> New Subscriber(s): Heidi > Car(s) owned: 1959 Imperial LeBaron 4-door Hardtop (not sure what the original color was called - it looks purple/maroon.) What would be a good shop manual to start with?
Welcome Heidi,
Congratulations on owning one of the finest of the finned Imperials! And double congratulations for taking care of and restoring the car.
You can compare the color of your Imperial to the 1959 color charts at http://www.imperialclub.com/Yr/1959/PaintChips/index.htm to determine the name of the original color. From your description, it sounds like it may be Deep Ruby Metallic, but you'll know for sure by comparing the numbers on the paint chart with the numbers on the fender tag.
For the shop manual, you'll
want to buy the 1958 Chrysler & Imperial Manual, as well as the 1959 Chrysler & Imperial Supplement Manual. Since 1959 was so similar mechanically to 1958 (the major exception being the change from the 392 hemi engine in 1958 to the 413 wedge engine in 1959), Chrysler did not release a full manual for '59, but instead published a Supplement to the '58 Manual. These manuals show up on eBay fairly often, or you can find them for sale at http://home.comcast.net/~imperial1971/Bookshelf.html
So welcome to the club! I'm sure we'd all love to see some pictures of your car, which you can send to webmaster@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx