Completed on november 2000

Before scheduling new tasks I really needed to know what was going on with the upholstery materials I had ordered long before from Gary Goers. He didn't answer faxes or e-mail; rumors went around about his work, his health, and more. I didn't speak English well enough to phone him. So I fell back on acquaintances (virtual ones!) from mailing lists I subscribe to -- IML, 300, FWDLK. I had once been in contact with John Hertog and it went very well, because he speaks and writes excellent French. I asked him to try to reach Gary by phone to learn how my order was going. John has my gratitude for acting promptly. Within a few days I heard from him that the upholstery was nearly finished. At last things are looking good!

Waiting for the shipment, I kept busy reinstalling as many as possible of the various parts of the car that had piled up over five years in its Imperial "room" There was the rear bumper with its underbody shield, the tailfin decorations that seem to pierce the body metal like big rings, front and rear lights, the fresh air grille at the foot of the windshield, the fuel tank and
so on. About forty ornamental pieces went to Spain for chrome-plating -- the chroming done earlier in Portugal was of really poor quality. I couldn't reinstall the aluminum front grille because the front bumper was away for a coat of chrome, so I gave it a thorough steel-wool rubdown to get rid of old tarnish and grime.

And I finished work on the rebuilt brake system. It had to be bled because the master cylinder was leaking fluid from its lower fitting. The master cylinder is hard to get at because of its placement under the power brake bellows , a problem on all Chryslers 1956-'61. Once it was removed, I fitted it with a glass reservoir top (obligatory in France on all new cars) so the fluid level is in sight. So with respect to braking, I achieved gains in both safety and ease of filling operation . Since the circuit was by now all new, I decided to use silicone fluid, which is credited with several technical advantages, but has one ugly habit: Get a little of it on your hands and it clings stubbornly, leaving prints on any smooth surface you touch. There's still a mark of it on my Imperial's steering wheel! As for repainting silicone-blemished parts, I don't want even to think about it. Up to the time of writing I haven't had the car on the road and can't vouch for the benefits of the silicone fluid, but the feel of the pedal is noticeably mushier, because the new fluid absorbs twice as much air as the regular kind. This also makes it harder to bleed the lines.

After a lull in October, the pace picks up. I decide to order a set of exhaust pipes from Classic Exhaust in the U.S. I chose the kind in "aluminized" metal because stainless steel to my ear makes a harsher metallic noise -- beside which it costs three times as much. Three days later, mail from Gary Goers. It's the complete invoice, including about $500 transportation charges, for the box weighs 200 pounds. Just the next day a call from Bax Global at Toulouse. The shipment is already there waiting for me! So Gary shipped the stuff overseas without waiting for me to pay up -- a generous and potentially imprudent decision, because I still owed him about $2500. Be assured, reader, that he was promptly paid in full. Five days later, with the taxes paid (I would keep discreetly quiet about the full price), here on my premises was the big wooden crate, 5.25 feet by 40 inches.

Pry off the top -- a thrilling moment! The first piece I see is the back cover of the rear seat with the Imperial crown embossed into the leather  just like the original. Then, neatly stacked, the other seat covers, the vinyl door linings, the top (same green as the original!), its attachment strips, the carpets ... Everything perfect, the two shades of green are magnificent, a highly professional job in all respects. Bravo, Gary Goers, even if it took you more than two and a half years...

Finally, then, light at the end of the tunnel. Now I'll call in an upholsterer to help get everything installed correctly. The story without an ending may soon end after all!

Other pics (click to enlarge)

Opening the crate !	Rear bumper installation

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