My 1971 Imperial Factory Sunroof 2 Door Coupe

[Imperial Pete]

Thank you Michael R/T.
Have been driving the Imperial now we are out of COVID lock down.
Imperials are beautiful driving cars.

 

[chrysler_fan]

G'Day from down under Melbourne Australia,
I have just finished restoring my 71 Imperial factory sunroof coupe. Thought you guys would like to see some photos and read a bit about it.
First off a very big thank you to Steve saforwardlook for selling me the car. It took a bit of convincing and arm twisting for Steve to let it go but I got there in the end!
Also for his help with loading parts that I sourced, sourcing some parts that I needed and re building and replacing all of the brakes which need to be done with the Asbestos laws that we have here in Australia.
A bit of info about it and the restoration:
As I bought the car:
Absolutely rust free Californian car.
GB2 Blue, Black Vinyl Top, Gold Bucket seat interior.
Absolutely complete which is a big deal when you are on the other side of the world.
Body: LH Side had been repainted a long time ago, rest of body was original paint.
Untouched engine, never been apart. Runs like a clock.
Front drivers eat had some rips, passenger was OK. Rear seats very nice.

What I have done:
External re spray. Door jams and engine bay left with original paint. Fenders still have "Paint OK" stamps on them so I really wanted to leave it original.
New paisley vinyl roof. I like it, full 70;s feel, not as per Fender Tag but it looks great. Some may not agree.
Complete new front end. All NOS excluding re built idler arm and repro pitman arm
New 4 core radiator, new hoses, belts, water pump, fan clutch, core plugs, timing chain, re built carby, new plug wires, rotor, points.
ATC II Fully re built and works beautifully.
New gears on power window motors.
Sunroof fully re built with new cables, seals, adjusted and works beautifully.
New trunk carpet, all the side cardboard covers are the originals.
All of the lenses are NOS.
NOS grille and grille corners.
Interior front seats re trimmed with special order gold leather, new headliner. Parcel shelf cover re trimmed. The rest of the interior (door trims, carpet, dash, steering wheel etc) is the original that was scrubbed and cleaned. The photos show the interior looking like a cream colour but they are a metallic gold almost perfect colour match to the original.
Yep I know it needs white walls, but I wanted the quietness and smoothness of Michelin tyres. I will get a dual white wall painted on. We do that here in Australia, comes up really well and lasts.
Anyway thats enough of me waffling on. Enjoy the photos and any I hope all of you guys comment and feel free to ask me questions.

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BEautiful car. Never seen gold interior with blue exterior, at least not unless the exterior was dark blue. Taht paisley faded black top was priceless in its day. I thought it only faced that way with the rare burgundy vinyl top. Could you not save the black paisley top

 

[saforwardlook]

Imperials were never offered from the factory with a paisley top. Pete just believes these cars look better with one.

 

[Imperial Pete]

Yes as Steve stated its not a factory fit to the Imperial (It was a Plymouth Fury thing) but gives it the full 70's effect. It's a great conversational piece whenever someone sees the top over here in Australia.

 

[Boydsdodge]

I would like to know more about your tire white stripe. I would love to run good tires as well. What Michelin tires did you use?

 

[Imperial Pete]

The tyres I have fitted are Michelin Primacy 235/75R15. Not sure if these are available in USA/Canada. I am in Australia.
Unfortunately no white walls but Michelins are super smooth and the Primacy's are extremely quite even on rough roads so even though I love the white wall look being that I drive this car distances on Highways my priority is the quietness and smoothness over the white wall.
I am pretty sure (unfortunately) a white wall Michelin of any description has not been available for close to 10 years now?

 

[69monaco]

Imperials were never offered from the factory with a paisley top. Pete just believes these cars look better with one.

You could get one.......................well not exactly the same plymouth paisley-pattern(wikipedia)

Although the vinyl top was standard, for a short time a unique paisley-patterned vinyl top in a burgundy color was available as an option on burgundy-painted cars. It has been rumored that this top had actually been overprinted on waste "Mod Top" patterned vinyl, which had been available on some 1969 and 1970 model year Dodge and Plymouth cars, but according to Jeffrey Godshall, a Chrysler designer and frequent contributor to the magazine Collectible Automobile, this was not the case. With exposure to the elements, the burgundy overprint faded, and the pattern began to show through in a purple "paisley" pattern.[32] Chrysler replaced many affected tops with either white or black standard vinyl, but some survive.

 

[69monaco]

 

[ayilar]

Posts were made in 2014 (by @1978 NYB ) and 2017 (by @Carmine ) re: the 1971 Imperial burgundy top option. Those earlier posts have additional pictures and a reference to an How Stuff Works article on the topic.

 

[Figgy]

Yes as Steve stated its not a factory fit to the Imperial (It was a Plymouth Fury thing) but gives it the full 70's effect. It's a great conversational piece whenever someone sees the top over here in Australia.

I look forward to seeing this around town

 

[chrysler_fan]

G'Day from down under Melbourne Australia,
I have just finished restoring my 71 Imperial factory sunroof coupe. Thought you guys would like to see some photos and read a bit about it.
First off a very big thank you to Steve saforwardlook for selling me the car. It took a bit of convincing and arm twisting for Steve to let it go but I got there in the end!
Also for his help with loading parts that I sourced, sourcing some parts that I needed and re building and replacing all of the brakes which need to be done with the Asbestos laws that we have here in Australia.
A bit of info about it and the restoration:
As I bought the car:
Absolutely rust free Californian car.
GB2 Blue, Black Vinyl Top, Gold Bucket seat interior.
Absolutely complete which is a big deal when you are on the other side of the world.
Body: LH Side had been repainted a long time ago, rest of body was original paint.
Untouched engine, never been apart. Runs like a clock.
Front drivers eat had some rips, passenger was OK. Rear seats very nice.

What I have done:
External re spray. Door jams and engine bay left with original paint. Fenders still have "Paint OK" stamps on them so I really wanted to leave it original.
New paisley vinyl roof. I like it, full 70;s feel, not as per Fender Tag but it looks great. Some may not agree.
Complete new front end. All NOS excluding re built idler arm and repro pitman arm
New 4 core radiator, new hoses, belts, water pump, fan clutch, core plugs, timing chain, re built carby, new plug wires, rotor, points.
ATC II Fully re built and works beautifully.
New gears on power window motors.
Sunroof fully re built with new cables, seals, adjusted and works beautifully.
New trunk carpet, all the side cardboard covers are the originals.
All of the lenses are NOS.
NOS grille and grille corners.
Interior front seats re trimmed with special order gold leather, new headliner. Parcel shelf cover re trimmed. The rest of the interior (door trims, carpet, dash, steering wheel etc) is the original that was scrubbed and cleaned. The photos show the interior looking like a cream colour but they are a metallic gold almost perfect colour match to the original.
Yep I know it needs white walls, but I wanted the quietness and smoothness of Michelin tyres. I will get a dual white wall painted on. We do that here in Australia, comes up really well and lasts.
Anyway thats enough of me waffling on. Enjoy the photos and any I hope all of you guys comment and feel free to ask me questions.

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BEautiful car. That paisley effect black top from fading of the upper dye makes it even more special