Cold Hard Cash

Considering our grueling publishing deadlines, photographing and writing stories sometimes can become a grind, so with great pleasure, we will let the owner of this '64 Chevy Impala--Glen Saiz of Pueblo, Colorado--help tell his story. "I bought the car back in '92 from my brother for $5,000 and drove it for about four years," says Glen. "I then parked it for a year in the garage before I decided to build a show car." Like most plans, the car's direction changed and things got really deep, so deep that the car is called "Cold Hard Cash."

"With the help of my brother Dan, I decided to take the car off of the frame," continues Glen. "Then, I started taking the suspension off of the frame and taking the bumpers apart. I took everything that I could down to Ruben over at Electroplating of El Paso in El Paso, Texas, to get them chromed. With the help of Brian Dutton (owner of the "High Roller" '64 Impala seen on the cover of the November 2000 issue of LRM), Jesus Garcia and Camilo Figueroa, we went to work on the belly of the car sandblasting it and the frame."

At this point in the story, you can see that this is fast becoming a run for a "rebuild." The frame was taken to the powdercoaters to get powdercoated and then brought back home for some additional massaging and reassembly. There's nothing like some good trustworthy friends, especially when you're trying to put together a custom car. "My friends Jesus and Camilo cut out the trunk and floor, and replaced it with a chrome trunk floor," admits Glen. The crew started taking the chassis apart, stripping all of the outside and interior moldings and coming up on some new parts, along with some hard to find parts donated by Carl Gonzales.

Opting for a simple hydro setup, Glen went with his homies Jim and Jerry Champion at Champion's Custom Hydraulics in Pueblo, where they installed two all-chrome Hi-Low Eliminator pumps featuring #7 pump heads, four chrome dumps and a pair of Prestolite solenoid blocks. The suspension is supported by four 3-ton Showtime chrome springs, while four Energy Power batteries give up all of the juice necessary to make it happen. Chrome cylinders were used, 8-inch in the front and 10-inch in the rear, with control provided by four switches. Meanwhile, 3/8-inch chrome stainless steel tubing connects the cylinders to the pumps, which are mounted on an all-chrome rack.

Now with some of the body work and paint done, it was time to move on to the motivation part of the car, about which Glen says, "We took the original 283-c.i.d. engine over to Motive Machine in Pueblo, where they rebuilt the engine, and then to Paul Gallegos, who installed all of the chrome on the engine, including the intake, carb and other parts." The all-chrome engine is enough to put out an eye and after getting it all together (complete with Cool Flex hoses), Joe's Muffler hooked up an all-chrome dual exhaust with chrome tips.

R&T Auto Body in Pueblo was next in the chain, as Rolly Harshbarger and Tom and Seth Clemmer went to work on the body, stripping all of the old paint and doing all of the bodywork. "It was built back up with primer and blocked to perfection," Glen informs us. "Then, Rolly added PPG Patrician green with PPG2001 clear, and then sanded and polished it all to perfection. The car was taken back to the garage and we started putting some of the chrome parts back on. The frame and suspension and new glass were also installed."

Frank Talmadge of Frank's Upholstery in Pueblo installed new aqua carpet and door panels ordered from Harmon's and also installed a headliner, visors, padded dash and new seats to set it all off. The trunk was done to match the interior of the car. Like everyone, Glen likes his sounds and, on that note, he says, "I contacted Al Volden of Al's Creative Auto Sound in Pueblo, and he, along with Jesus Garcia, installed a DEH-P6400 Pioneer head unit and two 61/2-inch MTX mids, one under the dash and one in back of the seat."

The final piece of the puzzle was put into place when Glen acquired a set of 13x7 Masterpiece gold and chrome engraved wire wheels with twisted spokes from Robert's Tires & Wheels in Denver, Colorado. Like most men on a mission, Glen "worked day and night to get the car ready for the 2002 Lowrider Magazine Denver Tour show," where he placed First in the Traditional Lowrider, Best Engine and '60s Semi-Custom classes. But it all came down to the Super Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, where Glen placed Second in the Traditional Lowrider of the Year Sweepstakes. We'll let Glen have the last word, "I would like to thank my familia and all who helped with the hard work that went into Cold Hard Cash."