My first 58 Belvidere

[First58]

I just bought a 58 Belvedere 4 door. It's complete from front to back. Minus some door trim and the hood was pried open.... I paid $500 for it and need help on finding the best places to hook a chain. Thank you

 

[F4R/T]

Lower a frame or cradle on the front or the rear axle tube providing it’s going to stay together... It’s a very neat car my friend loves the Exner cars and I do too. Many cars today the strongest point to pull from is the wheel itself due to the suspension not having a solid tube design. Most modern cars also have a spot to install a recovery hook in the bumper rebar too. The axle is attached to at least many places and would be better than chancing ripping the frame apart due to thin spots... Good luck it could be fragile underneath..

 

[tonysrt]

In 65 I bought a 58 Fury with the 350 and dual quads for $400 from a Rambler dealer. Car had 72,000 miles on it and I put 75,000 more miles on it. Body was perfect and was recently painted the Beige. The down fall of the motor was a Sears coil I installed before winter. Car wouldn't start in cold and damp weather. So I figured after 147,000 miles time for a new car. I kept the Fury and found out the coil had a crack in it causing all my grief. The coil is located above the fuel pump and crack couldn't be detected till coil was removed. Sometimes being pro with tuneups may come back to bite like this did. My new car was a 68 H.T. Road Runner, 383 and 4 speed with a sure grip rear. For $3000 I got a great car. Unfortunately the Fury was driven to my Dad's place in PA. and he got tired of looking at it and had a Junk yard tow it away. That was probably around 1969 when the Muscle car wars was at its peak and who ever thought a movie would be made about 58 Fury's. The other problem I had was I couldn't keep a auto tranny in it even though it was the Torque flite. Motor made too much power, was beating the 327 Chevy's on a regular basis, and that was with only one 4bbl. That 350 was indestructible.

 

[Photon440]

That 350 intake would have looked cool on your 383 road runner!

 

[HD539]

Welcome from the Pacific Northwest

 

[slimt]

Dang. Thats going to take some luck getting that out without bending. I bought a 56 Dodge Royal that was in the ground just like yours. It folded. I wish you luck.

 

[First58]

Dang. Thats going to take some luck getting that out without bending. I bought a 56 Dodge Royal that was in the ground just like yours. It folded. I wish you luck.

Man I hope she comes out easy. I'm going to dig it out the best I can

 

[First58]

Lower a frame or cradle on the front or the rear axle tube providing it’s going to stay together... It’s a very neat car my friend loves the Exner cars and I do too. Many cars today the strongest point to pull from is the wheel itself due to the suspension not having a solid tube design. Most modern cars also have a spot to install a recovery hook in the bumper rebar too. The axle is attached to at least many places and would be better than chancing ripping the frame apart due to thin spots... Good luck it could be fragile underneath..

Ok thank you. So tugging would be out of the question?.... Also I've searched for parts, is there anybody that makes floor pans or any new sheet metal for these cars? The passenger front fender is rusted out about a half in back from the headlight bezel.

 

[F4R/T]

Do not tug or just yank on it ! It’s Fragile the way it looks. Lots of digging and patience you may save it or may not.. Sheetmetal is a huge challenge but trim is worse on those fin cars. I would suggest finding a good metal fab guy that has all the tools and most importantly know how to replicate the panels. Frames can be rebuilt/ repaired but they must be done right and maintain safety. Once it buckles the frame and body your in deep! Be careful! Keep us posted.

 

[VFilms]

Years ago a friend had a similar situation with a '58 hardtop we needed to get out of a farmer's woods. At that time Uhaul rented wheeled dollies where you would place the front wheels of a car up on the dolly and tow the car. We dug out an area in the front enough to get a hydraulic jack in place and move the dolly under the car. We raised the front end and slide the dolly in place. Inflated the rear tires then secured the front wheels to the dolly and towed it out. Seemed this way didn't put any stress on the body or front suspension. Just a thought.
Regarding the body and trim, all these cars rusted out above the headlights. They used to make a patch for that but doubt they still do. You can still find trim by joining some clubs and forums. There are a few forums for these cars. There is forwardlook.net I believe and a '57-'59 FB forum. Good luck with the car. I love seeing these forgotten cars saved.
EDIT: Just saw the tree in front of the car in your pics. May have to rethink the dolly idea.

