In working on 66 imperial front steering and suspension lately, we ran into somewhat of a wall as it relates to quality front shocks. It seemed that it was almost impossible to find a shock that did this cars justice or better yet increased handling over factory. Gabriel's just weren't going to cut it. After some serious digging however I have found something I thought worth sharing with the forum. The factory shocks in the imperial are tiny with an overall length of ~11.75" extended and a ~4" stroke making most over the counter shocks incompatible.
What I did find however, is late 70s mustang II shocks are a very close match. Digging through Ridetech's website, I found that they actually produce a near perfect match for the imperial spec'd as a mustang II shock (SKU 22139860). Because these are spec'd for a Mustang II they use a 2 piece sleeve inserted into the lower eyelet bushing that is 3.375 " total width (way too wide for the lower shock mount bracket in the imperial) however you can take 1 of the 2 sleeves and cut down the OD on a lathe (to roughly .750" if i recall) and shorten it from 1.69" (half of the total, 3.375") to 1.55-1.6". this allows you to use a single bushing that slides into the eyelet and is a perfect fit for these cars. the only other hiccup to running these is some minor clearancing of the rivet heads that hold the lower shock mount bracket to the lower control arm. with that you now have adjustable damping shocks with a lifetime warranty for your imperial. They aren't cheap at $255 a piece however I haven't come across another option that provides the same performance for these cars.
I will upload more photos of the shocks installed in the car, bushings, and clearancing as a I can, but for now here's a photo of the shocks being used for reference. Mind you the damping adjustment is located on the top of the stem so you can still readily access to make tuning adjustments.
What I did find however, is late 70s mustang II shocks are a very close match. Digging through Ridetech's website, I found that they actually produce a near perfect match for the imperial spec'd as a mustang II shock (SKU 22139860). Because these are spec'd for a Mustang II they use a 2 piece sleeve inserted into the lower eyelet bushing that is 3.375 " total width (way too wide for the lower shock mount bracket in the imperial) however you can take 1 of the 2 sleeves and cut down the OD on a lathe (to roughly .750" if i recall) and shorten it from 1.69" (half of the total, 3.375") to 1.55-1.6". this allows you to use a single bushing that slides into the eyelet and is a perfect fit for these cars. the only other hiccup to running these is some minor clearancing of the rivet heads that hold the lower shock mount bracket to the lower control arm. with that you now have adjustable damping shocks with a lifetime warranty for your imperial. They aren't cheap at $255 a piece however I haven't come across another option that provides the same performance for these cars.
I will upload more photos of the shocks installed in the car, bushings, and clearancing as a I can, but for now here's a photo of the shocks being used for reference. Mind you the damping adjustment is located on the top of the stem so you can still readily access to make tuning adjustments.
