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

[MrObsessive]

Beautiful work on that engine bay Steve! That really adds a lot to the car!

On the question of why those mid '60's Fury's aren't seen........it may be that like their late '50's counterparts, many of them rusted to the point that led to early junking. Particularly those in the upper Midwest and Northeast. I remember seeing only one around here during the mid '90's.......an older lady driving it and in fact it looked a lot like the model you're building. It was a pale yellow kind of color, and was very clean for what was then a 30 year old car.

They were certainly good looking cars, and while styling is subjective, I liked these just as much as what GM offered back in '65-'66. By '67, all the full sizers to me were too bulky looking including those from Mother Mopar.

 

[StevenGuthmiller]

They were certainly good looking cars, and while styling is subjective, I liked these just as much as what GM offered back in '65-'66. By '67, all the full sizers to me were too bulky looking including those from Mother Mopar.

 

I agree Bill.

that's why I thought it a little strange that there doesn't seem to be a lot of these around.

In my opinion they were a big improvement in styling from the '63/ '64 Plymouths, & I agree about the late '60s Dodges & Plymouths becoming a little over grown.

With the exception of possibly the big Pontiacs & the Chevrolets from '65 & '66, I don't think there was anything any better looking.

The Fords from '65 at least, were just way too boxy, & the Buicks & Oldsmobiles were just "uninspiring" IMO, at least the full sized cars.

Seems like there would be more interest in them.

Personally, I think they're very good looking cars.

 

Steve

[charlie8575]

Beautiful work on that engine bay Steve! That really adds a lot to the car!

On the question of why those mid '60's Fury's aren't seen........it may be that like their late '50's counterparts, many of them rusted to the point that led to early junking. Particularly those in the upper Midwest and Northeast. I remember seeing only one around here during the mid '90's.......an older lady driving it and in fact it looked a lot like the model you're building. It was a pale yellow kind of color, and was very clean for what was then a 30 year old car.

They were certainly good looking cars, and while styling is subjective, I liked these just as much as what GM offered back in '65-'66. By '67, all the full sizers to me were too bulky looking including those from Mother Mopar.

There was one other thing I was thinking of, that I was told long, long ago by a Mopar-exclusive junkyard when I was shopping around for a project in the exuberance of my youth.

It turns out that the Rust Belt was actually one of the slowest-selling areas for the C-body. The vast bulk of them were sold in the south and west, which is one of the reasons so many of the ones left are in decent shape. 

I remember my dad telling me that even with undercoating, keeping it clean, and all that, a lot of cars around here were rotted out in about 5-7 years, sooner if the owner didn't even try. 

Charlie Larkin

[tim boyd]

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

Not only that, 1960's Mopar C-bodies were just horrible when it came to rust.  Anyone owning one of these cars in the snow belt (such as SE Michigan where my family lived) could expect to find rust breaking through sheet metal surfaces within three years of being new.  That's a shame, as mechanically- and interior appointments-wise, the 1965-68 C-Bodies were great cars....   TIM 

Update...I now see that Bill and several others also mentioned rust....sorry for repeating....TIM 

PS - looks like another great Mopar C-Body build, Steven...I'll be following for sure.  TB 

 

Edited May 12, 2016 by tim boyd

[1972coronet]

Even though I'm a California native , I have travelled enough times to salty roads regions ; I'm no stranger to the rapid oxidation .  In 1976 , I was with my parents on a trip to Pennsylvania , Ohio , Michigan , and West Virginia . One of my aunts had a 1974 Caprice 4 door which she bought new ; by June 1976 , its lower-quarters and lower-front-fenders were rotted-out !  I remember being in awe that car had parts of its structure missing ! Ha ha ha . I was 6 years old , and was just amazed . My mum yelled to me , "Don't play with that rust !" . Ha ha .

[RandyEarle]

I bought a Torino GT new in 71 and it rusted out when it was 6 months old. I complained to the dealer and he gave me a trade for a used truck and a Road Runner.

[Xingu]

I bought a Torino GT new in 71 and it rusted out when it was 6 months old. I complained to the dealer and he gave me a trade for a used truck and a Road Runner.

That was a good trade.

[BubbaBrown]

I know I'm getting in here late, I had a 1965 cuda with the 4barrel engine 4spd and my boss had a 1965 fury 1 Plymouth with 383 4spd. He was married with family while I was still in high school. I remember the shifter on his came out of the floor , bent 90 toward the driver and bent another 90 back toward the seat. You could of fit 6 big people in that fury.  I drove it but never horsed it, my cuda was way faster.

[StevenGuthmiller]

I know I'm getting in here late, I had a 1965 cuda with the 4barrel engine 4spd and my boss had a 1965 fury 1 Plymouth with 383 4spd. He was married with family while I was still in high school. I remember the shifter on his came out of the floor , bent 90 toward the driver and bent another 90 back toward the seat. You could of fit 6 big people in that fury.  I drove it but never horsed it, my cuda was way faster.

I would imagine the the Barracuda would have been faster than the Fury.

A whole lot less bulk to push around.

Although, I did have a 1968 Chrysler Newport 4 door sedan in high school with a 383 2 bbl in high school that would routinely romp all over much lighter cars & cars with much bigger engines.

It was a real kick to see the look on someones face when the huge ugly green sedan with a 2 barrel carb just kicked the hiney of their Mustang or their 455 Olds in the quarter mile, both of which did happen.

