Disassembling the Donor Car

The more I tear into the donor Fury, the more I find Mother Nature trying to beat me to the parts. I’m surprised the body hasn’t already broken in half. Knowing many parts are unsalvageable is helping me justify cannibalizing such a rare car.

Several mounting clips for the side trim were too rusty to unscrew and I couldn’t reach them with a cutoff wheel, so I did it the quick way and used a metal shear to open the fender like a sardine can. The metal was too far gone to be of any use other than small patch panels.



The passenger door would not open as neither handle would release the latch, so it also got the power shear treatment. I was able to access the latch from inside the door and after solvent cleaning and digging away the dried lubricant, the door actually works. I plan on using this door to engineer the bear claw latch and different door handle installation. I’m not sure which interior handle I want to use, but I like the looks of the mid-sixties Imperial handles. The plan is for power windows, so I don’t have to worry about matching handles with window cranks.