1965 pace car restoration

[TerryM]

Crazy weather here at present. We’ve gone from drought and severe bush fires which have burnt a huge amount of land here. Lots of lives lost and homes gone. Now we are getting hammered with rain. Some places have had yearly rainfall in a couple of days. Luckily we are high and dry and no issues but we have a cyclone heading our way in the next few days. Really feel for ppl in the affected areas.
onto the car, I finished tidying up the trunk today. Made a hold down bracket. I’m not sure what’s the factory correct setup. Hopefully someone will post some pics of an original trunk. Although mines not to original as I didn’t go with the fleck paint over everything. I also bolted on a few more brackets and bits today. And climbed underneath and touched up a couple of pieces of paint I missed When it was on the rotisserie. I found the original seat belts which are rusted badly, but I also have a few sets of Canadian 65 belts. Different buckle but they are in great condition so will pick a nice pair out

 

[Polara_500]

Hey Terry, this is what I think it should look like - reference pic from a 65 Polara.

 

[TerryM]

Hey Terry, this is what I think it should look like - reference pic from a 65 Polara.
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Thanks mate. Yep same as what mine originally had. Although I used a 66 pan and it had a flat square type hook. I never bothered to change them. I was curious about the jack base and whether it was used on top of the spare with a wing but like my 1960. So little pics floating around the internet of original layouts of trunks. Guess it’s just due to the lack of interest in the CBody cars I gather. Appreciate your reply. Wish my floor looked like that before I started. Is that your trunk? Kind Regards Terry

 

[Polara_500]

Sorry, misread what you were asking. Yes, that's the main reason I drove 3800 miles to buy it - the cleanest original trunk floor I'd ever seen.

 

[TerryM]

Sorry, misread what you were asking. Yes, that's the main reason I drove 3800 miles to buy it - the cleanest original trunk floor I'd ever seen.

Very cool. That’s quite a trip. I spent a few yrs looking for a good one that ended up being around a thousand mile trip to fetch. I had a perfect rust free sedan that I originally bought to use for the repairs to mine, but in the end I couldn’t cut it up as it was too nice. Looking back i regret it as it ended up costing me so much more chasing stuff

 

[TerryM]

I had a box of seatbelts in amongst a heap of stuff I got from Canada 6 years ago. My original ones are really rusty and I was going to go with a set of the Canadian ones with the blue buckles. But I found I had 2 left over belts from when I fitted seat belts to my 1960 dodge when my son was younger. Turns out they fit really well and the colour matches great too. I also had to make another new fuel line today. I went to fit the earth strap but the line was an inch short (story of my life lol). I also found my electrical gremlin. The nos ignition switch I bought was faulty. I found another original one in the box with the seatbelts. Put it in to try and now everything works great. I have a few more small things to sort before I start to save to get the engine and box done. If all goes to plan I’d like to have it on the rd for September.

 

[TerryM]

Not much progress in the last few weeks. I’ve been having a break while I get a bit more health stuff sorted. I did modify a Range Rover steering joint (cut it down by 7mm and countersink holes) and I also sandblasted and painted the correct heat shield I picked up from (Mike) Polara_500. I really appreciate the great help I’ve received on this page. I was going through some pics the other night from 6 yrs ago and noticed I had the correct heat shield on a spare column at some stage but I cannot remember where the columns ended up when we moved. I’ll need to unbolt the joint to fit the clip yet.

 

[TerryM]

Last couple of weeks I’ve finally got back into doing stuff on the Fury. Engine is finally in getting rebuilt and should be ready in 2 weeks. Transmission is about 3 weeks out. I’ve been buying bits and pieces here and there. Picked up some door edge protectors the other day. Most ppl don’t like them but I do. I’ve been restoring an old 1970 caravan over the last 6 month. Keeping myself busy in between medical stuff. It’s a crazy world out there at present.

 

[3175375]

Last couple of weeks I’ve finally got back into doing stuff on the Fury. Engine is finally in getting rebuilt and should be ready in 2 weeks. Transmission is about 3 weeks out. I’ve been buying bits and pieces here and there. Picked up some door edge protectors the other day. Most ppl don’t like them but I do. I’ve been restoring an old 1970 caravan over the last 6 month. Keeping myself busy in between medical stuff. It’s a crazy world out there at present.

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Incredible work! It reminds me of a guy who rebuilt / restored 64 1/2 Mustang Pace car. It had been rear ended and it now is a show winner. Your work is awesome!

 

[1970cat]

let's see the caravan too !

 

[TerryM]

let's see the caravan too !

This is the van Ive been building. Started with a bare frame. Pretty much everything has been remade. Finally registered it the other day

 

[TerryM]

Little bit of progress on my plymouth. The engine is back from the machine shop. Auto has also been fully rebuilt. I received a new transmission mount, shift cable and speedo cable from Steve at Imperial Services today. I also picked up a fully reconditioned 1965 carb from a mate of mine. Hopefully I’ll get some paint on things over the next few weeks then drop it into place. I need to get a few things like the pan gasket bolts zinc plated next week before final assembly

 

[TerryM]

I also picked up a 1959 Bell Boy Banshee boat as a future project

 

[mr. fix it]

This is the van Ive been building. Started with a bare frame. Pretty much everything has been remade. Finally registered it the other day

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WOW!

 

[Zymurgy]

Every time I seem to think about how things are going, you make a post. Nice to see progress.

Pretty certain there is nothing you can't do. Beautiful work on the van. Do you do this kind of work for a living?

 

[68PK21 440.6bbl]

I also found my electrical gremlin. The nos ignition switch I bought was faulty.

A little word to the wise, in my years in the repair business we would put defective parts into the new part box and save it whether it be for a warranty claim or there maybe some other little parts like clips, screws, collars, spacers, etc that would come in handy someday (?).
I can imagine someone finding a stash of fairly new looking parts and unknowing selling them off as NOS today. heh.


.

 

[TerryM]

A little word to the wise, in my years in the repair business we would put defective parts into the new part box and save it whether it be for a warranty claim or there maybe some other little parts like clips, screws, collars, spacers, etc that would come in handy someday (?).
I can imagine someone finding a stash of fairly new looking parts and unknowing selling them off as NOS today. heh.


.

Yeah I’ve struck that a bit over the years. Gauges are the worst. Chrysler dealers had a habit of putting the parts aside to do with warranty claims but they never ended up being sent back. Frank Mitchell told me years ago about how common it was with the old dealership stock he bought up.

 

[TerryM]

Every time I seem to think about how things are going, you make a post. Nice to see progress.

Pretty certain there is nothing you can't do. Beautiful work on the van. Do you do this kind of work for a living?

I’ve been restoring things on the side since I was 14. But my normal job is in the foundry casting business. Although I’ve been off work sick for the last 12 months.

 

[Zymurgy]

I’ve been restoring things on the side since I was 14. But my normal job is in the foundry casting business. Although I’ve been off work sick for the last 12 months.

Sorry hear you have been off work that long. My wife's grandfather worked at a foundry, it is hard work and it took its toll on his body. Glad to see you are still able to work on your beautiful restoration.

 

[TerryM]

Bit of colour on the motor today