--- W Bell <cbody67tx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > The other side of the deal is that I suspect that > Chrysler would not have the resources to tool up and > warehouse two complete steering linkages for the > same body series of vehicle (as the fuselage C-body > and Imperials were of the same suspension > architecture, typically). Actually, Chrysler DID have the resources to design completely different steering linkages for Imperials from '67-'73. :o) If you have a look at either an actual Chrysler Parts Catalog or service manual from this time period, you'll find that the Imperial steering linkage and front AND rear suspensions are COMPLETELY different than other C-body cars of this era. Virtually all of the Imperial parts are unique to Imperial. And the front suspension makes use of a stub frame assembly and steering linkage that is totally Imperial, and provides completely different driving and handling characteristics than the C-body cars. Last year, I had to replace the idler arm on my '70 Imperial. Fortunately, I had a '71 Imperial parts car with a good idler arm, which saved me the $200+ of having one rebuilt. At this time, I compared the Imperial idler arm with a '67 C-body idler arm, as well as a '67-'68 Imperial idler arm -- and the '69-'71 Imperial idler arm is quite different than either of the others. The C-body idler arm looked NOTHING like the Imperial idler arm -- it was of a completely different shape, and was about 1 inch shorter. And I'm sure that the idler arm from my parts car was the correct part based on both the part number and the fact that it matched the idler arms on my '70 and '71 Imperials. No doubt the C-body idler arm could be made to fit an Imperial, and I'm sure that a perfect front end alignment could be obtained with the steering wheel in the center position -- but as soon as you start turning the steering wheel, the geometry of the steering and front suspension is going to be out of whack. In other words, everything might be fine on a straight stretch of road, but as soon as you make a tight turn on a wet stretch of pavement, you may be in for a big surprise. Frankly, I'm surprised that some folks seem to be willing to take such a risk with their Imperials. My Imperial budget is always tight, so I try to do things as inexpensively as possible (which means I do almost all the work myself), but I'm not willing to cut corners where safety is concerned. Elijah ===== http://www.imperialclub.com/~imperial71/ 1965 Imperial LeBaron 1970 Imperial LeBaron 1971 Imperial LeBaron __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Friends. Fun. Try the all-new Yahoo! Messenger. http://messenger.yahoo.com/