Summer

Seems like only yesterday that I was delaying work on the car due to nasty, winter weather, but here it is already summer and the hot, muggy afternoons are what make me retreat into my air conditioned office.

I haven't taken any photos recently since all I've been doing is finishing welding the floors and patching small holes, so there really isn't anything to show. Mornings find me on my back under the car, with a welder and hammer, but about two hours is all this old body can take on that concrete floor, and then I have to get back on my feet until I work out the kinks.

While fit checking the outer body patch panels, I found some body misalignment in the right side rocker panel area. I can't see that it ever had collision damage, so I'm guessing the extreme rust on the floors and rockers allowed the body to flex. I think I've got it about fixed, but it's taken a lot of measuring and tweaking to get it there. Before I can weld the outer rocker in place, I'll have to fit check the door.

The welcome rain of the past few days and the accompanying high humidity have caused a bloom of surface rust to appear on all the parts that have yet to be prepped and primed, so I'll have to take of some of that problem before I can finish welding. I'll sure be glad to get the structure complete so I can prime and paint the interior and underbody and not have to fight the surface rust issue.

Now The Hard Work Begins

 I finished forming the last small floor sheet metal parts and they are tacked in place, but I didn't take any pictures at this point. The leather welding shirt arrived, and the gas bottle is refilled, so it's time to get off my butt and crawl under the car. I can now look forward to several days of welding and then I'll roll it out the door so I can grind welds without getting all that dust in the shop.

When I reach a point when my enthusiasm wanes, I look through all my car photos and try to visualize the end results of my loosely organized plan. This photo of an Imperial custom interior is something I'd love to replicate, and it does get me fired up to get to work even if I know it's unrealistic. The color combination would look so good with the Fury exterior colors. Well, I can dream, can't I?

 

 

Quiet Sunday

It's actually raining on this quiet Sunday morning in North Texas and the temperature is a pleasant 68. I'm not planning on doing much today, except relax, read, listen to some good music, and watch the race. The car will wait.

While I have no intention of saying goodbye, and the few English words are the only thing I understand, the two perfectly matched voices in this rendition of a simple melody will be another one of those timeless songs that generations will enjoy.

(Link removed by You Tube)

Another Small Milestone

Except for a couple of small corner patches that have to be formed, the floors and seatback area have patches in place and tack welded.

There were lots of chores to take care of around the house, so I didn't get much shop time this week, but with the wife on vacation, I have two weeks of cool mornings to take advantage of.

Next step is welding the bottom side of the floors, and I'm certain my tired old bones won't take too many hours on my back under the car. I finally broke down and ordered a leather welding shirt, since my last welding trip under the car left a few holes in my tee shirt.

Plodding Along

I'm still working on the passenger side floors, but the end is in sight! Since none of the old floor could be salvaged, it took longer to measure, cut and form every piece. Nearly all the pieces are screwed in place for a test fit and I should begin welding tomorrow...unless I get too interested in the Dover race.

I sent off my complaint about the bad floor panel to Black Car, and just as I expected, all they can offer is sympathy, a load of BS about possible multiple used-on models, and a 10% discount on my next order. I'm overwhelmed by their lack of concern for their customer...

If you are tempted to use the Internet to search for car parts on partsrequest.com, save your time and money. They offer to submit your part needs to dozens of salvage yards for about $4, and if you get no responses within 72 hours they will return your money. I requested a set of Chrysler Sebring convertible seats in the Texas area, and got two generic responses from yards 1000 miles away. The responses didn't even mention seats. I'm sure they conspire with partsrequest.com to make sure the fee doesn't have to be returned.

I had hoped to locate a set of seats soon so I can install mounting brackets before I seal and prime the floors, but since I still have to spend a day or two welding everything underneath, I still have time.

The last section of interior sheet metal that needs repair is the area behind the back seat.

I think I can salvage enough of the original to eliminate having to hand form any exotic curves or corners, so that part should go rather fast. I had thought about using fiberglass for the few rust through places, but since I have enough metal I might as well make it match the rest of the patches. Besides, I hate the smell of curing fiberglass.

With any luck, by this time next week I should have a start on exterior patch panels,

Passenger Side Floors

I should learn to bite my tongue before predicting how much repair will be needed in an area I haven't carefully inspected.

While the chassis mount in the back seat area on the passenger side is in better shape than its counterpart on the opposite side, everything else in the floor and rocker area is total junk. I've spent the better part of two days with cutters, saws and air chisel removing rusted parts, and I'm still not done with tear down.

 

I also discovered the passenger side rear floor pan I purchased from Black Car is too wide. If you never noticed, be aware that the drive shaft hump is offset to the right a couple of inches, which means the floor pans are not the same width. The pans I bought are mirror images, so the one I'm installing next will have to be cut off and re-bent. I don't know if it was a mistake caused by the fabricator being unaware there were two patterns required, or if the manufacturer simply deciding to make two of the larger size and let the customer take care of it, but for me it's yet another time consuming pain in the rear, and Black Car is going to receive a do-better letter from one unhappy customer.

 

Mid-course Observations

When I bought the car, as is typical when dreams overrule common sense and caution, I overlooked or minimized much of the hidden structural work that had to be accomplished before I could begin working on the exterior. Only after removing floors and rocker panels did the massive task become obvious. Had I known what I faced, I might have reconsidered the wisdom of undertaking such a project.

