part 1 Previous history of the car; how I found and bought it (1994)

part 2Diagnostic inventory, dismantling, survey work to be done (1995-96)

part 3  Mechanical matters (1997-98)

part 4 Body repairs (1999)

part 5 Painting (1999-2000)

part 6 Begin reassembly (2000)

part 7 Reassembly continued

     

Click on the required page

    

part 8 Problems with the top

part 9 At last the upholstery!

part 10 Getting wired for music

part 11Still more reassembly (2001))

part 12 Seats and door panels go in

part 13 First venture out of garage; lining the top

part 14After 7 years, roadworthy!

The Story without end .. ( 6 )

 

Cloison pare-feu côté habitacle. Firewall before installing the dashboard. Some parts MUST be install before the dashboard !Completed on March 2000

Okay, next on the list --hold on, I'd better take time now and get this right, concentrate on one important job, not scatter myself all over the car. And I've got to put whatever it is back together in exactly the reverse order of disassembly. After two or three years, it's easy to forget just how the

thing came apart. Nothing more frustrating than to get something fastened carefully in place, then have to remove it because it's in the way of another part.

There wasn't a shortage of important jobs to concentrate on: the dashboard, the top mechanism, the glass, body trim, brakes...

I decided that the dash belonged at the top of the list. It still needed some of its wiring, including connections to the power window controls. Some extra lines were provided (note red wire in photo) for a future sound system. Keep in mind (I told myself) things to be done before the dash is locked up, because then it'll be too late. Insulation for the firewall went on, then the inner HVAC manifold -- a transverse duct below, with risers going to the two dashboard outlets.Installation du tableau de bord. Thanks Philippe and Xavier De Commines The fiberglass transverse box was in bad shape, brittle with age. Nonetheless, with patches, reinforcement and new paint, it went back in.

The hand brake presented special demands. It fastens to the dash but can't be installed once the dash is in place ( 1 ). In compensation, its parts were in good condition, painted and functioning. Next, even though it could have been done later, the wiper motor and linkage. The brake pedal swings from the dash, another attachment to be made in due time. The HVAC system's damper door, with its hydraulic piston actuator and pair of hoses, took its old place. Cables for the Torqueflite transmission, the parking brake, the speedometer all must be fastened now at their upper ends -- it can't be done the other way. There was also the tube for the oil pressure gauge.

Check of the rewired dashboard, still resting on the other side of the garage: yes, everything works, nothing missing but the glove compartment and the radio, which can go in later! It takes only two dozen lines to sketch for the reader these weeks of preparation, and more weeks will go by before I'm certain the restored dashboard is ready for installation. My recurring nightmare was to have

overlooked THE part, some insignificant component on which all depended. After more than a week of checking, rechecking and re-rechecking, everything tested out fine.

It was time to call on a couple of friends to help. The Imperial dash is heavy and six feet long, soTableau de bord. Dashboard with the steering wheel two men were needed to support it while a third guided cables and wiring bundles through the firewall, made air connections meet, and secured the first fasteners. There are mounting brackets at each end, no problem. Then a pair of brackets high on the firewall to receive two bolts each. Foot brake and hand brake each has two bolt fastenings -- for the latter, the handle rod must be guided down through the escutcheon (see photo at top). Just to reach some of these bolts is a challenge. For the skeptical, I recommend the two that hold the brake pedal to the underside of the dash!

The operation with three doctors took just an hour. A sweet victory, celebrated by all with malt and hops...

Now it's time to connect all those wires and cables hanging into the engine compartment. Then a test with battery connected. Everything works but the left turn signal, a trouble soon traced to a loose connection and fixed. The clock ticks, the electric antenna goes up and down, the lights light, the horn blares. Now the radio and steering wheel -- this thing's beginning to look like a car!

 

On the mechanical side, the hand-brake, speedometer and transmission cables are attached. The oil flex tubes for the pressure gauge and the HVAC damper piston are firmly secured at their inside fittings -- we don't want oil spraying around when the motor fires up. All four of the old tubes look weak, and our parts car yields only two sound ones. Time for a visit to a hydraulics shop (not my last visit there, see the next installment) to make new tubes, reattaching the old fittings, which are unobtainable in France. Couvercle de clim en place ! Les deux flexibles sous le maitre cylindre sont ceux de la commande de clim. The A/C cover is now installed. The two hoses below the master cylinder are for A/C solenoid.With all these preparations behind us, we can start the engine for the first

time in five months. After some hesitation it turns over and fires. I must admit that it now enjoys Pertronix electronic ignition, out of sight in the housing of the distributor.

That ignition housing now has to be removed for installation of the fiberglass HVAC housing on the engine side of the firewall. The thing just wouldn't clear. So off with the ignition coil, the ignition case (just removing its cap wasn't enough), the accelerator return spring bracket, the vacuum switch, the oil pressure gauge tube etc. Now the manifold goes in place, but there isn't room for the ignition housing cap... What a pain! The solution was to scrape away enough fiberglass (it's a centimeter thick, so I had some leeway) to let the ignition cap lock into place. It's a mystery to me, because the A/C housing on the spare-parts car came off with little trouble. There must be little differences from one car to another.

With the ducts now in place, it's time to see if there are any leaks in the heater radiator or the AC evaporator. The heater test is simple -- start the engine and run it a few minutes. Everything fine, no leak. A full AC test will come later.

(1) : not true ! it's possible but needs a  lot of work, see sp_rem.htm

Next: A summer's work on the convertible top mechanism, windows and brakes test.

Still no news from Gary Goers the leather-upholstery man!

Other pics (click to enlarge)

Firewall Dashboard minus steering wheel "flashy" dashboard Steering column parts
Firewall (interior side) Dashboard another view of dashboard Steering column parts.

Thanks to Frank L. Peters Jr. from St Louis (Mo)  for the translation ...

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