Pictures are courtesy of Mr. Guy Desmarteau in Canada,
he is a principal participant in this 1958 Convertible restoration.

 

The first set of pictures are from 2011,

following that are updated pictures from 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015

 

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January 2016, we have added more pictures, they are following the GRANBY 2013 update.

Please enjoy this superb one-of-a-kind 1958 Imperial Convertible restoration.......

The photos may take a few minutes to load ... there are many many photos ... click to enlarge ...

 

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Please click on photos to see larger versions

BRAKES

DASH

- THE DASH BEFORE INSTALLATION -

The wiring came from YnZ's Yesterday's Parts, and the rubber pieces from Gary Goers.

STEERING

ENGINE

FIREWALL

FRAME AND REAR AXLE

INTERIOR

POWER ANTENNA

CONVERTIBLE TOP PIECES

UNDERSIDE

GLASS

WIPERS

INSTALLATION OF THE DASH....... JANUARY 2012.... PHOTOS ARE VIDEO CAPTURES.....

UNDER DASH

UPDATED PICTURES ....... AUGUST 2012.... THE RESTORATION CONTINUES.....

Front end problems:
It's been a long time since I sent you photos. We had a lot of problems with the front end. First, our body shop didn't want to go further with the restoration, they changed their mind... So we've decided to do the rest of the restoration just by ourselves (on weekends only, instead of 5 days a week), and it was a good idea, because they did few big mistakes on the car. As an example, the door hinges were inverted, (they had the picture but ??) the doors were ok until we try to put a fender on, then something was very wrong, impossible to fix it, at first we didn't understand, but by seeing the original hinge pictures and what was on the car, I was MAD... We had to remove and reinstall the doors WITHOUT SCRACHES and put the fenders on (left one took 2 days and the right one took 2 hours). It took a LOT of patience, but it worth it.

BODY

DASH

FRONT FENDERS

HORNS

INTERIOR

TRUNK

UPDATED PICTURES ....... SUMMER 2013.... THE RESTORATION CONTINUES.....

LOOKING FOR SNAPS FOR CANVAS TOP

Convertible top:

I would have a question for you or someone you know in the club, concerning our convertible top : right now we are waiting for our new top, and the company who's doing it has a problem to figure out how to mount the side snaps.

Here's what they wrote to me concerning the snaps :
On some early GM's that area had a VERY STIFF extra flap sewn into the sides at the binding edge, in addition to the normal side reinforcement. The top edge of this flap was never sewn - it was left open. Installers would then mount the snaps where needed. Later models had what we refer to as "sliders" - snaps with a material strip sewn onto the side reinforcement. The snaps would then slide in either direction to meet the snaps in the top frame. Any info you might be able to share regarding the correct configuration would be good.

Another e-mail from them :
We have also made them without the "snaps" but we are always looking for the correct configurations. Attached please see the photos of an old original Cadillac top with the side reinforcements I mentioned. The pictures show the underside of the passenger side. This reinforcement was sewn only into the binding edge - it is a HUGE stiff flap which might be similar to what you might need. There is also another reinforcement directly under it which you cannot see in this photo. I think many companies did away with these "hidden snaps" as they had a tendency to be forgotten when folding the top down - causing the snaps to tear thru the reinforcement.

See below the 2 pictures sent by them, and 4 pictures of our top frame where the snaps shoud be fixed:

FRONT BUMPER AND GRILLE

LOOKING FOR "EXHAUST TO FRAME" HANGER

I hope you can assist me : I'm in search for the 57/58 4 door Hard-Top or Convertible front exhaust hangers (see picture), hoping someone can tell me how they look.

OUR SHOWING AT GRANBY 2013

I'm sending you additional pictures of the Imperial, unfortunately it's not completed yet, we had problems with the interior, we were not satisfied with the result (all the panels), those panels will be redone, and the seats and the top installation this winter.

THE FINAL SET OF UPDATES - JANUARY 2016

many 'BEFORE' and 'AFTER' IMAGES

Hello from Guy in Canada,

After 2 years, here are the pictures of the final phase. The car was completed this past summer (2015), and I'm sorry for the delay to send pics, but very busy right now with the other project (57 300C conv). At the end, it took us 8 years to achieve the complete restoration, quite long... I hope you'll enjoy the photos.

One thing though : I'm not happy with the rear window, but we will live with it....

My Best Regards,

Guy

OUR SHOWING AT GRANBY 2015

OUR SHOWING AT AUTORAMA 2015

THE BARNFIND PHOTOS

2016 UPDATE - A FEW MORE PHOTOS

- Headlights correction : 3 pictures showing headlamp replacement by original ones (GE).

- Engine compartment : 2 pictures showing a factory engine (nov. 1957) VS. our engine compartment (July 2016), almost quite identical with few differences.

- Enjoy ...