1971 Fury GT, Gold, Promo Car

[1970FuryConv]

Intake (Dan included with car)

One day after block casting date

Factory casting # and firing order. Love the look of the factory manifold.

Needs trip to machine shop, like everything else.

I did buy an AVS 440 carb, but not sure if rebuildable

 

[1970FuryConv]

1971 Fury GT gets Road wheels. 3 of the 4 tires hold air pretty good. The right front does not. Anyway the tires are all over 10 years old so they need to be replaced. If you say that these road wheels are not correct for a 1971 Fury GT, I'll agree with you. However the fender tag only says 15 inch wheels. Furthermore the car is been off the road since 1978, so correct wheel rims are pretty far down the list. Not to mention the extreme difficulty finding them. At least those awful -looking short 60 profile tires are gone.
Each rim got a good cleaning.

I freed up the headlight doors with some spray silicone lube. The hand wheel at the grill motor is totally useless so there's no way to hold the headlight doors completely shut. Still overall, I think the grill's in pretty good condition.

 

[1970FuryConv]

Having installed the tires I turn my attention to the badly dented gas tank. It has this labyrinth of 4 vent hoses going to the large canister above. The fuel hose and line along with the vent hose and line go forward to the engine compartment.

Gas tank: I removed the filler neck, 7/16 inch wrench. The rubber grommet was all dried out and once I got the filler neck turning it was pretty easy to remove. I cut all the 1978 hoses with wire cutters. Removed the fuel sending unit wire connector from its stud. As far as the strap bolts, 9/16 inch wrench to get the nuts started, 9/16 long socket, 8 inch extension, 3/8 inch air ratchet to remove the nuts the rest of the way. I put the tank on the ground near my truck for recycling. Put the straps and strap bolts out into the barn.

Trunk pan: as you can see the metal above the gas tank was really clean. I’m hoping the red New Mexico clay preserved the rest of the undercarriage in the same condition. At least there’s no rust holes except at the right rear floor pan where the farmer who owned the vehicle bottomed it out on something and dented the floor pan upward. I’m not sure if it’s a rust hole or crack but same difference. Everything else looks good. Will have to see after cleaning the undercarriage. I might clean it dry with a steel brush on handle. Sweep all that dirt away and then go after it with water and a brush. Or I could get adventurous and go rent a power wash unit.

Red Clay dust came pouring down when I pulled down the gas tank.

Like I say lots of cleaning ahead

these exhaust over – axle mounts are probably made of unobtainium. Is TTI the best source?

There's an update. At least everyone knows the car isn't dormant.

 

[thrashingcows]

Looking good! I'll take the period correct 70 Rims any day over the old stuff that was on the car!

Pressure washer is probably your best bet at cleaning things up...wait for a nice warm day, put on some shorts and a pair of safety glasses and get under the car! I'd soak it really good first, then blast it to get most of the clay, dirt and debris off....then spray it again with some simple green and let that soak for 10-15 minutes then blast everything again.

 

[71FuryGC]

Good to see you are making progress on the GT Ben. Looks pretty solid underneath. I discovered one of the labyrinth of
hoses above my 71 gas tank was folded over onto itself causing pressure build up in the tank. Fixed now. Keep chipping away at the GT, it will be awesome when restored!
Carl

 

[FURYGT]

Ben, Glad to see progress has been made. The car is in better condition than it originally appeared to be in. Consider a stand up model electric pressure washer from Harbor Freight. I am very happy with mine, which I have had for around 4 years. The exhaust hangers are available as reproductions but I can't recall where I saw them. I might have extras somewhere with somewhere being the key word. Good luck with your continued work on the car.

Bill

 

[Fratzog]

Thanks for the update and nice to see the car getting some love. If you are going with TTI be 100% sure you know exactly what exhaust manifolds you will end up using otherwise things won't line up right.

 

[1970FuryConv]

Looking good! I'll take the period correct 70 Rims any day over the old stuff that was on the car!

Pressure washer is probably your best bet at cleaning things up...wait for a nice warm day, put on some shorts and a pair of safety glasses and get under the car! I'd soak it really good first, then blast it to get most of the clay, dirt and debris off....then spray it again with some simple green and let that soak for 10-15 minutes then blast everything again.

Ben, Glad to see progress has been made. The car is in better condition than it originally appeared to be in. Consider a stand up model electric pressure washer from Harbor Freight. I am very happy with mine, which I have had for around 4 years. The exhaust hangers are available as reproductions but I can't recall where I saw them. I might have extras somewhere with somewhere being the key word. Good luck with your continued work on the car.

