Long time lurker, finally taking the plunge and joining!

[GrumpyBadger]

Hey all,

basically everywhere I go by Grumpy Badger (kind of redundant I know )

I don't own a C-body MOPAR, yet. It's my goal here, to first find a good one and then contribute to the group with my work on that car.

I've been a fan of big MOPARs since first seeing "The Blues Brothers" as a kid. And honestly, my love of MOPAR started with them. When I was younger, I wore out three VHS cassettes of the movie thank God it's on DVD now.s_dancing2:

but, as far as MOPAR goes, I think I'm personally more of a Plymouth guy. I dunno, just seem to be drawn to the Furys, Barracudas, Dusters, Scamps and Valiants more I guess. In my pursuit of my bucketlist dream of owning a Plymouth MOPAR, it dawned on my the staggering price differences between a B-Body or E-Body versus the rest and yes, a 1971 'Cuda 426 HEMI Convertible is something special, it's just not my cup of tea.

I dunno, I've been a greasemonkey as long as I can remember. And I've been fast down the quarter, low 11s in a small-block stroker DART engined 1969 El Camino. Once we got her to grip she was crazy! Now, just owning a classic MOPAR, enjoying the drive, and having my friends with me sounds just about perfect. I'll enjoy taking her to the strip occasionally when the mood fits me, I'll also "race" her in Autocross too, just for kicks I bet I'll get a humorous response from people when I do.

So, I have a question though, and please forgive my noobness:
how bad exactly is the stock suspension? Not for autocross, or anything like that, but just for basic driving? I have some pretty serious hills around me, so it worries me a bit. My Elky had drums all-around when I first bought that car, and I can't really imagine a Fury being any better, minus maybe weight distribution.

I've found quite a few Furys for sale, some as far as 1,500 miles away. A lot of the ones I've found are all original, restored, clean cars. Basically, they have restored original parts, or have been replaced and updated very slightly.

This concerns me, because I'm wondering how long until I have to do the Firm Feel Supsension upgrade just to enjoy the car. I have about $7,000 spending room, which will get me a straight, fairly clean Fury which is perfect to start out. I'm just concerned about the brakes and such. The closest nice cars I've found to me, are in SoCal, and unfortunately seem to also have that "inflated SoCal because it's a 'SoCal car' price tag" as well...

anyway, it's good to be here. Thanks for any help you can offer!

 

[polara71]

Welcome to the group GB.

The stock suspension is no good for slalom turns and autocross BUT everyday driving, weekend driving, flat roads, hills, she'll be fine. A 45 year old car will likely need parts replaced like springs, shocks and perhaps joints but no need for upgrades unless you are expecting her to handle like a SRT.

 

[GrumpyBadger]

okay, that's a relief. Basically I've found three cars, fairly close, that are in that type of condition:
"mainly left it stock, rebuilt brakes (drums all around), rebuilt bushings in the suspension, rebuilt tranny, rebuilt engine, new carb, new distributor, new wires, new plugs, etc. Kept her mostly stock." And it just was concerning me about driving a boat like that... stock.

As a whole, I'm excited, and in a couple years the car would be perfect and a beast. I'm giving myself $500/month to work on her, so she'll be worked on quick if she's fairly clean to begin with.

any spots I should have them take pictures of to check for rust before making the drive out to check out the car in person? Any known areas to be warned about? I'm really interested in 65-68 Furys, preferably actually a four door too. Although I'd probably be quite happy with a fuselage 69-72 too lol

 

[mdh157]

So, I have a question though, and please forgive my noobness:
how bad exactly is the stock suspension? Not for autocross, or anything like that, but just for basic driving? I have some pretty serious hills around me, so it worries me a bit. My Elky had drums all-around when I first bought that car, and I can't really imagine a Fury being any better, minus maybe weight distribution.

This concerns me, because I'm wondering how long until I have to do the Firm Feel Supsension upgrade just to enjoy the car. I have about $7,000 spending room, which will get me a straight, fairly clean Fury which is perfect to start out. I'm just concerned about the brakes and such.

I think for basic driving the stock susp is just fine......brake-wise i much prefer front discs, not as grabby and no concerns about overheating. I wouldn't kill yourself worrying abt mods unless you plan to drive it quite a bit. And you are lucky to have the SoCal cars near you, the best base is a rust-free body, all else is easily correctable.

 

[commando1]

Welcome aboard GrumpyB.
Glad to have another C-body enthusiast.

Posted via Topify on Android

 

[detmatt]

Welcome to the site from the Motor City!

 

[53ryder]

Welcome GrumpyBadger!

I don't have a 'c' yet. Am working on it! I do have a '64 Valiant though. Looking forward to your next car progess pictures.



Glenn

 

[Clover]

Welcome! You will be quite pleasantly surprised when you drive your Fury.

 

[1978 NYB]

Welcome............ nice car.

That's my welcome regardless of what you have now or in the future.

GREAT group of guys here on FCBO.

Good luck on your search. I would like to see you driving a Formal. LOL!

 

[Stormer]

Welcome....

 

[GrumpyBadger]

so far,

the cars I've found have been fairly straight and good looking in the pictures. Most are 383 powered, 727 trans, 8 3/4 rear. All of which sounds good to me. My question is, what's a good price for one of these cars? I know plenty of BS when I see it, and that's not my concern. I'm worried about accidentally low-balling somebody that already has the car a good price.

