My new ‘64 Imperial convertible

[detmatt]

It looks like someone discarded the inner fender splash shields at some point and judging by the amount of what appears to be road dirt, there were some miles put on it after they were removed.
This means you know what should be coming next.

 

[detmatt]

Everything is coming out so I can clean it up before I go any further.

 

[detmatt]

By the way, thank you California for preserving this car so well! It comes apart as if it were assembled last Tuesday.
I said the same thing about my ‘67 from Washington State.

 

[detmatt]

Even the fenderwell wiring harness straps are still pliable and not a 1 of them broke through the process.
Anyway, here it is all cleaned up.

 

[detmatt]

I also swapped out the water pump, heater hose nipples, put in a thermostat, gathered the alternator brackets it was missing and put what appears to be a reconditioned power steering pump on it that I recently acquired as the one that was on it looked like it had seen better days.

 

[crv]

It's worth putting in the effort to clean and tidy up, looking good.

 

[Imperialist]

Everything on the front end sure is easier to get to without that pesky RV-2 and associated plumbing in the way. BTW, love that beautiful Charcoal Gray color coming through!
Gary Goers had patterns for the splash shields as well as a lot of repro rubber stuff for this car. I don't know what Quirey is offering now, but you could check with them.

 

[detmatt]

Everything on the front end sure is easier to get to without that pesky RV-2 and associated plumbing in the way. BTW, love that beautiful Charcoal Gray color coming through!
Gary Goers had patterns for the splash shields as well as a lot of repro rubber stuff for this car. I don't know what Quirey is offering now, but you could check with them.

Thanks for the suggestion but Murray has the repopped splash shields already set aside for me.

 

[cantflip]

Even the fenderwell wiring harness straps are still pliable and not a 1 of them broke through the process.
Anyway, here it is all cleaned up.
View attachment 329710 View attachment 329711 View attachment 329712

I love seeing that someone else holds onto those vinyl caps... and remembers to use them when appropriate.

 

[bluefury361]

Matt. The wheel cover on the far right in the pic is one I need for my Polara. Is it available?

 

[detmatt]

View attachment 329854

Matt. The wheel cover on the far right in the pic is one I need for my Polara. Is it available?

Sorry Will, another member already spotted it and reached out. I thought you acquired a set?

 

[bluefury361]

Sorry Will, another member already spotted it and reached out. I thought you acquired a set?

I have two I found in Ocala. I've sniffed out three more. Just waiting on the condition report.
Your right about the western and north western cars coming apart nicely. My Oregon Polara is like that. just brush off the dirt, squirt with some light oil and disassemble. All the original fasteners clean up in a tumbler and get reused.

 

[detmatt]

My but I am getting close. I’m done cleaning here and I think I nailed the look in the engine room.
Just have to find radiator hoses(I think I have, thank you @saforwardlook), check the plug wires and coil out that were on it and put some gas in it.

 

[detmatt]

Here’s what I started with under the hood.

And here is where I ended up.

 

[Zymurgy]

Stan will be very happy you found the correct radiator hose.
Looking good Matt.

 

[detmatt]

I spent most of the day yesterday dealing with the ignition system. Since I had all of the parts in stock here I went with a remanufactured distributor, a new coil and ballast resistor and put together a set of spark plug wires.
The rad hoses were tricky, the ones in the parts store(s) system were not right so I ended up picking through there entire inventory and buying a half dozen that looked like they’d work. I had to cut them to make them work but I found 2 that worked the best and returned the rest.
In the end yesterday I did try to make it run and got it to sputter a couple of times but not enough to get gas up to the carb yet before needing to charge the battery. Also in the process I discovered working windshield wipers, a power antenna motor that works but doesn’t move the mast, working horns and the front speaker made noise.

 

[detmatt]

It’s alive!
I got it to fire briefly a few times while dumping fuel in the carb but this is the first start with the carb supplying the fuel.
After at least 12 years dormant it seems to run great with strong oil pressure. What a relief!

 

[Binx]

Sounds really good!!

 

[1978 NYB]

I should of retrieved the entire car from the junkyard in New Mexico 12 years ago instead of just all of the chrome. It was a running 78 NYB! The interior was baked but the rest of the car was rust free.....

 

[71Polara383]

SWEET!