Bill

Hi Brian and Bill,
I'm looking at a 2000 to 2700 psi a pressure washer to rent from Home Depot. Locally they charge $84 a day plus $150 deposit, which I would get back upon returning the machine. I like the idea of using the simple green in between blasting the undercarriage. Also, it would be nice to have an electric pressure washer around, but I'm not sure that it's up for this job. The red clay is caked on from 1978 and it's pretty thick. Anyway, I think I'm willing to try the rental 1st. I have a niece who is getting married this weekend so it may not be this weekend, but I'll get to it. Thanks!

 

[1970FuryConv]

I took the day off from work Friday. I really wanted to see what I have and what was under all that dirt. So I rented the 2700 psi pressure washer from Home Depot late Thursday afternoon on a 24 hour rental.

Power wash: I power washed the engine compartment, front subframe, undercarriage, rear subframe, rear axle, springs, front suspension, wheel wells, and sides and front of body. I then followed Brian's advice and put Simple Green into a 1 gallon pump spray bottle that I bought at Home Depot too. Essentially you pump up the bottle,. Then you can hold down the trigger and it sprays. I sprayed the entire area above. I let it sit for 15-20 minutes. I fired up the pressure washer. And washed it again. Over the 3 hour process, tons of red clay came down along with grease particles. I used the pressure washer to spray all debris off the concrete and out in my yard.

Undercarriage: the undercarriage has black rustproof ripple spray that is exposed now that the red clay is gone. However there are plenty of areas that are just bare metal. Thus far I see only surface rust that can be treated with POR 15.

I wore coveralls, goggles, rubber boots and gloves. The rubber boots and gloves filled with water. Also I was washing with well water, and was surprised to find that I was actually shivering by the end because the water was so cold. I was totally soaked and glad to call it done. If you consider that you need to get out of your soaking wet clothes, get a shower, get dressed, empty the water out of the hoses, clean up the equipment, and return it to Home Depot, this becomes basically an all day job.

Passenger compartment had small leaks at front floor pans. Wiped up with rags. No leaks at rear floor pans or trunk. Surprised me.

Undercarriage pictures are basically organized rear to front

torque boxes look good

rear axle cleaned up nice too

left side rear subframe has been a problem for me with some cars, but not this one

also unexpected that emergency brake cables look tight

I guess the undercoating protected the car from the New Mexico red clay

 

[1970FuryConv]

Torsion bar rearview, trans crossmember looks nice

front view. Also check out how nice the front floor pans look. I like the border between the rustproof and the gold paint on the passenger side.

A couple areas to the outside of the front subframe that I would often see rust, but again found none except surface rust.

Dented passenger side rear floor pan.

Left rear

 

[1970FuryConv]

Front suspension and steering
upper control arms came out really nice. I wiped that water away

with a bent strut rod I was concerned about the right side control arm. It looks okay.

right side tie rod is bent, but otherwise the steering linkage looks okay. The right side tie rod may have hit the same thing that the rear floor pan bottomed on

 

[1970FuryConv]

Wheel Wells came out really nice too
Right rear

left rear

Front of left rear

rust holes at front of right rear

right front, perfect

left front, same

 

[1970FuryConv]

Engine compartment. Another really nice result

 

[1970FuryConv]

Dirt
I rented a Mi-T-M 2700 psi pressure washer from Home Depot Friday. Made in USA. It was $87 plus $12 insurance. I paid $150 down as deposit, as long as the machine is turned by 4:30 PM today, the charges are taken out of the $150 and the rest of $150 is credited back.

I also purchased a 50 foot hose, 5/8 inch, black commercial grade. I attached that to the hose from the spindle at the faucet at the side of the house. I attached the opposite end to the garden hose fitting on the pressure washer. The hose and gun for the pressure washer attach like an air compressor fitting. Turn water on and spray until all air out of the hoses.

Regardless of the directions, the controls for the pressure washer are on the front of the unit. Choke open is all the way left. Fuel on is all the way right. Full throttle is all the way left. When cold I started it with the choke half open, and the throttle just above minimum. As it warmed up, I opened the choke and slowly moved the throttle to full. Assistant was holding the trigger on the spray gun while I did this. I had a very powerful spray at full throttle.

Muddy river

 

[Davea Lux]

Dirt
I rented a Mi-T-M 2700 psi pressure washer from Home Depot Friday. Made in USA. It was $87 plus $12 insurance. I paid $150 down as deposit, as long as the machine is turned by 4:30 PM today, the charges are taken out of the $150 and the rest of $150 is credited back.

