65sporty
Old Man with a Hat
On the tire keep it under 50 and you'll be ok
1970 Plymouth Fury Convertible build
- Thread starter Zephyr
- Start date
Carmine
Old Man with a Hat
Thanks for the updates! We're long on dragstrips and junkyards, short on castles; so I love when overseas members post car pics that obviously weren't taken in the US.
Just one note from your comments because your seem to be the intelligent, history-buff sort that would care... Dodge was the only Chrysler make to have ever been an independent. Plymouth was a 1928 creation of W.P. Chrysler (essentially using the original Maxwell chassis to do low-priced battle with Ford and Chevrolet).
What is the other project in the garage?
GJS
Senior Member
Man, I'm super late to this thread but awesome work, man!
I did not know that about Plymouth. I do seem to remember that WP Chrysler worked for a train company that experimented with making cars, and Chrysler left to set up his own company when they decided not to make cars.
As for the other project, it's a 1964 Ford MkIII Zephyr 4. Ran it for quite a few years, but have had to deal with a load of rust. Bodywork needs some finishing and paint. Ran/runs a 3.5 litre Rover V8. Managed a best of 15.1 at the strip.
So the gas tank is pretty crusty. Figured I'd knock the loose rust off and hit it with some rust converter before painting it. I know it should be all shiny and galvanised and if there we spares on the UK ebay I wouldn't be doing this, but I just need to halt the rust for now.
I thought this bit was boring.....
....until I got to this phase.
I thought this bit was boring.....
....until I got to this phase.
Looks right. The other end of the strap fits in slots.
Thanks for the reply, Polara_500. Is it normally a struggle to get these in? I'm finding that even with a ratchet strap pulling the tank up I can barely engage the thread (in fact I can't on one side). From the state of the threads, it looks like the nuts were halfway up the thread before.
This is someone else's photo from a 69 Roadrunner I think and it shows a similar setup:
Except the slots that the J-shaped bolts go in are closed at the bottom, mine are open as in the photo in my last post on this thread. This makes loads more sense. Have I lost something in the process of trunk floor replacement?
UPDATE: I just found the photo I was looking for on Fury440's website. I have a bit missing!
This is someone else's photo from a 69 Roadrunner I think and it shows a similar setup:
Except the slots that the J-shaped bolts go in are closed at the bottom, mine are open as in the photo in my last post on this thread. This makes loads more sense. Have I lost something in the process of trunk floor replacement?
UPDATE: I just found the photo I was looking for on Fury440's website. I have a bit missing!
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So, at the other end of the car: the engine is going to be back soon I think. Haven't called about it as I'm really not ready for it yet! Engine bay is a little crusty.
After more stripping, three jet washes and two de-greasings:
Could get excited seeing it out in the sunshine:
You'll notice the side trim has been deleted. I'm thinking about a blue strip in it's place. Something to match the interior.
Started painting today. Couldn't go much further as the steering box puked a load of fluid when I was maneuvering back into the garage.
Must confess that I'm tempted to take this all apart. I'm going to try to resist, though as a) I don't have the time b) I don't have the spares.
Finally decoded the whole fender tag:
PM27:
Plymouth Fury
Medium
Convertible
G0D: 318 230HP 1-2BBL 8 CYL
1970
Belvidere, IL, USA
131263: Sequence number
E44: 318 cid 2 barrel V8 230hp
D31: A904 3-Speed Auto Trans.
EW1: White Exterior Color
M4B3: Trim - Opt. Decor Group, Vinyl Split Bench Seat, Unknown Color
EB3: Light Blue Metallic Int. Door Frames
922: Build Date: September 22
T08170: Order number
V3W: White Convertible Top
A01: Light Package
G11: Tinted Glass (all)
H51: Air Conditioning with Heater
L31: Hood/Fender Mounted Turn Signals
M31: Belt Moldings
M85: Front & Rear Bumper Guards
R11: Radio Solid State AM (2 Watts)
V01: Mono Tone Paint Treatment
V5B: Body Side Stripes, Light Blue
26: 26in Radiator
END: End of Sales Codes
So it originally had a white roof. I kind of like that idea, although I understand they aren't easy to keep clean.
Thanks for watching.
After more stripping, three jet washes and two de-greasings:
Could get excited seeing it out in the sunshine:
You'll notice the side trim has been deleted. I'm thinking about a blue strip in it's place. Something to match the interior.
