For what it is worth I found A pair of front bench seat return springs from Neil Jenks at Dynamic Restoration 25.00 A pair(new) mine was broke,it is the same springs to 69 Barracuda.
Helpful information!
Nice work
I’M going to do A “Faulkner Redo” so to speak,removal of trim,bumpers, grill,door panels,seats,carpet,headliner,door gaskets,and yes, windshield and rear glass.All in preparation for A paint job and interior.Any thoughts of do’s and don’ts,it does not look too difficult to me,just going to take some time,(a winter project) it is what this car has needed for A long time!!! Will check on previous posts and research A few things,I have an excellent body man( and friend) for the body and paint,I will do the rest,windlace,cat whiskers,etc.etc.etc.Dick,or anyone, anytime you want to throw in your 2cents i’ll gladly listen!!! Will probably start fairly soon. Mark P.S. I have ordered the carpet,head liner and door panels about A month ago and I know it takes A long time for the order to go through, would like to get this done by june of 16.We have put about 4,500 miles on since the rebuild in my previous posts, and all is well mechanicaly,I think the time is right to go farther.
Hi Mark - First thing for windlass, cats wishers, and any other soft parts you will need can be had at Gary Goers. I suggest you order ASAP because sometimes it takes awhile. He also rebuilds vent doors and supplies some hard parts including trim clips etc. He has an online catalog if you need it. You can follow the posts of rebuilding of my cars, John Fowlie’s and John Quinn’s cars on the site for some pointers.
Please let us know where you sourced your door panels and especially the headliner.
Thanks,
Dick.
Dick; I will give Gary A look up,thanks,I ordered my interior headliner,door panels,carpet,through SMS.The carpet came yesterday and will stock pile as things come in.I know the door panels take months and months.The headliner I chose is A bone(darker off white with A slight pattern) said to replicate original,as well of the seat material(red vinyl with dark fabric),door panels look pretty close to stock.None of this is cheap,but I don’t care and plan on keeping the car for A long time!! We love her!! I will post pictures as things progress,I enjoy doing these things but at times it can have it’s moments.Aside from the Plymouth I also decided to wrestle another different kind of animal as well,A 1959 Wurlitzer juke box,anyone into those??? Works,plays,just needs cleaned up,it is coooool!! A friend is checking out the amp. Later Mark
Hi Mark-Does sound like you’re having fun. Awhile back I got carried away restoring a 50’s pepsie machine. It turned out to be a real money maker as it vends for fifteen cents and the top of the line beverages cost ten times that. Typical of my business dealings.
Mark, you want to check in with Ron Keij. Jukeboxes are another one of his favorite hobbies!
Dan
Got started getting my hands dirty.It is going well,the passenger floor needs patched,I already knew about that one.I think the car sat out from previous owners and I suspect water had leaked past the bad door gasket and puddled at that area over the years.Question,did all 59 plymouth assembley use an under coat on the interior floor surface? It looks kind of like tar,may have been soft,but now is brittle.I am scraping it off,it comes off pretty easy.Going to clean it up,paint,and put down hush matt or eastwood(foil/rubber).Question,is it easy to remove and install the window glass,front and rear? Should I remove the dash(would like to paint it),am also taking out the headliner,it is toast,later Mark
Mark, I chickened out on pulling out my dash - I got pretty good results without doing it:
Here’s a snippet from a longer thread, about my experience with my headliner:
Dan
Dan;Thanks for the insight and pics,your dash came out good and I will probably go that way.The windshield trim removal should be A piece of cake for removal as there will be no headliner and all clips/fasteners will be exposed.Been doing lots of bagging, labeling,organizing.I attach all hardware in zip lock bags with notes and sharpie pen with items,the upstairs of my garage is starting to look like an assembly line. Mark
Mark - For what it’s worth, the reason I got started on restoring Charleen was the windshield needed replacing so when I painted the dash in the car that made it relatively easy. When I restored the convertible the dash in it was trashed so I sandblasted and painted the one from my parts car. It made it real easy to clean and paint the backside, install the instrument panel, pushbuttons, radio etc. etc. When I painted the firewall I masked it the same as Dan.
