commando1
Old Man with a Hat
Let's be brutally honest. NO 58 Imperial looked like this.
69 Imperial - Whitewalls or not, and "bigger size" ?
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fc7_plumcrazy
Old Man with a Hat
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I don't see anything brutally.
It is well known that exspecially in the 50s/early 60s pictures&paintings were stretched to give them a long sleeking look. There is an interesting book about it. Think it is called Boulevard photographic or something. Has a 1957 Chrysler 300c on the cover
It is well known that exspecially in the 50s/early 60s pictures&paintings were stretched to give them a long sleeking look. There is an interesting book about it. Think it is called Boulevard photographic or something. Has a 1957 Chrysler 300c on the cover
Some really rude answer around here...
Not every lowered car looks tired or even sad.. The 69 imperial was maybe never a sportscar from the factory, but to say it wasn't meant to look sporty is simply not true. The coupe was made to look sporty and it does. There is a reason why all the advertising pictures look that great with their lowered stance. Because its how these cars look best. I would assume, the factory simply made it the way they did, because it was to expensive to do otherwise or to meet some kind of governmental standards.
But with modern suspension parts and tires, you can achieve an at lease equal road feel and more ad like road hugging stance at the same time.
If this is what the purists of you like or not is another question and in the end up to the owner of the car. He never said he wants another Pimperial, just a more ad like looking ride height...
Kasper, if you want to check your ride height and if its close to factory or not (Apart from the fact, that you don't like how it sits right now), check the procedure descriped in the FSM:
Ride Height
Front suspension heights must be held to specifications for a satisfactory ride, correct appearance, proper front wheel alignment and reduced tire wear. The heights should only be measured when vehicle has the recommended tire pressures, a full tank of fuel, no passenger load and is on a level floor or an alignment machine rack.
(1) On Imperial Models clean all foreign material from bottom of lower ball joint assemblies and bottom of torsion bar front anchors.
(2) Jounce vehicle several times releasing it on downward motion.
(3) On Imperial Models measure distance from lowest point of front torsion bar anchor at the rear of lower control arm flange to floor (measurement A) and from lowest point of ball joint housing on same side (measurement B) to floor (Fig. 3) measure only one side at a time.
The difference between A and B (A always being greater than B) is the front suspension height.
(4) Refer to Specifications and adjust if necessary by turning torsion bar adjusting bolt clockwise to increase height and counterclockwise to decrease height.
(5) After each adjustment, jounce vehicle before remeasuring. Both sides should be measured even though only one side has been adjusted.
(6) Measure other side in same manner. The maximum allowable difference in suspension height from side to side is 1/8 inch on all Models.
SPECIFICATIONS
HEIGHT (Inches)...........................1-3/4 ± 1/8
Another quick way would be to measure the overall height of the car, which in our case would be 56,3 in.
But this is not very acurate with radial tires and not stock or. worn suspension parts, i guess.
Not every lowered car looks tired or even sad.. The 69 imperial was maybe never a sportscar from the factory, but to say it wasn't meant to look sporty is simply not true. The coupe was made to look sporty and it does. There is a reason why all the advertising pictures look that great with their lowered stance. Because its how these cars look best. I would assume, the factory simply made it the way they did, because it was to expensive to do otherwise or to meet some kind of governmental standards.
But with modern suspension parts and tires, you can achieve an at lease equal road feel and more ad like road hugging stance at the same time.
If this is what the purists of you like or not is another question and in the end up to the owner of the car. He never said he wants another Pimperial, just a more ad like looking ride height...
Kasper, if you want to check your ride height and if its close to factory or not (Apart from the fact, that you don't like how it sits right now), check the procedure descriped in the FSM:
Ride Height
Front suspension heights must be held to specifications for a satisfactory ride, correct appearance, proper front wheel alignment and reduced tire wear. The heights should only be measured when vehicle has the recommended tire pressures, a full tank of fuel, no passenger load and is on a level floor or an alignment machine rack.
(1) On Imperial Models clean all foreign material from bottom of lower ball joint assemblies and bottom of torsion bar front anchors.
(2) Jounce vehicle several times releasing it on downward motion.
(3) On Imperial Models measure distance from lowest point of front torsion bar anchor at the rear of lower control arm flange to floor (measurement A) and from lowest point of ball joint housing on same side (measurement B) to floor (Fig. 3) measure only one side at a time.
The difference between A and B (A always being greater than B) is the front suspension height.
(4) Refer to Specifications and adjust if necessary by turning torsion bar adjusting bolt clockwise to increase height and counterclockwise to decrease height.
(5) After each adjustment, jounce vehicle before remeasuring. Both sides should be measured even though only one side has been adjusted.
(6) Measure other side in same manner. The maximum allowable difference in suspension height from side to side is 1/8 inch on all Models.
SPECIFICATIONS
HEIGHT (Inches)...........................1-3/4 ± 1/8
Another quick way would be to measure the overall height of the car, which in our case would be 56,3 in.
