Many of us have experienced this scenario: We buy an old car fully expecting to do some "minor" work, perhaps even a quick paint job and nice wheels and leave it at that. Then, as we dig into the project we find out it needs just a "little more" than what we were expecting. Mike Giampaolo ran into this situation when he bought this 1969 Beaumont convertible. What did Mike do? Let's find out:

I owned a Lime Green 69 Beaumont hardtop with a black vinyl roof in the late 80’s.  Like many of us starting a family took priority, and I reluctantly sold the hardtop but kept the 327 sbc that I had built for it in hopes of someday finding another classic that I could drop the 327 in.

In November of 2005 I found a 69 Beaumont convertible for sale. It was Lime Green with black top. It must be fate right?  I made the deal and had the car shipped back to my place.  The original plan was to drop the 327 in it, freshen up the paint, put some rally’s on her and enjoy...

As I started to dismantle the car to “freshen up the paint” I realized she needed way more than just a paint job and some rally’s (like that’s never happened before lol).  I had to make a decision to cut my losses and sell the car or go down the path of a full restoration.

I began searching for parts that I would need to get the body back into shape and stumbled on to a 68-72 convertible frame for sale.  It was a southern frame and was already powder coated so the decision for a full frame off restoration was made.

I knew that I would never have an “original” classic so the game changed. My friend Louie (a mechanic who also guided and encouraged me throughout the whole process) and yes, even my wife Michele “forced” me to put a big block and buckets in the car. ”If you are going to go through all that trouble you might as well build what you want”. The new motto was “Do it once and do it right the first time”. I decided to build a 69 convertible SD tribute even though GM never produced one in ‘69.

The “2-3 year” project turned into a 10 year blissful journey.  I wanted to keep the car as original as possible (many said unnecessarily).  I used genuine GM parts or good used originals.  The front fenders are GM (and as you may know needed minor modification for the grill corners to fit).  The SS hood, doors, and floors are southern sheet metal with some coming from as far away as Arizona. The only aftermarket metal on this car is the rear inner/outer wheel wells and lower rear quarters.

The rolling chassis was completed and I ended up powder coating the control arms and rear end to match the frame.  Next, stainless brake and fuel lines along with a 12 bolt posi with 3:73’s were installed.  I purchased a 396 and had it bored .30 over, put roller rockers and a mild cam in it, and topped it off with an Edelbrock intake topped with a Holley 750 double pumper.

Rick (a master of his trade) who agreed to do the metal work applied the primer and gave it back to me so I could install the motor and tranny as well as do the mechanical work before final paint. “Skinny” Dave built the 396 and let me use his shop to finish off the mechanicals over the next several months.  I then installed the motor, headers, stainless exhaust, dashboard, and top etc.  Once the mechanical work was done it was back to Rick for final body work and paint.

The colour choice was a topic of discussion many times. I took a lot of grief when I told people I was painting it white with black SD stripes.”White?” they said. “It should be red or black. No one paints a muscle car white!”

Many thanks to the members on this site who helped with hard to find parts and invaluable information during the restoration process.  I made a lot of new friends and relationships during the process.

Too many people to thank when taking on a daunting project like this! However special thanks to Louie/Skinny Dave and Rick, and most of all my wife Michele who never questioned parts that would show up at the front door or that I purchased on one of my many trips to Carlisle. She would smile and ask “What are those?”  I would smile back and say “Beaumont gold! These are 69 only chrome headlight bezels!” THANKS Michele.