Imperial Journey

Having some end of year vacation time to use up and a new heater in the workshop I planned to rebuild the front suspension and upgrade to disk brakes.

The heater was only able to warm the workshop about 20 degrees, so if the outside temperature is in the 20’s the workshop will be in the 40’s – and New England is about to drop below 0! OK, have to insulate the workshop before working in the middle of winter. I decided that “this just isn’t fun” and found indoor things to do after a couple of days. But I did make progress before retreating inside!

Pulling the brakes was interesting. The brake shoes were worn and both wheel cylinders were leaking. All of the brake hardware was corroded. One side was loose and the other side was dragging. No wonder the braking was so scary! I’m glad I’m upgrading to front disc brakes.

The first part of removal was easy. In this picture you can see the torsion bars, drag link, and steering box.

The drag link came out easily – undo the ball joint nut, insert a pry bar, and then pop the ball joint free. The big ball joints in the steering knuckle were a different story… After a couple of hours of prying, pounding with large hammers, and use of applicable language, they were still frozen solid.

It was clearly time to get the right tools. As I was getting ready to head over to Harbor Freight I considered how the Imperial front end is heavy duty and locked in place with with 60 years of corrosion. I really didn’t want these tools breaking at the wrong time – heavy pieces of sharp edged metal flying around can lead to a bad day. Checking online OTC got the best reviews for heavy duty use.

So, two days later an OTC front end set showed up:

All of the tie rod ends popped off easily with no problems. Having the right tools for the job makes all the difference! Now to the Big Job – removing the steering knuckle from the ball joints.

The ball joints use the separator tool in the middle of the box. Slip the separator onto the upper ball joint and tighten it down. Nothing. Not really a surprise… Next step is to hit it with the impact wrench. Again, nothing. OK, I got the OTC set to be able to abuse it. Set the impact wrench on its highest level and just let it run.

After several seconds of the drive bolt slowly turning there was a loud “spoing” and the separator popped off. Checking it, the tool was fine – the the ball joint was free! Pro tip: always leave the nut loosely on the ball joint when freeing it; then when it breaks loose the heavy parts don’t go flying.

With the top ball joint free it was time to do the bottom one. Slide the ball joint tool on it – and discover that it is just a little bit too small. Remember when I mentioned that Imperial parts are large? None of the other pullers would fit – they hit the upper ear on the steering knuckle. So, back online. Found one source for an over-size spreader that looks like it should work. It will be here in a few days; hopefully it is strong enough for the Imperial!

Update: the over-size spreader worked on two of the remaining three ball joints, but the last one absolutely refused to budge. After fighting it for a few hours I noticed that there is a space between the body of the ball joint and the steering knuckle – just enough room to get in there with cutting disk without touching the knuckle or the suspension arm. One minute with the angle grinder cutting the ball joint apart and the knuckle was off. With the knuckle off and on the workbench, there was plenty of room to get the heavy duty separator tool in place, tighten it down, and smack the body of the knuckle with the BFH (“Big Forceful Hammer”). The remnants of the ball joint popped right out.

The power steering box is out and has been sent off to be rebuilt. The brake booster is out and has been sent off to be rebuilt and to have the master cylinder upgraded from single reservoir to dual reservoir – an important part of the disc brake upgrade.

And hopefully it will warm up enough to get back into the workshop before July.

Next: Front End Removal

The first step in removing the motor is to remove everything attached to the motor – top, sides, bottom, front, and back. It took me close to two months to get all of this done – there are a lot of things attached to the motor, and surprisingly little room to work.

Some of the parts coming off and out were easy, and some fought me all the way. Since the exhaust was welded, the plan was to unbolt it from the exhaust manifolds and leave it in place. Of course, it didn’t work out that way.

The exhaust manifold bolts were inaccessible and rusted; I managed to get one off, round one off, and give up on the other two before too much blood was shed. The exhaust was so close to the drive shaft that I couldn’t get to the center carrier bearing. I ended up having to cut the exhaust to take it out. In five pieces. For each side… For such a huge car, there is no space to work in surprising places.

I had decided to pull the motor and transmission out as a unit. In retrospect this was a wise decision – there is so little clearance between the transmission and the transmission hump that it would have been impossible to get to all of the engine/transmission bolts.

I had to remove the radiator support to open up enough room for this. This proved to be another project – Chrysler used many bolts and some “creative” attachments for this. But, the support finally gave up and came out.

