1968 Plymouth Fury Texas Highway Patrol

[SIPLOWGUY]

Hi ZedR...just wanted to say I enjoyed reading this thread, please keep it going as work progresses. I am working on (well, haven't actually started yet) a '68 Polara Nevada HP car. Your info on the hubcaps and the special wheels with clips was great info, I'll need a set of those!

I love seeing the vintage cop car photos!

The hubcaps were Police specific. I found the 55-56 MOPAR wheels are correct and considering Chrysler went to 14" wheels in 57 my thoughts are that was the 15" wheel used up to 1968. I got 5 wheels from a 56 Desoto to use on my 62 Dodge RMP. I found DCM Classics LLC reproduces the clip. The P/N is WC-541.

 

[SIPLOWGUY]

BTW ZedR, the 68 is coming along great!

 

[ZedR]

Got distracted with the polara, but I finally got everything mounted up to get the engine running again...and after I thought about it, of course I'm not restoring this as a Florida car...how could I?

Anyway, I need a set of rear door locking mechanisms - finally got these torn off, but they are not save-able. Engine video coming as soon as the rain stops!

 

[m38jeepman]

Great car! These old pursuit cars are hard to find now. I had a chance to buy a 68 polara Nevada Highway Patrol car but I didn't and regret it now. I do have a 67 belvedere 1 Kansas Highway Patrol car, but it is rough.

 

[ZedR]

this fury has the HD fleet wiring, with the bulkhead bypass wiring to the ammeter, 60 amp alternator, etc... Is there a wiring diagram for this anywhere? I've got some broken wires in the engine bay - that may belong in the charging circuit - but I can see no obvious place where they belong.

 

[MrMoparCHP]

On mine a 69 the red wire goes to the starter relay and the black a post on the firewall by the voltage regulator. The only other difference is the black from the alternator goes to that post as well.

The interesting thing is this doesn't eliminate the other wiring, the bulkhead wire is still there. So you end up with two wires on the ammeter.

Somewhere I have a diagram for a 60's truck that uses it.


Alan

 

[ZedR]

Thanks Alan -

I've also got these two brown wires that were broken. One in the taped bundle going to the voltage regulator, one in the separately taped bundle going to the alternator.

I can assume that since they are the Same color, they may have been connected originally - but I don't get why it would be in two separate bundles of it was just a solid piece of wire.

Did they both connect to something else? I see no obvious terminals missing wire in the same area

 

[ZedR]

Self-Honesty moment: The rot on this car is more than I want to deal with.

Due to the locations of the rust/rot, I've known for a while that I would have to find a rust free donor car as over 50% of the metal would need replacing. A few weeks ago, I did - and it will work out better than I could have hoped.

A guy listed a genuine (though unknown to him) 1968 Texas DPS fury on craigslist about 5 hours north of me in Colorado for $1000. I caught the listing two hours after it went live, and soon after was headed to get it.

I can only imagine this must've been used for administration or non patrol duties, as it has a factory 318, manual drum brakes, heat only, etc... Certicard confirmed ownership.

Still had rubber floor, but it is RUST FREE and only a few dents and dings around the edges.

The idea is to take the drive train and other police specific parts off of the 440 car, and swap into this new one.

Question (All opinions more than welcome!): Since the suspension and all will have to go in the new car, would it be easier to pull it all apart OR just swap the entire stub frame assembly?

 

[tallhair]

Congratulations on the find !!!

that car looks worthy on it's own right but understand your position

 

[ZedR]

Thanks!

Yes, this car is nice as is - but I really want the pursuit car, and I think this is the best option as it stands.

 

[tallhair]

Thanks!

Yes, this car is nice as is - but I really want the pursuit car, and I think this is the best option as it stands.View attachment 127894

Loving it ... don't stop with the pics of this one. Interior, trunk, under hood, etc

 

[commando1]

VERY wise choice in as much as these opportunities are rare.
Yes! Pull the stubs from the cars. It was allow you access to really clean up the engine bay and firewall. Plus your back will thank you for years to come.

 

[cantflip]

Thanks!

Yes, this car is nice as is - but I really want the pursuit car, and I think this is the best option as it stands.View attachment 127894

Excellent find!

I'm going to mention it, but am not going to pass judgement on this... If you plan to do a VIN and Tag swap... you will need to be very careful how the car is documented when resold... by you or by your heirs. It's OK to let Texas law dictate what you do, but please prepare an information packet for the future ownership to fully understand what was done so it is never legally misrepresented. You may find that state law doesn't allow for the swap, as I believe federal law won't as well.

None of that really matters much as long as it is your car and the ownership never comes into question. That could become a huge issue down the road, especially when ownership changes. At the least, I would keep both titles together to prove ownership of the entire car. It may be wise for the next owner to transfer both when passed on... but that really gets into lawyer territory.