 

[barbee6043]

One of th more difficult and expensive Mopars to restore. Good luck!

 

[Hey-O]

Welcome from Missouri!

 

[tonysrt]

That 350 intake would have looked cool on your 383 road runner!

I was commuting 400 miles on a weekend so I was looking for gas mileage while being an underpaid military man. I took one of the 4 bbls. off the 350 trying to get better gas mileage. The trip back then was about $5.00, NJ tnpk, Lincoln tunnel and .30 a gallon gas and the Del. Memorial bridge. Now gas alone is almost $5.00 a gallon thanks to our new president and his cohorts.

 

[polywideblock]

g'day from Australia

 

[First58]

Do not tug or just yank on it ! It’s Fragile the way it looks. Lots of digging and patience you may save it or may not.. Sheetmetal is a huge challenge but trim is worse on those fin cars. I would suggest finding a good metal fab guy that has all the tools and most importantly know how to replicate the panels. Frames can be rebuilt/ repaired but they must be done right and maintain safety. Once it buckles the frame and body your in deep! Be careful! Keep us posted.

 

[First58]

Thank you. I'm off the next 3 days. Tomorrow morning I'm going out there and am gonna start prepping, Saturday I went and bought some more straps and snatch blocks, a couple come alongs and a winch. I'm just going to take my time. The other day I took a shovel out and dug down under the body and the frame, rear frame rail that I could see was there, but I imagine it to be thin. I'll have about 4 buddies with me on D-Day. I think we should at least be able to clear a trail and dig it out a bit. I'm in love with the car have been since I was a kid. And have a 10 year plan for it. I know it's not a fury, but I don't care. Still brings the chills. The interior is white and black so I'm guessing it was black at one time. I'm very excited about getting it home. I'll keep the post alive. I'll need all the help I can get..... Also on every other old car that's been out in the weather, the windshield always has rust around it. This car has no rust around any window. From or rear? And theres a 56 bel air sitting 10ft away that the floors are completely gone. Idk. Might have had rust issues before it was parked. I'll keep everyone posted.

 

[First58]

Years ago a friend had a similar situation with a '58 hardtop we needed to get out of a farmer's woods. At that time Uhaul rented wheeled dollies where you would place the front wheels of a car up on the dolly and tow the car. We dug out an area in the front enough to get a hydraulic jack in place and move the dolly under the car. We raised the front end and slide the dolly in place. Inflated the rear tires then secured the front wheels to the dolly and towed it out. Seemed this way didn't put any stress on the body or front suspension. Just a thought.
Regarding the body and trim, all these cars rusted out above the headlights. They used to make a patch for that but doubt they still do. You can still find trim by joining some clubs and forums. There are a few forums for these cars. There is forwardlook.net I believe and a '57-'59 FB forum. Good luck with the car. I love seeing these forgotten cars saved.
EDIT: Just saw the tree in front of the car in your pics. May have to rethink the dolly idea.

Any trees less than 4 inches will go if need be. I was actually wondering about using a dolly in the front and in the rear, with ratchet straps holding them for synchrony.

 

[barbee6043]

Those cars back then were built of real metal,but anything metal can rust.
Side story. A few decades ago I bought a 70 Charger that had been sitting in the dirt for years, frame and floor were perfect (NW Mo even). Somehow it must have preserved it!! Ya never know.

 

[tonysrt]

The biggest problem for rust was the eyebrows above the headlights were always rusted out. The mud would pack up there and hold the water and then you had perforated eyebrows. That 58 Fury was a great runner and rode super on my weekend trips. I got tired of replacing the trannys so I converted to stick. Big problem cause I could only get the standard 3 speed when it needed a stronger box. I believe the big stick motors got a Borg Warner tranny to contain the torque. Anytime I got on it in 1st gear and tires burnt rubber 1st gear would strip and be useless after that. At least with the stick tranny I could change it myself and I learned to feather 1st gear. Good luck with your find and hope you can get it without further damage.

 

[Budnicks]

Good luck with that

welcome to FBBO