1977 Plymouth Gran Fury

DJ76

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Hello everyone. I'm new here. So if I don't follow some informal rules or something, please bear with me.:)

I've bee looking for years for the 1977 Dodge Royal Monaco I drove throughout high school and college. She was a beauty. I admit to not fully appreciating her until I grew older. It was a 2-door hardtop 360. There were a lot of memories made in that car.

The search always ends with me being too late, the seller wanting $20K, or it's located in Yellowknife.

So I came across this 1977 Gran Fury today and thought, this is probably pretty darn close to the Royal Monaco. It looks to be in OK condition. It surely needs some upholstery work from the looks of it. It's located less than two hours drive away from me as well.

The sellers states the following "Gran Fury Plymouth, 165,000 miles, Automatic, White Exterior, Tan Interior, 2 Door, 360 (V8) engine, Solid Body, No dents, Owned since 1999, Runs, Low rumble purr, Telescoping steering wheel, Power seats and windows, Smooth ride."

They're asking $2K for this. I plan on making a trip to take her for a spin.

I'd humbly ask you experts here for your thoughts, concerns, advice...really anything you want to add. Thanks for reading and have a great day.

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This car appears to be priced in a realistic way and it appears rust free and solid. Be sure to check the frame rails and the bottom of the fenders and rear quarters for rust. Also check the area under the trunk mat. Find out what you can as far as what has been done to the car in the way of upkeep. At 165k if it still has the factory timing chain it is an accident waiting to happen as it is past due for replacement. Try the A/C to see if it still works as that is another expensive repair, not a deal killer unless you really need working A/C. This car does not appear to have been converted to R-134a. A big plus for this car is that it is that '77 360 engines do not have the lean burn system which will make it much more reliable. Start the engine and remove the oil filler cap to check for excessive blow by and check the oil on the transmission dipstick for a bad odor or or other evidences of burning as that is a early warning for a failing transmission. As with any car this age figure on having to do some work on it, usually brakes tires and hoses for starters.

Dave
 
I was interested in this beauty also. Don't get me wrong great car, would love to have it, but a couple of things did put me off.
From the seller when I messaged them. It's got 165,000 on the clock and never been touched. Possibly low compression in 2 cylinders. And no dash lights. (think they may of knocked lose a wire when under dash working.) Normal road rash on lowers, that didn't scare me I went to school for that.
At $2000 plus all that and the cost of having it delievered to Minnesota (would be nervous driving back 350+ miles one way) So I had to pass. Hope it will get a good home.
 
At $2k as long as the rust issues check out per other responders look good, seems like a good deal. Timing chain, water pump,valve seals, valve cover gaskets etc. Lots of cars need that and not crazy money. Could make a very nice driver. Good luck and let us know how it checks out!
 
That looks reasonable for the price unless you find something as noted by the other posters here.

That said, will you be happy with a Fury or would you rather keep holding out for the 77 Royal Monaco Coupe you initially set out after? The answer to that depends on what you want out of your c-body and something you’ll have to answer.
 
That looks reasonable for the price unless you find something as noted by the other posters here.

That said, will you be happy with a Fury or would you rather keep holding out for the 77 Royal Monaco Coupe you initially set out after? The answer to that depends on what you want out of your c-body and something you’ll have to answer.
I couldn't agree with @jason99 more. These c bodies are far and few but you never know when one will pop up. I think that's why I keep finding faults in other later cars I find since I let a 74 Monaco and 74 Fury III coupes slip out of my grasp. And always think if I get this one will "The One" surface next? Follow you own heart and instincts.
 
I've bee looking for years for the 1977 Dodge Royal Monaco I drove throughout high school and college. She was a beauty.

If I was in your situation and bought the Fury as nice as it may be knowing my luck the next month I would find the exact car I wanted in the first place for sale. Before I bought my 69 Fury I decided that is what I wanted and almost settled for a few nice 68 or so Fury's. But I kept looking and I am glad I did. I get the sense you may be just settling for something that will do or is close enough. Will that be good enough? If so consider the car, if not move on.
 
In one way or another, many of us might be "chasing old memories" as "happier times", of sorts. Of course, many of those happier times related to the cars we had "back then". How great they were and "I should never have gotten rid of THAT one!" comments.

I'd say that if you liked that Royal Monaco, then that's what you need to pursue. BUT also understand that while any other one you might find might not have "the feel" of the first one, for whatever reason. It might not run quite as well as you remembered, either, no matter what you do to it, by observation. End result, it might be more frustrating than you'd ever suspect.

Therefore, if you liked that Royal Monaco, cherish the memories made in it, but pursue another C-body so there will not be any direct comparisons you might make between "the first" and "the second" Royal Monaco. Let the memories of "the first" be "fond memories" and make new memories with your next C-body.

Who knows, check out the Gran Fury and you might discover "the family heritage" of these C-bodies exists in it AND you might end up liking it better. Won't know until you try, for what it's worth. Just don't try to make it be the same as your prior Dodge, for best results.

