Spring Road Trip I

I was finally able to take a vacation earlier this month (May), and flew out to Texas to visit my parents, and to drive Blackie back to DC. I have been waiting all winter to do so. While winter this year was not as bad as I thought it would be, I still think it was a good idea to keep Blackie at my parents house, just in case. Winters there are less harsh, although it does get windy (and plays havoc with the car cover and the paint job).

While at my parents, my dad and I went to work on both cars. During the winter, the mechanic that dad recommended to me had worked on Blackies steering issues. I thought it had a leaky steering fluid reservoir (an O ring issue), but it was the steering gears and shaft that was causing the problem. Tommy (the mechanic) resolved that, and it is much easier to handle for a nearly 20 foot yacht. Another issue that came up was the carburetor. I drove it 200 miles to see my grandmother, and after I got back, I could smell gasoline coming from the engine. I checked my gas mileage, and had only gotten 9 miles to the gallon on that small trip. Something was definately wrong. Upon checking the carb, I saw gas leaking from one of the linkages. My dad and I took it back to Tommy's, and he took a look at it, and suggested that I use some kind of carburetor cleaner in the fuel (STP or the like). Sure enough, after adding some in to the fuel, the problem was resolved (for now). I have ordered some BG 44K fuel additive that is supposed to clean out the carb for the long term. We'll see how that works.

On the trip back to DC, I blew out two tires on I-40. Before the trip started, my dad and I took a look at the tires, and all seemed well. I would get some shaking when the car was moving between 60 and 70 mph. We both thought it was due to an unbalanced tire. We thought wrong.
I was outside Little Rock on I-40 when I hear a loud POP, and then the resulting thumping coming from the rear of the car. I pull over, and discover the back drivers side tire had blown, and thrown tread. Not a good thing. Fortunately, I had a good spare fully aired up. I changed it out, and was on my way again. I stopped in Lebanon, Arkansas for the night, and found a Goodyear tire dealer the next morning to change out the blown tire. Smooth sailing, right?

Nope.

I drive through Arkansas and half of Tennessee with out any problems, until I am east of Nashville. Then POP, and the familiar thumping. This time on the front drivers side tire. I had to pull over to the left hand shoulder (a no no) since I was travelling in the left hand lane, and would have to cross three lanes to get to the right hand shoulder. Too much traffic behind me, and I would have cut them all off. Again, not a good thing. I safely pull over, get out of the car and inspect the damage. Again, another blown tire that had thrown tread. I change it out with the new spare tire. As I was changing it, a very helpful Tennessee highway safety patrol stopped to help me out. I asked him if there was a tire store nearby, so I could buy all new tires for the car. This was an unexpected expense, but worth it, since I no longer trusted the tires I was riding on. He directed me to the nearest Wal-Mart super center, and with that, I was on my way again. I find the Wal-Mart, and luckily, they had the correct size tires in stock, with white walls! I replace all four tires, with the new tire I bought in Lebanon becoming the spare tire. Two hours and over $300 later, I was on the road again with a new set of tires. Blackie drove like a dream after that. No shakes or vibration, and even though that Wal-Mart didn't do any alignments, the car stayed true and straight, and smooth. Now I know what an Imperial is supposed to feel like on the road. The rest of the trip back to DC went without a hitch, and with the fuel additives I put in during the trip, Blackie was able to get 13.5 mpg on the road.

After discussion with my dad, and seeing Red for the first time in person, I have come to this conclusion: I cannot save both cars. One has to be the base car, and the other has to be the parts or donor car. Due to the body condition of Red, I think that one will be the base car, and Blackie will be the parts car. Blackie has too many body rust issues. Plus, my mother likes the Burnished Red paint color on Red. So Red it will be! Not that it's going to be easy seeing Blackie parted out. It is an awesome car. On long road trips or short hauls around town, Blackie has been phenomenal. OK, so parking is kind of an issue because of it's size, but it rides very smooth, comfortable seats and drivers position, easily readable dash board, huge trunk and styling to bring out the pimp in everyone.

One of the blown tires on the trip back:

Spring Road Trip II

Now on to Red. This was the first time I had seen this car in person. On the whole, the car is in great shape body wise, but the engine is a complete unknown, as we have yet to get it started. This is due to bad gasoline in the gas tank. We need to take the gas tank off and have it cleaned out, and refurbished if necessary. Since working around the engine is out, the only thing we could do was to work on the vinyl top and look at the interior. After looking over the shredded white vinyl roof cover, dad and I discovered some small rust issues in the roof. There are approximately 3 silver dollar sized holes in the roof where the vinyl trapped water, and that helped form the holes in the roof (see pics below). With these holes, water was then able to get into the roof headliner and destroy the roof insulation as well as the roof liner. The inside of the roof is rusty as well. Along with the leaky roof, the drivers side windows (both front and back) does not fully close, thereby leaving a gap between the front window and back window. Water was able to get into the car this way as well.

One water logged interior. There was moss growing on the carpet on the passenger side.

I opened up the car, so the water would start to evaporate. I took out the back seat, and the ruined noise dampener between the back seat and the trunk. The back seat wire frame was rusted through, so it is ruined. However, I think the leather seat covers are salvageable. I also took down the ruined headliner, as the old insulation was retaining water, and causing further damage.

I also checked out the electrical system by testing out the windows, lights and other electrical items in the car. With a good battery some of the light systems worked, but the turn signals were not working. The car won't start because it still has bad gas in the tank, so I can't get a good idea if the starter and other engine electrical systems work. Dad has contacts with a shop that works on radiators and gas tanks, so with a cleaned out gas tank, we can attempt to start the car, and see what other problems we will have to address at a later date.

Whoever owned Red before me took care of it mechanically. They even modified the exhaust system to be duel exhaust, not the factory built single exhaust system. They also added an oil cooler to the car, as Red was used to pull a big trailer. There is also holes on both front fenders where large mirrors were bolted on to help in maneuvering a large trailer. The body is in excellent condition, as there doesn't seem to be evidence of damage or an accident. the engine looks solid, and it seems someone was attempting to make it run, as there are new spark plug cables on the engine. It also has more options than Blackie. Cruise control, power leather seats, and the awesome Tilt-a-Scope steering wheel. One question though: Who would use a 2 door Imperial coupe to tow a trailer? To Whoever: Next time, buy a diesel engined truck for your towing needs.

Pics of the rusty roof interior:














Water logged backseat:



















Roof and trunk area after I removed the ruined headliner and back seat:














The gap between the front and back drivers side windows:



















One of the holes in the roof, through the shredded vinyl: