IML: Finally on the road

["Donn Reese" <DReese@xxxxxxxx>]

The whole thing started in April with me rescuing the poor thing from my friend's "field of cars" - one of about five vintage cars he has sitting in the grass.  After a new master cylinder and brake bleed, new fuel pump, some general maintenance, as well as a rebuilt transmission - the ol' car finally hit the highway last night.

It certainly gets the attention around town.  I'm not sure if it's the fins, the acres of chrome, or just the overall impact of "coolness" but the Imperial sure seems to put a smile on peoples faces.

I was pleasantly surprised how well it handles on the road.  I was expecting that the front end would need some work but the car tracks straight with little to no slop in the wheel.  Also the brakes seem to be performing just fine - a bit of a concern of mine as I had never done a brake job before.  Once I get a new headliner the cabin should quiet down a lot, currently the roof bows rattle around.  The car has a meaner "growl" to it than one would expect from a luxury car, I suspect different mufflers will take care of that.

BTW, kudos to Bob Hoffmeister for looking into transmission alternatives for me.  I'm sure he spent more time than many would tracking down a different option for me when a local shop started giving me troubles.  I finally found a different local guy who knew what he was doing so I didn't go with Bob's option; but I wanted to put a plug in for how helpful he was......and I'll be putting in an order with him for some parts I need soon.

I'm having trouble with the turn signal switch.  It's not staying "on" in either direction, I have to hold it most of the time.  Or if it does stay "on", it doesn't shut off after completing the turn.  Can anyone give some advice on the best way to repair it, or is a new one in order?  Also at idle the turn signals blink rather slowly, speeding up with an increase in engine RPM.  The tranny shop set the idle a tad lower than I'd prefer but even so it shouldn't affect the blink speed much, if at all.  Could this just be a corroded wiring issue - too much resistance in the system?

Donn Reese
1960 Custom 4dr hardtop




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