By the way your four door (compared to mine when I started looks brand new) looks to have been white from the factory, are you going to keep it red. I think you have a standard headliner not the cardboard type. If so and you need headliner bows I saved the one out of my 4 dr. parts car. Let me know.
Dick.
Dick; The car was indeed white(xx code)was from Las Vegas,built at the LA plant,dry weather.I think it sat out while in Idaho(10 or 12 yrs.) because I see lots of tree leaves,spinner seeds from maple trees not native to Las Vegas in the mouldings and various nooks and crannys.Yes it is going to stay red(flame) and white,and I am painting the dash and interior trim red to match as well.I should be ok with the headliner bows,thanks anyway,I am going to mark them as they come out right side,left,front to back,so they go in the same way. Mark
Got some more done.Getting closer to paint,I would like to take the fuel tank out.It does not look too complicated,any tricks to the animal?The windlace in the picture is different,the one on the left went in and around the front door,the one on the luft is from the rear.Why did they use two different styles?Factory mistake?I am positive it was never replaced(fasteners are eaqualy rusted,middle sponge is dry toast,headliner never been out) mystery I guess.Far shot of the Buick(the other woman,hence my screen name “55 SURVIVOR”).The front windshield top edge is different than the 2 door hard tops,it is kind of A visor,and different clip fasteners,“bowed”.The front and rear glass edging looks very good,minimal rust,the gaskets had to be cut,and removed the outer inner section.They were very hard,no flex what so ever,it just broke apart inches at A time,had my brothe help me lift them out. Later Mark
THE OTHER WOMAN
TENSIONERS IN THE BACK
A WELL RECOGNIZED SHOT!!!
LOOKING GOOD
DIFFERENT
???
Mark - As far as I know the windlass should all be the same. I got mine from Gary Goers, he sells by the foot. Make note, the front door windlace is held in place at one point by a piece of metal abouts 3/4" wide and three inches long and two screws where the dash meets the side panel and where the door jamb goes from vertical to horizontal. The dash needs to be dropped down so you can apply that piece of metal to the windlace otherwise the windlass will keep falling down as in Charleen because I didn’t do it right. Now that I’ve thoroughly confused you and you need pictures let me know.
Dick.
Dick - I need those pix!! Post, please…
Dan
Dick; The curved area where my dash meets the side panel the windlass is held in by small brad clips.With the dash bolts out there it enough room to install those clips with needle nose pliers to the margin of fabric on the windlass. There is A small retainer moulding below at the floor it has A channel in it to secure the lower kick panel as well. Dan wants some pics I will check them out too post what you have thanks!! Mark
Mark & Dan - Go to SHOW YOUR RIDE, - DICK’S CONVERTIBLE PROJECT, - PAGE 17. Lots of interesting pictures scroll down to picture 43. Look closely and you will see the piece of metal with two screws at the top bend. With the dash and moulding installed it’s impossible to see it without taking it apart. A little further down is a discussion where I talk about a “Dash Delima”. Hope this helps.
Dick.
Dick ; I can see in your pics the windlass “snaking” around where the dash goes , the curved portion of the dash has 1 large screw to take out. I then took the bolts out at the windshield and it moves enough out of the way to get at the windlass clips I think there are 3 or 4 of them.When I install the windlass I can mark and punch A hole in the marginal tab of the windlass with A bent finish nail and install the securing clips with needle nose .Should be plenty of room with the dash “loose”.Is your windlass held in with screws , rivets ,small clips? I know the first thing that goes in is the windlass , before the headliner and trim go in. Thanks Mark
Mark - I’m not sure but I think I used stainless screws with stainless washers. The metal clips should be OK also. If you can install enough screws and can get to them OK you shouldn’t need the metal piece. I used screws because the dash was out and easy to get to them. With needle nose pliers you will have to use the clips. Gary Goers has the clips but they are plastic. I used some of them and they work good.
Dick.