Yeah, isn't that the way it always goes? I try to be optimistic but repeated bad experiences have hardened me to the harsh reality of 40+ year old cars. There's ALWAYS something wrong that you didn't expect and it ALWAYS takes more time and money to fix it than you expect. Case in point is my recently purchased 66 New Yorker. I was captivated by the rust free body and that clouded my judgement, I guess. The "miss" that I heard 2 years ago prior to buying the car had graduated to "won't run" by the time I made it mine. Long disuse, water in the gas tank, a corroded AFB float, and fuel-flooded cylinders (4) caused stuck valves. I did manage to get the valves unstuck and start the engine but I think there's a slightly bent valve. Now the heads have to come off. Aaargh. I just went through this on a 65 413 for another project and reconditioning the heads cost me a grand. Here we go again... On an Imperial note, my local demo derby fanatic who recently destroyed a decent 76 Cordoba and a nice 81 Mirada in one weekend has located and closed the deal on yet another Imperial. This one is a 72 or 73 and supposedly teal like my 70. He swears that the thing has 4-wheel disc brakes but I won't believe it until I see it. I think it may be a Sure-Brake car, the first I will have a chance to check out in person. I'll see what I can save. Pete in PA Date: Sat, 13 Aug 2005 19:56:48 -0700 (PDT) From: Kenyon Wills <imperialist1960@xxxxxxxxx> Subject: IML: 18 year anniversary Reply-To: mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx That's how long it's been since my last engine rebuild. Remember that spun bearing on the 1962 that I was going to try a get-me-by on? nope. Well the crank was really fried. I used a mens belt with sandpaper and polished it, but it looked like marbled meat with all the grooves and pits in it. My $100 repair is now sitting at $600 and I've lapped the valves, gotten a replacement crank (free!!!), 2 new con-rods, new bearings all around, and gasket sets. <snip> ----------------- http://www.imperialclub.com ----------------- This message was sent to you by the Imperial Mailing List. Please reply to mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx and your response will be shared with everyone. Private messages (and attachments) for the Administrators should be sent to webmaster@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx To UN-SUBSCRIBE, go to http://imperialclub.com/unsubscribe.htm