1965 Sports Fury - Rear Panel

[Mudeblue]

Getting the trim ready for my 1965 SF which I am restoring. I posted pictures of the side trim which I did with Engine Turning and now it is time to do the rear panel and I am not sure how to complete it.

The panel consists or 5 sections with the Middle containing the name "PLYMOUTH" which will remain as is, polished.
Starting at the top, there are 5 lateral panels;
First Panel = Curved/Beveled
Second Panel = Straight and Flat
Third Panel = PLYMOUTH
Fourth Panel = Straight and Flan
Fifth Panel = Curved/Beveled

I have looked at numerous videos and pictures on the internet including sales data and there does not seem to be consistency among them. They vary from: 1) First, Second, Fourth and Fifth are Anodized (which can be accomplished with the right paint); 2) Same as 1) but done with Engine Turn; 3) Second and Fourth are Anodized; 4) Same as 3) but done with Engine Turn. Been so long since this project got started that I am not sure how it was done originally.

I am not married to anyone of them but I don't know what is originally correct or if one really looks better than another. The Anodized looks more subdued or relaxed while the Engine Turn looks brighter which can be toned down by doing, say, just the Second and Fought Panel. So the question becomes, A) What is the original look and do I care and go with what might look the best or B) What is the recommended finish and which panels to complete! Suggestions/Recommendations:
Thanks

 

[Sixpactogo]

2nd and 4th were engine turned on Sport Fury. Painted Argent on Fury 111.
1st 3rd and 5th were polished with the PLYMOUTH letters in section 3 painted black.
The engine turned 2 and 4 were somehow turned on the panel itself while the side moldings got engine turned inserts. No idea if they did the engine turning before or after stamping. I had to use the engine turned tape on mine.

 

[Mudeblue]

2nd and 4th were engine turned on Sport Fury. Painted Argent on Fury 111.
1st 3rd and 5th were polished with the PLYMOUTH letters in section 3 painted black.
The engine turned 2 and 4 were somehow turned on the panel itself while the side moldings got engine turned inserts. No idea if they did the engine turning before or after stamping. I had to use the engine turned tape on mine.

Thanks. Got impatient, 104 O/S, and wanted something to do inside so I proceeded and did the 2nd and 4th. From what you stated, I did the right thing! Chalk one up for the home team!

 

[Sixpactogo]

Looks Great!
If it stays too hot outside, and if you need more practice, I have a couple panels that could use your expertise.

 

[413]

After all these years I’d like to see an emblem on a car that states “sports fury” or “sports satellite”

 

[Sixpactogo]

Probably never will. Plymouth could only afford One S

 

[Mudeblue]

Looks Great!
If it stays too hot outside, and if you need more practice, I have a couple panels that could use your expertise.

There is an axiom with regard to a project after you finish it; "if I ever have to do this again, I will know what not to do" and there is actually another one which states "don't worry, your the only one that knows where you screwed up!"

 

[fury fan]

@Mudeblue
Share some tips on how you did all of that?
How did you break thru the anodizing?
Brief overview of your polishing method? (I've gotten those chrome-like results on aluminum, but you may have some shortcut methods?)
Presumably the engine-turning is tape as @Sixpactogo mentioned. Where did you get it, how was the quality, how did you deal with the need for a seam at the 'apex' at the centerline of the panel?
Did you then clearcoat the whole thing or ???

 

[Mudeblue]

@Mudeblue
Share some tips on how you did all of that?
How did you break thru the anodizing?
Brief overview of your polishing method? (I've gotten those chrome-like results on aluminum, but you may have some shortcut methods?)
Presumably the engine-turning is tape as @Sixpactogo mentioned. Where did you get it, how was the quality, how did you deal with the need for a seam at the 'apex' at the centerline of the panel?
Did you then clearcoat the whole thing or ???

