Post Labor Day Update

I’m still waiting for the decorative aluminum I ordered so I can make a trim panel for a functioning mockup of the modified shifter. According to the paperwork they sent, the stamping job was supposed to hit their factory floor by 8-28, so I expect to hear something soon. In the meantime I rebuilt the park lever assembly to closer tolerances, attached it to the shifter pod and made a simple cover for it. No pictures yet.

The body hasn’t been getting much love since before Labor Day, but this morning I did some final welding in areas that had previously been only tacked together. The seams where the ’55 tail panel to the ’56 quarter panels had to be joined needed some backing pieces behind them to make better welds in the old metal and I’m about finished with that. I also installed the final piece of trunk floor that had been held up for quarter panel replacement.

After reassurance from AAJ Brakes that everything was dimensionally correct with the disk brake spindle modifications, I decided to thread the holes to mount the caliper bracket. I should have checked earlier to see if a 37/64^th inch drill bit was available locally, and of course it wasn’t. I might be able to get by with tapping the existing 35/64^th hole, but the last thing I want is a broken or jammed tap trying to remove too much metal, so will wait for the right drill bit to arrive. Amazon says it should be delivered on 9-5, so that part of the project goes back on the shelf for a few more days.

I’ve also been toying with the idea of installing rear disks. I don’t expect to need the added braking capability, but the B-body rear end I installed was missing all the brake parts, so the disk package from AAJ at a bit over $600 wouldn’t be that much more expensive than having to buy a complete drum setup. I thought I had drums in my stash that I could use, but discovered that they are too far gone to be turned one more time. I haven’t checked the drums on the Fury parts car yet, so the decision will likely hinge on their condition.

There was a picture posted from a car show of a '59 Plymouth that had been modified to emulate what a '59 Fury would have looked like if Chrysler had decided to keep the gold trimmed 2-door hardtop as a unique limited model. It was painted '57 Fury Sand Dune white and the result really impressed me. Since my Fury will not be stock, it might look better in the '57 color than in the modern Chrysler Cool Vanilla I had considered. Not that I really care, but it also might be less offensive to purists with perfect restorations if it deviates more clearly from the stock design. Another decision to make!

Here's the '59 with gold grille trim and gold anodized spear insert. I'm anxious to see the interior to see if I can get some ideas there.