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1956 Imperial Coupe
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22mafeja
Posted 2020-09-24 3:18 AM (#603540 - in reply to #546210)
Subject: RE: 1956 Imperial Coupe


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Location: Finland		I think this stage of a restoration is a nightmare. Whatever car I have restored (ford , gm, mopar) it has always been difficult to get the rear and front glass stainless to sit properly.
Especially the type with the pocket in which the stainlee should slide. I have glued , made own clips etc...
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57burb
Posted 2020-09-24 8:52 AM (#603541 - in reply to #603540)
Subject: Re: 1956 Imperial Coupe



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Location: DFW, TX		On my '57, there were specific clip shapes needed for every location. I think the lower windshield used three different clips. Are yours all the same? If not, re-check the position.

Also, would it be possible to install the trim over the clip side first, then use a tool to get the gasket under the other side?

It is nerve wracking working on top of fresh paint, and I bet your lower back is a little sore too. Part of the fun!

Edited by 57burb 2020-09-24 8:54 AM
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jboymechanic
Posted 2020-09-24 9:40 PM (#603563 - in reply to #546210)
Subject: Re: 1956 Imperial Coupe



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Location: Muskego, WI		As far as I can tell, all of the clips appear to be universal across the front of the car. I actually used some fasteners from a '57/'58 Chrysler for my rear windshield trim, I did have to do some grinding to them but the worked well. I might try something similar here, but the original clips are extremely hard to find for this car. Glad to know that at least it's not just me...
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jboymechanic
Posted 2020-12-08 10:14 PM (#606514 - in reply to #546210)
Subject: Re: 1956 Imperial Coupe



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Location: Muskego, WI		This car is going to a resto shop, Vintage Vehicles, in May or June 2021. I've messed around long enough, this car needs to get done and I'm just not the guy to do it. Hope to have it buttoned up within 12 months of dropping it off.
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jboymechanic
Posted 2021-03-09 2:33 PM (#609689 - in reply to #546210)
Subject: Re: 1956 Imperial Coupe



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Location: Muskego, WI		Change of plans. Vintage Vehicles isn't restoring any more, so now the car is on it's way to Bob Schmidt's shop in Little Chute, WI. He and his crew picked up my car, trim and parts today and he thinks he should be able to finish it up an just a few months. Been a long time coming.
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jboymechanic
Posted 2021-03-24 12:09 PM (#610306 - in reply to #609689)
Subject: Re: 1956 Imperial Coupe



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Location: Muskego, WI		First update from Bob Schmidt.

Car is cleaned up significantly, front bumper has been lined up and all front bumper and grill area trim has been installed. Currently working on straightening and cleaning up the rest of the stainless steel. He's coming for the interior this Friday. Pictures are direct from Bob today.





(Front Driver Corner March 2021.jpg)



(Front Pass Corner March 2021.jpg)



(Grill March 2021.jpg)



(Pass Side March 2021.jpg)



Attachments
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Attachments Front Driver Corner March 2021.jpg (244KB - 328 downloads)
Attachments Front Pass Corner March 2021.jpg (234KB - 335 downloads)
Attachments Grill March 2021.jpg (241KB - 338 downloads)
Attachments Pass Side March 2021.jpg (213KB - 349 downloads)
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jboymechanic
Posted 2021-03-26 10:56 AM (#610387 - in reply to #546210)
Subject: Re: 1956 Imperial Coupe



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Location: Muskego, WI		Bob had one of his guys come this morning and get the rest of my parts and my entire interior. Seems to be moving along very well, hope to have more updated pictures soon.
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jboymechanic
Posted 2021-03-26 11:27 PM (#610407 - in reply to #610387)
Subject: Re: 1956 Imperial Coupe



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Location: Muskego, WI		Couple more pictures today. Stainless trim is on around the front windshield and the rear bumper is together and on the car. Really starting to look incredible!



(thumb_IMG_1828_1024.jpg)



(thumb_IMG_1827_1024.jpg)



Attachments
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Attachments thumb_IMG_1828_1024.jpg (161KB - 332 downloads)
Attachments thumb_IMG_1827_1024.jpg (195KB - 329 downloads)
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Powerflite
Posted 2021-03-26 11:30 PM (#610408 - in reply to #546210)
Subject: Re: 1956 Imperial Coupe



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Location: So. Cal		Wow, looking really great!
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57burb
Posted 2021-03-29 10:31 AM (#610497 - in reply to #610408)
Subject: Re: 1956 Imperial Coupe



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Location: DFW, TX		Jon, your Imperial is turning out amazing!
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jboymechanic
Posted 2021-03-29 1:32 PM (#610505 - in reply to #546210)
Subject: Re: 1956 Imperial Coupe



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Location: Muskego, WI		Thank you Nathan, Danny, I'm very grateful to have landed in Bob's shop. Great group of guys, very pleased with quality and rate of progress.
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jboymechanic
Posted 2021-07-13 12:02 AM (#613458 - in reply to #610505)
Subject: Re: 1956 Imperial Coupe



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Location: Muskego, WI		This weekend I finally achieved one of my life long dreams; to drive my grandfather's restored 1956 Imperial coupe. Hard to believe I started this back in the fall of 2004 and that I used to pretend to drive it back in the late 1980s, what journey it has been. Surprised my dad for a ride on his 75th birthday, what a great day our family had with it. A huge thank you to Bob Schmidt and his guys for finally getting this over the hump for me.

There are very minor things that still need to be done, like installing the windshield washer nozzles, but I'm at 75 miles and counting!

Edited by jboymechanic 2021-07-13 12:07 AM




(thumb_IMG_2314_1024.jpg)



(thumb_IMG_2307_1024.jpg)



(thumb_IMG_2308_1024.jpg)



(thumb_IMG_2310_1024.jpg)



(thumb_IMG_2244_1024.jpg)



(thumb_IMG_2245_1024.jpg)



Attachments
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Attachments thumb_IMG_2314_1024.jpg (274KB - 276 downloads)
Attachments thumb_IMG_2307_1024.jpg (258KB - 270 downloads)
Attachments thumb_IMG_2308_1024.jpg (260KB - 255 downloads)
Attachments thumb_IMG_2310_1024.jpg (272KB - 262 downloads)
Attachments thumb_IMG_2244_1024.jpg (144KB - 263 downloads)
Attachments thumb_IMG_2245_1024.jpg (216KB - 256 downloads)
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Powerflite
Posted 2021-07-13 1:52 PM (#613469 - in reply to #546210)
Subject: Re: 1956 Imperial Coupe



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Location: So. Cal		Congratulations, you have a really nice Imperial. The red/white color on it is very striking too.
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60 Imp
Posted 2021-07-13 3:48 PM (#613475 - in reply to #546210)
Subject: RE: 1956 Imperial Coupe


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Location: North Australia		Wow, I am impressed, congratulations Jon. That is something to be proud of. The 56 is one of the best looking Forward Look cars in my opinion. Well done. Steve.
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jboymechanic
Posted 2021-07-13 11:22 PM (#613486 - in reply to #546210)
Subject: Re: 1956 Imperial Coupe



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Location: Muskego, WI		Thanks gents, I'm extremely happy with the end result. However, if I could do it all over again I would have left it pink.
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Powerflite
Posted 2021-07-14 2:58 AM (#613490 - in reply to #546210)
Subject: Re: 1956 Imperial Coupe



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Location: So. Cal		Do you have a before picture? I don't think I've ever seen it.
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57burb
Posted 2021-07-14 10:32 AM (#613498 - in reply to #613490)
Subject: Re: 1956 Imperial Coupe



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Location: DFW, TX		Car came out just beautiful, Jon! Man the '56 Imperial is a good-looking car and the color combination on yours is striking. Great job.

Powerflite - 2021-07-14 1:58 AM

Do you have a before picture? I don't think I've ever seen it.

I'm pretty sure that's it in his avatar.
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jboymechanic
Posted 2021-07-14 11:51 AM (#613500 - in reply to #613498)
Subject: Re: 1956 Imperial Coupe



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Location: Muskego, WI		Here is a larger picture of the Imperial the day I pulled it out of its resting place in the old machine shed. Sat in that barn immediately behind the car from 1965 until March 2003. It was dug out of the ground (as it had sunk in considerably, but not resting on the frame thankfully) and moved into a newer pole barn until I started disassembly in the fall of 2004.

Also some pictures of the break-down process, check out the before and after cleaning picture of the hemi. There was so much racoon poop on the engine that the entire valley cover rotted away and the middle of the motor was full of poop. Pretty amazing that I was even able to salvage this block.

Edited by jboymechanic 2021-07-14 11:58 AM




(Thebeginning.jpg)



(Front clip removed 1.jpg)



(Hemi 2.jpg)



(Hemi 4.jpg)



(Chassis tear down 2.jpg)



Attachments
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Attachments Thebeginning.jpg (144KB - 264 downloads)
Attachments Front clip removed 1.jpg (157KB - 252 downloads)
Attachments Hemi 2.jpg (108KB - 262 downloads)
Attachments Hemi 4.jpg (93KB - 263 downloads)
Attachments Chassis tear down 2.jpg (181KB - 256 downloads)
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Powerflite
Posted 2021-07-14 1:58 PM (#613503 - in reply to #546210)
Subject: Re: 1956 Imperial Coupe



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Location: So. Cal		Thanks for the pictures. It's come a long way to where it is now. I can imagine that 354 is a lot of fun.
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56D500boy
Posted 2021-11-03 5:24 PM (#616534 - in reply to #563943)
Subject: Re: 1956 Imperial Coupe



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jboymechanic - 2018-05-23 7:54 PM
The Imperial's front disc setup is Scarebird. I purchased the calipers already powder coated red from rockauto (Power Stop part number S4299). The brackets are very well made and came plated in zinc chromate.


That is interesting. I contacted Scarebird earlier this week and they told me that they had nothing for 1956 Chryslers. I realize that Imperials are different than Chryslers but I have to wonder how different the brackets really are. Do you have any photos of the installation process (especially the brackets before you added the calipers and rotors) that got you to this point (your photo below)

Beautiful restoration job BTW (as others have said)



Edited by 56D500boy 2021-11-03 5:27 PM
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jboymechanic
Posted 2021-11-05 2:36 PM (#616583 - in reply to #616534)
Subject: Re: 1956 Imperial Coupe



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Location: Muskego, WI		The kit was very simple, I bought it back in 2016. Scarebird was selling the kits through ebay at the time, here is a picture of the actual kit from my ebay account.



(Scarebird kit.jpg)



Attachments
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Attachments Scarebird kit.jpg (31KB - 204 downloads)
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56D500boy
Posted 2021-11-05 3:57 PM (#616584 - in reply to #616583)
Subject: Re: 1956 Imperial Coupe



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jboymechanic - 2021-11-05 11:36 AM
The kit was very simple, I bought it back in 2016. Scarebird was selling the kits through ebay at the time, here is a picture of the actual kit from my ebay account.


Thanks Jon. This is going to be fun. I sent the photo above with the kit installed on your 56 Imperial Coupe to Scarebird and asked what the kit was (after they previously said that they didn't have any 56 Chrysler kits). Mark at Scarebird replied that whatever you did with what appeared to be one of their kits, it was a "bodge" (a modification) and he couldn't recommend it.

I am going to send him the photo of your 2016 eBay Scarebird kit to see why he would call it a "bodge". I sure he will back pedal on his comment.

Dave F.
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PolaraPaul
Posted 2021-11-06 11:46 AM (#616597 - in reply to #546210)
Subject: Re: 1956 Imperial Coupe


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Location: California/Wisconsin		Beautiful results! Thanks for sharing. Hope to see it at Iola or an appropriate Wisconsin show soon. Great work and colors.
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jboymechanic
Posted 2022-05-09 4:13 PM (#621358 - in reply to #546210)
Subject: Re: 1956 Imperial Coupe



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Location: Muskego, WI		Getting the Imperial ready for season #2 back on the road. I've swapped out my rear gears from 3.23 to 2.76, I also repacked the rear axle bearings while the axles were out. I have about 750 miles on the car so far and everything looks great in the rear end.

I had a pretty significant power steering fluid leak from the steering gear at the end of last season, the cause was a very hard, original seal at the output (pitman arm) shaft. I used a "blind hole" seal puller to get the old one out and made a custom aluminum seal installing tool to get the new one in the bore and around the output shaft. I also had a few coolant leaks from the water cross-over and the water pump, I addressed these with new gasket, sealer and a new water pump. Everything is dry so far.

I'm currently working on getting my driveshaft addressed as I had a shimmy, going to get my rear pinion yoke and TF trans yoke "in phase" and go to a single piece drive shaft (it will actually be two pieces since it will have to contain a slip yoke, but there will be no carrier bearing or center u-joint).
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jboymechanic
Posted 2022-06-27 10:13 AM (#622415 - in reply to #546210)
Subject: Re: 1956 Imperial Coupe



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Location: Muskego, WI		Update: I did update my drive shaft, but it is still two pieces. The tunnel was too tight to allow the larger OD that a single piece drive shaft would have required. My drive shaft now has the following u-joint sizes from front to rear: 1310, 1310 and 7260. My carrier barrier is now the same as most half ton rear wheel drive domestic pickup trucks, so everything is very available. I no longer have a shimmy in the 15 to 20 mph range.

In addition to the drive shaft and gear changes, I've re-set my initial timing from about 2* to about 9*. I've driven another 200 miles since, overall fuel economy has improved from 9.0 mpg to 11.3 mpg.
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jboymechanic
Posted 2023-08-29 2:31 PM (#631674 - in reply to #546210)
Subject: Re: 1956 Imperial Coupe



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Location: Muskego, WI		I just hit 2000 miles with the Imperial, everything is still working great. I have a few minor things to address yet, but mostly just enjoying the car. Typical fuel economy is now between 14 and 15 mpg after some additional adjustments to my TBI.
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