Johan 1963 Plymouth Fury. A Little More Progress.

[StevenGuthmiller]

Yeah, I know, I've been very schizophrenic lately when it comes to getting going on a build & continuing with it, but I think I've finally found one, or I should say, a couple that I'm pretty excited about.

After disassembling an old built-up Johan '63 Dodge Polara convertible that I had, I started to look it over & the juices began flowing again.

Then I remembered a '63 Plymouth Fury that I acquired in a trade with Bill, (gtx6970) and I thought that I had waited long enough.

Once I started to fool around with it a little, the excitement began to rise & now I think that I'm committed........ Hopefully!

I started messing with some parts swapping from the Lindberg '64 Plymouth kit, & before I knew it, I was propelled head long into a full chassis swap.

To my surprise, the '64 chassis dropped in fairly nicely with a little grinding & shuffling & the engine bay parts look like they will work very nicely as well.

The only issue is the wheel base.

The '64 is a little longer than the '63, but with a little rear spring shortening, everything should go together very well.

Now I'm beginning a search for a 426 with the cross ram engine.

Can anyone tell me what engines are included in the AMT '64 Lawman kit & the '64 Color Me Gone Dodge.

I'm thinking that being as I have several '63 & '64 Johan Mopars to build in the hopefully near future, that it might be worth the expense for me to purchase a couple of these kits to raid for chassis & engine parts.

Also, does anyone know if the Belvedere & Dodge 330 kits have the same wheel base?

It would save a little work if the 330 was a little shorter for my '63s.

 

Steve

 

Edited July 18, 2018 by StevenGuthmiller

[gtx6970]

Lawman and Color Me Gone both are max wedge powered. 

 

If you want a few. I  have a boatload of extra color me gone kits I can send you.

 

We will work out details another time

[StevenGuthmiller]

1 hour ago, gtx6970 said:

Lawman and Color Me Gone both are max wedge powered. 

 

If you want a few. I  have a boatload of extra color me gone kits I can send you.

 

We will work out details another time

I don't think I need a "boat load" Bill, but I would absolutely appreciate any help that you can give.

I did a little checking and discovered that the Johan '63 Fury has a shorter wheelbase than the Johan '63 Dodge!

Seemed a little odd to me, but that being the case, the Lawman chassis would drop right into the Dodge!

I had to do some minor alterations to shorten the wheel base to fit the '64 Plymouth chassis to the '63.

Would you happen to know if the Color me gone kit has the same wheelbase as the Lawman Plymouth?

If it's shorter, then I would need to lengthen them to fit the remaining Johan '63 & '64 Dodges & the Johan '64 Plymouth.

I'm not sure how that would work, but I would surely like to round up as many of the engine, chassis & engine compartment parts from these kits as I can for these projects.

I really appreciate your repeated selflessness & support!

 

Thank you Bill!

 

Steve

[PlymouthFan]

3 hours ago, gtx6970 said:

Lawman and Color Me Gone both are max wedge powered. 

 

If you want a few. I  have a boatload of extra color me gone kits I can send you.

 

We will work out details another time

Bill I might need to keep you in mind when I decide to try building my Savoy, anyway the Fury is looking great and that means something I’m not a Fury guy

[gtx6970]

Between the various incarnations of the Lindberg Dodge / Plymouth kits. I probably have 20 , maybe 25

Bought up a bunch of them when Ollies had them for $8 ea

I thought the ladies eye were gonna pop out her head when I walked to the register with at least a half dozen of them one day

 

 

64 Plymouth chassis is the one thats unfinished

The Plymouth chassis is about an 1/8" shorter in wheelbase and maybe 3/16" shorter overall .. it would appear the difference is in the center of the pan itself.

I'm afraid I don't have many. extras of the Plymouth to part with

[BubbaBrown]

Steve, in real life the Ply had a shorter W.B. than the Dod. That is what got Landy into messing with the  W,B. and creating the the 1964 awb Dodge. The shorter W.B. hooked up better and his Ply ran faster than his Dodge even after switching all the parts from Ply to Dodge.

[StevenGuthmiller]

5 hours ago, BubbaBrown said:

Steve, in real life the Ply had a shorter W.B. than the Dod. That is what got Landy into messing with the  W,B. and creating the the 1964 awb Dodge. The shorter W.B. hooked up better and his Ply ran faster than his Dodge even after switching all the parts from Ply to Dodge.

That explains the difference.

