A sad day today, indeed.

[Guest Anonymous]

Today I said goodbye to my '53 Chrysler Imperial, a car I've owned for 22 years, but never driven much (except for a cross-country cruise in '89). Alas, I have not enough room for all of my dreams, and I needed the garage space for my onward-marching 2002 project, which is soon to be a freshly refurbished roller. It will be good to have my 2002 tucked indoors for the rainy season, with plenty of spare room in the garage for the shop work. As sad as I am to see my big old iron beast go to a new home, I'll be happy to move forward on the '02.

At least it's going to a good home. The couple who took it own _another_ '53 Imperial, and they are looking forward to having a his-n-hers pair. This is very unusual, there are fewer than fifty '53 Imperials registered in country.

However I've decided to keep a spare 331-cid Hemi motor (from a '54 New Yorker) and 4-speed overdrive gearbox. Someday I'll make a Hemi-powered hot rod of some sort, maybe something inspired by the Cunningham C4 or C5.

Hmmm...come to think of it...I have a spare 2002 rear subframe, differential, trailing arms, etc. Do you think it could handle the torque from a hopped up 5.5-liter Hemi?

Mike

[Guest Anonymous]

think it, weld it, mod it and if it breaks make it bigger.

it all fits, it just depends on how bad you want it to.

[Guest Anonymous]

I predict that the 2002 drive line will last .5 sec. G

[Guest Anonymous]

neat cars. Somewhere I have a cloisonne enamel crown badge from an Imperial dashboard...

Mike

[Guest Anonymous]

(nt)

[Guest Anonymous]

you know you want to

I'm not too sure the 02' rear diff would be capable of withstanding the abuse, but I bet there are many options available. perhaps something from a corvette?

[Guest Anonymous]

When I get around to my hotrod project, it will probably feature a big, fat 6-banger LSD. These suckers are overkill for the little 6, they're used in the 7-series as well. I could go the solid axle route, but I like IRS too much; I'll either go for an E30 or '80s 5-er subframe and trailing arms, or I'll try my hand at fabbing A-arms. Front suspension will not be strut-type, I like unequal-length A-arms.

Someday....

Mike

[Guest Anonymous]

(nt)