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1965 Plymouth Fury. Update, 7/27, WHEW!


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I really enjoyed my last Johan 1966 Chrysler 300 build so I decided why not extend the joy & go right into another great old Johan kit.

This '65 Fury is in exceptional condition.

So much so that the chrome will not even need replating.

Normally, I would remove the mold lines from the bumpers & have them re-chromed, but the chrome is so nice, I'll let them go on this one.

Already started filling the few minor sink marks in the body.

The color on this one will be "Medium Tan Metallic".

A kind of champagne gold color with a white top & probably a gold interior

See you soon! ;)

 

Steve

 

 photo DSCN5090_zps3hhy9jat.jpg photo DSCN5091_zpshsarhegp.jpg

Edited by StevenGuthmiller
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This is one of those kits with the narrow inner fender wells.

I usually don't do a lot of major re-vamping under the hood, but there are a couple of things that drive me nuts!

One is screw posts.

The others are huge gaps between the fender wells & fenders.

In light of that, some scratch building was necessary.

I removed most of the screw posts, got rid of all of the hood support "tabs" & replaced them with strips running the length of the fenders, & started making some inner fender detail.

It will eliminate those unsightly gaps & add a little visual "oomph" under the hood.

 

Steve

 

 photo DSCN5125_zpscj85xijm.jpg photo DSCN5126_zpsfrs9oqob.jpg

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Very nice work so far Steven. I want to resume work on my '65 Fury Convertible. I am considering doing it as a Sport Fury, as it has the Bucket Seat interior.I went out of my way, and was able to get a promo interior for the bench front seat. I believe that the sew pattern on the seats are not correct, so I may have to go with plan B, a Sport Fury. I have some reference material, but I may dress it up as a Pace Car, since I have the decals and several pictures of the 1 to 1 I took at Carlisle several years ago. I have an extra 426 Wedge/Torqueflite from a JoHan Chrysler 300 to go in the car.

Thanks for the quality work you are doing to these old JoHans. It makes me feel good that I held on to several of them.

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I echo what Ron said Steve! You're doing a excellent job in building up these old Johans and making nice little treasures out of 'em. ;)

I really like the inside fender detail you're adding......it's one of my pet peeves too, and it's something I'd like do if/when I ever get around to building one of mine. 

............And that number is somewhat numerous as I have some oldies but goodies that I have to get around to building/restoring..............someday! 

I can just barely hear that '66 hardtop I have calling my name................. :P

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Thanks guys!

Still working on a few items under the hood, basically filling in the gaps.

I added some extensions to the bottom of the firewall because anyone who knows these old kits knows the the firewall only goes half way down to the frame.

I'm also going to fill some holes between the front of the fender wells & the radiator brace, as well as a new top for the radiator brace.

I think I'm going to try something new & add the "torsion bar" hood springs to the hood hinges as well.

I think after that, I'll call it good.

You know how these things go.

If you don't set some limits for yourself, you could go on forever. ^_^

 

I was poking around for one of these- OUCH! Not cheap at all!

It'll look good when you're done with it, though. No questions there.

Charlie Larkin

Yeah Charlie, they don't grow these '65-'68 Fury's on trees, that's for sure!

 

Steve

 

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Just a few more shots of what I'm trying to do under the hood.

I added to the bottom of the firewall to close up that space a little, finished the inner fender wells & added a filler between the fender well & radiator brace to fill that space a bit.

I also "topped" the radiator brace, finished the flange along the inside of the fender edge & added some "torsion bar" hood springs to the hood hinges.

I figured I'd spend a little extra time adding a few details so I could display this one with the hood closed or open if I desired.

Still have a few details to add here & there & then finish up any body work before getting ready for primer.

I'll also have to do a little engine mock up to make sure the headers will clear the "extended" firewall.

 

Steve

 

 photo DSCN5142_zpsjmhll0jm.jpg photo DSCN5143_zpsea9z9x3z.jpg photo DSCN5145_zpsziv9111z.jpg photo DSCN5147_zps299kw7nf.jpg

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Follow this one Steve. My uncle had one and I drove it a couple of times before he sold it...

Which brings me to another observation.

I'm racking my brain & trying to remember how many '65/'66 Plymouth Furys I've seen 1:1 in my life & I'm coming up almost empty!

I remember seeing one for sale along side the highway a few years ago, but other than that I can't remember seeing a single one except in photos.

Were these cars that unpopular?

The real ones seem to be about as rare as the Johan kits!

Anyone else remember knowing anyone who had one?

Are they just an unpopular restoration subject today?

Are the junkyards full of these poor old Plymouths?

 

Steve

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Which brings me to another observation.

