Made in China

Made in China…three little words that make you cringe, and here are a couple of examples of why.

As mentioned earlier, most of the parts for my Kanter supplied front end kit were made in China, and they show it. Several parts were incomplete or missing, while others have obvious, visual defects.

First, the little things. About half the grease zerks furnished with the parts were the wrong size. Not a big expense to replace, but it gives a nice warm feeling to realize the factory that made the parts got even the simple things wrong, so what else did they screw up?

Well, for one thing they also gave only one seal for the idler arm that needs two, but again that’s not an expensive deal, though it is annoying. A bigger deal is the shape of the idler arm. As you can see, the angle of the two threaded ends is different when compared to the OEM part. Since my original is in good shape except for the bushing, I might use it, since I have no idea how the idler arm shape would affect front end geometry.

 

Next is the upper shaft. Again the picture shows the difference between the OEM and Chinese parts.

 

The holes in the Chrysler part are centered on the shaft, while the Asian copy is offset to the point that it certainly could affect the strength of the part, if not the function. I have no idea how much stress is placed on those parts in normal driving, but I’ll probably use the old part with new bushings. What a shame that parts nearly six decades old appear to be in better shape than the freshly made, expensive replacements from China.

Paint and Pushbuttons

It was a perfect morning to move the body outside and finish painting the underside. Temps in the 70s and a light breeze to blow the paint fumes away. After it dries, there might be some touchup, but the bottom is now all black and protected from surface rust.

In an early post I mentioned that I was trying to figure out a way to retain the pushbuttons after I replace the old cast iron, cable-shifted, 2-speed PowerFlite with a mechanical linkage, later model, aluminum, 3-speed TorqueFlite. It's going to take some time to fabricate the unique shifter parts, but I finally have it figured out. I'll be able to use the stock housing along with a modified '64 Torqueflite shifter, but will need new buttons and a new trim plate made up for the five buttons.

I've found a supplier of the stock pattern aluminum material used in the '56 pushbutton trim plate and am only waiting for their price quote. I'll also be able to use it around the radio and on the custom consoles to lend a stock look to the modifications.

I'll have to make new buttons from either Lucite or Lexan, and finding a small quantity of 1/2" thick material for a reasonable price is proving to be difficult. Transparent green Lucite would be my first choice to match the OEM parts, but all I've found is big sheets that cost in the hundreds of dollars. I can find clear Lexan in small enough quantities, but even clear has sort of a smoky look and I'm not sure how well it edge-lights if I have to illuminate them with a green bulb inside the housing.

Here's what a stock pushbutton from '57 looks like:

Finding square or rectangular, thin-wall, stainless steel tubing to encase the Lucite buttons is equally frustrating. No supplier stocks 1/2" X 1/2", and the only company I can find that makes and distrubutes 1/2" X 3/4" will not respond to my email. I know they're not interested in selling small quantities, but I wish they had the courtesy to tell me who distributes their product. I'd use aluminum, but since I have to shape it around the ends of the buttons, it would be difficult to make it look good. Stainless can be cut and welded and polished, but thin aluminum is a different matter.

Adding a park feature to stock pushbuttons has always been the obstacle when using a later transmission, but since my interior will not be stock, I'm going to add a push-to-engage lever below the button housing. With a '56 Plymouth it will be fairly easy, since the area below the buttons is unobstructed, but once again, I'll want stainless steel trim  around the lever to make it look similar to what a stock design might have been in '56.

If anyone has info or suggestions for the pushbutton issues, please email me at: Fury56@horizons13.com

First Exterior Sheet Metal

I've been sort of task jumping, but have accomplished a few things.

I installed the first exterior patch panel and the complicated door corner that had to be made from several pieces of metal. I originally bought a corner piece for a four door, as the seller advertised the shape to be identical to the two door. Not so. I salvaged what I could, but it was mostly a cut and form process, and it's not pretty. The shape is okay, but will take a lot of time to fill and finish.

I decided to paint the floor to give it more protection and scratch resistance than the soft primer was able to provide. It's not the correct white, and will be painted over with the right shade later.

 

 

The underside of the body is half painted and will wait for a cool morning to finish. I had to add some more seam sealer, so wasn't able to paint it all in one session.

When the heat of the afternoon drives me into the house, I've been researching and ordering parts. The center link is on order. Also had to order two tie rod adjusting sleeves, as the old ones were too damaged to salvage.

I gave up trying to drive out the king pin locks, so I took everything in to a shop to have them replaced. I hate giving up on a challenge, but it's not as if I can't find things to keep me busy.

I'm also working with a patterned metal supplier to see if they can reproduce the Fury spear insert, but it doesn't look encouraging. The cost of tooling up for a reproduction part that has a limited market would be very expensive, so I'll probably have to compromise the pattern, or even worse, have to resort to a vinyl graphic. My original parts are too corroded and damaged to even attempt to salvage them. At least that's not an immediate worry.

