I too love the seats, that was one of the selling points. I had actually been looking for one of these in good shape for some time with little success. I was looking strictly for the 1966 model for several reasons, the biggest of which was the combination of the body style, more extensive use of walnut trim in the interior, the 440 engine (my all time favorite engine), and 1966 being the last year that cars don't have to pass emissions here in Phoenix. I had hoped to find one that was a little more heavily optioned out but when this one became available I immediately fell in love with it and decided to make an offer. I had not planned on having the paint, trim, window felts, and headliner taken care of so soon but they made me an offer that I could not have matched later (possibly in part because I probably paid too much for the car, but it was worth it). They are removing all the exterior trim and having it re-chromed, pounding out all the little dings in the body from the inside so no filler will be used. The paint will be Dupont 2 stage with 4 base coats and 7 clear coats, sanded after each coat for that mirror finish. The exterior window felts are being replaced and the headliner is being repaired or replaced as needed to make it like new. Thomas, the owner tells me that the car should look brand new when all this is done but if he comes across anything else he will let me know.
Hopefully they will do a nice job on all the appearance items so I can concentrate on making sure it is mechanically fit. Supposedly it is mechanically sound but I can't imagine that a 40 year old car wouldn't need a few parts replaced, in particular all the rubber parts and bushings, front end parts, brakes, CV joints, etc. Hopefully it won't take too much work to have a good one. This is sort a long time dream coming true for me so I'm pretty excited about it.
As to reading the website, I've read every article and followed every link on the 1966 page and greatly enjoyed and appreciated it! There are some very beautiful cars on there too. I wish there was more to read! I've also explored a lot of the rest of the site and done a lot of reading, especially in the repairs section. It's a great site and I thank everyone who brought it together!
OK, enough rambling for now... Have a great day Brad 1966 Crown On Jun 18, 2006, at 9:23 AM, Christopher H wrote:
Beautiful car, Brad! And that's before the renewal! Love the black/burnishedgold leather, and I'm partial to understated Crown 4-door hardtops. Amusing that sun visors were an option on an Imperial in 1966.Your wheel covers are from a 1968 Imperial, by the way. The correct ones are unique to 1966 in that they sit proud of the wheel with a circle of cooling slots between the perimeter of the wheel cover and the rim itself...hard tosee in photos but try here: http://imperialclub.com/Repair/Wheels/covers.htm http://imperialclub.com/Yr/1966/66Preview/Page03.htm http://imperialclub.com/Yr/1966/Jorgensen/Tire.jpgThe more visible clue to 1966 wheel covers is where the valve stem pokes through. The 1967-69 version of the cover (yes, it was used, with annual paint-scheme changes, for four models and on three different body designs) had the valve stem outside the diecast finned insert. On the 1966 wheels only, it pokes out through the finned insert. Using the later design tends to put sideways stress on the valve stem, but a number of list members have reported using them with no ill effect. The '66 wheel is different from thelater wheel, by the way, hence the cover change.That last link above also shows the correct paint scheme: flat black in thecenter crater, a ring of flat black just outside the center ring, matte silver behind the finned insert, and matte silver in the outermost indentation. The 1967 wheel cover uses the same paint scheme.I don't remember when Chrysler changed the logo on the Airtemp decal, but I suspect the more scriptlike one on the side window predates your car andthat the one on the rear window is correct. Both are available as reproductions.Hope the car drives as well as it looks good! Keep sharing the pix, please! (And do explore the 1966 page on the website as there are numerous other members' cars to inspire you and keep you gazing dreamily until your getshome.) And welcome to the club! Chris in LA 67 Crown 78 NYB Salon
----------------- 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
Back to the Home of the Forward Look Network