1966 Imperial Crown convertible

[patrick66]

Well, while i'm awaiting my new fuel tank tube seal to the filler neck, i've been doing a little clean-up in the trunk, and dyeing the kick panels and lower carpet in the back, below the armrests. So far, it's looking good. I removed a few of the trunk filler panels when I had the electrical work done, it's about time to reinstall all that and take a few pics. The trunk and interior are looking fantastic!

The dash lighting issue has me perplexed. Fuses and circuits all test good. I wonder if the big cannon-style receptacle in back of the cluster might be suspect? Does anyone know if that plug connects everything? I have gauges, clock, and turn indicators electrically in the cluster, that's all. I know the clock has its own power source and is independent of the rest of the cluster.

 

[patrick66]

Trunk pics. Kinda dark. I'll get better ones out later. Installed the three pieces of the trunk board that hide the top motor and the wheelwells from view, so now the trunk is done-done, other than the jacking instructions decal. Also, got the window-to-roof weatherstrip installed. I was short the area around the right quarter-window, guess I'll need to get about three more feet to ensure there is enough.

Got my tank seal in the mail yesterday, but the old one is fine. There appears to be a hole above and to the right of the tank fill hole. Might just get a new tank over the Winter, rather than jack with patching mine. I guess when I fill the car up.in the meantime, it just means I have drive a couple of gallons off, before parking the Imperial.

 

[patrick66]

Feeling a bit better on Saturday after recovering from an appendectomy, I went out to do a little on the Hudson. The little Jet has been on the back burner for several months. I decided to have my son and his friend install the front seat for me. I cleaned up the exterior and drained the little bit of stale fuel from the tank. Removed the Mooneyes wheel covers in favor of the stock stainless cop caps. Now, it looks like it can actually move out of the garage on its own power!

 

[patrick66]

I've put the Imperial on the back burner for now; probably until mid-February '21. It runs and drives just fine, but I figure the heat and air work can wait a little longer. I just got finished doing a few things on my '68 D100; such as installing a LOUD horn, painting the brake drums and installing a new set of American Racing VN515 wheels! The Hudson goes to my buddy's hot rod shop in mid-January for some wiring expertise, getting the engine bay wired up right, and the lights hooked up and working. Plus, the Coronet is experiencing a console restoration you can see here: 1966 Coronet 500 I'm restoring the proper '66-only console body I have in a set of three additional '66-only consoles I have in my parts bin. It's currently tan, but will be black. Also, I'll do a restoration on the '68 Charger console in the Coronet now (black); as well as a third '66-only Charger console (red) I recently acquired the back half to (with front console armrest!). The last two will be up for sale as they are finished up. So, Winter is promising to be busy and productive.

 

[tallhair]

The red drums look great Patrick

 

[patrick66]

Today (Sunday) was a gorgeous day for a drive downtown, to grab a coffee with my lovely wife! Sixty degrees, dry, but windy. Took the opportunity when I got home to do some interior work. Dyed the rear lower carpet kick panels, painted the seat back edges, and vacuumed..

Plus, my heat/air fan decided to work. Tried the switch on a whim, and have all three speeds. I need to finish troubleshooting the fuses for my dash lights and radio, and check the cannon plug connector on the back of the dash. I also found the temperature sending unit is bad, so I'll grab a new one tomorrow and fix that. Last day of 60+temps for the next week.

 

[tallhair]

 

[patrick66]

Got my Imperial taillight gaskets today from @QQE, pretty excited! I knew my old gaskets were pretty trashed...hell, they were barely there! The new gaskets are top quality. It took.me a lot longer to get the 55-yo material off the lenses and the housings than I figured, but putting the new gaskets on was a treat!

I used both a razor blade and a small flat screwdriver to clean things up. The old gasket was pretty fossilized, what was there! The bottom pic shows how badly the old gasket wound up, after all this time. The mounting holes in the new gaskets have to have their pre-cut holes punched out before installation. Very simple.

And thanks to @QQE for choosing to repop a much-needed part! At $20.00/pr., that's a great deal, IMO. I'll be getting your reverse lens gaskets for '66 Imperial when they become available.

 

[patrick66]

After a 55-mile jaunt in today's 70-degree weather, I washed the Imperial and took pride in my taillight gasket install...lol! I love driving that car! Tomorrow is supposed to be just as nice, so it's under-the-dash time. Again. This lighting problem has had me perplexed. A fresh look will help.

 

[patrick66]

Drove the Imperial to Coffee-n-Cars today. This was at the Fairgrounds in conjunction with the OKC Auto Show. Probably 600 cars at CnC, plus perhaps 100 hotrods and another 100 or so new cars on display inside. Very nice.

Highlighting the show was the GM Parade of Progress truck #13, one of three restored and one of ten still in existence.

