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