I'm racking my brain & trying to remember how many '65/'66 Plymouth Furys I've seen 1:1 in my life & I'm coming up almost empty!

I remember seeing one for sale along side the highway a few years ago, but other than that I can't remember seeing a single one except in photos.

Were these cars that unpopular?

The real ones seem to be about as rare as the Johan kits!

Anyone else remember knowing anyone who had one?

Are they just an unpopular restoration subject today?

Are the junkyards full of these poor old Plymouths?

 

Steve

I don't think that they were all that unpopular ; I just believe that they had a very high mortality rate during the 70's (e.g. , 21.10.1973 OPEC embargo) . Lots of the C-bodies ended-up in {{wince}} demolition derbies because of their charging bull front subframe :(

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I don't think that they were all that unpopular ; I just believe that they had a very high mortality rate during the 70's (e.g. , 21.10.1973 OPEC embargo) . Lots of the C-bodies ended-up in {{wince}} demolition derbies because of their charging bull front subframe :(

I remember in my younger years going to a lot of demo derbies & I don't recall ever seeing a Plymouth of this vintage at any of them.

Maybe I just didn't notice them.

I do however recall seeing gobs of late '60s Chryslers.

'65-'68 Chryslers were everywhere, & usually winning I might add! :D

Especially Imperials!

They seemed to be all but indestructible!!

 

Steve

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I remember in my younger years going to a lot of demo derbies & I don't recall ever seeing a Plymouth of this vintage at any of them.

Maybe I just didn't notice them.

I do however recall seeing gobs of late '60s Chryslers.

'65-'68 Chryslers were everywhere, & usually winning I might add! :D

Especially Imperials!

They seemed to be all but indestructible!!

 

Steve

To the point where a lot of derbies banned Imperials.

I think a lot of it had to do with rust, as well. Despite using some of the best anti-corrisive measures available, chemistry still hadn't caught up to reality. 

One thing I've noticed now- lot of cars get real rusty real fast, because of the way they're designed with lots of foam in them for quiet, which also holds moisture, and all the cladding, which traps moisture, and the fact that even though anti-corrosion measures have improved, so has the ice melter, and they're cancelling each other out.

Charlie Larkin

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I remember in my younger years going to a lot of demo derbies & I don't recall ever seeing a Plymouth of this vintage at any of them.

Maybe I just didn't notice them.

I do however recall seeing gobs of late '60s Chryslers.

'65-'68 Chryslers were everywhere, & usually winning I might add! :D

Especially Imperials!

They seemed to be all but indestructible!!

 

Steve

You're right , Steve ; those D-body Imperials ( the pre-1965 , full-perimetre-frame models ) and the 1965 - 1977 C-bodies (though not the Sport Fury models ;-)  ) were sacrificed . Weren't they eventually 'banned' from Demo Derby competition ? Or is that an 'urban legend' ?

BTW : Your work on this beauty is outstanding ! The boiler-room additions are excellent ( oh , how much I despise moulded-on brake master cylinders ! ) . Keep up the great work !

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You're right , Steve ; those D-body Imperials ( the pre-1965 , full-perimetre-frame models ) and the 1965 - 1977 C-bodies (though not the Sport Fury models ;-)  ) were sacrificed . Weren't they eventually 'banned' from Demo Derby competition ? Or is that an 'urban legend' ?

BTW : Your work on this beauty is outstanding ! The boiler-room additions are excellent ( oh , how much I despise moulded-on brake master cylinders ! ) . Keep up the great work !

No urban myth. Quite real, actually. 

Good thing, or those guys would've destroyed them all. 

After seeing a lot of what's gone through those, I have come to advocate for their discontinuance altogether. "Waste" doesn't even begin to describe the results, and the fact that far too many cars that shouldn't be derbied, are.

Back to the build- Steve- that's shaping up very nicely. Those hood torsion springs look great.

Charlie Larkin

Edited by charlie8575
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I remember one summer when I was a teenager, going to a half dozen different derbies in my area.

One guy had a '65 or '66 imperial. (could have been a '64, I don't really remember for sure).

He ran that same car all summer & won every derby that I saw him participate in.

Most of the other cars were hauled off to the bone yard after one!

Amazing how tough those things were.

 

Steve

Edited by StevenGuthmiller
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Which brings me to another observation.

I'm racking my brain & trying to remember how many '65/'66 Plymouth Furys I've seen 1:1 in my life & I'm coming up almost empty!

I remember seeing one for sale along side the highway a few years ago, but other than that I can't remember seeing a single one except in photos.

Were these cars that unpopular?

The real ones seem to be about as rare as the Johan kits!

Anyone else remember knowing anyone who had one?

Are they just an unpopular restoration subject today?

