1969 Imperial progress thread

If you have mentioned this before sorry, but is there someone who is going to inherited and love this car? It is clear to me it will out live pretty much everyone on this site. Unbelievable restoration execution!
 
Is there a nut or bolt left not turned??
Excellent work!.
Yeah the feeling of putting on the parts that you have been staring at is very rewarding.
No, literally every bolt, bit and piece is restored and/or new. That's the whole point ;)
 
@vdk2010 You have to be feeling pretty good today seeing your fabulous Imperial back on the ground on all fours. That car is gonna be amazing when you reach the finish line.
Yeah, I couldn't help but just stand and smile for a while the first time all 4 tires touched the ground since May 2014!
 
If you have mentioned this before sorry, but is there someone who is going to inherited and love this car? It is clear to me it will out live pretty much everyone on this site. Unbelievable restoration execution!
No, not yet. But I'll be buried in it someday anyway.! ;)
 
You can't bury this work of art. Maybe build a garage mausoleum, with you sitting behind the wheel with a permanent smile on your face.:lol:
 
Your insane attention to detail still blows me away.

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This is going to be the most valuable Fuselage on Earth!
I'm honored to have watched it.
 
Your insane attention to detail still blows me away.

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This is going to be the most valuable Fuselage on Earth!
I'm honored to have watched it.
Thanks Stan! :)

There is more to come, stay tuned!

It's funny which parts grab the attention of different people. I had a couple people react to pictures of specific details they like and it were different details every time.
 
Just curious: Have you kept a tally of the cost of the parts you bought, the shipping on those that had to cross the ocean to get to you, the cost of labor for various work that was not yours, etc. ?

I am not asking for the total but I am assuming you will have some idea of the cost of this project when competed. Hopefully it will not exceed the cost of buying 23 billion bitcoins from some guy named Sal in New York on a street corner.
 
Just curious: Have you kept a tally of the cost of the parts you bought, the shipping on those that had to cross the ocean to get to you, the cost of labor for various work that was not yours, etc. ?

I am not asking for the total but I am assuming you will have some idea of the cost of this project when competed. Hopefully it will not exceed the cost of buying 23 billion bitcoins from some guy named Sal in New York on a street corner.
I started to write down every minute and penny I invested into the project back in 2014, but quickly abandoned that when I realised almost all my time and money will flow into this project for years and years ;)
But I can tell you I made sacrifices like not going on bigger vacations since I've started. I was in the US every year before 2014 and only once since then for my uncles funeral. :(
I don't have exact numbers on how much money and time I invested into the car, but time wise, I invested most of my free time of the past 8 years to work on the car.
Money wise, I am not far away from 6 firures and will get there before the car is done.
 
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I started to write down every minute and penny I invested into the project back in 2014, but quickly abandoned that when I realised almost all my time and money will flow into this project for years and years ;)
But I can tell you I made sacrifices like not going on bigger vacations since I started. I was in the US every year before 2014 and only once since then for my uncles funeral. :(
I don't have exact numbers on how much money and time I invested into the car, but time wise, I invested most of my free time of the past 8 years to work on the car.
Money wise, I am not far away from 6 firures and will get there before the car is done.
Safe to assume you’re single then.:poke::lol:
 
You can marry your car. I tried that once and the car just complained like crazy the night before the wedding night.
So back to the single life of stale beer, staring into to space for hours, lousy TV, piles of dirty clothes, hamburger
helper mixed with dried potato flakes, howling at moon at 3 AM and never shaving.
 
Geez, I just realized she is a Trailerqueen since day one. :lol:

(And no, it's not the final stance in the first picture! I'm just fighting the new FirmFeel torsion bars.)

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Ok, no, jokes aside. I had one hell of a time adjusting all the sheet metal. What a nightmare...!
The last 4 weeks were hard times for my inner monk! ;)

It's still not perfect, but as good as I could get it on such an old car. Knowing what I know today, I would have made things way differently to achieve a perfect result. But it is what it is now.
I was aiming for a 3mm (.12") gap all around, but hat to go with a 4mm (.16") gap around the doors and to the fenders and a 6mm (.24") gap between the hood and fenders...
The hood is wavey compared to the edge of the fenders as well...

The passender door on the other hand is beyond acceptable. It's crooked in all directions and needs replaced.
My body man and painter did what they could to fix it, but I'm not satisfied with the outcome, so I'm searching for a passenger side door right now..!

But now she is back at the paint shop for the preparation on all parts to get the final paint..!


Driver Side Alignment Pictures:
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Interestingly, there were 4 thick shims under the core support on the passenger side and 2 on the driver side from the factory.

Now there is 1 on the passenger side and none on the driver side.

Passenger Side alignment pictures:
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