1966 Plymouth Fury III 318 help and guidance

[CaptainAddison]

Hi everyone!

As the title states I need some help. I recently purchased a 1966 Plymouth Fury III with a 318 in it, 3 speed auto car. For some backstory this car was previously a bit of a hot rod/rat rod. Whatever it took to get it rolling was done to it by the looks of it. The power steering at one point or another had a leak and that was JB welded back together. The AC was cut out most likely due to a leak that was probably causing it to leak either into the cabin or causing overheating issues I'd imagine based on what research I've done. The car was "painted" with what appears to be rattle-can primer overtop of the original gold color that has since worn off. (I've started to try and sand it some as you can see still trying to figure out exactly where I'm going with it) The exhaust was modified into some sort of side exit NASCAR style setup and the suspension seems to have had one of the leaf's removed to lower the car.

Despite all of this the body is mostly solid, a few dings here and there but not too much rust or bondo. The Keystone Klassic wheels seem to have been plasti-dipped? Which has caused them to rust underneath all of that a bit. (I did get new tires on them) The rear passenger glass was painted black, yes painted, not tinted. So I removed that with some acetone. The driver side rear glass was already removed from the car as the previous owner had started trying to do the same when he got too busy to continue the project himself. I still haven't been able to get it back in because the window mechanism seems to be broken.

It had a broken brake line when I purchased it which I re-flared and replaced. All things considered it is in surprisingly decent shape mechanically. I recently took it on a 5 hour round trip without much issue, it does have some leaks but nothing too concerning. Just about every gasket weeps and leaks, the transmission is a bit indecisive at times and I still don't trust it enough to go far without carrying every potential fluid it might need in the trunk and I usually stick to backroads incase I need to pull over.

You might be asking yourself why would anyone buy a car in this condition without much knowledge of this platform? Well my dad was somewhat recently diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and we've always talked about building an old hot rod together with my brother. Personally I've always been a big Mopar fan and classic Chargers/Challengers are just too far out of my price range and I honestly wanted something a bit more unique anyways. I just happened to be the one in the family that had a little bit of wiggle room to make the purchase and surprise them with it when this came across my marketplace feed. Now I'm trying to decide where to go with it and am looking for ideas. I do have some experience with classics but most of my experience is with more modern cars.

If anyone has recommendations for converting this car to a front disc brake setup or full disc brake setup and how to go about doing so, what and where to get parts? If not where might be a good place to source drum brake parts? I've checked a handful of places I'm familiar with but can't seem to find the exact right size brakes and don't want to just slap something loosely on there.

I've started to look into replacing the rear end to swap over to disc or maybe just convert the front to disc, but again am not sure what the best method might be.

Beyond this none of the gauges seem to work on the dash, I can't tell if the car is at temp or not but have been able to take it on longer drives by keeping a close eye on things since I'm fairly mechanically inclined. The oil light does work and I'd like to get some aftermarket gauges hooked up soon. I've checked fuses but that doesn't seem to be the issue. The speedometer might work if the needle was still there (I've been using GPS for now). The gas gauge not working is an issue, I've only run out of gas once so far but I'd like to get that working sooner rather than later. I'm also looking into switching to a 4bbl carb setup.

I will need to get the driver side rear glass back into the car at some point. Problem being the mechanism that holds that glass and other pins that hold the driver window in place seem to be broken so I'm also looking for places or recommendations for those parts as well.

Regardless of what route we end up going with the car I plan to try and do my best documenting the process and may even upload it online for anyone interested to check it out and show support.

Luckily the car has pretty much all of the trim, and I don't think we're going to be going for a full restoration all things considered. We aren't sure how long my dad will be able to drive and just want to be sure it's safe and he's able to enjoy it and maybe take it to a few local shows as a hot rod in the meantime while we're able. So any advice or guidance is welcome.

If his health holds up and we make some good progress on the car and things take off with it we might even start to take a more aggressive approach with the build. Given the drivetrain that's in it I doubt it would be up for anything too crazy but there are a few local drag strips that we might eventually consider taking it to. Possibly some road trips in the future to other locations or tracks as well. Given that potential if swapping to disc brakes and changing the rear end would be a better option which rear ends have other had success with? We're on a limited budget for now but in the future might invest more in the project and just want to know what the options might be and I'm always on marketplace looking for parts, engines, etc. for future plans for this car. That being said I don't want to do the typical LS swap or anything, I want to keep it as classic Mopar as possible with some modern touches but as I understand it C Body cars didn't have as much aftermarket support as other platforms so I'm out of my element.

My thoughts are fix the brakes first, get the suspensions fixed and tightened up, get working gauges and then seal the car up and start considering performance upgrades as I work on the appearance and cleaning it up along the way. We have a limited budget so it will most likely continue to be a bit of a rat rod as we work on it but so far we've had a great time with this old Mopar.

Again any advice or guidance is welcome.

Thank you all,

 

[CBODY67]

One project leads to another. I definitely hope your Father has a great quality of life in his advancing years!

Looks like the basic "bones" are still good, in spite of what was done by the prior owner. I'm hoping you have the bulk of parts needed to put things back together, too.

Rather than sanding the paint, you can get a gallon of automotive paint stripper and some large pieces of cardboard boxes/shipping materials, with some plastic squeegees, to strip one panel at a time. Much quicker and no dust! Perhaps Eastwood has some products you might use in your refinish activities.

The Poly318 is a good engine. Finding a 4bbl intake for one might be a trick, though, all things considered. But an electronic ignition conversion kit (as Pertronix or similar) could be a good thing. Adding a 2.25" dual exhaust, too, but using the factory exh manifolds.

