HELP!!
The plastic bumper extensions, rear in particular, are becoming very
brittle and cracking on my Imperial's little younger sister, my '83
Cordoba. Now before you dismiss the fact that she's only a Cordoba, this
would be of interest for all those with the early '80s Imperials, as
eventually their plastic gradually dries out, cracks, chips off, etc. I
had a dime-sized piece come off this afternoon, and I'm deathly afraid to
put any pressure on these at all, even when washing the car. I can see the
beginning signs of cracks on the top of the extension next to the trunk.
How can I preserve this to keep the cracking at bay? I've run the part
numbers through PartsVoice.com, but no one has listed new ones (big
surprise!) How could I find new ones? [BTW, I have the complete 1983 Mopar
Parts Catalog if anyone needs numbers for anything.]
That's going to be the hard part with our later Imperials/Cordobas, or any
eighties-vintage American car, really - the plastic trim pieces will
eventually deteriorate to the point that they can't be salvaged, and junked
parts cars won't be any better. That era Imperials/Cordobas/Miradas were
never particularly popular to begin with, and the survival ratio will
unlikely warrant after-market suppliers making repro parts. It's all very
discouraging that the plastic-y cars that many of us enjoy, won't be able
to preserved as easily as our Exnerific and Engelicious models.
Neal Herman
1959 Imperial Crown 4-door Southampton
1972 Buick Riviera
1983 Chrysler Cordoba
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