But this is not very acurate with radial tires and not stock or. worn suspension parts, i guess.
commando1
Old Man with a Hat
I first became aware of the artistic license auto manufacturers used when as a kid I saw the new Pontiac wide track ads and then going, Hey, wait a minute, something's not Kosher here... Lol.
CanCritter
Senior Member
or doing this...
commando1
Old Man with a Hat
Yah. That particular pic always pissed me off every time i saw it.or doing this...
Awkward.
fc7_plumcrazy
Old Man with a Hat
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There's another guy with similar tastes around here and the majority didn't hate the Pimperial as I remember. He don't give a damn about our opinion.
I would change it into: We like the other guy (Ross=stormer).
It does not mean that the majority liked what he did to his Imperial. or would do the same if it would be our Imperial.
If you can't say something nice: be quiet.
In this case Kasper asked for opinions.
And got them
Carsten
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78Brougham
"Chump"
Here's a link to my thread when I got my new wheels and tires for my 73 LeBaron. In case you never saw itThere's another guy with similar tastes around here and the majority didn't hate the Pimperial as I remember. He don't give a damn about our opinion.
New Wheels and sneakers for the 73 Imperial
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FWIW I don't believe anyone here meant to be "rude"... but it is amazing how differently we can see the same written word. I like his car and I think he is ultimately trying to make it his dream. If you ask... you will receive opinions here... sometimes you don't even have to ask.
Fratzog
Old Man with a Hat
Everything in moderation as my Mom would always said. If you are going for the custom look 1" lower than factory is not my preference but I've seen them done well. Although the black car at the start of this thread doesn't look really bad I'm glad to hear you are not going with wide whites. As a first step I'd be making sure the rear springs are up to the challenge because IMHO.
Remember the 5th wheel horse trailer pulling IMP? He liked wide whites....
Chryslerdude
Well-Known Member
Hi Jeff
Thanks for your recommendations..! Always appreciated, and sorry for the late reply. I have had a few days of "to much work"..
About the height, I really don't plan to lower the hell out of the IMP! I j just want to get it back to the height it was "originally presented". By that, I think of the press pic as posted a few posts back, and I will only be towing a small, well balanced caravan, and thus I don't think it will be an issue at all. Still, I ordered some adjustable Gabriel air shocks, so I can compensate if necessary. After reading about / seeing Stormer's super fine "Pimpeerial", I don't know what to do tire-wise, but I am not going wire-wheels.. (although I think his setup looks... "fabu-licious"). I was almost back at getting stock size, narrow stripe.. but I think I'll drive a season and think about it before I do anything. I also thought I could let loose my WW plans on my 300 instead, as it is already roached in any possible way. There's lots of thread left on the tires that was on the car, but they do look a little bit dry, and the brand "Surveyor" does no appear to be premium quality.
Abt the carburetor, I haven't done anything yet, but will be ordering a tune-up kit any day now. I remembered, that I can "borrow" the Eddy-carb of my 300, as it just sits anyway. Then I can rebuild the stock carb while driving...
Chryslerdude
Well-Known Member
DB actually offers both 60 and 70 in 235...
https://www.dbtires.com/2015_catalog/2015_Catalog_Hi.pdf
Chryslerdude
Well-Known Member
No, I don't have any confirmation, and have to admit that I suspected that the press photo might have been shot with some sand bags in the trunk, and cranked down a tad in the front. However, mine looks like a friggin gasser now, and I can stick my hand in over the wheel, and pad the top of the tire.. I don't care much about if that's the stock ride height or not, as it makes the car look downright stupid! In my eyes, the Imperial is a long sleek elegant machine.. not a car that should be able to do speedbumps at 40 mph, og climb over anything at all, other than clean dry asphalt. When used to describe a car, words like "long" and "sleek" has a good friend, which is "low".. that's how I feel about it.
MAYBE you will agree.. after these pics, and if not, we will have to settle at you don't have to see it, as you are there, and I am here..:
I hope the rear shocks that are on now, are "progressive" or what that's called (lifting), coz we are talking about 1 - 1½ inch in the back, and I really don't want to alter anything if I can avoid it...
The front however, is a different story.. We are talking 4 inches at least...
Chryslerdude
Well-Known Member
You might very well be right about the press shots, and .. but compared to the "gasser-setting" my Imp has now, I REALLY prefer the "road-hugger-setting". Especially as all it takes is a impact wrench, a hydraulic frame lift, and a tape measure and three spare minutes, and reversing it is just as easy!
BTW. Lovely cars them Commodores... I remember their "Fresh interior smell", when they were new.. and the characteristic sound from the exhaust... the Monza coupe was also nice. I could only afford Mantas, and Acsonas..
I think I will stop selling any of my nice cars to Germany any more unless I know more about the owners. They don't respect historical significance.
