1966 Imperial Crown convertible

Found a factory '66 AM/FM tonight! Bought that bad boy, and it's mine! Should be in my hands early next week...I'm glad the dash isn't 100% together yet! Still need a glove box insert and instrument cluster fascia screws to finish completely.
 
Anytime now. Found all the damn trim screws I needed at the Street Rod Nats this past weekend! A vendor had about every trim screw and fastener imaginable in useable quantities, so I got what I needed and more. Slowly but surely...

In the meantime, I've finished the work I was doing on the son's Buick Skylark. What started out as a water pump replaced turned into a full-blown engine detail and paint; complete with new hoses, vacuum lines, valve cover gaskets, painting the block/pullies/brackets, and having the factory air cleaner powder coated. Looks damn nice, too!

Wrenched on the Hudson a bit, too. Next thing on that is to dye the seats. The PO was going to go brown with the interior, but I want the original green; so I plan on dyeing the seats two-tone green. I've dyed vinyl interiors before, so this won't be hard at all to do the seats. Got a new nine-circuit fuse box for the car, too. Since Hudson didn't have fuse blocks, and it's now 12VDC anyway, that is a good start. It's already got the GM alternator and is wired 12V to start/run, but nothing else is hooked up.
 
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My radio was shipped today...at last! Getting closer each day to a completed car with tunes and cold air conditioning!
 
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My new AM/FM factory '66 radio arrived today! The chrome on this is magnificent! No pits or scratches at all. Now, with the installation complete, it's time to make sure it all works, then finish buttoning things up! Cars and Coffee on Saturday! Woohoo!
 
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The radio works perfectly! With the new speaker, it sounds just like 1966. It's amazing, the tonal quality of a factory '60s radio. It brings back great memories. It's the first working factory radio I've had on a pre-'76 vehicle in ages! My Coronet, Hudson, D100, and Buick all have inoperative factory radios.

I've got an hour worth of finish work and vacuuming to do, and it's ready to drive and enjoy. Hard to believe I started on this "clean-up" 15 months ago. I've driven it a few times with various states of disassembly over that time, but really haven't taken it out for an event since last July. Saturday is the day. Friday afternoon, I'll give it a good wash and wax. Two years ago, the Imperial got all the Summer driving and showing, and I put about 2,300 miles on it. Last year, it was the Coronet's turn, with just over 2,000 miles. This Summer, both are ready and running fine, so they'll both be at a few shows together. The fun of having these returns!
 
I drove the Coronet to C&C this morning out of pure expediency...it was closest at the garage door to move. Drove my Imperial this afternoon, though! Drives great. Now, everything again runs and drives...except the Hudson, which is next on the agenda. Well, that, and my ZTR mower seized the deck clutch a couple of days ago, so I ordered that part and it's gonna get some attention in a few days.

Time to enjoy the fruits of my labor and empty several tanks of gasoline into the atmosphere! Gotta make up a bit for the nearly year it was parked. Splitting time between the Imperial and the Coronet will be enjoyable, indeed! I've always wanted to be that guy who can't decide which toy to drive to an event!
 
patrick66 said:
I drove the Coronet to C&C this morning out of pure expediency...it was closest at the garage door to move. Drove my Imperial this afternoon, though! Drives great. Now, everything again runs and drives...except the Hudson, which is next on the agenda. Well, that, and my ZTR mower seized the deck clutch a couple of days ago, so I ordered that part and it's gonna get some attention in a few days.

Time to enjoy the fruits of my labor and empty several tanks of gasoline into the atmosphere! Gotta make up a bit for the nearly year it was parked. Splitting time between the Imperial and the Coronet will be enjoyable, indeed! I've always wanted to be that guy who can't decide which toy to drive to an event!
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:thumbsup::thumbsup: Glad she's back out in the sunshine...
 
If the weather holds out, the Imperial will be on its first cruise event since July. Our Mopar club is having a cruise out to the Stafford Air and Space Museum in Weatherford, OK this Saturday...so if you're in OKC on the 19th, PM me and I'll provide details for you. Open to almost all - don't wanna see a new Kia or a Camry show up; though new and old Mopars are certainly welcome, as well as pre-'95 cars and trucks of all kinds. Pics will show up this weekend.
 
Patrick - I'm traveling a similar path, so your project is a great source of inspiration for me. A new dash pad is somewhere in the future.

Is your radio the model 420 auto seeking version? Certainly looks like it. If so, they are indeed somewhat scarce to say the least. Was lucky to find mine in the trunk once I got it open this spring. A buddy of mine who has a '65 Imp was visiting and hooked it up to a battery and spare aerial. It nearly blew us out of the room, and picked up more stations than our new cars hear.

Many fond memories of late night AM radio in the car. Not a lot left on there to listen to, so the FM comes in handy.

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Yup, bought my 420 based on two pictures. Works brilliantly! The tonal quality with that new speaker is great!
 
Same line of thinking when I first yanked that radio from the musty trunk and read the label - you gotta be joking. Probably wasn't yet in the culture back then. The manual mentions a model 419, that must've been the '65 AM/FM option.

Patrick, did your radio come from a gent on the left coast named Charles by chance? Nice guy, I bought some items from him and he mentioned having one in good working order.

Glove box insert: got mine at Van's Auto for $30 or $35 last year. Still in the wrapper waiting to be installed. A few things left to take care of under there first.
 
Excellent. I'm glad someone here got it. I was going to grab it myself but wanted to wait until I got the jammed trunk open to see if the "original" radio really was in there. Glad I waited, and I bet you are, too!

I purchased a number of small items from Charles, he was very fair in price, thorough in description, packing, and shipping. If only all sellers could be so good.

The missing dash bracket for the back of mine is en route, then I need to figure out where the feedline from the aerial disappeared to. Can't wait to get it all working right and back into the car.
 
I was going to get the Imperial out tomorrow for a drive, but with the air needing service, and with the temps supposed to get to around 175* or so, I'm gonna have to wait to bring it out.
 
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