The Journey
Introducing the Imperial Deathstar, a black 1963 Chrysler Imperial. This is one of the largest production sedans ever built, and arguably the best luxury car of its day.
Join me what will probably be a never-ending saga of grease, aching muscles, and an empty wallet as I work to restore this over 50 year old survivor to a reliable cruiser.
Major Articles
Major articles presented in chronological order.
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Recent Posts
- Trim Trauma 2 April 14, 2025
- Trim Trauma April 9, 2025
- Rear Door Card Redux April 3, 2025
- Front Door Cards March 27, 2025
- Wizard 4: Holding an Orb March 10, 2025
Archives
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Author Archives: RussD
Wrangling Rust
After several weeks of travel it was back to the Imperial. First job: remove that nasty “patch” mentioned in the previous article I’m a Stripper… The pop rivets drilled out easily, but for some reason the flange on the bottom … Continue reading
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I’m a Stripper…
In the last article, Hoodie 2, we finished working on the hood. Which meant it was time to move on to the rest of the car. Paint serves many functions. It is the most visible part of a car, driving … Continue reading
Posted in Restoration, Tips and Tricks
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Hoodie 2
With the bottom of the hood done in Hoodie I flipped the hood over and tackled the top. The top of the hood has bothered me since I got the car – something had been laid on top of the … Continue reading
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Hoodie
After finishing the last door in Door Four Debacle it was time to move on to the next rust damage I had been avoiding – a hole in a rib in the hood inner frame. Wrestling the hood off of … Continue reading
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Door Four Debacle
In AfterCoolin’ I put off tackling the last door by finishing work on the air compressor. After running out of excuses there was no choice but to move on to the last door. While the bottom of the door looked … Continue reading
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AfterCoolin’
After fighting rust in the previous article Door Three “Delights” I decided to finish off another workshop project to upgrade my air supply. One of the problems with air compressors is moisture. A basic physics fact is warm air can … Continue reading
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Door Three “Delights”
After upgrading the power windows on the first two doors in Electrical 13: Relay That Window! it was time to stop stalling and start working on the drivers door. This door has the worst rust on the entire car, so … Continue reading
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Electrical 13: Relay That Window!
The last electrical article looked at dash lighting in Electrical 12: Dash It All!. It is now time to deal with a sticky situation – specifically, power windows that stick going up and down. Power windows are the among the … Continue reading
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What’s Behind Door Number One?
I’ll confess – one of the reasons for doing all of the projects around the workshop has been a bit of stalling on actually working on the car. In an early post I described the Imperial as being essentially rust … Continue reading
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Bandsaw Stand
The horizontal bandsaw has been getting a real workout cutting up the steel tubing for various projects. While it does a good job cutting there are issues – mostly with the stand. The included stand is the most criticized part … Continue reading
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