As mentioned, the bad thing about used cars is that you never know what's going to be available or WHEN! There were more Plymouths than Dodges sold, usually, so consider that, too. Just get the best one you can find for the price . . . no matter what. DO plan on spending some maintenance money, too. Look at the resale values, too, to gauge how much you can spend and not get into a "money pit" situation, for good measure.

Enjoy the hunt! Good luck!
CBODY67
 
For me, I started out looking for a 74 Monaco 4 door hardtop and now have a 74 Monaco coupe and a 74 Fury III sedan. In retrospect the 74 coupe was an ill advised, hasty purchase, but the Fury is fun. If I had thought and understood more about what I matter the most to me I may have found myself in a Royal Monaco, Newport, or New Yorker.
 
Thank you all so very much for your input. Once here I can't help but feel part of a family I've been missing. I suppose it's better late than never!

It's hard for me to believe that I bought my first one in 1994 for $500. It didn't run well at the auction I bought it at. Turns out it just needed a new fuel pump and it ran for 6 years after that. I traded it in for a 1990 Chrysler LeBaron. Bonehead maneuver. I'll never forget a call I received two months later from the Oklahoma State Patrol telling me to come get my car off of interstate. It seems whoever bought it went south and it was abandoned on I-35 south of OKC. According to their records, I still owned it.

At this point in my life anyway, I couldn't be happier. I'm married with three great kids and we're doing great with every other facet in life. Wanting the old Royal Monaco back would allow me to share it with the kids, show them what dad used to drive, what a land yacht is, how you can actually work on those cars yourself, and admittedly it would be awesome to just cruise around with the wife once in while in a vehicle that you don't see every day.

Patience will probably prevail here. I'm going to check this Gran Fury out in the mean time. Something tells me that I won't be happy with anything but the '77 Dodge Royal Monaco.

Again, thank you all so much!
 
Wanting the old Royal Monaco back would allow me to share it with the kids, show them what dad used to drive, what a land yacht is, how you can actually work on those cars yourself, and admittedly it would be awesome to just cruise around with the wife once in while in a vehicle that you don't see every day.

Patience will probably prevail here. I'm going to check this Gran Fury out in the mean time. Something tells me that I won't be happy with anything but the '77 Dodge Royal Monaco.
Memories don't transfer well to other people.

Don't expect your kids to revere the reliving of your old memories - they love you unconditionally, but don't expect them to fully love the car as part of you, or as part of your memories. For them, the car must stand on its own 2 feet - so buy the best-condition car you can, whatever car it might be. Might be a GF, might be a RM, might be a 68 Dodge 4dr hardtop. MAybe a nice clean 65 Bonneville pops up. Who knows?

Get what's best for today and the future, for making new memories.

Also, don't expect them to admire cars that you can repair yourself, because they are familiar with modern cars that usually soldier on with minimal attention. they won't get it.
 
I concur with fury fan on much of what was said. You CAN point out how much more colorful and stylish the older interiors were, even on lowly Plymouths, compared to what's available now. The size of the rear seat leg and shoulder/hip room (for their friends to come along too). The size of the trunk! For longer vacations or big Christmas shopping adventures. Just don't take them with you to the gas station! They might freak out at how many gallons of gas it will hold.

One of my associates in a GM forum told of the time he went to Home Depot to get some sheets of plywood. He drove his '85 Buick Estate Wagon. He went inside, purchased the plywood, and then the helpers rolled it out to load it into his vehicle. They asked what he was driving. He told them an '85 Buick station wagon. He said they looked at each other in amazement, thinking my friend was crazy or something. He went to get the wagon, pulled up, folded-down the 2nd seat, lowered the power tailgate window, then opened the tail gate. They then loaded the 4x8 plywood sheets into the load area, between the rear wheel wells. No problem. They'd never seen that done . . . as they expected him to be driving a pickup truck (as many Home Depot customers do. They learned something that day. Could be the same thing for any full-size wagon from Chrysler or Ford, too, back then. Although the Chrysler wagons would carry the weight better, by observation.

So, "sell" the car on its merits that THEY can understand . . . for best results. You CAN also demonstrate what "low end torque" is, in an appropriate situation. That it only needs THREE speeds in the automatic transmission, rather than 8, because of that.

Oh, and how smooooth the ride tends to be, too. And, if it's got a factory stereo, you can introduce them to "stereo channel separation", too!

Enjoy!
CBODY67
 
@DJ76 I saw this and it looks like it might fit the bill for what you started out looking for.

View attachment 306903

Thank you for the heads up jason99! I spoke with the seller and he indicated that it has the 400 4-barrel with the lean burn system still installed. Not sure if that's a deal breaker. I forgot to ask if it had been converted to R-134a as Davea Lux said to look for. Will post more later with more developments.
 
There are varied opinions on lean burn. Let me see if i can find a couple of the mega threads for you as I also had this question and learned a lot.
 
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