1970 Plymouth Fury Convertible build

[Zephyr]

Right, then, here we go. I'm going to try to get this old barge back on the road. I'm planning to farm out more work than usual as I'm kind of busy with other projects at the moment. But, I'm in the UK and these cars are kind of rare over here, so I'll be needing plenty of advice as we go along.

Here's the starting point. I should mention at this point that I've not started this thread straight away, so these photos we taken about 6 weeks ago. I'll get caught up soon enough.

So, it's a 1970 Plymouth Fury III Convertible with 318 in it. Ran and drove just fine when it was parked (no, seriously). The windshield was cracked and a new one was bought. Removal of the old one showed some rust holes in the cowl near the bottom of the A posts, so the car was parked until the holes could be replaced. Eight years passed. Then I bought it.

I took these on the day we pulled it out of the field in the middle of February.

Engine is seized, there's moss growing on the carpet and the trunk floor is shot. But, the car is complete and the brakes work - a new personal best for me!

Wish me luck, I already know I'm going to need it.

 

[sauterd]

Right, then, here we go. I'm going to try to get this old barge back on the road. I'm planning to farm out more work than usual as I'm kind of busy with other projects at the moment. But, I'm in the UK and these cars are kind of rare over here, so I'll be needing plenty of advice as we go along.

Here's the starting point. I should mention at this point that I've not started this thread straight away, so these photos we taken about 6 weeks ago. I'll get caught up soon enough.

So, it's a 1970 Plymouth Fury III Convertible with 318 in it. Ran and drove just fine when it was parked (no, seriously). The windshield was cracked and a new one was bought. Removal of the old one showed some rust holes in the cowl near the bottom of the A posts, so the car was parked until the holes could be replaced. Eight years passed. Then I bought it.

I took these on the day we pulled it out of the field in the middle of February.
View attachment 74861 View attachment 74862 View attachment 74863

Engine is seized, there's moss growing on the carpet and the trunk floor is shot. But, the car is complete and the brakes work - a new personal best for me!

Wish me luck, I already know I'm going to need it.

thanks for saving her, looking great. good luck with the project.

Dale

 

[Carmine]

Parking it with no windshield was pretty sound logic if you're concerned about a small amount of rust in the glass channel. Can't trap moisture there if it's exposed!

So much for sending cars to Europe where they're more appreciated, lol!

Good luck with your project!

 

[Samplingman]

Welcome, nice car! Looks pretty straight and a decent starting point. Seven years and mine still doesn't have a windshield either, so don't feel bad about it. Looking forward to seeing the progress.

 

[Wollfen]

Hi Zephyr welcome, I just stripped out a red one of these here and have most of the parts still, so if you need anything let me know. I may be able to help, cheers,
Gary

 

[67-Fury]

even in that State, She is still Beautiful. A true Testament to Mopars Eternal Styling.

 

[Fury440]

Looks like a good project car, not much visible rust, although I'm sure you will find lots. LOL Will be interesting to follow your progress.

 

[Rwc]

Welcome to the 70 fury vert club. Cant wait to see the progress. As Wolfen, I too have a few duplicate ate parts if you need something will be glad to share

 

[commando1]

I'm glad it was over there.
Here, everybody would have called it a parts car.
Except for one 80 YO guy who you can trust to chime in with, "I've seen worse".

 

[furyfinn]

Good luck with your project!

I'm not that 80 years old guy Stan talked about, but I have seen a lot, lot worse... And I have seen with my own eyes how that worse one has been forced into a beauty (not by me, though).

BTW, there's a shop in Finland which manufactures wind shields for old cars... They even might have one in stock. I've bought couple of shields from them, items are very good quality and not even as pricey as you may think!

 

[detmatt]

Welcome to the site from the Motor City! I think he already has a windshield. Nice project, thanks for saving it.

 

[furyfinn]

a new one was bought

How did I miss that? Thanks Matt, I must buy new reading glasses... LOL

 

[fc7_plumcrazy]

Hi,

good luck with the restoration.
You will have some work with the quarters as there seems to be quiet a bit of bondo in them (bodylines are soft).

Why did the previous owner let it sit outside?
That is really uncommon in Europe.
Well, maybe despite England. Had a friend who parked his 68 Charger RT outside year round, too.

