Finally have a car older than the 70's. It is a four door, but I think it can still be cool and a ton of fun. It's a 1956 Chrysler Imperial Body is pretty good for its age with minimal rust. Engine starts right up and runs smooth. It is a 354 Hemi with a locked up water pump ): I want to just get it where I can drive it as is. Brakes work kind of, but fluid is nasty. Will bleeding the brakes repeatedly help or does this usually indicate parts that need to be replaced (wheel cylinders?) I dont see any brake fluid leaking anywhere, so hopefully they will clean up. I want to make this car driveable with as little cash as possible. I can not find a new or rebuilt water pump any place for it. Egge will rebuild mine for $180.00. I saw the adapters for big block chevy pump, but I am unsure if pulleys line up with stock pulleys or how to do crossover and coolant line on drivers side. Power windows and power seat still work, even the AC comes on. Let me know what you think, im open to ideas.
i love the tail lights on those of imperials. as far as the brakes go, i would flush it maybe two times and if you can, replace ALL the wheel cylinders. its a safety issue. they could fail at anytime if they are corroded inside and tear the seals. repack the bearings while your down there too, its simple and easy to do. i saw a water pump on ebay just now for 50 bucks. try NAPA for that stuff, they seem to be good with the older stuff. good luck dude!
I need to find some hubcaps that look right on it. I think it needs something simple. Probably lower the back a couple of inches. I thought I could just use blocks, but these things have axle under the springs. This one used to pull a trailer and has air shocks and possibly heavy duty rear leaf springs. Someone put the dual exhaust in front of the rear wheels like nascar.lol Mufflers are giant. thanks for the positive comments Chris
The windshield is cracked pretty bad on drivers side. Parts car has a pretty good windshield with one rock chip. What are the chances of getting the rock chipped one out without breaking?
Soaking that water pump may free it up, but the bearing and / or seal will still be shot. That water pump is used on 1955 and 1956 Chrysler applications (New Yorker and Imperial as well as the Saratoga and Windsor models with Spitfire (poly) engines). It is also used on some of the Chrysler Industrial engines of the same years that have the water outlets on the ends of the cylinder heads. That should help you broaden your search. Or you could find an experienced old timer that can rebuild your pump with a new bearing and seal. The search feature is your friend, check out these two threads: especially post#8 on this thread: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/...8&highlight=hemi+rebuild+water+pump&showall=1 http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=547937&highlight=hemi+rebuild+water+pump
Look up , Imperial club International , But be careful what you say they are purists, but they know all kinds of stuff and sources.
My buddy and fellow Hamb'r spgill2000 has 2 55 imperial 2 doors. They are bad *** cars! Good Luck! Chuck
I got this from my uncles. They had 2 55 two doors. 3 56 four doors, and 3 55 four doors. They sold their business and sold almost all of them. There is still one 2 door and 1 55 4 door parts cars. Will probably end up selling those too.
Brought the parts car home for a little bit. Going to pull engine, transmission, couple of pieces of chrome. What should I keep off of it before I have to move it??
4 door or not , thats a good looking car for a starting point . Good luck with it and keep the pics coming .
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