LennyB Posted March 17 Share Posted March 17 It was August 1963 and Richard Petty had a bundle of cash burning a hole in his pocket. He wanted to do something nice for his mother Elizabeth as he missed her birthday on the 12th of May as he had been too busy driving in circles and needed to make up for it. He decided he would order her a new car. But you see there was one big problem, as I said at the top it was August, Plymouth was between production years, they have shut down the line to convert over the 1964 models. So, he decided he would go see the president of Chrysler, Lynn Townsend. He walked in to Chrysler's main headquarters in Auburn Hills, MI. After all, he was Richard Petty and he could do these kinds of things. He walked into the president’s suite, past Suzie the receptionist on the floor (who had just been hired the week before) and pushed open Lynn’s door. With Suzie hot on his tails as she had no idea who he was. After they got Suzie to clam down and go back to her little corner, Rich (that’s what Lynn called him) and Lynn got down to brass tacks. Together they sketched out a plan to come up with a special model just for Mrs. Petty. As I said, the production line was shut down and the front sheet metal was already updated to 1964 specifications. And even if he was Richard Petty there was no going back. Between the two of them, plus a couple of engineers they pulled off their lunch break at McDonald's, they came up with a 1963 ½ Plymouth Fury, front half 1964 and rear 1963. Maybe the car had an identity crisis but at least Richard got his way and his mother her belated birthday gift. What? You’re not buying that one. Well then how about this one. It was August 1975 and I had a $10 bill burning a hole in my pocket. Sunday morning, into the car and off to West Hempstead Long Island, that’s in New York y’all. East on Sunrise Highway and a right turn one block past the ice-cream stand. Tiny hall filled with vendors selling models and die-cast and well...umm you get the picture. There was a dealer who I’ve bought from before. To me he looked as old as the hills, the reality is I’m probably older now then he was then. On his table he had a JoHan 1963 Plymouth Fury kit, mint in the box. I had built several JoHan 1964 Fury’s as well as some 64 Dodge’s. So, this looked like a good candidate. The box was marked $11, remember, I only had $10. But I, the master of the deal, had worked with this guy before. I made my pitch…and he turned me down. How could he turn me down, he never did before, was I off my game. I turned away rejected. I continued down that row and then turned to go up the next. Then I hear a whisper. It was the dealer, leaning over across the row telling me to come back later. I wasn’t going to argue with that and so 15 minutes, maybe it was 10 as I was a bit impatient, I returned. He told me I caught him in the middle of a big negotiation with someone else and he didn’t want them to see him bargain. True or not, I don’t know. But I handed over my ten spot and walked away with the Plymouth. When I got home and examined my purchase, I wasn’t entirely happy with what I saw. I did not like the front grill one little bit. In my parts stash I had a junk 1964 Plymouth so with that Plymouth and an X-Acto saw I went to work and the two became one. Sadly thought, that is as far as I ever got with the kit. It went back in the box where it has sat for almost 40 years. I think it is high time to get my butt in gear and make something of this crazy mixed-up kit. So, are you buying that one? 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noah H. Posted March 17 Share Posted March 17 Looking forward to seeing this one get built up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
espo Posted March 17 Share Posted March 17 I like the real story better than the Petty one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FoMoCo66 Posted March 17 Share Posted March 17 Good story telling. This will be cool. I actually like the front of the 64 better and the back of the 63 better, so this will be nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LennyB Posted March 17 Author Share Posted March 17 (edited) Thanks guys. When I first pulled this out of storage I was just going to do a basic OOB build. That is until I took a good look at the chassis and interior. Interior is very shallow and the chassis is promo style, everything molded on. I have better things to do with my time they try to fix all this. Pulling the rest of the bits from a Lindberg 64 Petty Plymouth. I may not use anything other then the body from the JoHan kit. Funny thing I noticed. On the original JoHan '64 kits, the chassis from the Dodge and the Plymouth were different lengths, don't remember which was longer. On the Lindberg kits they are the same length. Not sure, but I think JoHan is right.🙃 The Lindberg chassis is snug but it fits right in place. Appears to be a tad too far back. Have to mock up the suspension before I do any cutting. Edited March 18 by LennyB Added image 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott8950 Posted March 18 Share Posted March 18 2 hours ago, LennyB said: The Lindberg chassis is snug but it fits right in place. Appears to be a tad too far back. Have to mock up the suspension before I do any cutting. The rear floor pan is where you will need to cut it. I did this exact build several years ago when i first got back into the hobby. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LennyB Posted March 18 Author Share Posted March 18 9 hours ago, Scott8950 said: The rear floor pan is where you will need to cut it. I did this exact build several years ago when i first got back into the hobby. Thanks Scott, much appreciated 🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott8950 Posted March 18 Share Posted March 18 You will also need to sand a little off the radiator support because the front wheels need to go forward some also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
customline Posted March 20 Share Posted March 20 I really enjoyed the first story. I was buying it ( we are all writers here 😉) . The second one... ehhh......not so much, but I'm glad you're spending more time in the attic, Len. I'm following this one for sure. I'm going to have Wifey hide my razor saws now before I get any ideas 🤔 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LennyB Posted March 20 Author Share Posted March 20 21 hours ago, customline said: I really enjoyed the first story. I was buying it ( we are all writers here 😉) . The second one... ehhh......not so much, but I'm glad you're spending more time in the attic, Len. I'm following this one for sure. I'm going to have Wifey hide my razor saws now before I get any ideas 🤔 Jim, the attic is turning into a double edged sword. If my head wouldn't explode I could have like 20 projects going right now. I started doing an inventory because I have been finding stuff I don't remember buying. One example is I've wanted to replicate a 1967 Galaxie someone I knew once owned. Thought I had one Galaxie stashed away, so far I have found four. And I am still not done with inventory.🤪 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
