Yeahrightgreer
Senior Member
Just did about 6 hours on the road and saw the car. Thankfully, it was nice weather and not much traffic. I spoke to the owner on the phone, he told me that only 1 person in the entire 6-7 years has ever actually came to see the vehicle. He said the only one was a serious Mopar enthusiast, so I assume he was talking about @MOVE N UP He stated a lot of people called about the car, but none drove up. I have to assume that the reason is because the car is decently far up north. He allowed me to inspect the car so I took my time.
I’m a dummy and didn’t take a picture of the fender tag. However, the car is pretty loaded. Power disc brakes, power seats, windows, antenna and locks; cruise control, AC, cassette radio with rear speakers. Only option I didn’t see was the rear defroster and sunroof! Now let’s get into the condition.
Paint: As @MOVE N UP mentioned, the paint is 100% shot. Car was repainted a darker blue than original. Original is the blue that’s in the trunk. Without seeing the fender tag, I think it may have been a B7 ‘Jubilee Blue’.
Interior: As far as I can tell, it has every single piece of the interior. The door cards are nice and there is a small tear on the driver door card. The carpet is surprisingly nice and could be reused. The seats and headliner are obviously destroyed. The rear shelf will need replaced. The seatbelts are surprisingly nice, clean and unrusted. Seat frames good. Glass is uncracked. As for the dashboard, it’s a mixup, good and bad. The dashboard is uncracked and items like the wood trim and the instrument panel are in very nice condition. However, pieces such as the Radio are severely oxidized. Even the AC vents are heavily rusted from what I believe are serious humidity exposure. This leads me to believe that while the dash is decent, the wiring behind the dashboard might be compromised from the humidity.
Body and Rust: Now for The most important part. The car is cleaner than most. The front and rear lower valance are straight. All of the doors, fenders and quarter panels on the car appear rust free. The driver side is very straight and looks to never have had a dent in it. On the drivers side, even the quarter panel arches, the fenders, the door and rocker panels are in fantastic condition.
The passenger side rocker panel and roof are the biggest areas.
The passenger side has about a 2 inch diameter rust hole. It has NOT eaten completely through the car, as I’ve tried poking through it and its solid. It is the only rust hole below the roof that I could find on the car. The rest of the passenger side such as the quarter panels, the door, and fenders are solid. Frankly, I’m not sure why this one specific spot has a large rust hole in it. Perhaps when the car was repainted, they did not prep the area correctly. It is easily the most damaged part of the car. The nice thing that you can see about this hole is that you can see the amount of Bondo used when repainted. I tapped around the quarter panels car and there is minimal Bondo. It is solid metal throughout. Additionally, the passenger door has a large dent in it. Frankly, I think a skilled body man can pull it out. Looks like it got hit with a lawnmower or something.
As for the roof, it is your typical vinyl car. The roof has bubbling throughout, most pronounced on the C pillars. Surprisingly there is little bubbling on the rear Dutchman panel. I climbed into the trunk, and looked through the bottom. There are three small pinholes where the trim meets the rear deck. Underneath the vinyl, on the passenger side, there’s approximately a 2 inch in length rust hole. Theres a similar 4 inch hole on the driver side. An expert can correct me, but It appears to be the inner layer of metal and not the outer layer. Pushing down from the vinyl side, there is no obvious holes. The entire middle area of the deck seems to be solid. Therefore, I do not believe the rear window needs a replacement panel from a donor car. I think some good patches could be made and the car would benefit from getting a colored painted roof in the future. The A pillars look solid with no bubbling underneath however, the top of the roof has a lot of bubbles.
I looked at the rear frame (I forget the name) where the leaf springs mount and they look solid. The stub frame and torsion bars are solid. The K-Member is solid however, there is significant surface rust underneath the car. The muffler and exhaust being eaten through show the severity of it. It is clear to me that although there are no rust holes, if the car does not get out of the humid environment and get sealed (POR-15 or in a garage) in the next few years, that it will lead to serious damage. I did not look at the floor panels closely, but I assume they are good. I did not look at the trunk floor as it had the carpet but I assume it is good. Trunk floor is unpainted and bare metal which is concerning. The carpet was moist due to the humidity. The trunk gutters are surprisingly clean and no rust on the gutters. There is a small rusted through slit at the bottom of the trunk rail near the chrome bumper. Trunk lid itself looks great. Everything from the firewall forward looks good.
Chrome and Trim: Every piece of trim is present except for the hood ornament. It might have been in the trunk. Chrome looks savable. The rear bumper might need some love. Front is great. Side skirts and hubcaps in the trunk. Passenger side grill has a crack. Rear passenger tail light is damaged.
Drivetrain and Electrical: the car allegedly ran the last time when it parked. The car is missing the radiator. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to turn the motor over. However, the engine bay is complete (minus radiator). I checked the engine oil, it looks and smells good. It is not murky and does not look contaminated with no metal shavings. Checked the transmission fluid and surprisingly it looks and smells cleaner than the fluid when I did my Chrysler New Yorker, which was a 30,000 mile car. The engine bay is clean, and none of the wires look burnt out or molested. If I had to bet $50 on it, I’d wager that the motor would spin over by hand freely due to the general condition of the car, however, to be safe I’d assume it would need to rebuild. Transmission and axle I assume just need some freshening up.
Brakes and Suspension: The owner mentioned that the brakes were probably seized up. Rear leafs will definitely need some love so assuming it’ll need a complete new suspension and brakes. Torsion bars didn’t look rusted through.
