General Information
I had finally had enough of the wiring problems and sensor issues in our 2001 Jeep Grand Cherokee in 2013. I had rebuilt the coil packs, changed out some sensors, and replaced every electric window motor at least once. The problems kept coming, so I talked to my wife about getting something I could easily work on. I asked her to find a Chrysler product she liked, somewhere between 1962 and 1979. After a couple of months of searching, she settled on the 65-66 Fury platform. I looked at a couple of running rust buckets, but nothing of any value.
One day, I was in the local Napa store, and mentioned what I was looking for . The owner said he had just crushed a '65 the year before, but thought one of the local farmers had one in his machine shed. I called the guy, and he confirmed he had a 1966 Fury III that his grandfather had purchased new. He said they parked it in 1996 when Grandpa went in the nursing home, and it had not been started since.
When I showed up, I found a red Fury, covered with bird excrement on the outside, and mouse excrement on the inside. It showed around 95,000 miles on the odometer. It was intact, but I knew it was going to be a pretty big job. My wife wanted that body style pretty bad, so I paid a little too much for it, and had it hauled home.
I was going to put an LA small block or a 383 in it, but I found a poly head forum, and soon I was ordering parts! The mice had gotten into the air cleaner, and urinated down the carb. That had frozen the #5 cylinder in place. I ended up boring .030 over, used some 9:1 pistons, moly rings, all Clevite bearings, double roller chain, and a Schneider Racing 258/258 cam with .462 lift. I gasket matched the intake to the heads, and kept the 2bbl manifold, but added a larger Holley carb to it. We had had the 727 rebuilt with a mild shift kit and new converter, and I put dual exhaust on it.
I have replaced the master cylinder, brake lines, brakes, fuel lines, sending unit, and fuel tank. I tried to save the carpet, but it smelled SOOO bad! I also put a new headliner in it. the seats are original, but that took a trememdous amount of cleaning and disinfecting. I put KYB shocks on, and a new idler arm. We added a stereo, Cragar Nomad rims, and a Grant steering wheel, because my little wife had to look between the top of the wheel and the dash to drive. If it could be replaced, I probably did it...
When we finally got around to paint, I had a buddy help with the body work. The night before we were ready to spray it red, She told me she hated the color, and wanted black. ARGHHH! Anyway, We prepped the trunk, engine bay, and door jambs, and put a coat of gloss black on.
At sea level, it used the 500 cfm Holley very well, and I found it would peg out the needle on the speedometer, and just keep going. When we moved back to Helena, MT, I had to switch to a Motorcraft 2150 conversion, now at 350cfm. I added an electronic ignition, and we are right at 20 mpg on the highway.
It has the original 2.93 gears, but I have a 3.31 open rear, and a 3.23 limited slip in my shop. Just waiting for some time...
One day, I was in the local Napa store, and mentioned what I was looking for . The owner said he had just crushed a '65 the year before, but thought one of the local farmers had one in his machine shed. I called the guy, and he confirmed he had a 1966 Fury III that his grandfather had purchased new. He said they parked it in 1996 when Grandpa went in the nursing home, and it had not been started since.
When I showed up, I found a red Fury, covered with bird excrement on the outside, and mouse excrement on the inside. It showed around 95,000 miles on the odometer. It was intact, but I knew it was going to be a pretty big job. My wife wanted that body style pretty bad, so I paid a little too much for it, and had it hauled home.
I was going to put an LA small block or a 383 in it, but I found a poly head forum, and soon I was ordering parts! The mice had gotten into the air cleaner, and urinated down the carb. That had frozen the #5 cylinder in place. I ended up boring .030 over, used some 9:1 pistons, moly rings, all Clevite bearings, double roller chain, and a Schneider Racing 258/258 cam with .462 lift. I gasket matched the intake to the heads, and kept the 2bbl manifold, but added a larger Holley carb to it. We had had the 727 rebuilt with a mild shift kit and new converter, and I put dual exhaust on it.
I have replaced the master cylinder, brake lines, brakes, fuel lines, sending unit, and fuel tank. I tried to save the carpet, but it smelled SOOO bad! I also put a new headliner in it. the seats are original, but that took a trememdous amount of cleaning and disinfecting. I put KYB shocks on, and a new idler arm. We added a stereo, Cragar Nomad rims, and a Grant steering wheel, because my little wife had to look between the top of the wheel and the dash to drive. If it could be replaced, I probably did it...
When we finally got around to paint, I had a buddy help with the body work. The night before we were ready to spray it red, She told me she hated the color, and wanted black. ARGHHH! Anyway, We prepped the trunk, engine bay, and door jambs, and put a coat of gloss black on.
At sea level, it used the 500 cfm Holley very well, and I found it would peg out the needle on the speedometer, and just keep going. When we moved back to Helena, MT, I had to switch to a Motorcraft 2150 conversion, now at 350cfm. I added an electronic ignition, and we are right at 20 mpg on the highway.
It has the original 2.93 gears, but I have a 3.31 open rear, and a 3.23 limited slip in my shop. Just waiting for some time...
