1972 Imperial Revival Thread

[The_Eagles’_Nest]

The right caliper for a 72 Charger made it in, it works!

I went to put the pin positioners on and realized they are all the same. You can see that two should be mirror images of the first two.

 

[The_Eagles’_Nest]

I think I may be in the home stretch!

I found three more bolts to secure the battery tray.

Murray Park sent me a replacement headlamp relay and that solved the problem of the headlamp doors opening as soon as the key is turned.

I got my 5th wheel and tire mounted and balanced for the spare.

I got more KV fuel hose swapped in with correct type oetiker clamps.

I am waiting for the dash voltage limiter. I need to bleed rear brakes and install the propeller shaft to the rear yoke. Then I can hit the road!

 

[Boydsdodge]

What Michelin tires are those you have on your Imperial?

 

[The_Eagles’_Nest]

What Michelin tires are those you have on your Imperial?

Defender LTX P235/75R15

 

[The_Eagles’_Nest]

Well, tonight was the big night! She got off the jackstands and backed out of the driveway under her own power.

The carburetor needs a tune, and the spacer installed desperately. The power brakes work when they want to and the car stalls out randomly. The whole time hemorrhaging transmission fluid.

 

[The_Eagles’_Nest]

A short drive to the end of my neighborhood and back in the 72 Imperial.

 

[The_Eagles’_Nest]

So after adjusting the accelerator pump the car does not stall on hard acceleration but it is sluggish. I suspect the float level on the rear bowl is not set properly.

The car has lost power brakes sadly I will see how to get it going again.

 

[The_Eagles’_Nest]

So after 4 drives the questionable brake booster gave out. Now to remove it and send it to Booster Dewey.

 

[The_Eagles’_Nest]

Some more NOS stuff came in and a length of power steering return hose.

I am starting to kill the rust in the trunk floor. I will be installing some sound deadened so it doesn’t need to be perfect. The trunk got vacuumed out and the loose rust was wire brushed and the trunk floor cooked with some rust converter for a couple hours.

The front end had the left side drop significantly but I have not had a chance to look at it yet.

I got all the wheelcovers on and it looks better.

 

[jmustian]

Crank up torsion bar on low side

 

[The_Eagles’_Nest]

So tragedy struck tonight. I will be rushing now to fix the engine. The lower end began to knock horribly. So now I have to pull the oil pan and do main bearings.

 

[jmustian]

So tragedy struck tonight. I will be rushing now to fix the engine. The lower end began to knock horribly. So now I have to pull the oil pan and do main bearings.

Better do mains and rods.

 

[rags]

The lower end began to knock horribly.

did something drop on to a piston top? carbon chunk? no low oil pressure warning? this sucks. sorry to read of it.

 

[The_Eagles’_Nest]

My plan is to do mains and rods, and add a windage tray. So I know the car is good, but has this issue. Time to start gathering parts.

 

[The_Eagles’_Nest]

did something drop on to a piston top? carbon chunk? no low oil pressure warning? this sucks. sorry to read of it.

Gradual illumination of the check gauges light. It would turn off after the engine started then eventually it started flickering and now it’s solid. I’m waiting for a whole new instrument panel to come in from Murray Park.

It was going to happen eventually, better sooner than later since I still have time.

I have a windage tray in hand, I will be dropping the oil pan over the weekend and ordering bearings.

 

[rags]

better sooner than later

hoping the crank's okay. cross your fingers.

 

[The_Eagles’_Nest]

hoping the crank's okay. cross your fingers.

It didn’t run much longer after the knock started. It should be good.

 

[The_Eagles’_Nest]

Some randomly selected bearings out of the engine. There is grooving, scarring and evidence of contamination. So, not the worse thing in the world since it was caught in time.

Everything is on the way, hope to have the engine back up and running in about a week or so since I only have weekends to work on the car.

 

[The_Eagles’_Nest]

The bottom end is clean! If I’m not mistaken it looks like there is still cross-hatching on the cylinder walls.

 

[The_Eagles’_Nest]

The other night I cleaned the acorns out of the oil pan and mouse bedding out of the pickup tube.

I got all 16 rod bearings in, and I have three main bearings installed on the caps. I need to remove the rear main seal and drop the crank some more to get the upper bearings out.

No bearings were smoked but they all had various scratches and gouges that I’m sure don’t help any.

As usual Imperial owners get the short end of the stick. New Fel-Pro exhaust manifold gaskets are not the correct size.