In my very first post on the car in this thread, I detailed what my intentions on the car were going to be. Here'$ what I've accomplished over the past three years of the thread:
-Trunk carpet and finish panels. Also included a new tire, powder-coating the wheel, jack base and the metal tire cover. Fixed trunk wiring problem. And had a carpeted tire cover made, which all looks great! I consider the trunk itself done.
-Windshield header weatherstrip and top w/strip install went well. Much quieter with no leaks.
-Dash pad removal, install new pad. Removing was cake! Installation was a true pain in the ***! This involves removal of the speaker and vents, vent tubes, radio, glove box and dash bezels. If I ever do that again, I'll have the w/s removed professionally, and remove the entire dash assembly as one item. A '64-'66 Imperial dash pad is NOT a simple operation.
-Radio swap with new speaker. Took about an hour,, with the wiring for the speaker needing to be modified with a different end to mate with the speaker properly.
-Wheel covers: I restored one late in 2018. The others look good, but I need them all to match exactly, in terms of finish and appearance.
-Steering wheel removal and installation of the restored wheel ($$$!): I found from Boutupal, a very nice'64 wheel assembly. It is 1.65" larger than the '66 wheel. I'm going to run that this Summer, and maybe I can get the old one restored...for $1,600 and change(!!!)...but it'll be perfect!
-Air conditioning repair: Amazingly enough, it still holds a charge with R12 still in it! I'm looking to top off the R12 and go with it.
-Heater core remove/install: Learned a cool trick recently concerning heater core testing inside the car. Remove the hoses. Take a bicycle inner tube - a skinny tube works best. Cut across the tube opposite the valve stem, so that it is one long tube, with the valve stem in the center of the tube. Put the end over the heater inlet, then blow out any coolant remaining with LOW pressure air! Attach the other end to the outlet. Clamp. Pressurize (preferably a hand-powered bicycle air pump!) to approximately 12 pounds, which is the normal fluid pressure. Leave the gauge attached, and watch it. No loss of pressure? You have a good core. Hopefully, this will be me. If not, I'll go heater-free for awhile. The dual core on an air conditioned car is NOT cheap.
Here is what I've done in addition to what I said was going to be done at the start of the thread:
-Fluid changes: Oil and filter had roughly 2,600 miles. Fuel filter had not been changed during my possession. Both are fresh and ready
-Shocks F/R: The originals were so worn out, driving the car was quite literally like driving a boat across choppy waters. Up, down, up, down...I was looking for a bow wave! The new ones are KYB gas units.
-Brake booster and conversion to dual master cylinder: No choice here - do it or keep it parked. Still waiting for the booster the guy said "Yeah, it's on the way" ten days ago. The one my mechanic Steve removed was indeed the correct, and likely original, booster. I'm going to ship it out tomorrow and it'll be done. If the new one shows up before mine comes back...I'll have TWO.
-Parts I've found in the meantime: The chrome fillers behind the rear bumper. Two additional taillight lenses. NEW glovebox guts, the defroster ducts to replace the broken pair that were in the car to start with. Passenger side mirror. The lower interior lenses for the back seat. One pair of correct wiper arm assemblies. Maplight switch.
-Things still to do: Rebuild the window motors. I've got four additional motors that I need to dig into and rebuild/install. Install the rear bumper fillers. I have the six installation studs that are mandatory to complete the job.
She's getting there!!!