Funny how the '63 Dodge shared the same wheelbase as both of the '64s, but the '63 Plymouth was different.

Well, now I know.

looks like I will need the '64 Plymouth chassis for the rest of my builds, but I could have saved myself some alterations on the '63 Plymouth by using the '64 Dodge 330 chassis.

Live an learn I guess.

 

Steve

[JollySipper]

Anxious to see you work your magic on this one!  The '63 Plymouth max wedge cars are awesome........

[StevenGuthmiller]

44 minutes ago, JollySipper said:

Anxious to see you work your magic on this one!  The '63 Plymouth max wedge cars are awesome........

Thanks!

I have been working away on it, but in the "alterations" phase, progress is always slow for me.

So far, I've removed the screw posts & reshaped the radiator brace and the spent a lot of time mocking up & modifying the firewall & inner fender wells to fit.

Other than that, I've started a few little things on the body like scribing in rocker, tulip & cowl panel lines.

Hopefully I'll be able to get the body parts ready for paint in the not too distant future.

 

Steve

[gtx6970]

I love these early B bodies.

and the color is a HUGE plus for me. So you already know you have my attention

 

pm if you need a couple of the CMG Dodge kits as parts kits

[StevenGuthmiller]

2 hours ago, gtx6970 said:

I love these early B bodies.

and the color is a HUGE plus for me. So you already know you have my attention

 

pm if you need a couple of the CMG Dodge kits as parts kits

Thanks so much Bill!

I could probably use some of those parts.

At the very least, the engine would probably come in very handy.

Do you happen to know if the Dodge kit has the same hubcaps as the Lawman '64 Plymouth?

 

By the way, here are a couple of photos of where I'm at with the engine bay.

 

Steve

 

[StevenGuthmiller]

I think I've about got the engine bay mods under control.

Added a new top for the radiator brace, a panel for the hood latch and a few bolt heads here and there.

Still need to remove one door handle and do a little more finish sanding on the body & I believe that I will be ready to start shooting some primer.

 

Steve

 

[MrObsessive]

Great work so far Steve! Interesting info about the floorpan/chassis. I was wondering with some massaging, could they also be used under Johan's '65-'66 Fury II's? I've got both of those (two door hardtops) that could definitely use some sprucing up underneath someday.

IIRC, 1965 Chrysler switched platforms for the Fury's to the C body? I'm no expert on how and when the platform designations changed, but anything to me is better than what Johan gave you back in those days.

IMO..........the bodies are top notch! Undercarriage not so much.

Edited June 2, 2018 by MrObsessive

[StevenGuthmiller]

23 minutes ago, MrObsessive said:

Great work so far Steve! Interesting info about the floorpan/chassis. I was wondering with some massaging, could they also be used under Johan's '65-'66 Fury II's? I've got both of those (two door hardtops) that could definitely use some sprucing up underneath someday.

IIRC, 1965 Chrysler switched platforms for the Fury's to the C body? I'm no expert on how and when the platform designations changed, but anything to me is better than what Johan gave you back in those days.

IMO..........the bodies are top notch! Undercarriage not so much.

I agree about the Johan chassis.

Unfortunately, there are not a lot of options with a lot of the large cars like the 300s.

Luckily, we have the modern '64 Mopar kits to rob parts from for the Furys & Polaras.

I was just weighing the pros & cons of shelling out $25.00-$30.00 on an AMT Lawman '64 Plymouth kit, but I've come to the conclusion that it would not be a bad investment for me.

I can use a large number of parts from that kit for upcoming Johan '63 Dodge & '64 Dodge & Plymouth builds.

As a matter of fact, I could use several donor kits!

Something tells me that I'm going to have a lot of '64 Plymouth bodies & interior parts to use as trade fodder!

 

Steve

[moparfarmer]

In real life the larger 65-66 Plymouth "C" bodies used 118 wheelbase..The intermediate "B" bodies were 116..Dodge was just a bit longer in both C and B bodies..The Dodge "C" body was 120 and the "B" was 118...The Chryslers were 121..Your Lawman and 64 Belvedere should be the same as your 63 Fury..with no modifications..

[imatt88]

Steve,

Nice work.  I have an old Johan '62 Plymouth and Dodge that I thought about upgrading but I wasn't sure what I could use for underpinnings..

I'm watching this with interest,

 

Cheers,  Ian

[StevenGuthmiller]

13 minutes ago, moparfarmer said:

Your Lawman and 64 Belvedere should be the same as your 63 Fury..with no modifications..

