It's Official: 1966 Crown Convertible Coming This Way

Boomer

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Got the paperwork in the mail yesterday, currently looking for a transporter on uship to haul it the 500+ miles to northern VA from New England.

Here are some shots of it at the seller's location. Car has been stored since 1986 so will need a fair amount of prep work to get it back on the road as well as repairs to the top to get it functioning again. And a good, thorough cleaning. It used to be black and will be again as soon as I can swing it. Need to find a set of original hub caps for it so we can lose the nasty faux wire wheels.

Can't wait to see how excited the wife still is when she sees the actual size of it overall. She thought the 300 was too long. :D



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Thanks guys! Wasn't my first choice for a car but I definitely like this compromise. A lot.

I don't mind the red and will drive it that way the rest of the season, but they didn't prep it well or something went wrong, because there's a big patch behind the driver's door where the paint came off exposing the original black. You can see it better in the photo below. I'll shoot some red primer over it for now to make it less noticeable but yes, I'd prefer the original white-over-black. It really makes the chrome stand out.

Now, I did mention several times that it is a large car, but she seemed to like it a lot anyway, and I uh....didn't want to spoil her fun, yeah - that's it. She actually drove a '98 Cadillac for a few years that her grandmother left to her with 36K miles on it, though not as big as this. I actually played it up based on the safety factor for our 4 yr old daughter riding in it. As long as it has air, power steering, seat belts and power brakes, she's good. I'm guessing the wheelbase and overall proportions of the Imp are more pleasing to her eye than the more rakish '66 300 was, which I loved. A truly beautiful car.

Gary - you got it right. After changing all the fluids, tank, and dealing with any issues needed to get it back on the road, we're just going to clean it up and drive the wheels off it until cold weather gets here. It will get more done to it before spring. I know where to go if it needs any panels replaced, too! ;)

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Beauty...... congradulations. Black would be nice, but its hard to beat a white over red convertible.
Jezebelle is 18 feet 6 inches and Ellie loved driving her. Just not backing up so much.
 
Congratulations on your find.From the look of the pictures it looks to be in amazingly shape for 51 years old . And you have the boots for the top .I agree with you that you should paint it the original factory color and if it was black then I would repaint it black .As you will find out, that red paint won't stay on very well if they did not prep it good underneath. I'm finishing up my project car a 1966 Lebaron 4 door .When you're ready, contact me as I will have spare parts like hubcaps ,Chrome Trim ,etc. Here is a pic of what all cars see when I have mine on the highway.
[email protected].

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Thanks guys! Wasn't my first choice for a car but I definitely like this compromise. A lot.

I don't mind the red and will drive it that way the rest of the season, but they didn't prep it well or something went wrong, because there's a big patch behind the driver's door where the paint came off exposing the original black. You can see it better in the photo below. I'll shoot some red primer over it for now to make it less noticeable but yes, I'd prefer the original white-over-black. It really makes the chrome stand out.

Now, I did mention several times that it is a large car, but she seemed to like it a lot anyway, and I uh....didn't want to spoil her fun, yeah - that's it. She actually drove a '98 Cadillac for a few years that her grandmother left to her with 36K miles on it, though not as big as this. I actually played it up based on the safety factor for our 4 yr old daughter riding in it. As long as it has air, power steering, seat belts and power brakes, she's good. I'm guessing the wheelbase and overall proportions of the Imp are more pleasing to her eye than the more rakish '66 300 was, which I loved. A truly beautiful car.

Gary - you got it right. After changing all the fluids, tank, and dealing with any issues needed to get it back on the road, we're just going to clean it up and drive the wheels off it until cold weather gets here. It will get more done to it before spring. I know where to go if it needs any panels replaced, too! ;)

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Hey! Way-ta-go Boomer. That looks like a really nice car. Too bad about the paint. . . Looks like they didn't even primer it before they shot the red on it. You could get it touched up and drive it anyway. I had the same problem on my "parts car." No primer under the paint on the passenger side quarter panel.
 
Where in New England is the car coming from?

I bought it through a fellow in Dover, NH who was selling it for his uncle. Car is actually in Salisbury MA just over the NH border. Supposed to be getting picked up either today or tomorrow and be dropped off here by Thursday.

