S23 plague project

[Whiskytango]

I dragged this S23 home from the farm this fall to have something to do during lockdown. My project i was working on was stalled when they closed US border, stranding all my parts in Montana that i need to finish. I gather not too many of these S23 were made. I also used 2 parts cars ,a 69 VIP and a 71 fury 1 ex RCMP car once I found out almost no support from aftermarket for parts. I have replaced the rear floor, trunk and patched the rear quarters.

 

[65sporty]

More pic's please of this project please

 

[Whiskytango]

So first thing was drivetrain. I was hoping to use the original 383 which was seized up. I pulled the heads and saw why. Bent push rods, wrecked timing chain and valves had kissed pistons.

 

[Whiskytango]

Motor was original but tranny had been changed out at some point. Took the 727 apart and nothing left of forward clutch pack and reverse band and drum were toast.

 

[Whiskytango]

So plan A not working out with getting original drive train working. I guess between the engine and tranny both wrecked

is maybe why it avoided demo derby. Last plated in 1984. So plan B brings in first parts car. 1969 VIP that i would use its drivetrain from .383 high horsepower and heavy duty tranny.

 

[cuda hunter]

Sweet car! I'll be following along.

 

[Whiskytango]

After taking the heads off the 69 383 it was apparent that it would need some attention as well. So much for plan B. So my options were to rebuild original 383, rebuild 383 from 69 VIP or rebuild a 440 from a 72 newyorker I have had forever. Cost to rebuild would be similiar either way so 440 it is.

 

[Whiskytango]

So I finished stripping the parts I needed off the 69. I took the engine and tranny, as well as rear floors and trunk drop downs. No matter how hard I try , I can’t make my yard in the city into an acreage so off to recyclers

for 69 VIP

 

[Whiskytango]

Tore down the heavy duty tranny from the 69. Those 727 trannys are tough. Seals were still good and fibres hardly wore. Cleaned it up, put new seals, sealing rings, fibres and front band and its ready to go.

 

[Whiskytango]

So now that I have a plan for drivetrain I start on rust issues. Not the worse I’ve seen on 50 year old car. Typical trunk and drop down rust and rear wheels. Worse was under the rear seat. Mice had jam packed rapeseed under the seat. I’m not a chemist but rapeseed and mouse piss must turn into some kind of acid. The floor was gone as well as the rear seat frame rail and springs. Surprisingly the build sheet was in pretty decent shape. I met up with a great guy goes by Welder Guy on this forum. He gave me a great deal on road wheels and gave me a new seat bottom from his parts stash. Great guy. So needless to say needs a new interior. Ordered new headliner and original black and charcoal vinyl from SMS and everything came by Christmas. Took seats to upholsterer and waiting for his call. Here is tag and build sheet.

 

[Marv]

you scored a very rare and desirable car being a 70 Sport Fury with the S23 package.
ER6 is a pretty rare and desirable color together with TX9 black interior.
plus no vinyl top which is an upside for many folks.

Home For 1970-71 Plymouth Sport Fury GT & S/23 is the website that´s hosted by member @billyfury if I´m not mistaken
You might consider registering your car there, front page states 689 S23 built with 14 listed in the registry.

To me the 70 SportFury is the most desirable car ever built just by the look and there are several members here thinking
same way. Therefore I really appreciate the car was rescued and getting rebuilt by a guy who seems to value the original appearance
and is also capable the to do the mechanic things the right way.

Keep the good work up and also keep us updated with your progress. You´ll find many people here being happy to assist with
sourcing parts that are rare, especially when it comes to finishing later on with correct trim etc. On this site is also a member who
reproduces correct GT / S23 strobe stripes!

Cheers, Marv

 

[FURYGT]

You scored a great car. Many of the S/23's were 318 cars. Is yours a 383- 2 bbl or a 383 4bbl car? 383 4 bbl cars are scarce as the majority produced were 318 & 383 2 bbl cars. Good luck with the restoration.

 

[Marv]

You scored a great car. Many of the S/23's were 318 cars. Is yours a 383- 2 bbl or a 383 4bbl car? 383 4 bbl cars are scarce as the majority produced were 318 & 383 2 bbl cars. Good luck with the restoration.

E61 -> 383-2
383-4 would have been E63

 

[Whiskytango]

Thanks for the kind words of encouragement Marv and also for answering Fury Gt question. I didnt realize it was a rare car. I don’t know a lot of its history but will ask the fellow I got it from what he knows. I have set aside the original block and anything else of importance I will remove for any future owner that would want to do a proper restoration of it. I hate to admit it here on this forum that my knowledge of c bodies was in my younger years when they were just a seemingly endless supply of cheap big block motors to replace the ones we thrashed in our charger, superbees road runners etc.No one even knew what matching numbers was or cared back then. This S 23 was ordered with a 276? Suregrip, tilt with rimblow, rear defogger and am/ 8 track. You sure could order a number or random options back then to create unique automobiles.

 

[Whiskytango]

So to address my need for some replacement panels for rust repair and realizing not much available aftermarket, I bought an old RCMP cruiser to use. Had about 90+ thousand miles and plate on it was 1975, so used for 4 years then sold at auction.

 

[Whiskytango]

It was about as plain as you could order. Standard steering and brakes. The only options I could see were 318 2 barrel, automatic, rear window defog and remote driver mirror. It had all the heavy duty stuff: 26 inch rad, big brakes, 6 leaf rear springs, double pully alternator and 140 speedometer. It also was missing any holes in roof for ligh t bar and had a zipper in headliner where dome light should have been and a round light up by rear view mirror.

 

[Whiskytango]

 

[71Polara383]

You cant part that police rig!

 

[65sporty]

Glad to see your going to set aside the original block even though your not using it. I figured your were going to get some flack about the police car going under the knife.

 

[Whiskytango]

Yes my preference would be to source replacement quarters, trunk, floors etc. but no luck with c bodies. Would be a lot easier and quicker than removing, repairing and replacing old metal.