Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale,
A tale of a fateful trip
That started from this tropic port
Aboard this (not so) tiny ship...
I'm going to stop goofing around and get down to business on the Imperial. Why the rush? I've set a personal goal. I want this car running, driving, and looking good in time for the Hot Rod Power Tour 2012. The ride will run from Detroit to DFW. I want to take the full ride with the Imperial.
Don't get ahead of me on this. Here's a basic yet realistic plan of action.
1) Get some seats in the beast
2) Do the body work
3) Make it black again
4) Vinyl top (assuming time/funds allow)
5) AIR CONDITIONING
6) Front end and suspension rebuild
7) Install the A518 overdrive
8) POWER TOUR
9) Wheel/tires/brake conversion
10) Fuel injection
11) TURBOCHARGE!
Here's a photoshop of what I've got in mind for a finished product.
That's a rough pecking order. For instance, if the vinyl top will be cost prohibitive on my miniscule budget it will get bounced around to fit. I'd like to have it in time for the Power Tour.
The same goes for the fuel injection. If time allows, I might slide it in before the Power Tour. Since I have everything it takes to install the EFI it will only cost me time.
The real hot rod stuff like the heads and turbos will have to wait until after the Power Tour. The Imperial will be absolutely pimptastic without the horsepower. It's just icing on the cake.
When I built the hot rod I did all of the cool stuff and never cared about making it look good. In the end, it's still a bit embarrassing and I've lost interest in the car. It was just a toy.
This time, I'm doing the opposite. I want to knock out the pretty stuff first. if the car is enjoyable to run around in I will have a harder time losing interest. Don't worry about me not getting the turbos and other go fast stuff installed. I'm still a hot rodder at heart. I want the power. That part of me will never die.
Anyway, enough rambling.
I will need to sell the hot rod to pay for the work on the Imperial. Luckily, the hot rod isn't that far from being a running and driving car again. This weekend I need to get busy with it once more.
About the Imperial...
I found it on Craigslist in 2010. It was 3 hours from home. I borrowed a trailer and hit the road.
This is what I found:
It had been put in storage (read: some guy's open field) and left there a little too long. To say it was rough would not be an overstatement. Quite frankly, the car was a mess. The seller moved it to a covered area and tried to get the car to start. He failed miserably.
Under all the funk, tons of rat droppings, trash, and seriously disgusting odor was a fairly solid car that had potential. A little negotiating and it was on it's way home.
The Imperial's option list reads like a modern car: power steering, power disc brakes, power windows, power vent windows, power leather split bench seats, front and rear folding arm rests, tilt/telescoping column, automatic A/C, rear A/C, 8-track (maybe not so modern there), power antenna, automatic headlights, auto dimming headlights, headlight turn off delay, cruise control, a glove box in every door, ash trays and lighters in every door, and lots more.
It sat in the driveway while I fiddled with little things here and there. The car was cleaned out and cleaned up. That's when we found the rusty trunk floor. Then, Andrewh and I spent 9 hours making it run. We changed everything in the ignition system, swapped the starter, primed the oil system, and coaxed it to life.
That old 440 runs like a top. It's a little down on power for a barge this big but it gets the job done.
A trip to the used tire store had the car rolling on some cheap used tires. Once I figure out which wheels are going on the car I'll get new tires.
I've been driving the car to make sure the engine and transmission are going to be usable. The car had a habit of overheating. I sent the radiator out to be recored. A new fan clutch was in order too. When that was off, I turned the water pump by hand. That was scary. It felt chunky and like it was grinding. I also noticed the belts had not been changed since the Carter administration. It was all replaced. There are no more cooling issues.
Now, the fuel system needs to be addressed immediately, if not sooner. I installed a clear fuel filter after the tank. In a little more than 100 miles it looked like a used tea bag hanging back there. Yeah, it's got rust issues. The rust plugs up the pickup tube and the car dies. Not fun.
The fuel system will have to wait a wee bit longer. Since I had a wee little lump of money I fired up the Imperial and set sail for the upholstery shop today. They gave me a nice quote on new seats. They will have to be vinyl because I don't have leather money. However, they should turn out nice.
Don't worry. When I begin the body work, I will pull the seats and store them inside until it's time for them to go back in the car. I also plan on pulling the body panels that will unbolt and work them one at a time. That will give me the room I need to get into and around the car while it's in my shop. Since I'm going back with black paint I can even shoot the panels one at a time.
This will be my first attempt at going this far with a car in order to make it look good. I learned quite a bit while building the hot rod. Now, I want to use what I've learned and build something that I will enjoy for years to come.
Stay tuned while I
barge ahead.