I also purchased a 50 foot hose, 5/8 inch, black commercial grade. I attached that to the hose from the spindle at the faucet at the side of the house. I attached the opposite end to the garden hose fitting on the pressure washer. The hose and gun for the pressure washer attach like an air compressor fitting. Turn water on and spray until all air out of the hoses.

Regardless of the directions, the controls for the pressure washer are on the front of the unit. Choke open is all the way left. Fuel on is all the way right. Full throttle is all the way left. When cold I started it with the choke half open, and the throttle just above minimum. As it warmed up, I opened the choke and slowly moved the throttle to full. Assistant was holding the trigger on the spray gun while I did this. I had a very powerful spray at full throttle.
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Muddy river
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Looking at the photo of the upper control arms, they still have the factory plugs instead of grease fittings which were usually added at the first service. Was this a low mileage car?

Dave

 

[1970FuryConv]

Looking at the photo of the upper control arms, they still have the factory plugs instead of grease fittings which were usually added at the first service. Was this a low mileage car?

Dave

Hi Dave,
the mileage on the car is 78,655 miles, according to the odometer. According to Dan's research, it was sold at auction as a demo at the end of the 1971 model gear. It has been off the road since at least 1978. This is again according to Dan's research, where he was able to track down the owner who bought it from a service station that was closing in 1978. The service station was somewhere in New Mexico. The story behind the car is supposedly somebody in Colorado cracked the original block. A 1968 383 was installed, so the car was kept on the road. Somehow the car went to New Mexico. Then a farmer bought the car. He beat on it on his farm, which I think was typical of farmers back in the day. The farmer died and left the car on the parking lot of the service station that was closing. This owner who bought the car in 1978, said that by New Mexico law he was able to get title. He never put the car on the road, but traded it to another owner, who never put it on the road, and then died. A Missouri dealer bought the car from the estate. Dan bought the car from the dealer and he never put it on the road. So the answer is 78,655 original miles and 6-7 years of use without a grease job. Ben

 

[thrashingcows]

Looking at the photo of the upper control arms, they still have the factory plugs instead of grease fittings which were usually added at the first service. Was this a low mileage car?

Dave

I have found more times then not that the grease nipple is just broken off, and not actually the plugs.

Looks great after all that pressure washing...I know how wet you can get that was why I suggested waiting for a nice warm day and just wearing safety glasses and a pair of shorts...;)

 

[1970FuryConv]

I have found more times then not that the grease nipple is just broken off, and not actually the plugs.

Looks great after all that pressure washing...I know how wet you can get that was why I suggested waiting for a nice warm day and just wearing safety glasses and a pair of shorts...;)

the temperature was in the upper 70s, low 80s. For you Canadians I figure that's pretty hot.

Actually the worst of it was being able to see. The splatter from 2700 psi pressure washer covered my goggles as soon as I wiped them off.

But then, for me, the job gets bigger the longer I wait to do it. I'm glad it's over with. And I'm really glad somehow that New Mexico red clay didn't rot out the bottom of my car. You'd think 44 years of caked on dirt would do something to the metal, but it didn't. Go figure.

 

[71FuryGC]

the temperature was in the upper 70s, low 80s. For you Canadians I figure that's pretty hot.

Actually the worst of it was being able to see. The splatter from 2700 psi pressure washer covered my goggles as soon as I wiped them off.

But then, for me, the job gets bigger the longer I wait to do it. I'm glad it's over with. And I'm really glad somehow that New Mexico red clay didn't rot out the bottom of my car. You'd think 44 years of caked on dirt would do something to the metal, but it didn't. Go figure.

I guess the red clay, once it had dried, almost acted like undercoat, sealing out oxygen
You had said a while ago that you didn't think Gary @Wollfen would be available for any rust repair on this GT. Did you find someone to lend a hand? I'm looking forward to watching your progress here
Carl

 

[fury fan]

1971 Fury GT gets Road wheels. 3 of the 4 tires hold air pretty good. The right front does not. Anyway the tires are all over 10 years old so they need to be replaced.

IMO, any project car wearing matching wheels/tires feeds the soul a bit, especially when they all hold air - but there's no sense putting on new tires just yet.

Take wheel/tire #4 to a tire shop and have them put a tube in it. Might need to source the tube yourself, or if you can break the bead you can tube it yourself with some effort.

Shouldn't cost more than $50 total?