It hasn’t really been 10 months since I did any work – I’m just way behind on updating the blog. My original goal had been to get the car back on the road in 2018. My new goal is to get to the point where I am putting things back on the car rather than taking more things off. Every time I touch something I uncover more to be done. While the car is structurally sound and in amazing shape, there is surface rust everywhere. With all the work and money going into the car I just can’t leave it like that.
The entire front suspension, down to the torsion bars and crossmember, is out. All new bushings, tie-rod ends, and balljoints are going in. A front disk brake conversion kit, all new brake lines, and an upgraded 1″ sway bar are ready to go back in. The power steering box has been rebuilt, as has the brake booster. As part of the disk brake upgrade, the master cylinder has been upgraded from single to dual. It is going to be interesting putting this back together, as the Autopilot cruise control sits where the new brake lines need to be run.
As a side note, the Chrysler ball joints are screwed it. I had been warned about this, I had the proper 2-9/64″ socket as well as a 3/4″ x 3′ breaker bar and a 4′ cheater pipe ready to go. I had also acquired a 2′ long ratchet. Surprisingly, I didn’t need the cheater – the 3′ breaker bar provided enough leverage, once I put all my weight on it. This may be a hint that I need to go on a diet… In any case, the ball joint came out fairly smoothly.
Cleaning the suspension parts was “interesting”. There was a thick coating of grease, dirt, and other substances on most of the parts. Extensive scraping removed most of it. Some had hardened to the consistency of concrete, and had to be chiseled off. After the bulk removal, it was over to the parts washer and spend lots of time scrubbing and scraping to get the rest of the gunk off. There are too many front end parts and they are too big on this car!
After cleaning and painting the control arms, it was time to install the new ball joints. These are much too easy to cross thread. What should have been a one minute job took over two hours. The big ratchet and the 3/4″ breaker bar got a good workout. Once the ball joint was started straight it screwed in smoothly – but took major muscle on the breaker bar to drive it in.
While the engine and suspension were out, it was time to clean and prep the frame. Normally I would just pull the fenders, inner fender wells, and other front end pieces. The 1961-1963 Imperials have a one piece front end – the fenders and nose are all one piece! Actually they are made from several stampings, but the individual stampings are welded together and all of the seams are leaded. This looks great, as the entire front end is smooth and unbroken, but is a pain to work with.
The original plan was to leave the front end sheet metal in place and clean and paint the frame. This was difficult to do, as all the sheet metal was in the way. Studying the situation showed that there were only 6-10 bolts holding the inner fender wells in, so I pulled those out. Much more space! And everything now exposed was covered in surface rust. It looks like Chrysler didn’t even prime the hidden parts of the firewall; it looked like bare steel. Nothing rusted through, but there is a uniform coat of surface rust.
I didn’t want to pull the front end off because it is one piece and large, heavy, and floppy. Picking it up and moving it seemed like an invitation to seriously bend things. Then inspiration struck – put in some cross bracing across the back, use the engine hoist with straps to pick it up, and call a friend.
This worked great; the front end is now off the car and upside down to work on. There are a couple of rusty patches that were under the rocker panel trim piece; other than that, everything is surface rust. You can clearly see rusty areas, especially the large pan in the center, that I couldn’t get to while this was on the car. This had been really bugging me – now I can treat it properly.
I can now get to the entire front frame, which needs cleanup and rust treatment. And it will be MUCH easier to put it back together like this! The suspension should go back on easily and the engine and transmission should slip right in. Hmm, I may even want to put the exhaust on before the sheet metal!
Next: Bottoms Down