The 383 with the 2 barrel carb was no speed demon, but it could hold it's own quite well & was a good, reliable power plant.

I suspect your experience with the '65 Fury may have been quite different if the Fury had been equipped with the 426!

 

Steve

[crazyrichard]

looks great !!

[gtx6970]

The buddy of mine whom recently sold his 65 Pace car, it was a 383 2bbl. And I assure you. the car was no slouch .

[Furiousgeorge]

Great job so far! I used to own a '66 Sport Fury with a 4bbl 383 Commando, and that car could move like you wouldn't believe a big car like that could! Wish I'd been able to keep the old girl... I'll be watching this build for ideas to build my Johan '66 Fury! Keep up the good work!

[StevenGuthmiller]

Wow!

This project is going no where fast!

I guess it's because summer is coming on.

Just haven't been able to get a lot done on it.

I had the day off from work today, so I knuckled down & spent a good portion of the afternoon on it.

At least got it to the point where I could get a coat of primer on it!

I did do much more work under the hood than I normally would.

I added the inner fender detail as I stated in an earlier post, to deal with the narrow fender wells.

I also fabbed up the fender "lip" for the hood to rest on, extended the firewall down to the chassis & added a new top for the radiator brace.

I also did some re-working on the fender wells themselves.

I smoothed them out considerably from what they originally looked like & also added a "groove" detail on both like the 1:1.

I also fabricated a hood latch plate that will attach to the grille top as well as a few other details to be added at assembly.

Now that most of the fabrication & prep is done, hopefully I can cruise into the parts that I enjoy. Paint & interior.

 

Steve

 

[SfanGoch]

This baby's looking good so far, Steve. 

I could tell you where all the '65-'71 Fury I-III 4 Doors were in NYC when I was a kid. The majority of Furys that were around were mostly owned by the NYPD and taxi fleets.The NYPD had a huge fleet of them. The NYPD loved Mopars. It didn't hurt that Chrysler's corporate HQ was in the city at the time. The NYPD used them for precinct patrol (RMPs), highway pursuit and as the ubiquitous  undercover "narc" car. The last one was not such a great idea. The narcmobiles were easy to spot because they obviously weren't yellow (for some reason, they were painted a light gray or avocado green), didn't have a taxi roof light and there were always two guys with bad haircuts wearing sunglasses (even at night ) sitting in the front seat.  

[charlie8575]

The under-hood looks great, Steve. The work is paying off. 

Charlie Larkin

[John Goschke]

Don't know how I missed this one, Steve! Great work so far – the underhood enhancements make a huge difference.

The only '65 Furys I really remember were my Grandad's Fury I two-door sedan metallic red "work car," which I think had a 318 and 3-speed manual shift. The other was a clean light metallic turquoise Sport Fury I used to see in night-shift/day-shift traffic when I worked at US Steel in the '70s. A very pretty car!

[peekay]

Vast improvement, well worth the effort.

[StevenGuthmiller]

Thanks guys!

The gray primer is just so I can spot any imperfections that need attention.

I'm working on several coats of white primer right now as the car will be painted light colors.

Hopefully I'll be able to get some color on it before the weekend.

 

Steve

[slusher]

Outstanding under hood improvement  Steve..

[Mr Stock]

Great work Steve, I love watching your work on these old annuals, just proves with a bit of work and a lot of talent !, a very good model can be made from them.

[gtx6970]

Any thoughts to remove that half molded master cylinder form the firewall and replace it with a much more accurate piece, say from the Mobieus Satellite or something ?

[StevenGuthmiller]

Any thoughts to remove that half molded master cylinder form the firewall and replace it with a much more accurate piece, say from the Mobieus Satellite or something ?

I thought about that Bill.

But at this point, I think I'm going to leave it alone.

It was on my list, but I decided that the list needed to be shortened if I was ever going to get anywhere on this build.

I may change my mind, but it will have to be soon before the paint starts flying!

 

Steve

 

[John Goschke]

Steve, hope it's OK to make a suggestion before you start with color... Might it be worth the effort, given how far you've gone under the hood, to scribe the missing panel lines between the front fenders and cowl, and front fenders and rocker panel? Around here we call it "low effort detail!"

 

[StevenGuthmiller]

Steve, hope it's OK to make a suggestion before you start with color... Might it be worth the effort, given how far you've gone under the hood, to scribe the missing panel lines between the front fenders and cowl, and front fenders and rocker panel? Around here we call it "low effort detail!"

 

That's a good idea John.

I guess I hadn't even noticed that they were missing.

Well I guess it's back to Google to check out some more reference photos.

I guess while I'm at it, I just as well revisit Bill's master cylinder suggestion.

No more suggestions guys, I'll never get this done!.......... Just kidding!

 

Steve

[StevenGuthmiller]

Well, I took the suggestions that Bill & John to heart & decided to go ahead with them.

The panel line thing was easy of course.

Just a little more primer & the body will be back on track.

The master cylinder was a little bit stickier subject.

It was no problem grinding off the existing one, but of course I made myself a little more work than anticipated.

I really didn't have a master cylinder on hand to spare.

I couldn't justify taking one from a complete kit & making it "incomplete".

So my only avenue was scratch building.

Not an extremely difficult task, but "fussy" none the less.

Big fumbly fingers don't go well with tiny parts.

I believe it went pretty well though.

I just have to let some glue set before I can finish it off.

I'll post a photo when I've finished.

 

Steve