The drum brakes were plenty adequate, but Chrysler unlike GM, used different width of drums/shoes for the larger engines and the police vehicles. Which can further complicate things as to replacement parts. @mobileparts can advise in this area.

Disc brakes? Wilwood and AAG might provide upgrades to aftermarket disc brake kits for front and/or rear. Which will also need upgrades to the master cyl (dual circuit, which can be needed anyway) AND possible to a dual-diaphram power brake booster.

Firm Feel, Steer & Gear, and Borgeson can provide upgraded power steering gears and possibly related power steering pump upgrades. Do NOT forget about the steering column "adapter" at the base of the steering column, either!

I'm suspecting the car did not originally have a front sway bar on it from the factory, so you can start scouring the salvage yards for similar Plymouths/Dodges and Chryslers for one. Should be a golt-on situation, maybe some brackets, generally.

You can go into the Library at www.hamtramck-historical.com (might have to manually input that address) to look at the factory Dealer Order Guides for options and Color and Trim Guides for paint codes and interior/seat options, standard features, etc. www.mymopar.com (might need to manually input that address, too) for factory service manuals, Chrysler factory parts manuals, and the Chrysler MasterTech training videos.

As to the factory brakes, it looks like your' are appropriate for the 318 cars. IF it had had a 383, they would be wider shoes and drums. Just a stock rebuild might serve well until the conversion to discs might happen. Key thing is the width of the shoes, which also relates to the drum widths, too. Upgrading to wider shoes will take a complete replication as such will require not only the wider shoes, but wider drums and backing plates to compensate for the wider shoes. ALL bolt-on deals, as a complete assy, but the factory parts are becoming more "unobtainium" as time progresses, in general.

Upgrading to the OEM factory front disc brake set-up can be good, but will also suffer the same fate as the drum brake consumables. Which then makes the aftermarket kits a better, long-term situation, to me. As much as I like OEM-level stuff, there might need to be extra efforts expended to do that.

Scarebird looked like a good deal, for power disc brake upgrades, as you then went to the local auto supply and ordered new/reman parts from his parts lists. BUT 10 years later, the parts lists ahd changed as the parts suppliers had ceased to keep providing the older parts, so new lists wree needed. Which then makes the Wilwood and AAG kits the better deals.

I wish you well on this project! I wish your Father to have a great quality of life, too!

CBODY67

 

[CaptainAddison]

One project leads to another. I definitely hope your Father has a great quality of life in his advancing years!

Looks like the basic "bones" are still good, in spite of what was done by the prior owner. I'm hoping you have the bulk of parts needed to put things back together, too.

Rather than sanding the paint, you can get a gallon of automotive paint stripper and some large pieces of cardboard boxes/shipping materials, with some plastic squeegees, to strip one panel at a time. Much quicker and no dust! Perhaps Eastwood has some products you might use in your refinish activities.

The Poly318 is a good engine. Finding a 4bbl intake for one might be a trick, though, all things considered. But an electronic ignition conversion kit (as Pertronix or similar) could be a good thing. Adding a 2.25" dual exhaust, too, but using the factory exh manifolds.

The drum brakes were plenty adequate, but Chrysler unlike GM, used different width of drums/shoes for the larger engines and the police vehicles. Which can further complicate things as to replacement parts. @mobileparts can advise in this area.

Disc brakes? Wilwood and AAG might provide upgrades to aftermarket disc brake kits for front and/or rear. Which will also need upgrades to the master cyl (dual circuit, which can be needed anyway) AND possible to a dual-diaphram power brake booster.

Firm Feel, Steer & Gear, and Borgeson can provide upgraded power steering gears and possibly related power steering pump upgrades. Do NOT forget about the steering column "adapter" at the base of the steering column, either!

I'm suspecting the car did not originally have a front sway bar on it from the factory, so you can start scouring the salvage yards for similar Plymouths/Dodges and Chryslers for one. Should be a golt-on situation, maybe some brackets, generally.

You can go into the Library at www.hamtramck-historical.com (might have to manually input that address) to look at the factory Dealer Order Guides for options and Color and Trim Guides for paint codes and interior/seat options, standard features, etc. www.mymopar.com (might need to manually input that address, too) for factory service manuals, Chrysler factory parts manuals, and the Chrysler MasterTech training videos.

As to the factory brakes, it looks like your' are appropriate for the 318 cars. IF it had had a 383, they would be wider shoes and drums. Just a stock rebuild might serve well until the conversion to discs might happen. Key thing is the width of the shoes, which also relates to the drum widths, too. Upgrading to wider shoes will take a complete replication as such will require not only the wider shoes, but wider drums and backing plates to compensate for the wider shoes. ALL bolt-on deals, as a complete assy, but the factory parts are becoming more "unobtainium" as time progresses, in general.

Upgrading to the OEM factory front disc brake set-up can be good, but will also suffer the same fate as the drum brake consumables. Which then makes the aftermarket kits a better, long-term situation, to me. As much as I like OEM-level stuff, there might need to be extra efforts expended to do that.

Scarebird looked like a good deal, for power disc brake upgrades, as you then went to the local auto supply and ordered new/reman parts from his parts lists. BUT 10 years later, the parts lists ahd changed as the parts suppliers had ceased to keep providing the older parts, so new lists wree needed. Which then makes the Wilwood and AAG kits the better deals.

I wish you well on this project! I wish your Father to have a great quality of life, too!

CBODY67

Thank you for all the details and kind words!

We're looking forward to diving into this project and being a part of the community.

Looks like I've got some homework to do!