This is what it looks like as of april 3rd

This is what it looked like when I got it


I'm making progress, but it's not done yet, so don't rate it please.

I purchased this car for $200.00 from a guy I met at the junkyard... "what kind of car do you have?" "Chrysler.... Um... Imperial." (I pause for a minute) "Huh, really?" This is where it all begins.

It has the 3.3 litre engine, which I prefer over the 3.8 litre.

I'll be doing a lot of part swaps on this engine... to start off:
3.8 litre crank and rods, with the 3.3 pistons
2000 model year heads from a 3.3
2000 model year cam from a 3.3
2000 model year intake from a 3.8
58mm throttle body
1995 model year ECU
2000 model year injectors and fuel rail from a 3.3 FFV Caravan
I had a '95 3.3 plenum laying around, so I already swapped that to gain the 12hp.

This alone will increase horsepower near 300. How do I know? because I've already done it on another car.

I plan to redo the exhaust in stainless 2.5" pipe all the way back. I'll leave out the cat if I can find a good exhaust welder (with a mandrel bender) that will do it, otherwise, I'll just throw on a hi-flow cat like on my Dynasty. I'll replace the resonator with a Magnaflow straight-through type round muffler... this reduces back pressure (I do need a little) without making it louder. For the final muffler, I'll use a standard baffle type. I used a Borla on the Dynasty, but I want this car to be quiet. I'll use a 3" muffler to help keep the back pressure down.

The Bendix 10 ABS failed on the previous owner (they work intermittently), which is what caused the obvious accident. Chrysler will repair this for free (recall for Bendix 10 ABS includes a lifetime warranty on the pump and accumulator, plus re-imbursement for any previous work done to the system). I'm not gonna fix the damage until the brakes are working properly.

I'm gonna restore the outside of the car to it's original condition. For this I'll need a header panel, driver's side fender, and three doors. I'll get the parts eventually, but it may take awhile to find an Imperial in the junkyard... they're kinda rare. I'm also going to replace the front seats.

The car was stolen previously, so the locks are all fucked up. I'll replace the entire lockset on the car. I also have to undo the hackjob that some mechanic did trying to dasable the alarm, they disabled just about everything else too. It has the factory alarm (which I'll repair), remote keyless entry (gotta find a control box with a key fob at the yard), and a lamp-outage indicator box for the EVIC system (which still works).

I'm also gonna restore the factory air susspension.

The transmission is completely fucked. I'm currently swapping in a new one now. I'll be done by November 24th. The one I got from the junkyard had a rebuild tag on it... anybody know what it means?

11-25-06:
I've finished the tranny swap. I had to replace the power steering pulley too, it came apart when I started the engine. That little problem set me back a day.
The car now runs and drives perfectly.

While I was under there, I noticed it had a really nice exhaust system on it. I'll leave the exhaust for last, it's in perfect condition now. Also seems to be 2.5" pipe all the way back, instead of choking down to 2.25" between the cat and resonator, then down to 1.75" between the resonator and muffler. Seems to be mostly stainless too, the small piece between the cat and resonator is the only aluminized pipe on the car.

I found a broken inner CV boot when I removed the driveaxles, I replaced the boot and regreased the CV joint. I accidentally pulled a bearing apart... stupid. Needle bearings went everywhere. It took me two hours to put that thing back together, but I got it.

All the steering linkage is tight, but the steering wheel is sloppy. I think the steering column U-joint bushings are blown, I'll figure it out eventually. Any ideas on this would be helpful.

12-6-06: The front brakes were almost gone, so I replaced the pads and turned the rotors. Some retard "he man'd" the bleeder screws in the calipers, to I had one hell of a time getting two of them out. I got the two on the driver's side out just fine, but nothng would get the other two. I bought about fifty bucks worth of tools to get these damn things out, but none of them worked... Broke the EZ-outs, the stripped bolt removers stripped them even more, vise grips wouldn't do it. I just whittled them down until I was able to pound a 12-point 1/4" socket onto the bleeder screws, they deformed to the shape of the socket, and I was able to get them out.

I flushed the entire system and bled the lines. Ihe brakes still suck, but that's something Chrysler's gonna fix for free (when I have the time to argue with them).

Update:
Well, they replaced tha part under warranty, but they replaced the wrong part. Oh well, it doesn't matter. I just ripped out all the electric garbage and put a vacuum boost system in. The brakes work very well now.

If anybody else is having Bendix 10 ABS problems, it's not a bad job to do.
You'll need:
Vacuum booster (napa sells them for relatively cheap, but you may get lucky with a junkyard part)
Master cylinder (I went with a 28.5mm MC from an '87 D-150 pickup. The equivalent for this car would be a 24mm MC (which is fine).
Proportioning valve. You'll need one that matches your brake setup (rear disc prop valve for rear disc car, rear drum for rear drum car, etc.)
The short brake lines that go from the MC to the prop valve
A double flare tool, tubing bender, tubing cutter, and side cutters.
2 quarts of dot 4 brake fluid.
And don't forget the brake pedal from a non-abs car! They have different fulcrum points.

I'll post pictures and detailed instructions for converting your car soon.

5-23-07
I replaced the two front doors, I was able to find black ones that matched. Unfortunately, the door latches differ from '91 to '92, to I had to retrofit the latches... pain in the ass, but worth it.

I also repaired all the hacked wiring, and replaced damaged components for the alarm and keyless entry. The alarm will now activate, and the remote keyless entry works.

Page 1: you are here
Page 2: The pile of stuff
Page 3: door repair