If I had a rotisserie and a larger shop full of metal working tools, the job wouldn't be quite as intimidating...or difficult, but it's far too late to change my mind or to shirk from the remaining challenges. If decent patch panels were available, the job would also be much easier. Actually, with each little success I find myself more confident to take on the next part of the project. At least I'll be able to derisively sneer at the Chevy guys who brag about doing their own restoration with the help of a dozen catalogs.

Speaking of tools, I can't imagine trying to accomplish a restoration or any sheet metal repair without a sheet metal brake. On the other hand, I discovered that the cheap bead roller I bought is mostly useless...certainly not worth what I paid for it. Since structural parts on old American cars are mostly made of 18 gauge steel, and the bead roller is designed for nothing heavier than 20 gauge, there isn't much use for it on my job. Maybe if someone is into Toyotas with their flimsy metal....

My Hobart MIG welder has been the star of the restoration. My welding skills are still nothing to brag about, but when I pay attention to what I'm doing, the results are very satisfactory. However,  if I begin to daydream when I should be thinking, the angle grinder gets a workout, so I'm fortunate that it too works like a champ.

The amount of metal I've had to replace amazes me. I was first hesitant to buy a full 4' X 8' sheet of 18 gauge, since I already had a half-sheet, but I will actually need almost another full sheet to finish the job. I ordered a half sheet of 20 gauge from a source on the Internet, and shipping was nearly the same price as the material. Shipping cost for a full sheet would have been three times the price of the material! The heavier product is available only a few miles up the road, but their wholesaler offers nothing lighter than 18, so I was forced to order online.

On the good news side, I lucked into a NOS set of Mopar stainless steel rocker trim moldings for a Desoto of similar vintage...and they cost less than I had expected to pay for used parts. Plymouth did not offer that trim in '56, but I wanted it to help visually lower and lengthen the profile. They are about 2" too long, but it should be simple to cut and reform the ends. Since they are from the Chrysler family, the rocker profile is nearly perfect!

Driver's Side Floors In Place

While the sheet metal details may not duplicate the original pattern, their replacements have been fitted and tacked/screwed in place. One  benefit of having to replace the seat mount area, I was able to dimension it to fit late model Sebring buckets, and to reinforce the entire floor area to better support the seat in the event of an accident. The Sebring buckets have integrated shoulder belts, so the inertia of a crash places the entire weight of the seat and occupant on the floor sheet metal.

I'm now ready to move over to the other side and figure out how much needs to be replaced there.

The rear seat chassis mount area is in decent shape and only needs a tiny patch, versus a complete replacement on the driver's side, but metal behind the seat back support bracket will have to be replaced...win some, lose some.

The bottom support for the middle chassis mount is in much worse shape than the other side, so I might have to build a replacement, or at least do major repairs to the existing part.

Though there is severe rust damage, the front floor should be easier than the driver's side, mainly because I finally figured out how to properly mate it to the rocker panels, and because there is no access panel on this side that has to be match-fitted to the old frame and the ill-fitting patch panel.

I've also figured out what modifications must be done to the outer rocker panel. The only ones available from the aftermarket are designed to be a cap that fits over the old panel, but I modified them to offer structural support the full length of the passenger area, just as the originals are designed to do. There are slight dimensional differences from the OEM, but it shouldn't be noticeable when they fit that low on the car, especially since they will be mostly covered by stainless steel trim. Ill try to remember to take pictures of the passenger side inner and outer rocker panels before they are mounted.

Attacking the Rear Floor

With the trunk nearly complete, the next stop was the rear floors. This area had the most rust damage and some of the most complex shapes to duplicate. The area in the corner where a set of body mounts is located offered a few challenges when it came to removing the old sheet metal. There was little room for even a small rotary cutter, and a spot weld cutter wouldn't work at all, so it was time to break out the air chisel. It flies through the sheet metal but has little effect on spot welds. it took a long afternoon just to remove the old material. Now I have to grind what's left of the spot welds and then treat the remaining areas for rust before installing the new metal.

Once again there will be much partial salvaging and hand forming to make functional equivalents of the original parts.

Speaking of that, last Friday I attended the Pate swap meet at Texas Motor Speedway with a long list of parts and pieces I wanted for my project. As usual, there were almost no Chrysler parts and only '68 and newer muscle Mopars had a few things available.

There was one vendor who offered nearly every sheet metal reproduction part for several years of Chevelles. I saw complete floor pans for less than $500, that appeared to be stamped with factory tooling. The four pathetic little pieces I found for my floors cost about the same and are nothing like the originals and will require hours of modifications. It's indeed a challenge to restore rare Chrysler cars, but at least my Plymouth won't be just another me-too car if and when it ever gets on the road.

Just a little more cleanup and I'll have one side ready for new metal. I still have some planning and testing to figure out how to make the inner rocker panel.

Dash Paint

The weather wasn't conducive to keeping the garage doors open to work on the back of the car, so as a fill in job I cleaned and prepped the top of the dashboard. I picked up a can of semi-flat black from Lowes, but as you can see, it's too shiny. I'll have to order another brand that's said to be very close to OEM by someone who has restored a '56 Plymouth, but in the meantime the surface is protected from rust and the part will go into storage and out of the way until needed.

I didn't paint the shifter pushbutton housing as I'm still trying to locate parts for the modified TorquFlite setup that I want to adapt. If anyone knows where I can obtain a foot or two of 1/2" square, stainless steel thinwall tubing, please let me know. The places I've contacted won't even respond to my request. I imagine they are only interested in big orders.