I've found four cars close worth looking into via craigslist and that sort of thing. Along with four other cars elsewhere, including Detroit Michigan and Minnesota. Not going to lie, minus the fact it's in Minnesota, there's a 72 4-door with a 413 and looks super clean is really enticing.
http://lasvegas.craigslist.org/cto/4255039360.html
tricked me because it's on the las vegas craigslist lol

 

[Mr C]

Welcome! Chrysler Torsion bar suspensions resulted in the best handling large cars of the big 3. There are articles done by magazine such as Mopar action, where they took a 75 New Yorker Brougham, swapped larger torsion bars and sway bars and went road racing.

Link is here:

http://74monaco.com/74-monaco-websi.../2009-Oct mopar action - barge massage-1.html

 

[thrashingcows]

Welcome aboard!! I like your screen name...another angry animal like me...Grumpybadger, and Thrashingcows...I like it! Any story behind your screen name?

 

[GrumpyBadger]

Thanks for that link Mr C. Yeah, I'm really looking forward to my big C-body Fury :glasses7: I'm pretty sure Ellwood would be pretty happy with my ride choice s_dancing2: and it'll be very entertaining at local autocross events once I tune it up.

and yes, there's a funny story behind my nickname ThrasherCows lol.

Basically, after being in the US Coast Guard, I was about 10 years older than the "average freshman" at my University. I was taking an Anthropology class and there was an assignment about totems. The cool thing was that I had a good group of friends, including one Navajo that lived a couple doors down in my dorm room. We were all hanging out (they were playing my Forza3 while I was trying to do the assignment) and I was talking about how I thought my totem would be probably a bear.

Daniel (Navajo buddy) laughed out loud and went "Bear?!? Bear?! No way, more like a cynical, angry, grumpy badger!" and we all had a laugh and it stuck. I've been using it ever since pretty much anywhere I go ccasion14:

 

[AlleyOop2]

Welcome to the site!

 

[70bigblockdodge]

Welcome, I think I could be a grumpy something. Like Mr C said welcome to torsion bar front suspension, far better than the gm crap you are used to, low unsprung weight, the spring itself is sprung weight and mounted low, inboard, and rearward all helping c.g.. The rear leaf spring, while not the greatest suspension, in typical Chrysler engineering fashion is set up to both carry a load, handle power and help steer the car around a corner by having a almost ridged front segment and a long rear to handle the actual jounce and rebound. Don't get me started about gm's geometric exercise in how to bind the rear suspension up, because you have already been there trying to control a small block, whereas a spring rate modified stock a-body rear controlled the fastest super stock cars made, until just recently. Glad to see you're seeing the light. Okay I'm done now.

 

[Wollfen]

Hi Grumpy, i hope you find a car soon and you get to add a lot more to the entertaining value of these guys here ;) As for the Plymouth fury for sale you posted, i think its overpriced at $5500 for a four door, even if it was a coupe you would want to talk him down.

 

[70NPORT]

Yeah....it's waaaay over priced (72 Plymouth), a 413 w/440 heads in. 72' Fury, interesting. I guess there's a first time for everything. Oh, one other thing.....there's no such thing as an accidental low ball, lol. Good luck with your search.

 

[monaco75]

Welcome to the fun.. Maybe I missed it.. But is there a certain type of fury your lookimg for?

A slab ('65-68)
A fusey ('69-73)
Or formal ('74-78)

Or will any old fury do? The formals seem to have the best ride right out the gate IMHO

 

[GrumpyBadger]

Welcome to the fun.. Maybe I missed it.. But is there a certain type of fury your lookimg for?

A slab ('65-68)
A fusey ('69-73)
Or formal ('74-78)

Or will any old fury do? The formals seem to have the best ride right out the gate IMHO

never heard the terms like that before
I'm a fan of the "slabs" and "fuseys" the most. Yeah, that 72 basically had an RV 413 put in it, it was a 318 originally. Not a fan. I'm looking for something a wee bit more original and stock. I've found a couple slab Furys for sale around here, but man, they're all around 7K for the worst, up to 15K for some of the nicer ones. And yes, that red one everyone's made fun of here was one of the ones I found.

there's one that's fairly nice, and if I had the cash right now, I'd probably give him a call. It's a 1966 Plymouth Fury VIP, mostly all original. BUT, it's been shaved :rant:a VIP... shaved, and the interior doesn't look original but okay. Biggest problem is it's a shaved VIP in matte black (looks really straight), that can hide all sorts of issues, and he wants 9K for it...

so yeah just wanting a Fury. I think I'm more drawn to the vertical lights of the 65-66 slabs, but I'm a fan of pretty much all of them

as for "coming over to the light"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yv_E8eBbaOs

I've always been a fan of MOPAR... I blame my Pops... he convinced me MOPAR was too expensive growing up, so I went with a Chevy instead. To be honest, 15 years ago, MOPAR wasn't as easy as it is to work on now, will probably never have the awesome aftermarket availability of GM...
and my Dad is still all hurt for being a tard selling a 1969 Dodge Charger RT HEMI in 1975...