patrick66
Well-Known Member
I've owned my '66 for over 40 years, and I'm the actual second owner. She was bought new in Denver in Jan '66, after being a display car at Stapleton International Airport for three months. After its sale, it went with its buyer to New Orleans to live a couple of years before he and the car went back to Denver. The owner sold it to.me, through my brother-in-law, in April 1980. I picked the car up a year later, as I was stationed in Alaska at the time.
The 361 ran well, but was tired, so the engine was gone through to 383 specs in May 1984. It was my daily until the Summer of '85, when I had the car repainted. At that time, I had the rear seat redone, and the carpet. Rechromed the bumpers, replaced the trunk mat, and did a resto with the drivetrain and dash in the car. Immediately after reassenbling the Coronet, I drove the car to the Car Craft Street Machine Nats in June, and the car appeared on the cover of the Oct '85 Car Craft with several other cars.
I had orders to West Germany in 1989, so the Coronet and my wife's '72 Satellite Sebring coupe were stored for three years, along with my multitude of Mopar parts and a couple of engines. Upon my return, with fresh, new batteries; and undoing my multitude of anti-theft measures, both cars started on the first crank each! After a bunch of events and cruises in the '90s, we'd moved to a new house with a 40x40 shop - ah, heaven! But in 2000, I had retired from the USAF; had been playing with a bunch of other cars and trucks, and had basically ignored the Coronet for nearly nine years. I had put only 550 miles on it from 2000 through 2009. Time to get the car right. Problem was, it was never quite right for a long, long time. In 2010, it was a feature car in a movie called "Heaven's Rain" (later retitled "The Amendment"). It required me to drive it nearly 500 miles in the week it was used in filming. And, I was quite concerned about it, but it came through fine.
Five years ago, it was time to really get things right. The best Mopar wrench in the state lives about fifty miles away. I told him about the myriad of maladies the car was having. "Bring it out!"...so I did. Between carb problems, ignition wiring shorting at times, fuel delivery problems, and the car just being a PITA, he got it all sorted out. Sometimes, you just have to step away from the problem and let someone with an expert, unbiased eyeball look at something and fix it!
In 2018, I put close to 3,000 miles on it; and in '19, I drove it about 2,000 miles. 2020 was the year for the Imperial to see some road time, and it did! The brakes had been acting up on the Coronet, so I just parked it for the majority of the Summer and paid attention to the ragtop. The front brake lines are bad on the Coronet, so it's the first mechanical thing to get tended to. And the very leaky valve cover gaskets, from lack of use this year. It'll be a fun Winter in the unheated shop. I want to have both cars ready to go anywhere, anytime. In 2021, that'll happen!
The 361 ran well, but was tired, so the engine was gone through to 383 specs in May 1984. It was my daily until the Summer of '85, when I had the car repainted. At that time, I had the rear seat redone, and the carpet. Rechromed the bumpers, replaced the trunk mat, and did a resto with the drivetrain and dash in the car. Immediately after reassenbling the Coronet, I drove the car to the Car Craft Street Machine Nats in June, and the car appeared on the cover of the Oct '85 Car Craft with several other cars.
I had orders to West Germany in 1989, so the Coronet and my wife's '72 Satellite Sebring coupe were stored for three years, along with my multitude of Mopar parts and a couple of engines. Upon my return, with fresh, new batteries; and undoing my multitude of anti-theft measures, both cars started on the first crank each! After a bunch of events and cruises in the '90s, we'd moved to a new house with a 40x40 shop - ah, heaven! But in 2000, I had retired from the USAF; had been playing with a bunch of other cars and trucks, and had basically ignored the Coronet for nearly nine years. I had put only 550 miles on it from 2000 through 2009. Time to get the car right. Problem was, it was never quite right for a long, long time. In 2010, it was a feature car in a movie called "Heaven's Rain" (later retitled "The Amendment"). It required me to drive it nearly 500 miles in the week it was used in filming. And, I was quite concerned about it, but it came through fine.
Five years ago, it was time to really get things right. The best Mopar wrench in the state lives about fifty miles away. I told him about the myriad of maladies the car was having. "Bring it out!"...so I did. Between carb problems, ignition wiring shorting at times, fuel delivery problems, and the car just being a PITA, he got it all sorted out. Sometimes, you just have to step away from the problem and let someone with an expert, unbiased eyeball look at something and fix it!
In 2018, I put close to 3,000 miles on it; and in '19, I drove it about 2,000 miles. 2020 was the year for the Imperial to see some road time, and it did! The brakes had been acting up on the Coronet, so I just parked it for the majority of the Summer and paid attention to the ragtop. The front brake lines are bad on the Coronet, so it's the first mechanical thing to get tended to. And the very leaky valve cover gaskets, from lack of use this year. It'll be a fun Winter in the unheated shop. I want to have both cars ready to go anywhere, anytime. In 2021, that'll happen!
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