 

[tallhair]

Drove the Imperial to Coffee-n-Cars today. This was at the Fairgrounds in conjunction with the OKC Auto Show. Probably 600 cars at CnC, plus perhaps 100 hotrods and another 100 or so new cars on display inside. Very nice.

Highlighting the show was the GM Parade of Progress truck #13, one of three restored and one of ten still in existence.

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Nice. Glad you are giving the girl some exercise.

 

[patrick66]

It was a very nice day today, and tomorrow is supposed to be the same. Might put another 50-60 miles on it.

 

[detmatt]

It was a very nice day today, and tomorrow is supposed to be the same. Might put another 50-60 miles on it.

I’m envious, boy I’ve got the itch! This pandemic B.S. is even harder to deal with without being able to drive an Imperial...

 

[patrick66]

You do have the little tyrant in charge. Drive anyway!

 

[detmatt]

You do have the little tyrant in charge. Drive anyway!

She’s not keeping me from driving, it’s all the winter salt.

 

[detmatt]

And now that I think about it I put 4K miles on my silver coupe in 2020.

 

[patrick66]

Drove her again today. A little cooler and windier today, and only put 15 miles on it. I love driving it! But, I had to show my dailies some love. Washed my VW and the wife's Buick, and put about 10 miles on the '68 truck. Graded the driveway, too. My tractor started right up after sitting since early November. A very handy tool, gotta tell ya!

 

[patrick66]

Put a wee over 50 miles on her today. Drove to downtown OKC and just cruised around a bit. Was thinking about breakfast a little! Ended up by the Capitol Building, then headed back towards home. With all the construction on the Interstate going on here, I took the main section roads, instead. The Imperial ran in top form. Then, I ran across a small car show and stopped, looked, and entered. Nothing on my social calendar to conflict! And in fromt of a really good diner, too. Breakfast, it is!

Hung out for a bit, then headed home. Heard that wonderful power steering pump howl. Got fluid at O'Reilly's, fed the pump, went home. A nice afternoon that hit 70* at 3:00 pm! Heard some of y'all got a wee bit of snow today!

 

[patrick66]

More Imperial love for Easter Sunday! With the temps in the low 70s and calm winds, the day could not have been more perfect for a nice drive through the city. Took the highway around town, then went downtown and just cruised around. I put right at 70 miles on the convertible yesterday...did I take any pics? Uh...no. The lovely wife decided she didn't want to get out in the sunshine - sometimes I think she's a vampire. No worries! I needed to treat myself after a long weekend of grading the driveway, mowing, working on the tractor and the pickup. Washed the Imp, and enjoyed the day after we had our Easter lunch.

I was picking up milk on the way home. As I walked away from the car, a guy in his '70s, I'm guessing, said "hey, nice Imperial!" We chatted for a minute or so. I got the milk, walked out to the car, and a couple pulled up. "Is that an Impala?"..."Uh, no, it's an Imperial. Chrysler built this." "Cool!" So he ogles and drools over the car. "Can I get a picture?" "Yeah, sure!" He takes a few of the car, thanks me and drives off. Literally, two seconds after I'm in the car, another guy yells "Nice car!" "Thanks!" Lastly, two gals in their 30s drive around the car real slow, with big smiles on their faces. "Nice convertible!" Thanks! All without having even moved the car out of the parking lot! Of course, my head got real big so that I could barely squeeze in the convertible with the top down, right?

Oh, and my '69 Dodge D300 cab & chassis is supposed to arrive sometime today! Getting delivered from New Mexico on a flatbed.

 

[patrick66]

My Dodge D300 arrived from New Mexico yesterday afternoon. Ultra-straight, 99.8% rust-free cab & chassis. A lifelong northern California (20 years)/southwestern New Mexico (32 years) truck. It has the original 318, four-speed NP435 trans, radio, heater, power brakes, 4.10 Dana 70 dually rear. Shows 64K miles, believed to be original. This is in that good of shape! It has led an easy life, apparently. Lots of NM desert dirt and dust came with it. I get to clean that interior after work today. The seat was redone at some time, and has two sections that need to be reupholstered. Other than that, pretty damn nice! Doors shut right and tight. Windows go up and down perfectly, without rattles. One armrest is pretty roached, the other is perfect. It's on four may-pop tires, so rubber is in the immediate future for this beast. One nice thing about 1969 is that Dodge began using one-piece, 8-lug wheels that are the same through 1993, so I got the six wheels on the truck, plus two additional wheels. Better than the two-piece split-ring wheels; plus, I don't need to jack with tubes.

A blast with the son's power washer after work today, and a session with the air compressor beforehand to blow out all that dust from under the hood and the interior...she'll look Springtime-fresh!

With the added plus of REAL patina, versus the manufactured-patina, aka "fauxtina" on too many vehicles.

No rattlesnakes, scorpions, spiders or other desert stowaways that I've found. Well, yet.

Pics of the "new kid"...

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