customline Posted March 20 Share Posted March 20 12 minutes ago, LennyB said: Jim, the attic is turning into a double edged sword. If my head wouldn't explode I could have like 20 projects going right now. I started doing an inventory because I have been finding stuff I don't remember buying. One example is I've wanted to replicate a 1967 Galaxie someone I knew once owned. Thought I had one Galaxie stashed away, so far I have found four. And I am still not done with inventory.🤪 I think you DO have 20 projects going now. 🥴 Let me know if you run across a '68 Galaxie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LennyB Posted March 20 Author Share Posted March 20 1 hour ago, customline said: I think you DO have 20 projects going now. 🥴 Let me know if you run across a '68 Galaxie. So far found just one of those. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
customline Posted March 20 Share Posted March 20 4 minutes ago, LennyB said: So far found just one of those. Seriously? It's probably the fast-back roof, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LennyB Posted March 21 Author Share Posted March 21 Yup. DOn't think it came in any other flavor. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
customline Posted March 21 Share Posted March 21 43 minutes ago, LennyB said: Yup. DOn't think it came in any other flavor. Yeah....bummer. I won't bore you with the details. Isn't the car in the box art an LTD? Hidden headlights? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LennyB Posted March 21 Author Share Posted March 21 1 hour ago, customline said: Yeah....bummer. I won't bore you with the details. Isn't the car in the box art an LTD? Hidden headlights? The Galaxie XL also has hidden headlights. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
customline Posted March 21 Share Posted March 21 9 minutes ago, LennyB said: The Galaxie XL also has hidden headlights. Yeah, I just looked at some '68s. I remember ours, a 2 door, white/ black vinyl top, red vinyl inside. 302/auto (and no a/c). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LennyB Posted March 23 Author Share Posted March 23 (edited) You know you've gone down the rabbit hole when you start mixing up your own threads.🤪 Scott, for some reason I didn't need to remove anything from the rear of the chassis, just the front. I'm using the Lindbergh Plymouth chassis, could you have been using the Dodge and there is a difference? What I found is I needed to remove about 1/4" from the front and that brought the front wheels into alignment. The 14" piece got donated to my 1968 Fairlane 500 project, waste not want not. But it still left the rears too far aft. I contemplated my options and finally decided to take a small section out of the front of the rear springs, which made them a tad shorter. This necessitated the relocation of the holes for the rear of the springs. But after this everything lined up. The original JoHan body also had some tabs at the end of the rocker panels. While I could have just filed them away I chose to make notches in the chassis and thus they became alignment points. I can now start building the chassis as per the kit instructions. Meanwhile back at the ranch work starts on modifying the interior. Tune in next time, same bat time same bat channel... Edited March 23 by LennyB Update content Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
customline Posted March 23 Share Posted March 23 I'm headed for a tea party right now with Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. Alice should be along shortly. You're doing great, Len! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott8950 Posted March 24 Share Posted March 24 8 hours ago, LennyB said: 8 hours ago, LennyB said: Scott, for some reason I didn't need to remove anything from the rear of the chassis, just the front. I'm using the Lindbergh Plymouth chassis, could you have been using the Dodge and there is a difference? Good question, i don't have a 64 Plymouth but i wouldn't think there's a difference but maybe someone else can answer that correctly. I remember just trimming the radiator support and my rear wheels were still off so i had to cut the chassis. On a side note i discovered the pro street 70 super bee chassis fits very well into the 63 fury... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LennyB Posted March 24 Author Share Posted March 24 8 hours ago, Scott8950 said: Good question, i don't have a 64 Plymouth but i wouldn't think there's a difference but maybe someone else can answer that correctly. I remember just trimming the radiator support and my rear wheels were still off so i had to cut the chassis. On a side note i discovered the pro street 70 super bee chassis fits very well into the 63 fury... OK, maybe I misunderstood. Did you cut the chassis to shorten it? I took it to mean you cut some off the back edge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slusher Posted March 24 Share Posted March 24 I would say back but I’m just watching. Keep up the good work Len.".. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott8950 Posted March 24 Share Posted March 24 2 hours ago, LennyB said: OK, maybe I misunderstood. Did you cut the chassis to shorten it? I took it to mean you cut some off the back edge. I had to cut in the rear floor area. Here is a pic you can see the cut line. This car was built a long while back when i first started attempting to cut things. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott8950 Posted March 24 Share Posted March 24 Ok i happen to have a 63 fury and a Lindberg 64 dodge chassis. Here are some pictures of it in the chassis. Maybe the Plymouth chassis is shorter? Could it be possible by changing the front you gained length? Im not really sure but here are pictures of what i come up with.I built this car years ago and maybe the cut was to get the front back like i was saying it's been long ago so i can't be positive. I will be following your build . 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LennyB Posted March 24 Author Share Posted March 24 Scott, thanks for doing all this research. I now see where you shortened the chassis to move the rear wheels forward while I made up the difference but shortening the leaf springs to move the axle up. More then one way to skin a cat.😺 I took out a 64 Dodge kit last night and compared the chassis to the Plymouth and found there is no difference between the two. What I did find different is the Dodge has a bench seat, so I'm taking the Dodge seats for my build. 💺 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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