Another Short Break

Still accomplishing several little things that take time, but don't show progress. I have a few more hours of work inside and then I'll pull the car outside again so I can grind welds and do some painting underneath. With thunderstorms forecast for the next two days, that might not happen until next week.
We're also hosting a pool party to celebrate a couple of birthdays his weekend, so car projects will take a back seat to party prep, grass cutting and back yard cleaning.

1956 Plymouth Radio Ads & Ads from Magazines

Don't you just love the corny simplistic ads from the decade?

1956 Plymouth TV Ad: Jet Age Styling

Completed some odds and ends, but no notable progress. The bottom rear corner of the door cutouts is a complicated shape to duplicate, so naturally, both sides were rusted out. I have them roughly shaped and tacked in place, but still lots of work to do, so pictures will have to wait.

Since today is Sunday and the thermometer is supposed to break 100F for the first time this year, I'll take it easy and watch the NASCAR race from New Hampshire. In the meantime, here are a couple of TV ads for the '56 Plymouth.

A Foundation to Build on

After many more months than originally planned, I finally have a foundation to begin building on. The floor and trunk are patched, sealed and primed, and all body mounts repaired or reinforced. Not at all pretty, but everything should be functional and solid. It would have been so much easier, and the results more attractive if factory correct sheet metal had been available, or even rust free salvaged parts. But then it's a '56 Plymouth, so why would I expect such foolishness!

 

I did find something interesting that I hadn't paid attention to before. I knew there was a small diameter hole in the middle of the roof, but thought it had been drilled for some reason and didn't examine it closely. Well, today I checked it out and it looks like a bullet hole! The edges are pushed up from being punctured, not drilled, and the diameter is .260, so it appears to have been made with a .22 or .25. My first car was a '41 Chevy that I grew to hate enough that when the engine died, I parked it behind some trees on the farm and every time I walked by, I shot it with whatever gun I was carrying. As many holes and dents it eventually ended up with, none were made from inside the car.

Floor Welding Complete

All the floor sheet metal that needed replacement is welded in place. Only the right rocker remains to have some work done. I rolled the body outside and sanded all the interior welds and primed the bare replacement panel surfaces to keep the surface rust at bay. Next I'll sand the welds on the underside, which means moving the car outside again. Rolling it out takes only a minute, but moving it back inside by myself is not easy because of the drainage slope and the 1-1/2" step the lousy cement finishers left at the doorway. I might have to set up my electric winch to help pull it back inside.

Now is the time I wish I had a rotisserie. The welding operation on the underside was time consuming and tiring, but not especially difficult. Painting will be another matter. I've hit the bare and rusting spots with a spray can of Rustoleum Rust Reformer, but I'm not looking forward to painting a large area. Before I do that, I have to apply seam sealer on all the joints and welded areas and prime over that.

Looking ahead, I'm anxious to get the body work done so I can work on the mechanical and trim...my favorite jobs. I think I've got most of the mechanical changes identified, but still have some unsolved problems. Exhaust manifolds, or headers, will be an issue. The performance of stock exhaust manifolds will kill the increased power from the new intake, so I have to find a better way to scavenge the burned gasses. Naturally, no one makes headers for Poly engines in body-on-frame cars, so a custom exhaust seems to be in the cards.

I really hate headers because of the noise and heat generated under the hood, but except for stock, I don't see any other choice for now. If I do have to have custom headers made, I'm thinking about configuring them similar to the MaxWedge design, where they turn upward from the ports and sweep down behind the engine on both sides. With much smaller diameter pipes, I think it would work well and cause the least amount of interference with the '56 frame and steering parts. The visual would be nice, but practicality might have to prevail over looks, and require the use of stock manifolds.

More Parts on Order

I managed to sneak in about an hour of welding yesterday but life's other duties caught me again. so, as the car sits for a while I've been checking out websites and catalogs for parts I'm going to need before too long. The last remaining steering part was the drag link, and I'm waiting for word from Vintage Auto Parts Inc. to see if they have one in their warehouse. It's been over a day, so I might be out of luck and will have to go to Kanter again.

I also talked to Roger at AAJ Brakes and after discussing my needs I ordered their Superkit, which contains all the parts needed to convert my front drums to disc brakes. He will be able to provide all Mopar designs, including rotors and calipers that are the equivalent to a '74 Charger setup. The only non-Chrysler part will be the flex hoses. I'm not a fanatic about everything being Mopar, but it makes things easier to remember if replacements are needed.

Last night I started writing up an order for all the seals, gaskets, weatherstrip and misc parts I'll need once body assembly begins. I'm ordering from Gary Goers and sometimes it takes quite a while to fill an order, so I'm trying to get a head start now.