Carsten

 

[Zephyr]

Chaps, that's a great welcome to your forum, thank you.

So, without doing individual replies, thanks to those offering parts. So far I don't think I need anything. No wait, that's wrong. So far I don't know what I need. Apart from a Fury Sport style hide-away grille!

Why was the car left outside? I think it was one of those things where there are the best intentions to fix a car, but time rushes by and before you know it, it's been 8 years. Plus, these beasts don't fit into European garages.

And the car comes with the replacement windshield. It cost £500 8 years ago. I'm going to be very, very careful with it.

I should probably set some expectations here: I want this to be a driver to start with. Safe and solid where it needs to be, but this won't be a nut and bolt resto this time around. (Remind me of that later if things look like I'm heading that way!)

So. I found a photo of the rust that caused the car to be parked.

I know the guy that owned it. He's a good guy. I've wanted the car for a long time. He didn't want to sell, but I think he figured it was the best thing for the car.

So I have a couple of buddies, one welds for a living and the other does bodywork and paint. I took it straight to them. Both are VWists so the scale of the car made an impression.

Anyway, no time was wasted stripping the front fenders so we could see how far the rust extends.

And...it wasn't too bad. The first photo pretty much showed the worst of it (kind of!) The rockers and a-posts are solid. Trunk floor is shot, but the cabin (that the right word?) floor was fine other than the driver's foot well and a couple of little patches. It had been patched before. The quarter panel had been patched too, between the door and the rear wheel. It could have been done better, but won't be a problem just yet.

And the process turned up a new rear view mirror ornament:

Bodes well for C-body ownership!

 

[Zephyr]

And thanks to everyone for the words of encouragement.

 

[Polara_500]

Now just to find the one who left you the ornament - to see if their return is desired, of course.

 

[Fury440]

Places where hidden rust most likely hides on your 70 vert

- Folded seams at the back of the hood and trunk lids.
- Folded seam on the lower rear lip on the trunk lid.
- In the trunk down between the edge of the floor and the inside of the quarter panel.
- rear quarters all around the wheel opening lip.
- bottom of front fenders under the A-pillar.
- between the roof fabric and the steel header that clamps to the top of the windshield.
- at the front of the front clip, usually on the sides facing out.

At least that's where mine was hidden.

If you look on my site at the photos starting at "Our Attempt" there is photo showing the front clip rust. Keep in mind, my car was heavily coated with Ziebart so the rust was a lot less than for most 70 cars from the rust belt.

 

[Zephyr]

Bill, thanks for the rust tips. I've already had a good long look at your website. Inspirational!

 

[Zephyr]

The engine is seized. It's had a while with diesel poured down the bores and it's still seized. I want this car to be dependable when it's done, so I'm going to pull the engine and have it rebuilt. That means there will be a load of parts to store somewhere, so that selected the first place for restoration: the trunk.

I knew the floor was bad when I looked at the car in the field. It still looked bad when it was back at the barn.

So my welder buddy, Swamp, cut it all out.

After Swamp posed for a photo with his handy work:

He got straight into making some new panels. 3 seemed the best way:

Now, if I lived on the other side of the pond, I'd probably have just bought a floor. Can't imagine how much it would cost to ship something this big and I'm on a budget. More than happy with the results. If you're in the UK and need some welding, I can recommend Swamp.

Basically, the supports and panels were screwed together then every other screw removed and a weld done in its place. Then the seems were welded. Didn't get a photo of the finished thing, before it got filled with engine parts.

Here's the hole left in the engine bay:

Having the front fenders off helped, but that's a tiny engine in a big engine bay. One of the easiest I've ever pulled. Broke one exhaust stud and it turned on one exhaust manifold had broken - it left an 'ear' stuck to the head. I believe they can be welded, so not too stressed yet.

The front driver's side tire was flat, so I figured I'd put the spare on. Took a like while to realize they use left handed threads on that side.

And whose idea was it to put the hard to get at driver's side engine mount bolt in from the back??

 

[Zephyr]

Final couple of photos for tonight. This scares me a little, if I'm honest:

Was talking to another friend at our local hot rod meet and he remembers the car from back in the 80's. Even dug out a photo of it: