Resurrecting Grandpa's Dinosaur - a rebuild story. (1963 Chrysler Imperial) by topdawag_mc4

4 minute(s) of a 137 minute read

12-24-2011

Thanks for the input, emmettlodge.

We took a hard look at what we wanted to get into before really putting this project on the table. We would both love to see this thing properly restored to factory specifications, as I'm sure it would be just as much if not more of a head turner than what we will have in a finished product.

My buddy who is really heading the project just finished a proper restoration on his 1970 Mach 1. The car is really beautiful, and the restoration was a quality one. We have the collective knowledge to do a proper restoration, but we're broke musicians. The fact is that his Mach 1 restoration was done "cheaply," but no corners were cut. That ended up taking 7 years to complete. But it was his dream car.

With this project we looked closely at our options. We could have sold the car to someone looking to do a restoration, but this thing is rough. I should have went ahead and uploaded a picture of the rear floorboards. They are completely gone. We haven't yet gotten this on a lift yet to see what the frame looks like as far as rust goes. So would anyone really even buy this car to do a full restoration? Eh.. I don't really think it's that sought after. And as far as sentimental value goes, sure my buddy would have (maybe) had the opportunity to see the car the way his grandpa did 30 years ago when the restoration completed in several years, but where's the fun in that. When it gets down to it, we're not going to sell the car, so it's either build it, or let it sit and die.

Like he stated in my preface, his grandpa was always super supportive of all of his endeavors, and had a quirky way of thinking of things. We both feel like bringing the car back like this is a honorable way to respect his grandfather, and that's what this is all about. He remembers his grandpa in a good light, having fun riding with him to school. So we're going to make a cool cruiser with what we can get our hands on. 

The first episode of the video series:

I will continue to add the videos to the original post.

12-26-2011

Ok, so obviously we're going to do a full brake overhaul on the Imperial. 4,800 lbs of rusty metal isn't going to stop itself. Especially after some momentum behind it.

Hopefully we can get a different rear end that we already have under it that already has good brakes on it. After a new master cylinder and front brakes, we should be in the stopping business.   

So, who's the sheet metal fabricator and who's the welder? If you guys can do most of that yourselves, the costs can certainly be controlled

We both have some experience in crude fabricating. But, as long as the frame is safe and the floors are safe and patched, we're going to let it ride for now. We like the patina. With our budget, we don't have much of a choice.

We have an interesting idea for the floors.