patinated_imperial
Member
I just posted this to the Imperial club mailing list and thought I would post it here as well. A small contribution after all the great info and tips I have read on this forum.
All the rubber bushings in my '66 Imperial seems to have crumbled when I started driving it - after it had been parked for 15-20 years.
Most bushings seems to be available at a reasonable price, but the rear strut rod bushings I only saw at rareparts at $200 and not in stock.
They list them for '56 to '66 Imperials.
When you live in Denmark as I do, the price will be doubled including shipping and import fees before they reach my door.
In 2021 a gentleman sent a tip to the imperial mailing list to use front lower control arm bushings from a Suzuki Swift '95-01 in the rear strut bars of a '64-'66 incomparable Imperial.
The search for these Suzuki bushings returned several OE Suzuki part numbers (one of them was 45500-50800, which I THINK is the "right" one). They were between 6-10 euro/pcs (same value as the US dollar at the moment), so I ordered one of each. They were not at all the same dimensions...so be careful using the Suzuki OE numbers.
Not to make the story too long; I got the best result using Monroe L69802. If you drill out the center sleeve from Ø0.5" (12.6mm) to Ø0.57" (14.5mm), they are a direct replacement to the Harris 61120 / MOOG BR81 / Clevite 111930 originally fitted to the Imperial struts.
The bolt going through is Ø9/16".
I drilled them in a lathe in 2 very small increments (0.04" / 1mm), as there are not a lot of inner sleeve to clamp on. I imagine it can be done in a drill press as well. Took me about an hour to do all 4, so that was well worth my time at $10/bushing.
Unfortunately these Suzuki Swift and Baleno "donor" cars are also getting old, so the supply of these bushing will most likely dry out. I also don't know if they were sold in the north American continent, so the tip might be most usable for european/asian imperial owners.
After and before drilling:
All the rubber bushings in my '66 Imperial seems to have crumbled when I started driving it - after it had been parked for 15-20 years.
Most bushings seems to be available at a reasonable price, but the rear strut rod bushings I only saw at rareparts at $200 and not in stock.
They list them for '56 to '66 Imperials.
When you live in Denmark as I do, the price will be doubled including shipping and import fees before they reach my door.
In 2021 a gentleman sent a tip to the imperial mailing list to use front lower control arm bushings from a Suzuki Swift '95-01 in the rear strut bars of a '64-'66 incomparable Imperial.
The search for these Suzuki bushings returned several OE Suzuki part numbers (one of them was 45500-50800, which I THINK is the "right" one). They were between 6-10 euro/pcs (same value as the US dollar at the moment), so I ordered one of each. They were not at all the same dimensions...so be careful using the Suzuki OE numbers.
Not to make the story too long; I got the best result using Monroe L69802. If you drill out the center sleeve from Ø0.5" (12.6mm) to Ø0.57" (14.5mm), they are a direct replacement to the Harris 61120 / MOOG BR81 / Clevite 111930 originally fitted to the Imperial struts.
The bolt going through is Ø9/16".
I drilled them in a lathe in 2 very small increments (0.04" / 1mm), as there are not a lot of inner sleeve to clamp on. I imagine it can be done in a drill press as well. Took me about an hour to do all 4, so that was well worth my time at $10/bushing.
Unfortunately these Suzuki Swift and Baleno "donor" cars are also getting old, so the supply of these bushing will most likely dry out. I also don't know if they were sold in the north American continent, so the tip might be most usable for european/asian imperial owners.
After and before drilling:
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