But it wasn't.

I had to shorten the front "pan" on the chassis & move the entire chassis forward to get the front wheels centered in the openings & the rear wheel tubs situated correctly in the body.

Likewise, I had to shorten the rear leaf springs by about a quarter of an inch to get the rear wheels moved up & centered in the rear wheel openings.

I haven't checked yet, but I'm confident that the unmodified Lindberg '64 Belvedere chassis should fit perfectly under the Johan '64 Fury & '63 & '64 Polara bodies.

The Johan '63 Plymouth wheel base is the only one that's shorter.

 

Steve

[dino246gt]

I built this original JoHan '63 Dodge waaaay back in 1999/2000, when I really didn't know much, but it's the Lindberg '64 Dodge underpinnings, seemed to fit well to me back then. These are really old photos, but you can look at them and see how the fit is. It went pretty easily together and wheelbase looks good from the side? I am planning a much better '63 Plymouth so I'm watching this build closely, cheers!

Edited June 4, 2018 by dino246gt

[dodgefever]

On 03/06/2018 at 12:15 AM, StevenGuthmiller said:

I haven't checked yet, but I'm confident that the unmodified Lindberg '64 Belvedere chassis should fit perfectly under the Johan '64 Fury & '63 & '64 Polara bodies.

The Johan '63 Plymouth wheel base is the only one that's shorter.

It should fit the Fury, but the '63 - '64 Dodges were on a 119" wheebase; three inches longer than Plymouth.  The Lindberg Dodge would be the one to use for those.

[gtx6970]

I'll pull a couple of the  CMG kits this weekend and send your way .  they may just be parts kits.  ( missing a body or possibly and interior tub ) But they should be provide the chassis /under hood / drive train stuff you need

just pm me an address.

 

btw, Ive looked and looked and cant find the hubcaps from the Lawman. So I don't know if I got rid of them long ago or they simply vanished in the pile somewhere

[StevenGuthmiller]

4 hours ago, gtx6970 said:

I'll pull a couple of the  CMG kits this weekend and send your way .  they may just be parts kits.  ( missing a body or possibly and interior tub ) But they should be provide the chassis /under hood / drive train stuff you need

just pm me an address.

 

btw, Ive looked and looked and cant find the hubcaps from the Lawman. So I don't know if I got rid of them long ago or they simply vanished in the pile somewhere

Thanks a bunch Bill!

I really don't need any body or interior parts anyway so whatever you have would be appreciated.

Not to worry about the hubcaps.

I will most likely purchase a new Lawman kit at some point to harvest the parts, & I won't need the caps until I do my '63 Dodge.

The '63 Plymouth will likely just have bare steelies & I'll likely go with full wheel covers or possibly some Torque Thrusts or similar on the '64 Fury & Polara.

I will PM you with an address & a trade offer.

Thank you!

 

Steve

[StevenGuthmiller]

I am still making a little progress & doing a little experimenting.

The body is pretty close to ready for paint, but I had become very distracted by the big "holes" in the headliner of the body, so I gave myself two options.

either just fill the holes & sand the smooth, or fashion some sort of palatable headliner.

I chose the more time consuming path & opted for a head liner, which is being constructed with alternating strips of shaped sheet styrene & very thin plastic beading in between.

I will either paint this when it's finished, or give it the embossing powder treatment.

About half done now, but I will also do the C-pillar "sail panels" and I will possibly fashion a pair of A-pillar panels to be installed after the glass.

I know, I might be getting a little into the weeds, but it's a fun learning experience.

 

 

One of the most annoying parts of this kit has for me become the "parking light" question.

I decided that I might like to try to do something about the "amber bulb under a clear lens" situation, and try to come up with a solution.

I made casts of the parking lights in mold material, then did a reverse cast in 2 part epoxy & then cast some lenses from them.

They have actually come out pretty well & now I think a simple drilling of a small hole in the center of the original chrome lens, placing an amber bulb and covering with the cast lens should give a much more realistic appearance.

The yellow pieces in this photo are the molds & the clear parts are the cast lenses.

I may try a couple more pieces just to be sure that I can get the best lens possible.

 

 

Steve

 

[James2]

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[espo]

Great idea with the Headliner. A lot of work for something really seen, but it does look very realistic.

[SfanGoch]

Great job all around so far, Steve. Casting those lenses is a good idea. I'll remember that for the future.