1969 Imperial progress thread

[65sporty]

Ten years.
Im recovering from a near fatal heart attack.
HurryTF up will'ya???

Bypass surgery? Doc's get you all fixed up and on the road to recovery? I pray for a speedy recovery for you

 

[commando1]

WTF??

Yah. But this ain't the place for it.

 

[vdk2010]

Paintless dent removal should be able to repair that pretty easy.
No Bondo.

I don't care about the original paint. It will get emmersion stripped and e-coated anyway, but sheetmetal is never as good as original, even when you have a metal wizzard on hand as I do. So I would've preferred the door undamaged...!
No Bondo is the guideline for all the body work on my car!

 

[vdk2010]

You guys have it so much harder restoring these cars across the pond, my hat is off to you Julian! Glad you had a good trip, next time I expect you will come to the midwest please.

Yes, we have. The expense and difficulties to ship everything over here is not fun at all!

I have family in Rochester, NY so I will probably knock on your door someday! ;)

 

[vdk2010]

Ten years.
Im recovering from a near fatal heart attack.
HurryTF up will'ya???

Sorry to hear that, Stan! I hope you're feeling better now?
Don't do something stupid, you hear me? I will try to hurry up in exchange!

 

[detmatt]

Yah. But this ain't the place for it.

Wait a minute, you were serious??

 

[commando1]

Wait a minute, you were serious??

https://www.forcbodiesonly.com/mopar-forum/threads/my-heart-attack.77858/

 

[Samplingman]

https://www.forcbodiesonly.com/mopar-forum/threads/my-heart-attack.77858/

That’s a dead link, no pun intended. I hope you are on the mend, hang in there!

 

[vdk2010]

A while back, I started to get the bumpers rechromed because they were rough. The original Chrome was heavily pitted and the bumpers were bent, damaged and dented.
In April of 2022, I dropped the bumpers off at a Chrome shop to get the old Chrome removed.

After the old Chrome was stripped, I drove the bumpers to my body man and he spend countless hours again to streighten and prep them to get rechromed.
He even had to replace a piece of metal on the tip of one of the rear bumper side blades, because it was rusted through, even though it was not visible through the old Chrome.

Overall, the end result looks pretty nice, especially compared to how it looked before, BUT...
it has 10 or so small defects like dirt under the chrome or even not filled dimples...
It's good, but to me it's not 8,000€ good.... So in total I'm disappointed.

But I'm telling myself constantly that nobody will see it when it's on the car.

They have to redo the Imperial sign from the rear bumper because I was not willing to accept the weird stripes underneath and above all the letters...

 

[detmatt]

Looks great from here Julian. Just don’t point out to anyone the little blemishes you’ve found and nobody will ever see them I’m sure.

 

[vdk2010]

Looks great from here Julian. Just don’t point out to anyone the little blemishes you’ve found and nobody will ever see them I’m sure.

Hm, ya, you're probably right. But it bothers me, because it is soo much money... The price-performance ratio is hardly there...

But anyway, it is what it is, let's move on! The rear bumper is still at the chrome shop to correct some flaws. When I have all the parts back, they will get painted from the back side and then I can start assemble the bumpers!

 

[MetalManiacAZ]

But I'm telling myself constantly that nobody will see it when it's on the car.

Really Julian? I can think of a lot of parts that no one will see that you restored to perfection!

 

[vdk2010]

Really Julian? I can think of a lot of parts that no one will see that you restored to perfection!

That should tell you how much it probably bothers me that things I have to give into other hands are not perfect..!

 

[MetalManiacAZ]

That should tell you how much it probably bothers me that things I have to give into other hands are not perfect..!

I hear ya! It sucks when you have a certain standard that you're holding up but are at the mercy of others.

 

[commando1]

Seriously??????
Your level of perfection exceeds the factory expectations of that time. You are building an old imperial to new Lexus standards. I don't know how you keep going. You're insane and I like that.

 

[Carmine]

Seriously??????
Your level of perfection exceeds the factory expectations of that time. You are building an old imperial to new Lexus standards expensive Toyota standards.I don't know how you keep going. You're insane and I like that.

 

[vdk2010]

Nothing is working smooth lately since I have to rely on other people. I can't wait for when I have the car back from the painter so that I can start the reassembly process..!

 

[marty mopar]

Competent people are hard to find on the other hand incompetent people are everywhere and waste your time and money.

Roll the dice and hope you come up with the former group.

 

[3175375]

Competent people are hard to find on the other hand incompetent people are everywhere and waste your time and money.

Roll the dice and hope you come up with the former group.

And they vote… 8^(

 

[vdk2010]

At least my body man knows what he is doing..!
Next stop: e-coating, again