1969 Imperial I may be pulling the trigger on today

I think anyone that’s new to this hobby should have a reality check from a more experienced person.
First, they should know that it doesn’t happen like it does on TV or YouTube.
Let’s take this car for example. It’s probably one of the most complex c-bodies you can find. And unlike say, a Roadrunner or a brand X Camaro of this year, you’ll not be able to buy your way out of any problems that come up. And there will be problems. It’s not until you own the car and start disassembling it that you discover the heartbreaking truth of its condition.
As mentioned here before,it would take years of work from a darn skilled and well equipped person to get this car back to anywhere near original shape. Not to mention 15-20k minimum cash and that’s without farming anything out.
But what if you just wanted to make it a driver? You might be able cut those estimates in half if you did absolutely no cosmetic work but wanted 90% of everything to function.
I’d rather see them in storage or parted out than to see them halfway disassembled, parts lost, owner broke and disgusted. Just my 2 cents..
 
ONE way to do that car would be to PRIORITIZE things. Get the vinyl roof and related items done. That makes it look better, up front. Not worry about the bubbles over the rh rr wheel, YET, but DO inspect that area too!! Then work on getting it running and operating as it should.

Interior might not be perfect, but it does look pretty good. DO soak and clean the seats and such with a good leather cleaner and leather conditioner (for the leather) to make them feel softer and be protected. DO pull up the carpet on the rh front footwell area to check for rust. Even in normal Fuselage cars, the a/c case seemed to be bad about leaking condensate past the case half gasket. Also be careful with the headliner as it can be "fragile with age".

Instrument panel pad? Clean and let it be. Let somebody else worry about that.

Carefully diagnose and see how it works for the AutoTemp hvac system. Determine what it wilil do and what it does not do. IF you can get the a/c compressor to run, then you might do a R-134a conversion? If not, see what it will take for the conversion and put that one the back burner, for now. Not sure what it might take to update the system to the later ATC II, but it might take a complete parts car and $$$$$$. Or even if that might be possible?

The purchase price might be good, BUT will the later price it might be sold for (Condition 4 or 3) make it a financially-viable situation? Probably not, I suspect. No doubt, the rear window by itself will require some metal fabrication to replace what has deteriorated under the vinyl roof. In this case, it's not what it will take to get the car operational and looking decently better, it's what it will take to make it "completely right again" after the other stuff is done.

This particular car might be too good to part out, but not good enough to fix inexpensively or quickly. Which can be a BIG gray area! For a "first classic car", this might not be the best choice, BUT it can generate LOTS of "war stories", too. NOT going to say "Don't do it", but if you do, at least your significant other will know where you are spending time away for her! "Prioritize" and proceed.

YOUR money/time, YOUR dreams, etc. Just be sure to wear padded pants and/or "snake boots", just in case.

Those were neat car when new. Even beautiful! At least you won't have to worry about chasing a non-power radio antenna!

Just some thoughts,
CBODY67
 
The way I decide whether or not to by a car has little to do with the condition of the car.
First, I decide that it is for sure what I want and the price is acceptable.
Second, I don’t borrow the money to buy it. If you have to borrow the money you simply can’t afford it.
Lastly, I make sure that if the whole thing goes sideways and the car turns out to be worthless, the money I laid out I could have put in a pile and burned and it wouldn’t move my needle either way.
Basically, a purchase like this can be a blessing or a hardship.it’s up to the buyer to make sure the scales are tipping towards the right side!
 
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I was wondering about that dash. It appears to be black in color.
Is it a dark green pad that has been sun baked and just looks black now?
It does appear to be drooping pretty bad.

The dash should be gold, it's just covered in mold. And rather than drooping, it appears to be "smiling", but not in a good way. The pad is easy enough to replace, but if it looks like that how does everything behind it look?
 
The dash (...) rather than drooping, it appears to be "smiling", but not in a good way. (..) how does everything behind it look?
^^THIS^^

The sun damage on the seats (which, BTW, likely reduces the value of the seat estimate from @detmatt -- all the more so that they are green, as opposed to a rarer color) and the shape of the pad together suggest a substantial amount of heat exposure (I don't think water would generate the changes on the seats and pad that we see).

Regardless of whether it is the result of heat or humidity, this cosmetic damage in turn suggests that the complicated Imperial electrical systems behind the dash may have to be gone through. The buyer may be lucky, but he may not. Better walk into this with eyes wide open.

@MarylandHunter -- to be clear, if this car is your passion AND you have the resources (time, expertise, money) to fix it, we are all rooting for you. BUT, we would not be nice people if we did not warn you of the pitfalls. Most of us have made mistakes like the ones we describe, and it ain't fun -- so we want to help you avoid them.

PS: why am I looking at the value of the seats? Because, when one buys a classic car, one should think about what one can recover in case things go south -- and what one can get from parting a money pit (taking one's labor value into account), or selling it whole for parts, is that reservation price.
 
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it appears to have had some paintwork in the past, the wiring from the body to the driver's door has green paint on the grommet/body plug
 
it appears to have had some paintwork in the past, the wiring from the body to the driver's door has green paint on the grommet/body plug

Agree, there are multiple signs that the paint is not original.
 
I was wondering about that dash. It appears to be black in color.
Is it a dark green pad that has been sun baked and just looks black now?
It does appear to be drooping pretty bad.
Something Strange Happened to the shape of that Dash.
I copied this from a post by Marko
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My second C body was a '69 Imperial, 2 door, deep plum with white roof. It was a one owner car that had sat for a long time, like this one. However it was completely original, and had only one small spot of rust through. After having to use a sledgehammer to remove two of the wheels, and snapping off all four bench seat bolts, I decided to sell it at a loss. Probably one of the smartest moves I've made in my life. Of course it would have been smarter to not buy it in the first place, but hindsight is 20/20, and I was dreaming, then reality set in.
 
Allot of food for thought posted here. As stated, the Imperials are the more complex of C bodies and that can lead to many issues with parts aviability and such. Don't be discouraged but tread carefully and due diligence. Good luck!
 
My 69 Le baron from Long ago.
The drivers side was destroyed in an accident before I got it. Back glass area rusted out. I lightened it up as much as I could.( no interior besides one bucket seat) a 3.91 gear, Supra brake rotors and homemade chevy caliper conversion. I won a few street drags with it. That’s a plastic trash can lid hood scoop. No regrets!

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He did already days ago and ask me about my opinion via PM and I responded with some pretty high $$ estimates as well. No respond to my message so far either.
 
The big question for him to answer first is, what he wants to accomplish with the car.
The money spent for a proper restoration would also buy him a brand new Hellcat.. I guess that's not the way to go on this one.

But just getting it driveable should be pretty easy and cheap to do. From there, it could be a cheap, rolling "restomod". He don't have to fix all the problematic systems like the ATC to enjoy it.
Doing all the work that keeps him from driving the car in the winter months and enjoying it during summer would be a good way to do this for a young fellow.

My 2c on this one.
 
The big question for him to answer first is, what he wants to accomplish with the car.
The money spent for a proper restoration would also buy him a brand new Hellcat.. I guess that's not the way to go on this one.

But just getting it driveable should be pretty easy and cheap to do. From there, it could be a cheap, rolling "restomod". He don't have to fix all the problematic systems like the ATC to enjoy it.
Doing all the work that keeps him from driving the car in the winter months and enjoying it during summer would be a good way to do this for a young fellow.

My 2c on this one.
I agree with you on your opinion, except for one thing. Your input is worth a LOT more than 0.02!
 
For a daily, especially if the work needed is limited to the body work required and the rust isn't insurmountable, the price is definitely good. If it actually runs at that money, 100 additional bonus points! Assuming it'll need as a minimum: tires, brakes, and consumables like wiper blades, hoses, oil/filters and such, he's in it for $5K and has a decent-looking and drivable Imperial. The interior is pretty sharp, overall. That water leak at the rear window plug is very worrisome, to me, and appears to be the most serious of the "needs work" items we can see.

She has to be saved from the derby crowd, regardless!

Basecoat/clearcoat...WTF, Over?
 
Knowing what I know now, after re-habbing my great '67 Newport Custom, and my very nice '65 New Yorker, I'd have to pass on this Imperial.

I only paid $1250 for the Newport, but I've put a LOT of work and another 7K into the car, and that does not include any body or paint work. I'm not complaining, I love my Newport, it runs great and is totally reliable as a driver/cruiser. But things do add up.

Then came the '65 New Yorker last fall for $3650. Yes, it was cheap to purchase, but then you....rebuild the front end, exhaust work, carpet, brakes, carb re-build, hoses, wires, fluids, etc etc etc. Again, a LOT of work (but I have a nice shop) and another 7K, and I'm still doing some sorting on the car. The C-bodies have been a lot of fun, and I suppose in the grand scheme of things they haven't been THAT costly as compared to Corvettes and GTOs, but my personal feeling on this IMP is that it'll take that same 7K to get it cruising, and still the paint and the vinyl top will remain as is.

I am totally encouraging you to get into the old car hobby, but as has been said above, this might not be the right car to start with.

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