ruppster
Member
Hi everyone,
Long time Mopar owner but a couple of years ago I bought my an FMJ car. So I thought it was about time I joined the forum here as I have some ideas for a few mods and have many questions. First off let me introduce the car that started my trip here. It's a 1981 Imperial.
http://www.dodge-semis.com/1981Imperial/
She received a first place trophy in the very first show I entered her in to. I have some pics of that show at http://www.dodge-semis.com/CS/TV2012/. I've entered it in to a few other shows since then but no luck. Had a lot of fun though. She hasn't been running right so I parked her for the better part of the last year but now I have some money coming that I can spend on her to fix that problem. Also want to rebuild the front suspension as there's something worn out in the steering system.
As far as the running issues not sure if it's carb or ignition related yet. The factory fuel injection system is long gone and it has a thermoquad intake manifold. The problem is is that the last owner put an Eldebrock square bore carb on it with a one inch thick adapter. This is causing the air cleaner to hit the padding on the underside of the hood. Would love to convert the engine over to a MPFI system from a mid 90's Dodge truck but the barrel shaped intake is too tall. I'm currently trying to get the parts together to test to see if I can modify a stock two barrel intake to use the fuel injectors and throttle body from the MPFI setup. I can't use a 1990-1991 TBI setup as the TBI throttle body is even taller then the current carb/adapter combo. And I really don't want to use an aftermarket TBI setup as it has Chevy parts. So I'm hoping to put together something that uses standard Mopar parts. Will do a separate thread for it if I get it to work.
Part of what's not helping her running status is that when it was converted to carb someone installed an electronic ignition module and wired it up like you would see on a 1973-1975 Mopar. When they did this they used vampire taps to splice in to the wires under the hood and I think she's having electrical issues do to the old crimps. Adding insult to injury is they used the original distributor. It's just a fixed sensor, no vacuum advance. So a proper re-wiring of the ignition system (along with a possible MSD ignition module) to get rid of the vampire crimps is also on the list of things to do.
On a different note I've also acquired another Imperial but it's a parts car. Had a fire under the hood. Since I'm trying to keep my primary Imperial as stock as possible my thoughts for the parts car (as it has next to no rust) is to put a Mirada front clip and interior on it and drop in either a stroked small block or a stroked 400 big block. Decisions, decisions.
Anyhow, sorry for the long intro. Hope you guys (and gals) enjoy the pics.
Long time Mopar owner but a couple of years ago I bought my an FMJ car. So I thought it was about time I joined the forum here as I have some ideas for a few mods and have many questions. First off let me introduce the car that started my trip here. It's a 1981 Imperial.
http://www.dodge-semis.com/1981Imperial/
She received a first place trophy in the very first show I entered her in to. I have some pics of that show at http://www.dodge-semis.com/CS/TV2012/. I've entered it in to a few other shows since then but no luck. Had a lot of fun though. She hasn't been running right so I parked her for the better part of the last year but now I have some money coming that I can spend on her to fix that problem. Also want to rebuild the front suspension as there's something worn out in the steering system.
As far as the running issues not sure if it's carb or ignition related yet. The factory fuel injection system is long gone and it has a thermoquad intake manifold. The problem is is that the last owner put an Eldebrock square bore carb on it with a one inch thick adapter. This is causing the air cleaner to hit the padding on the underside of the hood. Would love to convert the engine over to a MPFI system from a mid 90's Dodge truck but the barrel shaped intake is too tall. I'm currently trying to get the parts together to test to see if I can modify a stock two barrel intake to use the fuel injectors and throttle body from the MPFI setup. I can't use a 1990-1991 TBI setup as the TBI throttle body is even taller then the current carb/adapter combo. And I really don't want to use an aftermarket TBI setup as it has Chevy parts. So I'm hoping to put together something that uses standard Mopar parts. Will do a separate thread for it if I get it to work.
Part of what's not helping her running status is that when it was converted to carb someone installed an electronic ignition module and wired it up like you would see on a 1973-1975 Mopar. When they did this they used vampire taps to splice in to the wires under the hood and I think she's having electrical issues do to the old crimps. Adding insult to injury is they used the original distributor. It's just a fixed sensor, no vacuum advance. So a proper re-wiring of the ignition system (along with a possible MSD ignition module) to get rid of the vampire crimps is also on the list of things to do.
On a different note I've also acquired another Imperial but it's a parts car. Had a fire under the hood. Since I'm trying to keep my primary Imperial as stock as possible my thoughts for the parts car (as it has next to no rust) is to put a Mirada front clip and interior on it and drop in either a stroked small block or a stroked 400 big block. Decisions, decisions.
Anyhow, sorry for the long intro. Hope you guys (and gals) enjoy the pics.