In conclusion, the car looks complete with every piece that you would need. The car is still in a great condition that it could be restored. The passenger side rocker panel and roof are the only rust areas I could find. But then again, what 56-year-old vinyl car doesn’t have a rust hole? Especially if the drivetrain is good, then you might have great a 2-door Imperial coupe.
I’m a dummy and didn’t take a picture of the fender tag. However, the car is pretty loaded. Power disc brakes, power seats, windows, antenna and locks; cruise control, AC, cassette radio with rear speakers. Only option I didn’t see was the rear defroster and sunroof! Now let’s get into the condition.
Paint: As @MOVE N UP mentioned, the paint is 100% shot. Car was repainted a darker blue than original. Original is the blue that’s in the trunk. Without seeing the fender tag, I think it may have been a B7 ‘Jubilee Blue’.
Interior: As far as I can tell, it has every single piece of the interior. The door cards are nice and there is a small tear on the driver door card. The carpet is surprisingly nice and could be reused. The seats and headliner are obviously destroyed. The rear shelf will need replaced. The seatbelts are surprisingly nice, clean and unrusted. Seat frames good. Glass is uncracked. As for the dashboard, it’s a mixup, good and bad. The dashboard is uncracked and items like the wood trim and the instrument panel are in very nice condition. However, pieces such as the Radio are severely oxidized. Even the AC vents are heavily rusted from what I believe are serious humidity exposure. This leads me to believe that while the dash is decent, the wiring behind the dashboard might be compromised from the humidity.
Body and Rust: Now for The most important part. The car is cleaner than most. The front and rear lower valance are straight. All of the doors, fenders and quarter panels on the car appear rust free. The driver side is very straight and looks to never have had a dent in it. On the drivers side, even the quarter panel arches, the fenders, the door and rocker panels are in fantastic condition.
The passenger side rocker panel and roof are the biggest areas.
The passenger side has about a 2 inch diameter rust hole. It has NOT eaten completely through the car, as I’ve tried poking through it and its solid. It is the only rust hole below the roof that I could find on the car. The rest of the passenger side such as the quarter panels, the door, and fenders are solid. Frankly, I’m not sure why this one specific spot has a large rust hole in it. Perhaps when the car was repainted, they did not prep the area correctly. It is easily the most damaged part of the car. The nice thing that you can see about this hole is that you can see the amount of Bondo used when repainted. I tapped around the quarter panels car and there is minimal Bondo. It is solid metal throughout. Additionally, the passenger door has a large dent in it. Frankly, I think a skilled body man can pull it out. Looks like it got hit with a lawnmower or something.
As for the roof, it is your typical vinyl car. The roof has bubbling throughout, most pronounced on the C pillars. Surprisingly there is little bubbling on the rear Dutchman panel. I climbed into the trunk, and looked through the bottom. There are three small pinholes where the trim meets the rear deck. Underneath the vinyl, on the passenger side, there’s approximately a 2 inch in length rust hole. Theres a similar 4 inch hole on the driver side. An expert can correct me, but It appears to be the inner layer of metal and not the outer layer. Pushing down from the vinyl side, there is no obvious holes. The entire middle area of the deck seems to be solid. Therefore, I do not believe the rear window needs a replacement panel from a donor car. I think some good patches could be made and the car would benefit from getting a colored painted roof in the future. The A pillars look solid with no bubbling underneath however, the top of the roof has a lot of bubbles.
I looked at the rear frame (I forget the name) where the leaf springs mount and they look solid. The stub frame and torsion bars are solid. The K-Member is solid however, there is significant surface rust underneath the car. The muffler and exhaust being eaten through show the severity of it. It is clear to me that although there are no rust holes, if the car does not get out of the humid environment and get sealed (POR-15 or in a garage) in the next few years, that it will lead to serious damage. I did not look at the floor panels closely, but I assume they are good. I did not look at the trunk floor as it had the carpet but I assume it is good. Trunk floor is unpainted and bare metal which is concerning. The carpet was moist due to the humidity. The trunk gutters are surprisingly clean and no rust on the gutters. There is a small rusted through slit at the bottom of the trunk rail near the chrome bumper. Trunk lid itself looks great. Everything from the firewall forward looks good.
Chrome and Trim: Every piece of trim is present except for the hood ornament. It might have been in the trunk. Chrome looks savable. The rear bumper might need some love. Front is great. Side skirts and hubcaps in the trunk. Passenger side grill has a crack. Rear passenger tail light is damaged.
Drivetrain and Electrical: the car allegedly ran the last time when it parked. The car is missing the radiator. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to turn the motor over. However, the engine bay is complete (minus radiator). I checked the engine oil, it looks and smells good. It is not murky and does not look contaminated with no metal shavings. Checked the transmission fluid and surprisingly it looks and smells cleaner than the fluid when I did my Chrysler New Yorker, which was a 30,000 mile car. The engine bay is clean, and none of the wires look burnt out or molested. If I had to bet $50 on it, I’d wager that the motor would spin over by hand freely due to the general condition of the car, however, to be safe I’d assume it would need to rebuild. Transmission and axle I assume just need some freshening up.
Brakes and Suspension: The owner mentioned that the brakes were probably seized up. Rear leafs will definitely need some love so assuming it’ll need a complete new suspension and brakes. Torsion bars didn’t look rusted through.
In conclusion, the car looks complete with every piece that you would need. The car is still in a great condition that it could be restored. The passenger side rocker panel and roof are the only rust areas I could find. But then again, what 56-year-old vinyl car doesn’t have a rust hole? Especially if the drivetrain is good, then you might have great a 2-door Imperial coupe.
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