Re: IML: To be or not to be

["Dr David G Briant" <drdgb@xxxxxxx>]

Well expressed indeed!  Do not flinch--press on--more adventures await!


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Hugh, 58 Imperial" <imperial58@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, June 15, 2007 5:54 PM
Subject: IML: To be or not to be


> I saw my poor old 1958 Imperial for the first time in over a year last 
> Saturday.  Totally heartbreaking.  Firmly in the hand basket and 
> destination well established.  Rats.  In the spring of 2004 the 
> extraordinarily wealthy owner of a huge local independent trucking company 
> volunteered to have the engine rebuilt.  The car actually belongs to the 
> Texas Transportation Museum in San Antonio, Texas and the gentleman 
> concerned has been and continues to be one of our biggest backers.  His 
> mechanics quickly pulled the engine and transmission and sent both out to 
> be rebuilt.  The question of a large but well repaired crack in the block 
> on the outside of the water jacket caused some raised eyebrows but I 
> assured them not only did I know about it but it was maybe the only part of 
> the engine which had never given me any grief.
>
> The block and the transmission were returned to the shop, shrink wrapped. 
> I purchased a new spin on oil filter to replace the leaking cylinder type 
> which had become so warped over the years it was impossible to seal under 
> any circumstances.  And then the long wait began.  The mechanics at the 
> truck company were just swamped.  They could not find the time or the 
> space to rebuild the top end of the engine and reinstall it.  By the fall 
> of 2004, I tried to apply some pressure to see if the project could be 
> expedited.  I quickly realized I had no cards to play, no leverage to 
> exert. I was dead in the water.  Six months turned into first a year, then 
> two, then three.
>
> My lousy economic circumstances had created the situation in the first 
> place.  I came to understand I was a poor man trying to play a rich man's 
> game.  Old cars are not for the slight of wallet.  Life went on.  My first 
> book was published and sold well enough for a local history book but I 
> still had to declare the entire activity as a loss on my taxes.  Both I 
> and the museum, of which I am, as manager, the only paid employee, and 
> part time at that, gained a lot of prestige from the activity and the 
> museum experienced a 29.5% growth in attendance, which is very cool and 
> better than working in a bank which I did for many years.  Having said 
> that, the museum's finances are even more fragile than mine.  My other 
> job, with the army, does not pay much either, but it, too, has 
> compensations other than money, but none of this is leading me anywhere 
> closer to being able to get the Imperial back on the road.
>
> The main focus of my job at the museum is somehow to make something out of 
> nothing.  I am actually quite good at it.  I have decided the time has 
> come to try to work around the problem and try to find a workable 
> solution.  It quickly became apparent that no commercial shop would take 
> on the job.  No one could afford to give up a bay for over a week to do 
> the labor intensive work.  I would not only have to pay them for the 
> actual work the would be doing on the Imperial but alos compensate them 
> for all the other, quicker, easier, more profitable, work they would miss 
> during the time they had my car.  I found a great mechanic who is willing 
> to work on the engine at his home shop in the evenings.  First the motor 
> and parts, such as the heads and rods, etcetera, would be delivered to him 
> and then the rest of the car and the transmission for reinstallation.  He 
> figures, all going well, that it might take a month with an estimated cost 
> of $2,200.00.  Probably, all in all, not a bad deal.
>
> But I have only met this guy once.  He is a huge, very scary dude, a biker 
> type, with a massive knee brace from a bad accident.  Would I be jumping 
> from the freezer into the frying pan?  Everybody knows when it comes to 
> estimates you have to at least double the time and cost once the realities 
> of what you have to work with becomes apparent.  Maybe some vital part 
> will be lost and then I'm on the hook for getting replacements.  All this 
> to say, I'm scared of the guy and that's before he gets hold of the car.
>
> I also had to endure - that's the only word I think describes it - a 
> meeting with the wealthy truck company owner who scorned the proposition 
> almost out of hand, on the basis that the car in and of itself is not 
> worth any time or effort and, least of all, money.  I'm sitting there, 
> like a particularly dense school boy, in the principals office, getting a 
> scolding for the situation in its totality.  Why he offered to do the 
> Imperial for me in the first place is a mystery.  I believe his 
> grandfather had one of a similar vintage.  After he passed away his 
> daughter tried to drive it, just once. Overnight the car simply 
> disappeared, she said.  He told his employees to get rid of it ASAP, with 
> all the force and authority a self made Texan billionaire can muster, 
> which is to say the car vanished without a trace and that's all there was 
> about it.  The funny part is the 58's engine and transmission were 
> actually rebuilt.  It is telling that this was done "for free," as a 
> donation to the museum.  A wealthy company can exert pressure on folks who 
> do work for it, of course.  I don't think I'll ever understand this 
> situation.  Of course, I had to sit there and take it.  His continuing 
> generosity to the museum is unbelievable.  And he is a really good guy. 
> He just obviously has no time for big old chrome laden boats.
>
> I tried to explain that from a cost benefit point of view, getting the 
> Imperial running does make sense.  Now I am trying to persuade myself of 
> the same thing.  One thing will lead to another, as sure as eggs is eggs. 
> The car will need new tires.  The seats need to be re-padded, though the 
> surface material is actually very good.  The headliner needs to be redone. 
> The cracked surface of the dashboard will need to be replaced.  And then, 
> of course, it will need a stem to stern paint job.  I do have hopes and 
> dreams for the car.  I hope to include it in my next book, for which I 
> already have a contract.  I can see the car as an ambassador for the 
> museum.  I have spoken with a local TV company about making a local 
> history series which would feature the car prominently.  There are sound 
> financial arguments to be made to get it running again but they don't 
> count for so much if, checking the bottom line, I don't have the resources 
> to get it all done. And I can hardly use it in its current state even if I 
> get the engine redone, which is all I can afford right now.
>
> Tomorrow I am going to see the car and all its special big and little 
> pieces again, this time with a different mechanic who, working under 
> similar circumstances, may quote me less for the work.  This guy was 
> recommended to me by a friend in the local Mopar club.  He retired father 
> worked as a Chrysler mechanic at local dealerships his whole life and is 
> reputedly to be the a very fine transmission man.
>
> I am, I suppose, holding out for a miracle.  I am, by nature, a pushy 
> optimist.  Maybe I can make something happen.  Three and a half years 
> without an Imperial, once one has enjoyed such fine fruit, is a long, 
> long, time.
>
> Hugh Hemphill
> 58 Imperial - Mrs. Blueberry
> San Antonio, Texas.
>
>
>
>
>
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