1959 Plymouth Belvedere V8 Full Restoration MoPar Chrysler Fury Dodge Driver 58

1959 Plymouth Belvedere

1959 Plymouth Belvedere
This car was bought new from Roy Cline Motors in Fayetteville, Tennessee by Mary Scott of the same town on September 1, 1959. She picked out a fairly low optioned car with the only options being a 318 V8, Powerflite automatic transmission, heater, cigarette lighter, whitewall tires, aluminum sportone inserts and full wheel covers.The total price for the car was $3,004.51. She traded in her 1957 Chrysler for $2000.00 and paid the $1004.51 difference upon delivery of her new 1959 Plymouth.
She drove this Plymouth until the 1990s only having put about 28,000 miles on the car in her ownership. It makes you wonder why she never bought another new car and drove this one until her death. I guess that means it was a good one!I have the original dealer invoice and Tennessee title. Also with the car is a small notebook where she kept any notes about the car and any work done or gas fill ups she recorded into the 1970s. Also with the car are the original DPCD aluminum keys attached to a 1976 bicentennial key fob.
Under the hood is a Polysphere 318 V8 coupled to a Powerflite pushbutton automatic transmission. After inspecting the engine there was some wear and I decided to have the engine fully rebuilt. The block was bored .030 over. Crank polished and all new bearings, pistons, rings, camshaft, lifters, pushrods, etc. installed. Everything is new. The heads were rebuilt and have hardened valve seats installed for use with unleaded gas. The heads were shaved .010 to compensate for the thicker headgaskets made today. This kept the compression ratio to factory specs. All "tune up" parts are new/replacements. New distributor, fuel pump, spark plugs, plug wires, air filter, etc. The original Stromberg carburetor had a stripped fuel inlet so a correct type Carter 2bbl carburetor was rebuilt and installed. The generator charges and the battery is good. The motor only has a few hundred miles on it since the rebuild.
The Powerflite transmission checked out good due to having only 28,000 miles on it. The transmission was flushed and new fluid added with new pan gasket. A new front seal was installed as well. The transmission goes right into gear and doesn't have any issues. The driveshaft was checked and the ball and trunnion joint was cleaned, greased and a new boot installed.
I had the radiator was checked and was in nearly perfect shape. Good flow and no leaks. New upper and lower hoses installed. New thermostat. The car does not overheat or show any issues. I have driven the car up and down the mountains of North Carolina with no issues. The new sending unit for the temperature gauge in the dash reads too high. If you open the radiator cap after a hard uphill mountain drive the radiator won't bubble or spew any steam. The car stays cool.
The car drives down the road nicely. The engine is strong and the transmission pulls nice and hard. The car has some pep and can easily keep up with high speed traffic.
The brakes were fully rebuilt before I got the car. I had the master cylinder and rubber hoses replaced just to be safe. All the wheel cylinders are new and didn't show any issues or leaks. New brake shoes. The car stops well but one of the drums I believe has a slight warp and it can be felt in the brake pedal at times.
The interior was fully restored with factory correct NOS material. The seats were totally redone with the correct cloth. The door panels were made as close as possible to the factory ones. The car originally had a rubber floor mat but they are not available anymore so a blue carpet set was installed in its place. The dashboard was taken out and fully disassembled and painted. The needles were repainted with the correct orange florescent paint. New headliner and package tray. New windlace installed around all the door openings. New window sweeps on the window surrounds. New trunk mat.
The body was in pretty good shape. The floors were in almost immaculate shape. No rot out. The entire floor was painted with POR-15 paint on the top and bottom. Any rust that was found on the car was cut out and new metal welded in. The decklid had some rust issues and a replacement decklid was found and the rusted original was swapped out with the better one. The fenders were rust free and nearly perfect. After all the bodywork was completed the entire car was painted in the original Powder Blue. The trunk area was painted in the original gray color. The trunk was coated with POR-15 paint and undercoated to match the factory undercoating that they originally had sprayed in. New door seals and trunk seal were installed. The car had an aftermarket sideview mirror installed when I got it. I replaced that aftermarket mirror with a nice 1959 MoPar hooded mirror. It looks much better.
Both the front and rear bumpers as well as the taillight assemblies were professionally chromed. New lenses and gaskets were installed. The chrome is perfect It looks great! The stainless trim has some dings and scratches in places but still very presentable. The original aluminum inserts are in good shape. The car presents itself well. The Powder Blue paint screams 1950s. She really sticks out and people have nothing but compliments to say!
The rims were repainted the correct silver and had new 7.50-14 Goodyear Custom Super Cushions installed. The tires only have a few hundred miles on them. The original full wheel covers were installed. The wheel covers are in nearly perfect shape. All the black paint on the wheel covers is in great shape and there aren't any major dings or scratches.
A new windshield was sourced and bought as the original had a crack. Windshield gaskets are the originals that were in perfect shape. Front and rear glass were installed and there are no leaks. Headlights are the original GE sealed beam units as installed from the factory. The suspension is original and has not been touched. It is still tight but the car does have a pull to the left when driving. An alignment may be necessary. The car still has the original exhaust system on it. It has a small leak and will need to be replaced/repaired. The heater core was tested and is good but is currently disconnected. It was bypassed during the engine install and break in and hasn't been reconnected. The pushbutton heater controls all work as they should.
A lot of work was put into this car. Almost everything is new or rebuilt. Everything was done to keep it as original as possible. Would make a nice show car or really nice driver.
Clear North Carolina title in my name.
Sold as is. Please review all photos and ask any questions prior to bidding!