The resurrection of Rusty, the '59 Sport Fury convertible

Really beautiful work!

 

What a jaw dropping masterpiece Congrats on achieving such an awesome accomplishment.

 

............we will be needing pics of the whole car, all cleaned up, sitting out in the sun tho.

 

Thanks for saving this magnificent car for the future!
It not only makes us "geezers" happy but let's the younger guys experience some
of the thrill we got when we first saw them.

 

Holy crap! I subscribed to this 2 years ago thinking no way in hell can that be brought back! And forgot about it until I just got an email notification out of the blue.
You sir, have proven me wrong! Bravo!

 

Spectacular! Im sorry the journey is over, this has been one of the best HAMB threads ever. But now you get to enjoy the results of all that hard work. Great job.

 

This has been an absolutely staggering "save". I'm amazed. We will need more pics though.

 

This is gotta be put in the hamb thread hall of fame!

 

Excellent job. Looks beautiful. Love that model.

 

Congrats to you, sir. It's been fun following this undertaking.

 

You've got to put some before and after shots side by side. if I hadn't been following this thread, i would never believe this was the same car!

 

Good luck! Let us know how it goes.

 

July 2nd came rather quickly, it was the day I and my wife were to leave for Carlisle, Pa. I had less than 100 miles on the car, and a few minor details were not addressed, but mechanically, the car seemed sound. We left Williams, Ca. in the evening when M'lisa got off work, and drove over Donner summit to a friend's house in Sparks, Nevada, where we stayed the night. Got up bright and early the next day, after it rained the night before. Heading east all was good until the engine began to surge going up some mountains. Then it cleared up for about 100 miles, before finally acting up and dying. Checked to find that the NOS fuel pump had failed, probably the modern gasoline ate the diaphragm. I had a replacement in the trunk, but found the outlet fitting was not compatible with the steel line, so we called the AAA truck, and got a tow 50 miles into Wendover where I fixed it with a piece of rubber fuel hose. Smooth sailing on into Utah then.

 

Unbelievable. What a beauty! I wouldn't have believed it without seeing all the progress. Great work!

 

You have achieved the impossible.
Congratulations!

 

What an incredible accomplishment, you are truly an artist!
I have followed this amazing transformation from the beginning, and have been so impressed all along the way.
Congratulations!
KK

 

Way to go, John! That is an amazing restoration. My favorite part was the giant reverse electrolysis bath.
Danny

 

Save of the century right there!

 

Absolutely amazing. Beautiful work!

 

VERY NICE INDEED!!!!

 

Such a beautiful car! Congratulations on a stunning restoration, and major kudos for truly driving it!

 

Thanks for the positive comments!
After staying near Salt Lake City, we got up bright and early, and passed over the Wyoming state line. Still nice and hot out, so we left the top up. Pulled into Little America [a forbidden 'Tourist trap' according to my father back in the sixties] and fueled up. The farther east we went, the fuel was less and less per gallon! I also discovered a side effect of 'Corn Gas' as the fuel would percolate after shutting the engine down after a long run, and the engine would be flooded when trying to start it. Had to hold the pedal to the floor while cranking in order to clear the excess fuel out. Found the higher percentage of ethanol, the worse the issue was. The topography slowly flattened out as we reached western Nebraska, where corn fields spread for mile after mile.

 

Nebraska is a long state indeed. Over 450 miles from west to east border. Saw an old service wrecker at a truck stop in eastern Nebraska, but not much else in the way of vintage iron. I'd forgotten about the humidity in the Midwest also, took a bit to acclimate to it. After crossing the Iowa border, decided to drive just a bit more, and we pulled off in Newton, just east of Des Moines. There we found a nice small town and found an older motel to stay at, with a vintage Dairy Queen stand down the street. Nice room, and inexpensive too!

 

Best wishes on your trip. You really worked some magic on that car. Truly inspiring.

 

Sweetness.... that car is a beauty. Big M? Use your innerweeb connection to look for gas stations with ethanol free gas. You should start finding them. I just gassed up today (at 4 bucks a gal. OUCH) the decreased head aches are worth it, AND you're gonna get better MPG. Corn gas is a farce.

 

Corn gas, yep if I have to use it while in the US, I try to balance the fill ups so it's not steady diet of ethanol.

 

Where near salt lake did you stay I live in the salt lake valley. I have loved the work you've done on that car of yours if your ever passing through again I would love to see it in person.

Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!

 

Well of course you didn't see any vintage tin if you stayed on I-80 all the way through Nebraska! That's why there's US 6 and US 30 paralleling the four-lane. Wished I could have seen you go through as I live near the outlet mall/Flying J truck stop (and right off of US 6!) between Lincoln and Omaha after you crawled out of the Platte River valley. Hint: when driving in this area go to the Kum'n'Gos - around here usually the 87- and/or 91-octane gas is non-alcoholic.

 

I stayed just to the west of Salt Lake, near the town of Tooele.

 

About 3 A.M we woke up to something we hadn't really heard the last couple years, Thunder! A large storm cell had moved into the area, and the lightning and thunder went on for several hours. The next morning, the rain had slowed down, and we loaded our luggage back up and headed east. About 60 miles from the Illinois border, the skies opened up to a torrential rain. Guess we'd find any leaks in the car! Not too bad considering that we could only see ten feet in front of the car. This heavy downpour continued the next 70 miles or so, had to drive 45 MPH so there was some visibility, and the truck traffic just got heavier and heavier. After a couple hours of this, I pulled off the highway and under the large canopy of a gas station, filled up, and watched the rain come down as we drank our coffee. A few miles into Indiana, it had stopped almost completely, except for scattered showers. All of a sudden, the right side wiper arm stopped in the upright position, so I took the next available exit to see what had happened. turned out the little clip on the wiper pivot decided to exit, but luckily I found it on the carpet. The rain had by now caught back up to us, so I got on the freeway, and drove like a madman to get out from under the black clouds. Finally made it to Indiana with no major excitement, then decided to get off the toll road, and stay in the southern Michigan town of Sturgis for the night.