After all the prep work getting ready, actually pulling the motor was anticlimactic. I called a friend over to help. We chained the engine to the hoist, jacked slowly and moved things carefully, and the engine and transmission just slid out! This job went so smoothly I just kept looking for the disaster that had to be lurking. Nope, no problems.

Split the engine and transmission, remove the rest of the accessories from the engine, and start the expensive part.

Based on recommendations from people in the Chrysler 300 club, I took the transmission to Don Verity in Rhode Island. When I talked to Don he was very familiar with the pushbutton transmissions and with Imperials. Even better, when I pulled up to his shop there were three 1950s and 1960s Imperials parked outside, including his daily driver.

Don went through the transmission for a reasonable price. He reported that someone had been inside the transmission before, but they didn’t quite know how these old Torqueflites worked. The transmission was still in great shape, but needed the rebuild and a few missing and mis-matched parts replaced.

Don talked me out of replacing the torque convertor – he felt that these never go bad, and replacing them was unnecessary. Finally, a place to save money!

The engine went out to Custom Automotive Machine (Camco) in East Weymouth, MA. I have a friend who has a business restoring old Studebakers. He said that whenever he needs engine work he just sends it to Camco – he has had over a hundred engines done over the last 20 years with great results.

I had called Camco last year to discuss this project with them. They were familiar with the Chrysler 413, including knowing what parts were hard to get. They said that the knocking I was hearing sounded like a spun rod bearing, so don’t drive the car – the crank for a 413 is impossible to find, so if the crank is damaged the engine is probably a complete loss.

As it turned out, the knocking noise wasn’t a rod bearing – it was a broken piston! They found pieces of the piston skirt in the oil pan. They also found broken piston rings in two pistons. I have no idea how the engine managed to survive this without being destroyed.

They also found three cracks in the block. Fortunately not in structural areas, and they have a place that can repair cracks like this as good as new. Oh well, its only money…

So, the engine is now .030 over, new pistons and rings, bearings and seals, cam and lifters, and a head job with hardened valve seats

So I now have a completely rebuilt engine, beautifully painted in the factory turquoise color, sitting on a stand waiting to go back into the car. And several months of work ahead getting the engine bay ready to receive this work of art.

Next: Front End Deep Freeze

A long time since the last update. I’ve been working on the workshop: electrical is in and I now have power and light! While running electrical I also ran telephone and Internet out to the workshop – as I said, I’m a geek…

The Imperial is right at home in the workshop, which is a slightly oversize two car garage. There is enough room both for the car and to work! I’m getting really spoiled by having my tools where I need them. And a flat concrete floor is a fine luxury feature.

I spent the winter tracking down parts and suppliers. The engine and transmission need to be rebuilt, as does the entire front and rear suspension. This is going to get expensive very quickly.

I’ve started with a small victory: the spring was broken in the passenger windshield wiper arm, allowing it to flop around. Like everything else for old Imperials, the windshield wipers are a special part. Which, of course, is not available.

I had another pair of wiper arms that didn’t fit. I suddenly realized “hey, these wiper arms have a spring. I wonder if it would fit?”

Of course, it didn’t fit.

While staring at the old and new springs I noticed:

1. The hook had broken off one end of the original Imperial wiper arm spring.
2. The donor spring had two good hooks.
3. I have a welder.

So, cut the hook off and weld it onto the old spring. This took a while, as it was challenging to get the old and new spring lined up and stable so that I could weld. After a half second zap from the welder I had a spring with two ends on it. Reinstall the spring in the wiper arm, and I now have two working wipers.

It’s a small thing. But “the journey of a thousand miles begins with tripping over the shoelaces your friends have tied together”.

Next: Motor Out

Workshop structure done! The workshop is a bare shell, but ready to start work. I want to finish the interior and insulate, but that will come later. I know I’ll regret this later as it is a pain to do after you have moved into a building. But, “budget”.

Started work on the Imperial. Took off the cowl cover at the base of the windshield. Managed to break off a mounting stud in the center trim piece – pot metal that was stuck in place. Have to be more careful. Considerable buildup of leaves and dirt around the center air box. Managed to vacuum a lot of it out. Need to make a flexible hose for the shopvac to get into tight places. Can’t quite figure out how the air inlet works – there looks like a large rectangular door on top of it; will need to disassemble it some more. Need to paint inside the cowl air inlet. Tight in there; may wait until the engine is out to tackle it.

