Pertti's 1970 Imperial Lebaron

Pertti K

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Sep 24, 2020
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Location
Laukaa, Finland
Hi! On Sep 24 in the Welcome wagon I said
Reason for signing is that I think I just bought my first Mopar and it's a C-body! More info on that later, but lots of new things to learn and all the help is more than welcome!

That was the date of becoming the owner of my first Mopar (1995 Chrysler Startus that I had as DD for a short period of time doesn't count). And now I think is the time to tell a bit more, at least for two reasons: 1) I'm quite exited about my new purchase and 2) I'm hoping to get good tips on some of the issues I (will) have.

With the help of my friend and his contacts (he's here somewhere but I don't know the nickname) I bought a 1970 Imperial Lebaron - or Metric Lebaron as it is called in Europe ;-) Actually this one, which he spotted here and gave me a tip: For Sale - 70 Imperial 4 dr not mine

It says the car has been sitting for at least 4 years and the photos in the ad are quite old. And there was not anyone that could have taken a look for me. So I had to relay on the information and photos that the owner sent. And mentally prepare for the worst.

After a long, looong wait it finally was dropped off to my yard by Santa on December 10. He's quite busy at this time of the year and has to start early. Starting from the biggest gifts and nicest kids ;-) And forget that nonsense about Rudolf and sleigh and such, in reality Santa drives a F-350 tow truck! And he has a gold '69 Imperial himself! I didn't know that when I wrote to him asking for the delivery - what are the odds!?

The car seems to be pretty much as I expected, definitely better than the worst case scenario, after all it runs, drives and stops! Well, I only drove some 100 meters in my yard, but anyway. And seems to be very intact and solid except for a small rust hole at the RR door opening, an easy fix. Biggest setback so far has been the moldy interior. I've spent one week cleaning it as much as possible without taking it apart (well took out the back seat and found couple of mouse nests), but still can smell the mold. Hopefully good ventilation, time and perhaps ozonizing will help me get rid of it. At least the interior looks very nice now. Overall a very good starting point, but in true need of serious TLC.

The car was sold as new to Canada, according to the sales material the first owner was Victoria Park Development ltd. in Winnipeg (googling didn't help, so if someone knows what is/was Victoria Park Development Ltd., please enlighten me!). And somehow it has found it's way to Boston area. And now to Finland. If the info that the previous owner gave is correct, I'm the 4th owner. Oh yes, it has a Las Vegas car dealer emblem on the trunk lid. The other warranty certificate in the pic seems to be for another car, wonder how it got there, it's from 1970...

Well, that's it shortly, thanks for reading! To be continued...

:thankyou:

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About the issues that I have discovered so far:

- It was very hard to get it started. I had to pour gas into the carburetor half a dozen times before it run and started on it's own. After that it run just fine. It was quite cold and over 2 months after the previous start, so just need to follow this if it gets better over time. I've only started it that one time.
- The gauge lights don't work and the interior lights don't turn on from the knob in the dash, but they do when a door is opened
- Hazard flashers don't work
- The power vents (the small windows in front doors, not sure what they're called) don't work, the right one makes a small click when pushing the button but the left nothing
- Left rear window does not go all the way up unless I help it manually
- Drivers' door's central locking doesn't work
- Driver's seat doesn't work. The 4-way knob came off when I used it for the first time and I didn't use almost any force, it was barely hanging there. Now the seat motor(s?) makes a small noise all the time when battery is connected, except when I try to operate the front or rear edge adjustment, then nothing. So I unplugged the seat's electrics. I perhaps need a new switch, dunno if the old can be fixed, a small plastic piece came out at the same time as the knob came off.
- Key warning buzzer comes on when the key is in and the doors are closed, when I open the driver's door it goes off. Lights were off at that time. Or is it a warning of something else? I think it started doing that after I unplugged the driver's seat, maybe a coincidence. Or can it be a warning of something else than the key?
- The clock doesn't work
- The rear heater is bypassed, maybe leaking. Not top priority stuff

I've been busy cleaning the interior so I haven't checked anything yet, not even the fuses. But if you have any ideas, let me hear. Thanks in advance!
 
Nice ride! Before doing anything else check out a electrical connector in a firewall . Clean and check out bad connections and be sure that you have fusible link in main wire.
Enjoy and regards from Turku area!
Mika
 
Congratulations on a fine purchase! Victoria park development sounds like a company that built home's or buildings. Perhaps one of the head honches purchased it through the company to save on taxes?

And, I must ask, because I feel I'm missing the joke, what is metric about a 1970 Imperial?
 
Looks like YM43T0C159814 (if I read the build sheet correctly) has found a warm new home. Congratulations!
 
I suspect that when it's reliably road worthy, there will be some great photo ops for the Imperial at some of the great European venues you might travel to.

Enjoy the learning experience!

CBODY67
 
Changed the oil yesterday and spent some time underneath admiring the awesome condition of the underbody :wideyed:. And the chrome is in excellent shape as well, not a single dent found so far. Paintwork could be better though, but the body panels seem to be straight.
 
Changed the oil yesterday and spent some time underneath admiring the awesome condition of the underbody :wideyed:. And the chrome is in excellent shape as well, not a single dent found so far. Paintwork could be better though, but the body panels seem to be straight.

It is always strange the diffrences of issues on cars. You have a perfect underside but a lot of electrical issues that are due to humidity i guess. you will ahve to check all you connections. for the windows it is disasembling and grease.
For the lights, it is a faulty mass. check with a voltmeter for continuity of 12v.
 
the joke is : USA : imperial measures VS Europe : Metric system :)
Seems like there is also a "metric ton" amount, which is greater than the normal "ton" of 2000lbs?
 
I would bet your panel dimmer switch needs a good cleaning if not a rebuild and that might go for some but probably not all of your electrical issues. As Mika suggested I’d go through the whole car front to back checking and cleaning contacts, connections and bulb sockets.
I would also get into all of the doors to clean and re-grease all of the moving parts and same with the power seat tracks.
If any of your switches need to be rebuilt(dash, windows, seats, etc.) @Devinism is your man.
I have working vent window motors if either need to be replaced and I also have a working seat base with a good switch.
Beautiful car!:thumbsup:
 
Welcome aboard @Pertti K and congrats to your purchase!

I really love the 69/70 Imperials.

Body and interiour of your car seem in AWESOME condition! Saves you a lot of headaches and $$$...electrical gremmlins can be fought for free with patience...but as winters are long in Finnland ;-)
 
Thank you all for kind words and support! Much appreciated!

Today I finally finished cleaning the car. Very pleased of the result, the mold odor is now almost gone. Engine bay would need some detailing, but to my beginner's eye everything seems to be pretty much in place. And the otherwise perfect vinyl is shrunk from the rear corners - has anybody been able to have this kind of problems fixed other than replacing the whole vinyl?

Windshield seems flawless, must have been replaced at some point. Also carburetor has a rebuilt tag on it and seems fresh.

A 4 door seems to be a perfect fit for my garage. :lol:

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Very Nice! I have a couple of videos of what I have done to my 69 Imperial on here if you have some time to kill at some point.
Unfortunately, mine had been sitting for quite a while and was not in the condition yours is. However, I am in the process of making the needed improvements and hopefully I will have it back on the road soon! Enjoy that fine piece of automotive history.
 
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