The restoration begins!

[61Imperial]

This will be a very long running thread discussion the restoration of my 1961 Imperial Crown Southampton Hardtop (Mindy). If you aren't familiar with this car, visit page two of the "Where did you find your Imperial" thread. We are off to a slow start currently, but I've been collecting odds and ends as I find them.

I haven't done any work for a year now and it was such a nice weekend I decided to spend some time on it. The hood is very rotted by the hinge points and the interior release was broken when I got it. There was a hole cut into the bottom of the front to allow a hand through to release the first latch and then the safety catch could be done. The rot and locked up hinges caused the hood to give rather than the hinges move. Some tugging and prying and WD-40 allowed the hood to open and be removed. I also semoved the hinges so the hood can still protect the engine.

An overall inspection of the engine shows some potentially disappointing news. When I bought the car I discovered the engine was crudely thrown in the bay backwards and crooked. Unknown to me the engine has been sitting for an unknown amount of time with no spark plugs. There is oil in the engine and it doesn't seem to have any water so I'm hopeful in some respects and upset in others. Any other advice for freeing it up would be helpful.

I'm excited to get started on this again and I've been collecting parts and information during this time. It's unbelievable how hard to find some things, but if you wait and search, you will find what you need. I'm considering a parts car, where I can obtain an interior and any other little pieces, but only time will tell. I'd still be missing some larger parts but little by little I'll find what I need. If anyone reading has any 61 specific parts I'd love to see what you've got.

As for now, I must await a home for the car to begin any other work. I've looked at some metal buildings as I'd like to store my other cars, just need to discover a good size. I don't buy small cars so it's got to be well sized. Anyways, thanks for reading and stay tuned for updates. This is gonna be big, and I can use the advice and support! Thanks again!

[61Imperial]

Here are some pictures! It's quite a mess as you can see. Also, can anyone decide my vin, I don't have a data tag so I was wondering if anyone could tell anything by this number.

[ImperialAtom]

The VIN doesn't have much data in it. Looks like yours is a 1961 Crown made in Warren Ave in Dearborn Michigan plant with assembly number 9401.

Here's the decode details for the 1960-1965 Imperial VINs:

Digit	Values	Meaning
1	9,y	Make (9=Imperial (1960-1964), y=Imperial (1965)
2	1,2,3,9	Series (1=Custom, 2=Crown, 3=Lebaron, 9=Custom Crown (Ghia)
3	0-5	Model year (Last digit of the year)
4	4,3	Assembly Plant (4=Warren Ave, Dearborn Michigan, 3=Jefferson Ave, Detroit Michigan)
5-10	100001 and up	Sequential build number for the car staring at 100001 and going up (100001 is the first car produced for the year)

[ImperialAtom]

Personally I think I'd be hunting for a parts car. You'll go bankrupt looking for all the little parts you need, so a parts car will save you a LOT of money.

[gary h]

Just so you know the engine is in backwards ! LOL

[ricks_RR]

heck you worry about the small stuff its easy to get out now .
building these big imperials you really need a good parts car mine saved me alot of money and time

[ImperialAtom]

61Imperial - What I think would be impressive is if you could somehow get that car running with a backward engine. Now THAT would be a car worth showing off!