There is loose stuffing inside the heater box – looks like mouse nest inside the heater. Need to pull the entire heater system apart and clean it out. This will be a good time to make sure all the air doors work. The problem with the fan not working may be that the fan is completely clogged. Need to replace all of the vacuum lines. Look into getting a vacuum test kit for the vacuum servos. Check service manual for how to check and set the heater valve.

Started the car and cycled the air conditioner. The compressor cycles, but there is no trace of freon in the sight glass. Looks like the AC is completely empty.
Sound like a vacuum leak under the hood – heard a distinct hissing sound. Plan to replace all vacuum lines and check all fittings under the hood. The heater hoses look new, but should replace them just to be safe.

Electric windows aren’t working – only one window moves, the rear passenger window. It got stuck half way down and had to be pulled up to close. The power windows worked last fall. Check wiring and switches. Need to work on entire electrical system for corrosion. Contact cleaner and dielectric grease?

Took apart the right windshield wiper arm which was flopping around. Spring broken; need to find a replacement spring. The replacement wiper arms that are available are generic and don’t seem to have the screw lock, so it would be much better to repair this one.

The cruise control doesn’t seem to be working and seems to be putting extra resistance in the gas pedal. It looks like the linkage from the cruise control to the bellcrank can be removed completely.

Notes from last fall: The dash backlights work, but some of the gauge needles don’t illuminate. Speedometer is wildly inaccurate; using GPS to check speed. Need to check lighting for transmission and heater. Fuel gauge partially works; never shows above half full. Need to check to see if it is gauge, wiring, or sender. Oil pressure is very high when car is cold; may be problem with sender or guage.

There is a knock in the engine. Brakes pull rather badly and the mechanic said that three of the brake drums are badly worn. Have not been able to find replacement drums. Significant body lean and wallowing when turning – need to check suspension and sway bar. Can ran fine on Interstate – tracked smoothly and no vibrations.

Next: An Early Win

Plans are important. Plans are good. Plans are the secret to success. I enjoy planning and like to have at least a rough plan for projects.

The first thing to know about restoring a car is that it will be apart in pieces for 3-5 years. You need a place for the car, room to work, and room for storing all the parts you take off the car. You don’t do this in the garage you park cars in – not if you want to stay married! Thus, a 4 step plan:

1. Build a workshop.
2. Locate and acquire the car.
3. Restore the car.
4. Enjoy driving the car!

Since 1963 Imperials are rather rare I expected to spend 6-12 months looking for a car, flying out to check out a car, probably in California, Florida, or Arizona, and then paying $2,000 to have the car shipped.

While planning the workshop I happened to check Craigs List. And discovered a 1963 Imperial 30 miles away. At a good price.

Having no real choice in the matter, I headed over to check it out. It was, indeed, a 1963 Imperial Crown 4 door hardtop. The body was straight with only a few spots needing work. Checking it over it was solid – no rust in the frame, solid floorpans and trunk, and little to no rust in the fenders. The only rust spot on the whole car was a small hole in the bottom of the drivers door.

Further, all of the pieces were there! All of the chrome trim was present (and there is a lot of chrome trim on this car!). All of the underhood pieces were in place, including air conditioning and the AutoPilot (cruise control). The interior was missing carpets and the trim panels for the rear doors were in the trunk, but all of the important pieces were there. Even the jack was in the trunk!

I was able to drive it around the block. The suspension was worn, the brakes were scary, and the engine had a knock. Just what I was looking for!

This was not according to plan. I was a year away from being ready to start working on a car. And this was too good a deal to pass up. So I made an offer on the car. And in July of 2015 it was delivered to my driveway.

So, time to build a workshop and start the 3-5 year (or longer…) journey to bring this behemoth back – an Imperial Journey.

Next: Early Evaluation

Let me introduce myself: I’m a long time geek working in the computer industry on open source software. I spend too much time in front of a computer. Way too much time.

I needed to do something to get away from the computer. Something physical – something to get dirt under my fingernails and sore muscles. Something where you can actually touch and see results at the end of the day.

So I decided to restore a car. [Insert scary music here]

Note: while WordPress puts the most recent posts at the top, you can also read the story in order starting with The Car Shows Up.