A Rare Parts Car Surfaces

While restoration was in limbo, the focus of my restoration project began to evolve. I discovered that much of the Belvedere stainless steel trim was missing and replacements were hard to find, and they were expensive, so I began thinking of other options. Since I had originally yearned for a '56 Fury, I considered the feasibility of creating a modern tribute to that rare model. I had never planned on an original restoration, so hadn't considered modifying a rare Fury body. However, this fall, I found a '56 Fury for sale in West Virginia. It had no drive train, and the body condition was even worse than my Belvedere.

Besides the missing engine, it had an E-body rear end installed and the wheel wells had been butchered for tire clearance, but the expensive parts of the rare Fury model were still on the car. Most importantly they were in decent condition. I hated to even consider using one of the few remaining Furys for parts, but I decided that the car was too far gone for restoration, so I might as well do what I can to salvage parts before nature consumed them.



I bought the car and it was delivered in mid-November. While there are no complete body panels to transplant, a lot of sheet metal pieces can be salvaged from the sides, hood and fenders to make patches. At the price of steel and the cost of shipping, that's no small thing.

Among the salvageable Fury parts is the Stewart-Warner tachometer. I've seen functioning tachs like this sell for $500 to $1,000 on e-bay. The one of a kind side trim is the other major find. The gold finished hood ornament had disappeared, but for my purposes, that's not a problem. The chrome version will do just fine. Among the parts used on all models, I can make use of glass, parking lights, switches, and some stainless trim.



Between the hectic days of moving, I was able to do a crude PhotoShop rendering of what I have planned for my "Fury Tribute". Here it is along with a photo of a beautifully restored original Fury from Canada. Hope the owner doesn't mind that I used his car for my rendering.

The major exterior modification is the re-shaped gold side trim. Though I do love the looks of most Mopars the way they left the factory, I usually end up customizing my cars to suit my tastes. I always thought the original spear design was a bit heavy and oversized for the body's graceful lines, and that the top of the upsweep should have accentuated the fin by following its angle rather than the '55 fender line. After studying the PhotoShop results, I think I will make the upsweep and inch or so higher than shown. My plan for a tribute car is to make the mods I believe will improve the lines while retaining the original concept. I know, I know, I'm not a purist...which is the reason I don't post about my car on the Forward Look forums.

Along with the sleeker side spear, I will also remove the bumper guards and install a chrome rocker molding to visually lower and widen the body lines.

The '80 Chrysler Cordoba wheels, accented in gold, follow the spoked wheel theme that the original hub caps presented. You can see that the restored Fury in the 2nd photo has wire wheels in place of the gold and chrome hubcaps that were stock equipment.