Started painting today. Couldn't go much further as the steering box puked a load of fluid when I was maneuvering back into the garage.
Must confess that I'm tempted to take this all apart. I'm going to try to resist, though as a) I don't have the time b) I don't have the spares.
Finally decoded the whole fender tag:
PM27:
Plymouth Fury
Medium
Convertible
G0D: 318 230HP 1-2BBL 8 CYL
1970
Belvidere, IL, USA
131263: Sequence number
E44: 318 cid 2 barrel V8 230hp
D31: A904 3-Speed Auto Trans.
EW1: White Exterior Color
M4B3: Trim - Opt. Decor Group, Vinyl Split Bench Seat, Unknown Color
EB3: Light Blue Metallic Int. Door Frames
922: Build Date: September 22
T08170: Order number
V3W: White Convertible Top
A01: Light Package
G11: Tinted Glass (all)
H51: Air Conditioning with Heater
L31: Hood/Fender Mounted Turn Signals
M31: Belt Moldings
M85: Front & Rear Bumper Guards
R11: Radio Solid State AM (2 Watts)
V01: Mono Tone Paint Treatment
V5B: Body Side Stripes, Light Blue
26: 26in Radiator
END: End of Sales Codes
So it originally had a white roof. I kind of like that idea, although I understand they aren't easy to keep clean.
Thanks for watching.
So I figured putting something big back on would feel like progress and have the bonus of more room in the lounge.
I thought that painting the gas tank would be the dullest bit, but this managed to beat it!
Figured I really should get ready for the return of the engine, so this is my main focus right now.
This is how it sits right now. When the paint dries enough for me to sit on the front cross member, I'll paint the steering box. I'm using black chassis paint for all of this.
If I get some time between finishing the paint and the engine returning, I think it's probably best to start at the back and work my way forward. So I'm thinking about the back bumper. It's fairly nasty. The chrome is pitted and has a ding on one side.
Then there's full-on rust in a couple of places, worn paint on the insert thingy and one of the bumper guards is half hanging off.
Where the licence plate goes the chrome is pealing off.
One light cluster is a little broken.
And the flip-side is rusty all over.
So opinions please. I can't see myself spending an enormous amount getting this professionally repaired and re-chromed right now. One for the future.
I could do nothing other than polish it, put it back on as is and deal with it later.
I could take it apart completely and get the back blasted and painted. That might hold the rust back for a while. Where the chrome is pealing I could paint it to halt that from getting worse.
Maybe someone on here has a spare light cluster?
Not sure about the bumper guard. Both are split and one is hanging off. Are these available as spares? Looks like taking them off will leave me with a row of holes.
What would you do?
I thought that painting the gas tank would be the dullest bit, but this managed to beat it!
Figured I really should get ready for the return of the engine, so this is my main focus right now.
This is how it sits right now. When the paint dries enough for me to sit on the front cross member, I'll paint the steering box. I'm using black chassis paint for all of this.
If I get some time between finishing the paint and the engine returning, I think it's probably best to start at the back and work my way forward. So I'm thinking about the back bumper. It's fairly nasty. The chrome is pitted and has a ding on one side.
Then there's full-on rust in a couple of places, worn paint on the insert thingy and one of the bumper guards is half hanging off.
Where the licence plate goes the chrome is pealing off.
One light cluster is a little broken.
And the flip-side is rusty all over.
So opinions please. I can't see myself spending an enormous amount getting this professionally repaired and re-chromed right now. One for the future.
I could do nothing other than polish it, put it back on as is and deal with it later.
I could take it apart completely and get the back blasted and painted. That might hold the rust back for a while. Where the chrome is pealing I could paint it to halt that from getting worse.
Maybe someone on here has a spare light cluster?
Not sure about the bumper guard. Both are split and one is hanging off. Are these available as spares? Looks like taking them off will leave me with a row of holes.
What would you do?
The rust on the backside of the bumper, just wire brush it and paint it with rust converter then something like POR-15 rust paint. The outside chrome is more of a problem as it needs some welding and grinding to get it smooth enough to plate. Here in North America there are all lots of these bumpers on the market. I bought two or three before I got a nice straight undamaged one. They averaged $100 each. Once you have a good core, a good chrome job will run about $750 to $1,000 depending upon how picky you are about imperfections.
