Remy's '83 Imperial

[STINEY]

Me likes!

Oddball bodystyle just works with that stance. Wouldn't have thought it, but looks great going down the road!

[BangShift McT]

It's officially out of my hands! The Imperial has three shop visits scheduled. I just dropped it off at the first (tie rod end, front shocks, alignment) and will get it back on Monday. Wednesday it's going for exhaust. It's getting a 2-into-1 Y-pipe, a high-flow cat for legality, and out into a 3" system with a stock turndown. It'll be hidden. Then Friday it goes to Prescott Valley to get a new alternator bracket made for the engine, and that, as they say, is that...from then on it's small things and the wants that I can take care of whenever...

But happily enough, the build is done!

[DanStokes]

Nice job, Remy! You have certainly persevered on this one (my primary car-building skill). Does Haley like it?

Dan

[BangShift McT]

She's been very tolerant. The Mirada did not present itself well when she met it (it bitched, moaned, clanked, and stalled). Hopefully the Imperial makes a better impression. Better get on some of the interior repairs, stat!

[BBR]

Want!

[Mater]

i will say i had no idea the mirada was in that bad of shape

the imperial looks to at least be more solid

[BangShift McT]

The pass/rear subframe area was rusted through and tearing, there was a 4"x3" hole in the passenger C-pillar that SBG did a quick patch on, and the roof was rotted through where the trim band would go. If you go back a few pages to the first day of the swap you can see where my thumb broke through. The body is shot almost as bad as my Chevelle was...it's a miracle the car lasted as long as it did.

[BangShift McT]

Suspension shop done. Exhaust shop next. Going a different route, making a custom Y-intersect into a single 3" exhaust. This is so I'm not roasting on long trips and to hopefully cut down on droning. Also want to leave it looking stock at the back. Who'd think twice?

[milner351]

3" single is just fine - and preserves the stealth factor.

I won't tell Haley all the heat under the floor will be on her side.

Go with a "turbo" muffler, not a "baffled box" style if you don't like drone.

[BangShift McT]

The whole day with the car deserves a writeup. Jesus.

I get the call at 11:30a that the car is finished, to come pick it up. I'm there ten minutes later. I pay them, and one of the shop guys comes in and tells me that "there's one hell of an exhaust leak on top", in the engine bay. Noted. I think at first that I probably split the gasket installing the passenger header or something like that and I should replace it.

I go outside and start the car. Sure enough, the noise from underhood drowns out the sound of the new system. I take off to O'Reilley's to get the alternator checked. Soon as I'm there, car dies, the battery has had enough. I open the hood so I can "warranty" the battery, and see that ALL THE BOLTS ON THE DRIVER'S HEADER ARE HALF OUT. I'm instantly pissed. I'm sure that they loosened up stuff to work in the new system just as I'm damn sure I used the torque wrench Haley got me for Christmas to torque them down in the first place. I make a mental note to drive back and raise hell.

The alternator itself is running at about 10% and failing fast. An unexpected cost. I go to pay so it can be ordered, and...I don't have the card. They never gave it back to me when I paid the exhaust shop!! Motherf...er...luckily, the guy who's working the counter has been following my build since I bought 9' of fuel hose and is sympathetic to my cause. I owe him a beer or something.

New battery in, I haul ass up to the exhaust shop...and they're out to lunch. 12-1p. ALL OF THEM. So I sit. In the snow. Boiling over.


Once they show up, I get my ATM card from the polite secretary and ask if I can borrow a wrench to tighten up the bolts. One mechanic comes out and goes immediately on defensive, informing me in a very threatening tone that they "did not do anything up top, just from the headers back, and anything else is your fault." After a heated back and forth he tries to go nose-to-nose with me with his left fist cocked and says, "...so what are YOU gonna do?"

Grab him by the f*cking throat, that's what I did. Warned him that he was best back in his shop. Once I let him go he went right back in there with a newfound fear of God. I apologized to the nice secretary and grabbed all of my paperwork before they called the cops. I'm filing a complaint with the BBB tomorrow.

Left there, and hit the wipers. Three wipes later, the bushing at the motor, a plastic piece that holds the rod on, breaks in half. Drove to the Dodge dealership to find the part, no luck. Hello, Rock Auto...drive home. Got Greg to agree to drive the Mustang home, so I picked him up in the Imperial and we picked the Mustang up from a fast food parking lot near the muffler shop. A little bit of work on his Subaru, and Terry, another member of the car group on campus, broke out his good camera gear.






And for the new noise:

The system is a 2.5" 2-into-1 with a well-done Y-pipe, a small and free cat, and a pretty open muffler. The cool thing is it sounds as menacing as the Mirada outside, but inside you just get a light engine noise until midrange, and it's quiet otherwise. Nice.

Tomorrow it is going to get a bracket measured and bucked up.

[1970camaroRS]

That sounds great.

[BBR]

I gotta stop reading this before I have a new driveway refugee.... That thing looks awesome.

[BangShift McT]

I gotta stop reading this before I have a new driveway refugee.... That thing looks awesome.

Running and driving examples can be picked up for about a grand. Sit yer ass in some luxury...LMFAO

[Deaf Bob]

Those are sure some butt ugly cars.....
Parked next to a light grey one at Boogerville last week... Eyed it a bit, old man comes out.. " What ya lookin for sonny" SHIT.. he as old as me!
Seeing these pics... Looking better... Must be growing on me... Doesnt look too bad
But I'm sure you don't give a rat's ass
Before I forget.. Yeah luxury and power go together!

[BangShift McT]

Today is not about progress, apparently.

Drove it to school, no issues. Drove it to the bank, no issues. Get a call that a new alternator is in. Picked it up and installed it, what do you know, it seems to be fine? Drove it to Chino Valley (about 11mi) so a friend of mine can look it over paint-wise. No real issue until I'm almost back at school, then every time I hit the brakes, the "VOLT" light comes on.

Oh, no...

After school, call Ryan to follow me to the shop where the new brackets are to be made, in Prescott Valley (about 7mi). About five miles in, the gauges start to really dim out. At 5.5 mi, the VOLT light comes on and stays on. At 6mi, the gauges go blank.

Somehow the car made it to the shop. I'm not sure what the issue is...the wiring is good as far as I can see. Unless the voltage regulator took a dump on me, I'm not certain at all why the car isn't charging itself.

Bonus points: I no longer have turn signals or reverse lights. Those worked before. I'm thinking the switch in the column isn't working anymore...