In an effort to turn the engine-less, WT flag in my front yard into a running driving car, my wife has offered to cook food for my buddies and I once a week in exchange for some team work style toolin on my '68 Imperial Crown Coupe. So we're gonna get together during the weeknights to get this bad boy up and running before the weather gets too cold to do so. Oddly enough, given the career that I'm in, I don't have many friends that are into old cars like I am, though that isn't stopping some of them. It should be cool for them, since they can get their dinner on, then get their wrench on, maybe learn something, and hopefully we can assemble and bring the old beast back to life. It's definitely cool for me, since I have a wife who not only supports my car obsession, but is cool enough to help me to get it done, in whatever way she can.
(This a 4 door, but you get the picture... It's a barge!)
(This a 4 door, but you get the picture... It's a barge!)
A little background on the car:
When I was a kid, I used to go to any car show I could with my old man. One of the first of his cars that I can remember was a 68 Imperial Crown Coupe. It was a monster and i loved it. When I started building my own collection of junk, I thought about finding a 68 to make my summer commuter. I came across this one on CL in 09. There was a small nondescript ad on the Tampa FL list with no pictures and the cursed "would make a good parts car" line. Two big strikes, and normally I wouldn't even bother, but it also read "rust free", and "47k original miles" so I figured I might as well give a call. After talking with the older gentleman, I learned that he bought the car off the estate of the original owners who were elderly when they bought it in 68. They parked it in 82, and there it sat in their garage until he bought it in 02. He tried the basics to get it started, but wasn't very mechanically inclined, so became quickly frustrated and sat on it for the next few years until deciding he was no longer interested. I asked for some pictures, to which he said, "Sure, whats your address?" (It's kind of scary how out of place receiving snail mail with 3"x5" photos is in this digital age.) Regardless after a few more conversations, I decided to take a shot on it.
Turns out that the reason he couldn't get it running was that among a few other age related issues from sitting, the valves/springs had seized, so when he poured gas into the carb, tossed a new battery in it, and attempted to fire it up, it immediately bent 4 push rods. Luckily that's all it did. I took the motor out to refresh it, and while that 2 week job turned into 2 months, I ended up buying a house (another project) and the job turned to 2 years of sitting dormant... which brings us to today.
On the upside, I've been slowly buying parts for the past 2 years now, so I should have everything we need to put her together.
Recap: Awesome wife, home cooked food, buddies, wrenching, shootin the shit about cars. This should be good.
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