The light cluster is another story. The lens is near impossible to find either NOS or undamaged used. Every once and awhile one will turn up on eBay for usually around $250 USD. Be careful buying mint used, the seller must wrap and pad the package like he's shipping raw eggs! They are very fragile.
The rubber bumper guards are I believe being reproduced. In my case I didn't like them so I bought bumpers without them.
The light cluster is another story. The lens is near impossible to find either NOS or undamaged used. Every once and awhile one will turn up on eBay for usually around $250 USD. Be careful buying mint used, the seller must wrap and pad the package like he's shipping raw eggs! They are very fragile.
The rubber bumper guards are I believe being reproduced. In my case I didn't like them so I bought bumpers without them.
Thanks for the reply, Fury440. We're over in the USA again in August, but sadly, I think another bumper would exceed our luggage allowance. I'll make some enquiries about shipping. Although I guess if I was getting the bumper repaired and re-chromed, I could just as easily weld up the holes left by the guards.
So, the painting continues.
I'm anticipating a bunch of rusty parts will need to be dealt with, so I figured I'd try the electrolytic rust removal thing. I dumped some soda crystals in a bucket of water and wired up a test piece.
The power supply is overkill, but all of the new battery chargers over here do nothing unless they detect a battery. And it was free.
Here's a before and after of the test piece after it had been in overnight. It's actually better than that photo looks.
Happy with that. So next I tried something that mattered: the water pump pulley. Before:
After:
Once again, the photo doesn't do it justice. It's not coming out shiny and new, but all of the orange rust is gone and the deeper rust is black. Feels solid, not crusty or flaky. Apparently this stuff rusts again really quickly, so it's straight to paint. You could probably get the same results with wire brushes and rust treatment, but this has the advantage of almost zero effort, zero noise and zero dust.
I called the engine builder and the engine isn't quite done yet. And he needed the water pump pulley.
Finally, I was getting pretty nervous every time I was near that tyre that was coming apart, so they're all off for blasting, powder coating and new tyres.
Dynomat arrived yesterday, so after a bit of a tidy up, I'll begin with that.
Thanks for watching.
So, the painting continues.
I'm anticipating a bunch of rusty parts will need to be dealt with, so I figured I'd try the electrolytic rust removal thing. I dumped some soda crystals in a bucket of water and wired up a test piece.
The power supply is overkill, but all of the new battery chargers over here do nothing unless they detect a battery. And it was free.
Here's a before and after of the test piece after it had been in overnight. It's actually better than that photo looks.
Happy with that. So next I tried something that mattered: the water pump pulley. Before:
After:
Once again, the photo doesn't do it justice. It's not coming out shiny and new, but all of the orange rust is gone and the deeper rust is black. Feels solid, not crusty or flaky. Apparently this stuff rusts again really quickly, so it's straight to paint. You could probably get the same results with wire brushes and rust treatment, but this has the advantage of almost zero effort, zero noise and zero dust.
I called the engine builder and the engine isn't quite done yet. And he needed the water pump pulley.
Finally, I was getting pretty nervous every time I was near that tyre that was coming apart, so they're all off for blasting, powder coating and new tyres.
Dynomat arrived yesterday, so after a bit of a tidy up, I'll begin with that.
Thanks for watching.
70Tom
Senior Member
I had the same initial mindset with my bumpers. However, once I decided to get the car painted and started looking at the bumpers, I thought it'd be incredibly foolish not to just get them stripped, repaired and rechromed before putting them back on the car. Because the crappy looking bumper would really stand out against a nicely painted car. So I sold some stuff and I got my front and rear bumpers done for $800 and I'm glad I did it.
Same here. The '70 Fury doesn't have massive amounts of chrome, it depends upon huge almost flat body panels to draw your eye and the massive but simple lines of the chrome front and back. One without the other just doesn't work. I have seen some earlier model C-Bodies that the owner filled, sanded and painted the bumpers body color. Those cars with lots of chrome didn't look bad and the owner's always had the option of chroming at a later date. However the 70 I saw was a purple color and the headlight inner grill was flat black. Looked liked grandma without her false teeth.
Fratzog
Old Man with a Hat
That rust removal method is extraordinary. I didn't quite understand what power supply you used. House current?