Are the junkyards full of these poor old Plymouths?

 

Steve

Steve, i do remember them in Chicago, and i can only remember 1 here. I remember that my uncles power steering was so easy to steer that it was nothing like i had ever drove to this day and was very low miles. Now that was the 80's and I have only seen one since. This looks like the color of the one i saw last and it was a hard top...

 

http://stevensautomotivemuseum.com/plymouth-fury-1965-1968/1966-plymouth-fury-vip-front-corner/

Edited by slusher
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A really good friend of mine just sold his 1965 Fury Pace car convertible to a guy in the Grand Rapids MI area.

He had owned it for a few years ,,,drove the snot out of it . He just felt it was time to move on and concentrate on his 67 Coronet RT convertible project.

 

I am on the hunt for a clean builder 65 convertible kit to replicate it . I've already done his 55 Chrysler 300, 70 Charger, 69 Dart 383 , and his 68 Coronet RT vert. Planning to do his orange Superbird soon

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Which brings me to another observation.

I'm racking my brain & trying to remember how many '65/'66 Plymouth Furys I've seen 1:1 in my life & I'm coming up almost empty!

I remember seeing one for sale along side the highway a few years ago, but other than that I can't remember seeing a single one except in photos.

Were these cars that unpopular?

The real ones seem to be about as rare as the Johan kits!

Anyone else remember knowing anyone who had one?

Are they just an unpopular restoration subject today?

Are the junkyards full of these poor old Plymouths?

 

Steve

In the 60's I had a friend that had a '65 Plymouth hardtop. I don't think it was the very top line model only because the interior was not anything special. I only rode in it once for a short ride to the coffee shop and back and it just didn't seem as well put together as my '66 Impala SS was. His was a 318 or 273 with an automatic and was his wife's driver. It was a silver color that he said he couldn't keep from oxidizing. In all fairness this was in San Bernardino California and as anyone that has lived there can tell you the summers there can be brutal on paint.   It had a red and white cloth interior, but other than that it was not a very impressive car. Sorry to all of you MoPar enthusiast.  

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A really good friend of mine just sold his 1965 Fury Pace car convertible to a guy in the Grand Rapids MI area.

He had owned it for a few years ,,,drove the snot out of it . He just felt it was time to move on and concentrate on his 67 Coronet RT convertible project.

 

I am on the hunt for a clean builder 65 convertible kit to replicate it . I've already done his 55 Chrysler 300, 70 Charger, 69 Dart 383 , and his 68 Coronet RT vert. Planning to do his orange Superbird soon

Good luck on finding a '65 Fury Convertible Bill. I have a '65, a '68, and a '67 , which I turned into a convertible. The brittle JoHan Styrene practically guaranteed that the windshield frame would be broken off, and in the case of my '67, the roof had a huge, un-repairable crack and twist in it, and some tire burn, so I turned it into a convertible. They are ultra rare. I have had the '65 for almost 20 years, and I started work on it last year. I am leaning towards doing it as a Pace Car, as I took a lot of photos of one at Chryslers at Carlisle, and that was my original plan for the car. If not a Pace Car, It will still be White with the Blue Interior, as I like that color combination the most on that particular car..

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Just a few more shots of what I'm trying to do under the hood.

I added to the bottom of the firewall to close up that space a little, finished the inner fender wells & added a filler between the fender well & radiator brace to fill that space a bit.

I also "topped" the radiator brace, finished the flange along the inside of the fender edge & added some "torsion bar" hood springs to the hood hinges.

I figured I'd spend a little extra time adding a few details so I could display this one with the hood closed or open if I desired.

Still have a few details to add here & there & then finish up any body work before getting ready for primer.

I'll also have to do a little engine mock up to make sure the headers will clear the "extended" firewall.

 

Steve

 

 photo DSCN5142_zpsjmhll0jm.jpg photo DSCN5143_zpsea9z9x3z.jpg photo DSCN5145_zpsziv9111z.jpg photo DSCN5147_zps299kw7nf.jpg

Excellent work Steve!!!!

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Which brings me to another observation.

I'm racking my brain & trying to remember how many '65/'66 Plymouth Furys I've seen 1:1 in my life & I'm coming up almost empty!

I remember seeing one for sale along side the highway a few years ago, but other than that I can't remember seeing a single one except in photos.

Were these cars that unpopular?

The real ones seem to be about as rare as the Johan kits!

Anyone else remember knowing anyone who had one?

Are they just an unpopular restoration subject today?

Are the junkyards full of these poor old Plymouths?

 

Steve

My uncle had a Red '65 Sport Fury Hardtop, which I never saw in person, as he lived in CA and I in DC. He absolutely loved the car.

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