Robert - the limited view of your LeBaron looks like a new car. You've done some nice work there. If you have any decent/undented hub caps, I'm in the market now. The peeling paint doesn't bother me, I can redo that in steps. Scratches I can polish out somewhat. Dents I can't fix. There are a few other little pieces it *might* need, like the small trim piece on the hood behind the ornament. Waiting for it to get here so I can go through it first to make sure it's not in the dash or trunk. Along with the regular boot it has the fiberglass parade boot pieces which is a nice plus.

Rip, my plan is to just spray some rattle can red primer on the black spot for now to make it less obvious. The body has some 'repairs' (bondo) on the rear quarters and rockers, so I'm not going to put a lot of effort into the Resale Red paint. It has a little kiss on the right front fender too where it looks like someone rubbed it against something white. I want to get it roadworthy first so I can move it around and not have to pay flatbed fees. After sitting in a shipping container for 30 years, who knows what secrets and surprises it has waiting for me. So far I know it needs all fluids changed, gas tank dealt with, leaky hose(s) for the top replaced, maybe cylinder(s) too, and directional signals are not working, along with one side window.

Here's a tail light shot, Robert. Not yet as pretty or shiny, but something to work with and shoot for.
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. . .Rip, my plan is to just spray some rattle can red primer on the black spot for now to make it less obvious. The body has some 'repairs' (bondo) on the rear quarters and rockers, so I'm not going to put a lot of effort into the Resale Red paint. It has a little kiss on the right front fender too where it looks like someone rubbed it against something white. I want to get it roadworthy first so I can move it around and not have to pay flatbed fees. After sitting in a shipping container for 30 years, who knows what secrets and surprises it has waiting for me. So far I know it needs all fluids changed, gas tank dealt with, leaky hose(s) for the top replaced, maybe cylinder(s) too, and directional signals are not working, along with one side window. . .

The more I hear about your car, the more I feel its like my red parts car. My car had a big bare spot on the passenger quarter where the red paint had just fallen off, and it bugged me like hell. The rest of the paint on the car was either original or half-decent repaint of the quarters. I had the passenger quarter professionally repaired and painted for $1200. It was more money than I wanted to pay, but I was ashamed to take the car to Carlisle the way it was.
 
Was a time when you could get a decent paint job for $1200. Nowadays if someone told you they could do your car up right for $1200, most folks would probably run like hell! It'll really depend how much the Mrs ends up liking it once it's here, but assuming she continues to, I can see a similar reaction to both quarter panels on this one. The orginal metal is there underneath but someone slathered on a layer of filler then painted it. It has to be done right, the car is definitely worth at least that.

Got a call from the seller and then hauler this afternoon: car was loaded around three and will be en route tomorrow. Should be here by evening. The hauler and his brother own a business selling exotics and other high end cars, he hauls vehicles down south when he has new material to pick up. F-350 with a three car hauler so it'll get good handling.

Getting all twitchy and excited now! 95 degrees and 90% humidity today, low 80s with lower humidity tomorrow. Just in time.
 
If your gonna rattle can it, why not rattle can it with the same red? Then get her done later in your favorite color. The red primer is flat, that may stick out like a sore thumb just as bad as the black... Just sayin.
 
If I could easily match up the paint color, I'd do it. Just not sure what color they used. Figured primer would look like a work in progress, which it is.

Heard from the hauler earlier, he unloaded the car to put other cars on and had trouble getting it started again. Seller and I think it's related to his age and lack of experience with how to start a naturally aspirated car. He's not to sure about that carburetor stuff I guess. Spoke with him a few minutes ago and he was making a lot of excuses for this and that, says it will probably need a jumper pack to start it (because they flattened the battery getting it running before) and startoing fluid. He's running late and insists he wants to unload it tonight even though we agreed on doing so before dark and have to unload up by the highway. Can't get a truck of any size down our street or up our driveway.

So that's the latest. Might end up getting left by the road overnight, who knows? I've got a battery and gas ready, but I'm really wishing now I'd picked another hauler.
 
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