Thanks for the replies. I kind of know I need to do it. I'll investigate prices and report back so that those of you can have a good laugh at how much we have to pay for things over here. Wish me luck and don't ask how much we pay for gas!
The rust removal doesn't take much current, so little in fact that it doesn't register on the ammeter on my power supply (which measures in amps not milliamps). Like I say, a lot of people use old battery chargers. The power supply takes mains current and produces DC output. There's a dial that lets me set the output level and there's an ammeter and volt meter on the output. I'm selecting 10v. The ammeter doesn't even register the current. You can go higher, but the metal it deposits is more porous, and therefore weaker. The process also releases oxygen and hydrogen - that makes switching the garage lights on in the morning quite exciting. I think it's pretty well ventilated so no real risk.
The rust removal doesn't take much current, so little in fact that it doesn't register on the ammeter on my power supply (which measures in amps not milliamps). Like I say, a lot of people use old battery chargers. The power supply takes mains current and produces DC output. There's a dial that lets me set the output level and there's an ammeter and volt meter on the output. I'm selecting 10v. The ammeter doesn't even register the current. You can go higher, but the metal it deposits is more porous, and therefore weaker. The process also releases oxygen and hydrogen - that makes switching the garage lights on in the morning quite exciting. I think it's pretty well ventilated so no real risk.
Time for me to stir the pot again on the "Build Date"/"Body Frame Date" debate.
In post #56, there is a picture of the fender tag, showing the numbers "922". Also in this post is the picture of the tag on the end of the driver's door. It shows a build date of October 1969.
This is a great example that saves be tons of time in coming up with the same information. The "922" is the Body Frame Date. It is NOT the build date of the car !!!!!
How did I not notice the date mismatch on my own car? So the body was manufactured on 22nd September 1969, but the car wasn't assembled for another couple of weeks at least by which time it was October. That's a pretty big part to store!
So I was working with Swamp yesterday on another project and mentioned the fuel tank mounts and how half of them was missing. Swamp then produced this:
Noticed them when clearing the debris from cutting the trunk floor out and put it to one side just in case they were important. That makes it an easy fix now.
And I have the wheels back looking a little nicer than they were:
So, three questions today:
1) What should the hubcaps look like? Their shiny in places, dull in others. Do I just polish them back to shiny all over?
2) Would it look cooler to pop the wheels back on without the hubcaps, maybe with chrome nuts and centre cap?
3) The spare isn't as wide as the others, although it's wearing the same sized rubber. Is that stock or do I have a wheel from another car?
Cheers!
So I was working with Swamp yesterday on another project and mentioned the fuel tank mounts and how half of them was missing. Swamp then produced this:
Noticed them when clearing the debris from cutting the trunk floor out and put it to one side just in case they were important. That makes it an easy fix now.
And I have the wheels back looking a little nicer than they were:
So, three questions today:
1) What should the hubcaps look like? Their shiny in places, dull in others. Do I just polish them back to shiny all over?
2) Would it look cooler to pop the wheels back on without the hubcaps, maybe with chrome nuts and centre cap?
3) The spare isn't as wide as the others, although it's wearing the same sized rubber. Is that stock or do I have a wheel from another car?
Cheers!
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Not much progress to report as I’ve been a little distracted. Mostly by trying to get this running:
Big fail so far as it seems that everything I look at on it turns out to be bad.
And there was also a pretty cool trip to France again, this time for the Dreamfish Festival. Made it there and back in the 62 Chevy C10:
New wheels look pretty sweet:
And I've started with the Dynamat:
Good to bolt a couple of things (horns and whatever the hell that AC thing is) back on the car. Feels like the tide has turned:
On the downside, it seems that the master cylinder would like a rebuild:
Brake fluid leaking onto the servo and my freshly painted chassis!
Big fail so far as it seems that everything I look at on it turns out to be bad.
And there was also a pretty cool trip to France again, this time for the Dreamfish Festival. Made it there and back in the 62 Chevy C10:
New wheels look pretty sweet:
And I've started with the Dynamat:
Good to bolt a couple of things (horns and whatever the hell that AC thing is) back on the car. Feels like the tide has turned:
On the downside, it seems that the master cylinder would like a rebuild:
Brake fluid leaking onto the servo and my freshly painted chassis!
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