N8-96XJ's '65 Fury III build

[N8-96XJ]

Well... Never done a build thread before. So here goes. I picked up this 65 Fury III a couple months ago. 4 barrel 383. It's been sitting for two years. The guy i bought it from was going to get around to fixing it up but i talked him out of it! We hooked a battery to it and ran some gas thru it and she turned over and sounded healthy. The car had new two and a half exhaust from the manifolds back with Flowmasters. It seemed to be mostly all there and fairly solid. I knew i would be getting into quarter panel repair. And also knew of a transmission problem. No first or reverse... Here she is the day i got her. Lincoln spokes up front and all!

 

[N8-96XJ]

So with help from, and special thanks to my friend David, work has begun. I picked up some used tires to get her rolling around. Painted a set of 15" steelies Inferno Red. My buddy rebuilt the carb (i'm very new to older cars by the way). And we got her idling and running very smoothly. Runs like a sewing machine ha ha! I am very pleased with my 383. We investigated the transmission and found it to be extermely low on fluid. Hoping my lucky streak would continue we topped it off and got it moving, sort of... Maybe the bands just needed adjusted? Pulled the pan and WOW. What a mess. The fluid? was white? and had the consistency of maple syrup? I've never seen anything like it! It also smelled like gear oil? So... Well there's your problem right there! Guess the bands have been adjusted to their limit and well beyond!

 

[N8-96XJ]

And the search for a transmission began. Not just a 727 tho. I needed one with cables instead of linkages. Luckily my friends dad had one that came out of 60s limosine. Low miles and in good shape. Once i saw i would need a trans we decided to pull it and the motor at the same time. That way i could detail the motor and paint the engine compartment. I was surprised to find a somewhat recent rebuild had been done. Pulled the oil pan and valve covers and found what looked to be a new steel crank, new lifters and valve job. New water pump. Cool deal! I also got a Pertronix pointsless conversion. New plugs and wires, distributor cap and rotor. Here's the motor painted and ready to go back in.

 

[N8-96XJ]

And here is the car as it sits now. Still need to pull the bumpers and a few more chrome pieces. Then start the body work. The car is pretty straight aside from the rear quarters. We found quite a bit of bondo in them. I'm undecided on the paint right now tho. I'm torn between going back to the original white or a nice pearl white. I wish i had the money and patience to restore it to the way it rolled off the assembly line. But i also want to enjoy the car as a fun reliable driver. What do y'all think?

 

[N8-96XJ]

A few more pics.

 

[N8-96XJ]

And the interior. I'm going to redo the seats and door panels eventually... Everything on the car works, even the dash clock! I'm pleased with that as well!

 

[detmatt]

Good stuff, congrats on the kick off to the resto! Looks like it will be a fun one to follow. I like the white over red but if it were me and I was going to change the color, I would go with silver over red. Just my 2 cents.

 

[1978 NYB]

Looks like you are off to a great start. I would clean up and keep that old transmission for spare parts. Great job!

 

[70NPORT]

NICE score!.....good luck diving into it.

 

[1978 NYB]

And the interior. I'm going to redo the seats and door panels eventually... Everything on the car works, even the dash clock! I'm pleased with that as well!

Looks like the headliner is in perfect condition!

 

[N8-96XJ]

Good stuff, congrats on the kick off to the resto! Looks like it will be a fun one to follow. I like the white over red but if it were me and I was going to change the color, I would go with silver over red. Just my 2 cents.

Thanks! I do think silver would look really nice too. Deciding on paint has been a harder decision to make than i thought...

Looks like you are off to a great start. I would clean up and keep that old transmission for spare parts. Great job!

Thanks. And yeah we won't be getting rid of anything. As hard as some of these parts are to find!

NICE score!.....good luck diving into it.

Thank you very much.

Looks like the headliner is in perfect condition!

Yeah i got lucky with that. All the pieces are there too. Gonna clean and polish the interior chrome too.

 

[N8-96XJ]

A few more pics of work going on. Started repairing the rear quarters. Going to have to make a metal patch for the drivers side rear lower panel. Still have some more trim to remove along with bumpers, mirror and door handles. I believe i've decided to paint the car Pearl White. Did a paint test spot on the driver side front fender. I may go with a lil more pearl.

 

[1978 NYB]

Good progress! Keep us posted.

:sSig_goodjob:

 

[N8-96XJ]

Thanks, i will. It'll be slow going for awhile.

 

[N8-96XJ]

Hey y'all. Thought i'd chime back in, it's been 3 months. 3 months...?! Where does the time go?! Still pluggin away at the ol' Fury. Got the engine back in. And also the trans from the airport limo is in the car. She's alive and running smoothly as ever. Thanks to my buddies dad i now know what caused the last trans failure. Apparently '63 to '65 transmissions require a filter with two holes in them. One to allow fluid to get to the front bands, and one to allow fluid to the rear. The old trans had a newer filter with one hole and so the filter was blocking fluid from getting to the front, hence the burnt up and overly adjusted front band. Took a lil while to find the right filter, but i did. I'm grateful for his help and glad people have carried that kinda knowledge over the years! With the limo trans having a bit stouter tail section, i'm having to hunt for a driveshaft now. May end up having to have one made. But it is coming along... Since i was on here lurking i thought i'd update a lil! Will take my camera over this weekend and try to get some new pics.

 

[N8-96XJ]

Here's a few pics... more tomorrow.



Pulled the gas tank. Cleaning it and hunting a new sending unit and float.

 

[N8-96XJ]

So, i need some friendly advice... As far as my thoughts on pearl paint go, i'm out. Too expensive for one thing. Not correct for a '65 Plymouth for another. As far as my wheels go, they actually look good in red on the car in person... But, again, not correct for a '65 Plymouth. And they are truck wheels i believe... We are also workin on another friends truck that is being painted Inferno Red, thought "What the heck..." Had some extra paint... and so I have red wheels... At least they match, and i don't have the Lincoln wheels still on the front! And $40 raised white letters hold air and get me rolling around... So, long story short. What should i do? I don't wanna go to the "factory" 14"s with hubcaps. And i don't want the "factory correct" off-white/eggshell paint... Any suggestions? I honestly do appreciate any advice. Oh, I can get ahold of some "police" wheels and small dish hubcaps. Those may look good? But i don't really know... I also like the two-tone '65s i've seen. Thinkin maybe red to match the interior with a white top? Thanks all. I obviously need all the help i can get!

 

[detmatt]

I'll stick with my original suggestion of silver over red with black over red as a consideration. Don't overwhelm yourself by trying to pick rims and paint at the same time, paint it along with a set of steelies as long as you have them and make the final choice once you see it in color.

 

[commando1]

So, i need some friendly advice...
Any suggestions?

You like this? I do:

 

[1978 NYB]

It really looks great! I like it.