First, I had all the stainless polished and did not re—anodize. Second, I bought the engine turn on e-bay, paperstreetplastics, which was $22 for a 12”x10 feet. Third, measured and cut with an exacto knife. Fourth, attach to trim after washing in soap and water and wiping down with acetone. When applying, strip the backing on the vinyl in two to three sections so you get it on straight. After application, just smooth with a cloth.

With regard to the seam on the panel, no seam on the top portion but seam on the lower panel but because of lock, not that noticeable but one could always cover the seam with a smaller piece. I want to clean up around the lock because the hole in the panel is bigger than the lock, as original, but I want to attach a washer or grommet either painted or covered to improve upon what is original; should be a small task.

I did not put anything on the vinyl, clear coat or other. Still working on the car so I can’t comment on longevity. Worst case, I have to redo over time. I have a friend who had a similar product done professionally which has stood the test of time, several years in Arizona, and it still looks great.

In actuality, easy application; just patience.

 

[fury fan]

Thanks for the quick reply!

I was wondering on the polishing because those pieces are anodized aluminum (not stainless) and mine didn't polish well unless I sanded thru the anodizing down to the aluminum (which was time-consuming, so I stopped). Reportedly a specific type of oven cleaner takes anodizing off w/o harming the aluminum (typical oven cleaner attacks aluminum). But I haven't tried, my car is so far back-burner it's barely on the stove).

Over time the oxygen in the atmosphere will dull the polished aluminum - but I don't know how long it takes (anodizing lasts for years, of course). I 'restored' some wheels years ago but they were brushed, not polished. They stayed presentable for several years - polished might actually hold up better due to less surface area (vs a brushed finish), and easier to shine again with some aluminum polish. (at any rate, our cars are not exposed to bad elements like they were back then, sitting for a few hours on a padded roller-stool is perhaps a small pittance to maintain how fabulous your trim looks!).

I was unsure if the peak in the panel would require a seam - glad to hear it didn't, at least on the top. Yeah, I can see why you'd want something to go around the lock-hole.

I'm digging that shade of blue on your dashboard. Is that a factory color match with a Pacer? (Is your car a Pacer?)
BTW - That panel between grille and bumper is typically silver. No criticism that it's now white, except it's not going to be hiding anymore, I've seen other 65 Furys with this panel as body-color and it really stands out. (just a heads up in case that will bother you)

Fun-fact - a Fury III trunk panel has a subtle gray paint in the area where the SF's engine turning is. That's the only difference - and I mean 'the only'. Do you know what I'm referring to?

 

[Mudeblue]

Thanks for the quick reply!

I was wondering on the polishing because those pieces are anodized aluminum (not stainless) and mine didn't polish well unless I sanded thru the anodizing down to the aluminum (which was time-consuming, so I stopped). Reportedly a specific type of oven cleaner takes anodizing off w/o harming the aluminum (typical oven cleaner attacks aluminum). But I haven't tried, my car is so far back-burner it's barely on the stove).

Over time the oxygen in the atmosphere will dull the polished aluminum - but I don't know how long it takes (anodizing lasts for years, of course). I 'restored' some wheels years ago but they were brushed, not polished. They stayed presentable for several years - polished might actually hold up better due to less surface area (vs a brushed finish), and easier to shine again with some aluminum polish. (at any rate, our cars are not exposed to bad elements like they were back then, sitting for a few hours on a padded roller-stool is perhaps a small pittance to maintain how fabulous your trim looks!).

I was unsure if the peak in the panel would require a seam - glad to hear it didn't, at least on the top. Yeah, I can see why you'd want something to go around the lock-hole.

I'm digging that shade of blue on your dashboard. Is that a factory color match with a Pacer? (Is your car a Pacer?)
BTW - That panel between grille and bumper is typically silver. No criticism that it's now white, except it's not going to be hiding anymore, I've seen other 65 Furys with this panel as body-color and it really stands out. (just a heads up in case that will bother you)

Fun-fact - a Fury III trunk panel has a subtle gray paint in the area where the SF's engine turning is. That's the only difference - and I mean 'the only'. Do you know what I'm referring to?

My trim is stainless. If your's is aluminum, it should polish to the look of polished aluminum/chrome (see my engine photo; radiator is polished aluminum as is the the a/c compressor both of which look like chrome). As far as anodizing, mine was anodized before polishing but now is polished which I like better and yes I know, not original but I have only ever seen 2 other 65 SF's in the last 10+ years so who will know or care). I would suggest that you find someone to professionally polish your trim whether aluminum or stainless and save your body some wear and tear. I overpaid and later found out that I could have done it much cheaper with the same or better quality if I had shopped around via referrals. Since you said this is not on the front burner, you would seem to have the time.

With regard to "That panel between grille and bumper is typically silver" I beg to differ. I have getting parts off of two other 65 SF convertibles at a local salvage yard and both are white as was mine before restoration. In fact, I had to replace it because the person who originally had the car for restoration, nightmare, lost it. Typically I believe that part is the same as the body color of the car. I also have that to be true of Fury I- III's at salvage yards as well as on 66's. I did make a mistake by painting the Radiator Core Support white and I should have painted it black. I have seen that both ways; this I will be correcting by making black-doesn't look good when looking at the front of the care seeing through the grill and also since the headlight bezels have black on the faked "grill."

Regarding color of dash, light blue and factory original color which will be covered by a dash pad matching the upholstery. Color is per the color code/chart for that year and model called "light medium blue."

Pace Car? Based upon all that is written, that is one of the great mysteries. There where supposedly 35 "Official Pace Cars" and then reproductions. There is a question as to how many "reproductions were "built" (500, 1,200, 1,300, 1,500, 1,900, etc.). There is also arguments as to the engines on the "Pace Cars;" 426's, 318's and 383's. The best I have been able to determine is that only the "Pace Cars," original or reproductions, were white with the blue interiors and light blue tops which is identified on the fender tags. According to my fender tag, mine meets that criteria so yes, mine is a pace car. That is my story and I am sticking to it!

Any other questions, I will try to answer. I originally had a 65 SF hardtop, 383 with three on the floor; fast! I had to sell it in 69 when I got a letter which said "Greeting From the President of the United States!"

 

[Sixpactogo]

Not to start an argument but I have had my Sport Fury since 1985 and I agree the the bumper filler panel up front is painted body color on Sport Fury and Argent silver on Fury I, II, and III. I don't recall any that were different. There is not much stainless on a 65 Fury other than the top of the doors, windshield surround and window moldings as well as the seat back side moldings. The Grille, all side moldings, front and rear moldings are anodized aluminum. Also, I believe all radiator core supports were painted body color and were fogged with black paint behind the grille on all but black, dark blue and dark green cars. May have been some others as well. Some may say different but that has been my experience with these cars.

 

[Mudeblue]

Not to start an argument but I have had my Sport Fury since 1985 and I agree the the bumper filler panel up front is painted body color on Sport Fury and Argent silver on Fury I, II, and III. I don't recall any that were different. There is not much stainless on a 65 Fury other than the top of the doors, windshield surround and window moldings as well as the seat back side moldings. The Grille, all side moldings, front and rear moldings are anodized aluminum. Also, I believe all radiator core supports were painted body color and were fogged with black paint behind the grille on all but black, dark blue and dark green cars. May have been some others as well. Some may say different but that has been my experience with these cars.

Okay.

 

[fury fan]

FWIW, on the 'engines in pacecars' thing - I have some photo reprints I got from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway museum (got 4 different ones), these are pics from back at race time and/or from race day. While we cannot be certain what these pics are of, we do know they are real pics of cars that were at the Speedway at the time of the race.

The 2 pics on the left have a standard V8 emblem on the fender, so I believe a Poly 318 - so I take that car to be an 'publicity/promotional' car, used around the track but not for pace duty on the track. This car(s) also seems to have black interior, and the lettering location differs from the bottom-right photo. I presume the bottom-right car is closer to a 'real' pacer, as it has handles on top of the quarterpanels for parade duty (and it has Commando emblems). Interestingly, it has non-spinner, lesser-Fury wheelcovers???

I've always believed that cars that actually paced the race (or as backups to do so) were 426 wedges. 'Replicas' for sale generally seem to have 383-2 or 383-4.
But I've not watched them that closely in many years.

 

[fury fan]

Not to start an argument but I have had my Sport Fury since 1985 and I agree the the bumper filler panel up front is painted body color on Sport Fury and Argent silver on Fury I, II, and III. I don't recall any that were different. There is not much stainless on a 65 Fury other than the top of the doors, windshield surround and window moldings as well as the seat back side moldings. The Grille, all side moldings, front and rear moldings are anodized aluminum. Also, I believe all radiator core supports were painted body color and were fogged with black paint behind the grille on all but black, dark blue and dark green cars. May have been some others as well. Some may say different but that has been my experience with these cars.

Yeah, I didn't think there was any stainless except around the roof/glass (forgot about the seat trim).

I'm not wanting to argue either, I'm always open to learn something new, and today something I thought was true might not be.

My Sport's bumper filler panel is silver. I bought my car in 1992 and it had been neglected, someone did some half-*** red lacquer paint on some sections but rest of paint was poor-condition original (there's actually some red overspray on the panel). Based on the amount of general neglect on the car, I doubt that somebody painted the filler panel silver when there was so much more worthwhile work to be done? But it was 27 years old when I got it, could've had a fender-bender when it was near-new and a silver filler panel installed?

65 fury in Cars & Trucks for sale | eBay
So I looked at these cars on ebay, and 2 meet the Sports=body color/F1-3 are silver, the other 3 don't.
But at this point, these cars aren't known originals/accurate, and the black 4-speed car that is correct has some non-correctness elsewhere (steering wheel, seat covers).
The white one's pics aren't great to determine color, but it seems like it's not white (although the radiator 'belly pan' is white). Regardless, this car seems to have lots of amateur restoration on it.

Again, not to argue. For myself, I'll just need to file this as 'unconfirmed/inconclusive, keep an eye for new info'.
And wait for an original car to pop up.

 

[Sixpactogo]

Fun-fact - a Fury III trunk panel has a subtle gray paint in the area where the SF's engine turning is. That's the only difference - and I mean 'the only'. Do you know what I'm referring to?

Fury III had the argent silver paint in place of the engine turn of the Sport Fury. Also, Fury III got painted inserts in the side moldings in place of the engine turn.

 

[fury fan]

Fury III had the argent silver paint in place of the engine turn of the Sport Fury. Also, Fury III got painted inserts in the side moldings in place of the engine turn.

Put some paint stripper on that argent paint on an F3 trunk panel and you'll find engine-turning underneath it!

 

[fury1]

Just to add to the bumper filler panel discussion. The front filler panel on my unrestored 65 sport fury is silver. And so was the panels on another unrestored car that I sold. The car I sold is red and the car I have now is blue… either way it’s an interesting topic.

 

[Mudeblue]

Just to add to the bumper filler panel discussion. The front filler panel on my unrestored 65 sport fury is silver. And so was the panels on another unrestored car that I sold. The car I sold is red and the car I have now is blue… either way it’s an interesting topic.

Interesting! All three 65 SF convertibles I have take parts off of have had white filler panels along with the one that I have now had for 34 years and the HD I had way back when also had white but then all of them have been white. Go figure!.

 

[Sixpactogo]

Put some paint stripper on that argent paint on an F3 trunk panel and you'll find engine-turning underneath it!

I have three Fury III deck panels that say otherwise. If you have one it is because someone painted over a Sport Fury panel. Same with side moldings. I was hoping you were right though.