to us from Texas was the appearance of the wheels! It had horrible looking import style wheels on it. As we dug into the car a little, we found that the reason it had front-wheel drive style wheels on it was to accommodate the very wrong rear axle. The axle was so wide that no stock style wheel would fit, it required the dramatic offset of a front drive wheel to allow the car to move.

So in order to correct the wheels, we first had to correct the axle. It was from the wrong year, and was 8″ too wide. In order to replace it, though, we had to first find the right one! Turns out ’58 Impala rear axle is exclusive to that year, so it was rough finding one.

After that part of the job was completed we upgraded to a stock style steering wheel from a little wooden one that was on the car, and we corrected steering linkage issues the car had.