My Imperial is no more than 2 inches lower in the front than yours. If it were my car, and I fully realize it isn't, I would lower it a slight bit in the front, not 4 inches, and leave the rear alone to make it essentially level, but not lowered. I remember these cars very well when they were new, and I believe the nicest examples ought to reflect the historical past. Since you were probably not familiar with these cars from many years ago, you likely find them something to show off in with something unusual and look even more cool by lowering it - lot of guys in Europe and adjacent find it cool to bozo these cars. But to me it is sad to see them misrepresented from stock. That is why I hesitate to sell any of my nice cars to Europe/Netherlands unless I have a pretty good idea of the buyer's intentions. There is nothing "wrong" with what you want to do, but you asked my opinon, and I gave it. But then there are guys over here who share your taste for the presumed cool look too, but to me, that should be done with the poorer examples to start with. To me, using nice examples that are really rare to do what you prefer is disrespectful of a beautiful luxury car of the past that few even remember today and very few can even own over here today. It is a work of art and a part of the American Heritage. To see it changed to reflect your personal taste is just a bit insulting to me, but then I am a purist. But enjoy. We can't always agree...........
My Imperial is no more than 2 inches lower in the front than yours. If it were my car, and I fully realize it isn't, I would lower it a slight bit in the front, not 4 inches, and leave the rear alone to make it essentially level, but not lowered. I remember these cars very well when they were new, and I believe the nicest examples ought to reflect the historical past. Since you were probably not familiar with these cars from many years ago, you likely find them something to show off in with something unusual and look even more cool by lowering it - lot of guys in Europe and adjacent find it cool to bozo these cars. But to me it is sad to see them misrepresented from stock. That is why I hesitate to sell any of my nice cars to Europe/Netherlands unless I have a pretty good idea of the buyer's intentions. There is nothing "wrong" with what you want to do, but you asked my opinon, and I gave it. But then there are guys over here who share your taste for the presumed cool look too, but to me, that should be done with the poorer examples to start with. To me, using nice examples that are really rare to do what you prefer is disrespectful of a beautiful luxury car of the past that few even remember today and very few can even own over here today. It is a work of art and a part of the American Heritage. To see it changed to reflect your personal taste is just a bit insulting to me, but then I am a purist. But enjoy. We can't always agree...........
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commando1
Old Man with a Hat
No 235/70-15 in narrow white. All wide white.
Kasper
I have faith that everything you do will ultimately be in the car's best interest and finding another way to truly enjoy her. Ride height adjustment should be a non-issue when it can be so easily reversed and I know you are still finding your way around with her. Go down in stages or all at once and don't be afraid to come back up if you find it might better suit your needs.
I love the look created by the Pimperial... it kind of is cartoonish in a sexy way. Its kinda like the old Heavy Metal female forms...exaggerated the sexy features beyond reality. I wouldn't build the car, and any halfassed budget attempt would be a tragedy, but I appreciate it. I don't really know stormer, but what I have picked up on is his involvement in racing on some level... I will assume he has her handling in a satisfactory manner.
I would beg you not to cut the car up, but I know better... anything you do can be undone just as easily. She is where she belongs, getting love.
Enjoy
Jeff
I have faith that everything you do will ultimately be in the car's best interest and finding another way to truly enjoy her. Ride height adjustment should be a non-issue when it can be so easily reversed and I know you are still finding your way around with her. Go down in stages or all at once and don't be afraid to come back up if you find it might better suit your needs.
I love the look created by the Pimperial... it kind of is cartoonish in a sexy way. Its kinda like the old Heavy Metal female forms...exaggerated the sexy features beyond reality. I wouldn't build the car, and any halfassed budget attempt would be a tragedy, but I appreciate it. I don't really know stormer, but what I have picked up on is his involvement in racing on some level... I will assume he has her handling in a satisfactory manner.
I would beg you not to cut the car up, but I know better... anything you do can be undone just as easily. She is where she belongs, getting love.
Enjoy
Jeff
fc7_plumcrazy
Old Man with a Hat
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Hey Steve,
you don't want to sell any of your nice cars to Germany anymore?
And not to the Netherlands either?
But watch out, Kasper and his Imperial are from Denmark ;o)))
And I could show you some pics from big wheeled cars from Finland.
Can I buy a couple of faded blue cars which need help from you? You can keep the glossy nice ones ;o))))
Jokes aside:
I think many people really do not know how they looked alike when they were new.
As a result of that many make assumptions which are wrong.
The design of the Fuselage Coupes is sleek and long.
But as Steve mentioned: Imperials were ABSOLUTLY not sporty at all.
They were major luxury cars and not "cool sleds".
The typical buyer was already older and not interested to crawl into the car.
Many Fuselage Coupes are sitting low in the back today because the rear leafsprings got weak. They didn't have that low ride hight from the factory.
Cars shown on press photos are not good examples for proof. They are usually pre production cars and have a lot of details that didn't make it into final production. Pics are also often modified to give it a certain appeal as mentioned by Stan earlier.
@Kasper: Your front is doing fine. It is your rear which is simply to low if you talk about the factory look.
Carsten
commando1
Old Man with a Hat
That is the most accurate statement I have read in the longest time on why people f$#& up cars.
That's why us old geezers get the hair on our back standing straight up. We know how they are supposed to look because we were there and someone comes along and all they want to do is all the cool stuff they erroneously believe is cool but in reality is not cool. Arggghhh.
Seriously, I see Lake Pipes and I want to go ISIS on the guy.
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