Once the car was stripped down to the ground, they used almost the same crew to work on El Colorado as they had for El Giro. One difference was that the bodywork was sent out to Edgar Villegas of Choice of Colors, in Garden Grove, California, instead. Edgar and his crew worked their magic blocking out in the car. When it was ready, it was masked up and sprayed in a Rio Red, two-stage paint finish. When the paint cured it was rubbed out and shipped back to Tomas so it could be assembled.
The car was gone through one more time because the frame-off restoration started to look like the other gold '58 that had passed through Tomas' assembly line. The complete suspension was then checked and corrected. The stock, big-block 348 Tri-power and power glide transmission were tuned by Frank who made sure that the car was running as good as the other one.
Since they had extra options that they'd purchased for their first Impala they decided to use them-a Continental kit, Trail Master spotlights, a compass, cruising skirts, power seat, power windows, and wing windows. One thing Tomas wanted to keep different were the wheels, so a new set of 13x7 Daytons and Cornell radials were used for this classic.
Both project cars couldn't have been put together without the support of Tomas and Junior's wives, Diana Vazquez and Norma Garcia because they have always been the backbone and support system for their husbands. Now, Tomas and Junior are now working on new projects. One of them includes Tomas' old '62 Impala, "Hollywood Duece," which he's completely restoring back to its original colors. We'll see how that car turns out, although we're not worried because these one-two punchers seem to hold their own.
El GiroOwner: Tomas Vazquez and Junior GarciaVehicle: '58 Chevrolet Impala convertibleCity/State: Chino, CaliforniaClub: Imperials Car ClubEngine: Stock 348-cid GM engineTires: Premium Sportway 5.20sWheels: 13x7, 72-spoke, chrome cross-lace Zenith wire wheels
El ColoradoOwner: Tomas Vazquez and Junior GarciaVehicle: '58 Chevrolet Impala convertibleCity/State: Chino, CaliforniaClub: Imperials Car ClubEngine: Stock 348-cid Tri-power engineTires: P155/80R13 Champion radialsWheels: 13x7 chrome Dayton wire wheels
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