I'm not saying don't do it, just don't do it blind.

The purists in the collector community may have an entirely different attitude if you take it to any shows as well.

 

[ZedR]

Excellent find!

I'm going to mention it, but am not going to pass judgement on this... If you plan to do a VIN and Tag swap... you will need to be very careful how the car is documented when resold... by you or by your heirs. It's OK to let Texas law dictate what you do, but please prepare an information packet for the future ownership to fully understand what was done so it is never legally misrepresented. You may find that state law doesn't allow for the swap, as I believe federal law won't as well.

None of that really matters much as long as it is your car and the ownership never comes into question. That could become a huge issue down the road, especially when ownership changes. At the least, I would keep both titles together to prove ownership of the entire car. It may be wise for the next owner to transfer both when passed on... but that really gets into lawyer territory.

I'm not saying don't do it, just don't do it blind.

The purists in the collector community may have an entirely different attitude if you take it to any shows as well.

Interesting you brought this up, I've never even considered the VIN as being important in this case!

But anyway, I'm just ready to have a car to drive and enjoy. Purists be damned, both were PK41 cars, owned by the same agency, with similar options and equipment save for the drive train and suspension. Swapping a VIN seems pretty felonious, so I'll probably just have an F-coded car with an L-code 440 in it - and a story why.

 

[ZedR]

Loving it ... don't stop with the pics of this one. Interior, trunk, under hood, etc

Here's some more pics...The rubber floor was not in the car when I purchased it, so I can verify that the floor pans are in excellent shape. It's an extremely basic car!

There was an extra set of seat belts and a corroded black center horn button/cover in the trunk, which leads me to believe portions of the interior were swapped around at some point. May explain why a black steering wheel with full horn ring is MIA, and has been replaced by a blue wheel with partial horn ring.

 

[Jet440]

Its funny you guys have mentioned these wheels , as I have a 67 New Yorker Coupe that I decoded the fender tag on and its only has usual options like electric seat , windows , air con etc... , but one code comes up as Police 15 x 6 Heavy duty wheels . So I was busting to get the hubcaps off and check out if the wheels looked special being police wheels , and to my disappointment they had finger clips on them which looked like they were for a dog dish hubcap which would be in line with being a police wheel . But the thing that threw me was that they had the extra hole in between each stud hole which is the same as my old 57/58 Desoto Chrysler Plymouth wheels to clear the brake drum rivets that are domed . The bizarre thing is my car is a one owner from a small town and its so unmolested I found it really hard to believe that the wheels of all things would be changed for 50s wheels . So basically this article /thread proves to me that the factory 60s police wheels must have been made probably by "Motor wheel " (I think it is ) and maybe the same design in the centres as the 50s wheels , but these are in fact the correct cop wheels and probably damn rare now . Pity I am in Australia as I would happily sell them as I want to put 14s on myself . Thanks guys for clearing this up . By the way car just got the full hubcap over the cop wheels also which was strange for someone to factory option cop wheels . Its documented , so there is no discrepancy

 

[68PK21 440.6bbl]

It's my understanding that these hubcaps were a fleet/police only item through most of the 60s. Required a special wheel with clips to hold the cap on.

View attachment 60314

View attachment 60315

I believe that the baby moon police/taxi dogdish/poverty caps were as I've seen many instances of are a 1967 Fury carry over into early 1968 as my first 1968 PK21 in 1970 had baby moon style hubcaps whereas my 2nd PK21 had these style hubcaps.

Now I have seen 1967 Fury's vintage cop cars photos with this style hubcap but most vintage photos of 1967's have the baby moon style. Tribute car photos don't count as the wheels with the clips most likely were long gone.

Wheel size order or plant build line? Who knows?

 

[68 4spd Fury]

I remember in this thread about the different type hub caps, this picture came up and a taxi has them too. I had a 56 Plymouth Savoy way back when that had this type on it.

 

[ImpJay]

Here's some more pics...The rubber floor was not in the car when I purchased it, so I can verify that the floor pans are in excellent shape. It's an extremely basic car!

There was an extra set of seat belts and a corroded black center horn button/cover in the trunk, which leads me to believe portions of the interior were swapped around at some point. May explain why a black steering wheel with full horn ring is MIA, and has been replaced by a blue wheel with partial horn ring.
View attachment 128035View attachment 128036View attachment 128037View attachment 128038View attachment 128039View attachment 128040View attachment 128041

Judging by this post, the trunk is quite solid with only surface rust. That seat cloth pattern is interesting and stands out from the crowd at car shows.

 

[dart1962_440]

I remember in this thread about the different type hub caps, this picture came up and a taxi has them too. I had a 56 Plymouth Savoy way back when that had this type on it.View attachment 233114

My 68 Nebraska State Patrol Fury I had those wheels. I have a few sets along with caps. I understand they were the optional 15 inch wheel.

Pat