My new `67 Imperial Crown Coupe!

Here's the finished product. I am overall very pleased with the result. I know that these companies, Trim Parts and I think there's another that makes carpet for our classic rides, aren't making these rugs to last as long as the original material. I would say that with the condition that the original carpet was in with 136K miles that the replacement rug would probably be in the same condition with around 50K miles. I do know that these cars are used completely different now-a-days and the repop carpet is probably as good as it needs to be.

Matt, you have to bring this beauty to Carlisle for sure next year!!!!!
 
He wont, he'll be" afraid to drive it that far".

It's not that far from Detroit. he can drive to Pittsburg, rest her overnight and then bring her over the mountain in the morning.

:3gears:
 
And yet I have read an article in a mag that said they never used them. None of my original cars came with them.........

Maybe it was an Imperial thing?
 
Geez, that looks nice. And it also looks like you were able to clean that silver leather! Just a gorgeous interior.

Thanks man! I was able to do some cleaning of the leather and look forward to trying to clean it up more. Turns out what I thought was discoloration from the sun is actually something that I was able to lighten up with some Simple Green cleaner. I do want to proceed with caution though, as I don't want to use too much of something that is too harsh and will wash out the silver. I know there's a better way to go about it, I just haven't talked to the right person yet.
 
It's not that far from Detroit. he can drive to Pittsburg, rest her overnight and then bring her over the mountain in the morning.

:3gears:

I absolutely would drive it that far and I'm fairly certain that it wouldn't give me any major issues. There are still a few things that I want to tighten up between now and next spring. Rear springs rearched, new shocks all the way around, clean out the gas tank and seal it inside, have fuel sending unit rebuilt, new motor mounts, change out the am radio to the am/fm unit that I will have modernized and take care of some minor fluid leaks. I have grown to have a lot of confidence in this machine in a very short period of time. I truely do think this car is an amazing survivor and would be very proud to have it in Carlisle, I love it!
 
Matt, ... I'm having an emotional moment. Somebody makes a product for a formal C-Body! It looks like Tuxedo style of carpet matches what is in my NY'er. Your thoughts? Thanks for the carpet tip!

You should check out there site. I could have made some upgrades and got even nicer carpet if I wanted to spend more money at the time but I won't complain for 150 bucks!

http://www.trimparts.com/
 
This is a perfect example of how to make the most out of a well preserved but still far from perfect basis. This has always been my favorite way of restoration and it is always amazing how much improvement in overall appearance is possible in some cases with investing more "ellbow grease" than money.
Just dug out a similar example of a German manufacturer with about 40k miles that turned out to be one of the best unrestored examples of this model after a little TLC and very minor paint and body work.
Really, really like this thread !
 
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It helps if you have the ambition like Matt does. He has done a remarkable job on a car that was the perfect starting point.
 
Thanks guys, it really is a labor of love and respect for this car.
 
I had a tire come apart on me on the highway on Monday at around 70 mph. It's still holding air but the tread came off and of course beat the hell out of the inner fender and even bent the fender at at the rear of the wheel opening. Thunk, thunk thunk as I slowed to a stop the whole time I was picturing that heavy piece of tread smacking the drivers front fender. The tires appeared to be in excellent condition with 85% tread left but I don't know how old they are. I'm pissed and I'll get a pic up when I can bear to go have another look at it. The good news is I pulled the original spare out of the trunk along with the bumper jack, set it up, twisted the nuts off to the right, installed the spare, put the wheelcover on it and was back on the road in no more then 5 minutes. Looks like it's one more voyage this year for the silver Imp and that's from my house to my shop where it will be for the winter. I have no faith in the other 3 tires so they're going into the garbage. Anybody know if someone offers those triple stripe white walls? I'm now tire shopping.
 
Damn. I did some looking around for tires but already a while ago; I think Coker tire has some special whitewalls for offering. At least in Europe you have a DOT code since 1972, however being denoting only the last digit of the year the three digit ones are 70s or 80s, the 90s have some wedge as another marker and starting in the 2000s they're four digit.

Had the tread come apart once as well, but the car was scheduled for resto anyway; the front fender was toast but was replaced for rust anyways. Some die hards drive NOS Polyglas tires, a bit too much even for me.

Edit: http://www.cokertire.com/l78-15-bf-goodrich-1-whitewall-tire.html
I guess I saw these 15'' whitewalls for Cadillacs then.

Found this design as well, no idea what size you need though.
http://www.cokertire.com/tire-styles/900-15-bf-goodrich-triple-whitewall-tire.html
 
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At least your safe and the interior didnt get hurt.




Disappointing to hear that you had some damage. Old tires a re always suspect. Its the one thing I replace when I get an older car
 
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Here"s a refresher of what the spare looks like, I didn't see one like it through Coker. One of them was close and would probably look good but had a different pattern of stripes. I guess if I can't find exact reproductions I'll probably just go with some nice 1" wsws.

IMG_8329.jpg
 
I wouldn't use or trust that original 45 year old spare either, other than for original display only purposes. I would have a new spare in the trunk that you would use in case of an emergency.
 
An original spare is there for two reasons, looks and an emergency. When an emergency arises you use it to get the car to where it needs to go and thats it
 
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