The interior, much like the...
The interior, much like the engine, is largely restoration grade. Look beyond the reproduction seat covers, headliner, and nylon-loop carpet, for example, and you just might notice that the shifter says Hurst on its side, and its knob has an extra gear choice.
The interior went back together with dash pad restored by Just Dashes; in that dash is a set of Auto Meter Old Tyme White gauges. Karr Upholstery installed the reproduction seat covers, carpet, and headliner; Ssnake Oyl Products restored the factory belts. While Bruce cleverly hid the switches and gauges for the air springs in the factory console, the Tremec shift knob atop the Hurst stalk isn't quite so discreet. Oregon's Dearborn Ford supplied the small parts that were just too far gone to restore.
Though they're essential to the car's presence, it's not the searing-red paint, the big hoops, the bug-crushing stance, or the nasty lope to the idle that makes this car so neat. Nor is it the great ride, neck-straining acceleration, or long freeway legs-but we admit they're critical. No, the thing that makes this car so appealing is the fact that Bruce and wife Kathie make good use of each one of this car's elements, or to put it Bruce's way, "She's pretty, but she's no trailer queen; we drive!" In fact, while Bruce went out of his way to keep the 390, he's since conceded that it's not enough and that the car will get a 428ci replacement. He's also looking to convert to an Air Ride Technologies Air Bar just to get the car to hook with that much more power.
As we indicated with the pedals, gears, and cylinders, Bruce's car had a few numbers going for it from the day it rolled off the line. Though it picked up another gear and four more butterflies during its reconstruction, there's one number that carries significantly more weight than any of those. It's the ordinal second, as in the second lease on life this car now has.
Like a phoenix born from ferric oxide, this is one 500 that flies harder than ever.
When Bruce tweaked the interior...
When Bruce tweaked the interior to fit his needs, he did it in subtle ways-like by replacing the somewhat crude speedometer with a Boese Engineering billet insert, filling it with Auto Meter gauges, and filling the side pods with a speedometer and tachometer from the same company.
Flip the lid on the console,...
Flip the lid on the console, and you're greeted with an Air Ride Technologies panel with two twin-needle gauges and the four switches that adjust the system's operating pressures.