Long Way From Florida

[67valiant 100]

As some of you already know on FB, I sold my '69 300 convertible & ended up purchasing @Aidan1976 '71 Fury PK41U Florida Sheriff police car. Spent a good 34hrs driving to South Carolina and back few weekends ago. I had the pleasure of meeting @Wollfen where the car was being stored.

I remember when this car was first listed on ebay & craigslist several years ago. I wanted it so badly then but at the time I was still in college and it just wasnt feasible.

Fast forward to early spring of 2020. By freak chance someone posted a picture of the car at Gary's place on facebook and I instantly recognized the car. Aidan then reached out to me and asked if I wanted to buy the car. Of course I did!

However by the time Aidan aquired the car the drivetrain was separated and sold off..
Which then started the process of tracking down the original engine, knowing it wasn't that long ago it was sold from the car. I was put in touch with the previous owner who gave me a name to the person who he had sold the motor to. By miracle I was able to find the right guy on Facebook & get ahold of the older gentlemen. Luckly he was willing to sell me the block and whatever other parts he had from the engine. I was able to convince him to dig the block out of the back of one of his parts truck and verify the VIN before I committed to driving 13hrs down to South Carolina. These are the poor quality photos he sent me (you know he's an old timer as he was still using a flip-phone in 2020 LOL).

 

[67valiant 100]

So with the help of a buddy, we loaded up in his truck and 9pm Friday night cannon balled down to South Carolina. We arrived just after 11am Saturday and snagged the engine.

From there we swung back North to Garys place 4.5hrs away where we loaded up the car.

 

[67valiant 100]

From Garys place in North Carolina we head back to NY. We made a quick stop in Staten Island to deliver a stub frame Gary had to Billy Fury. Luckily we were able to fit it on the trailer behind the Fury. We ended up meeting Billy at 2am lol.

It was just after 4am Sunday morning by the time we got back home in NY. Longest road trip I have ever done!

 

[67valiant 100]

Of course being NY, it had to snow before I had a chance to cover the car. Probably the most snow its ever seen in its life lmao.

 

[Turboomni]

Great story and Congrats to you. Looking forward to your progress.

 

[65sporty]

Looks like quite the project, congrats

 

[Wollfen]

Hey mate, I shipped the plates to you today, you should see them early next week.

 

[Samplingman]

Wow, that’s incredible that you were able to track down the original block after it was sold off. That’s been a fantasy of mine, to find the original motor to my ‘vert project. Unfortunately the trail went cold years ago. Great project, good luck!

 

[live4theking]

 

[1970FuryConv]

Good luck. Congrats to you and @Aidan1976 on a deal well done.

 

[67valiant 100]

Great story and Congrats to you. Looking forward to your progress.

It will definitely be a long term project. I have my '72 340 Demon to get done 1st. In the mean time I'll causally be looking for another '71 4dr sedan Fury shell that is completely rust free as this one will require a bunch of donor sheet metal haha.

Wow, that’s incredible that you were able to track down the original block after it was sold off. That’s been a fantasy of mine, to find the original motor to my ‘vert project. Unfortunately the trail went cold years ago. Great project, good luck!

Honestly, being able to recover the #s matching engine was the number 1 selling point on the car to me. Very few '70-'71 U-code police cars out there that retain the original engine. Unfortunately the #s transmission is yet to be found. Its out there, probably still somewhere in South Carolina, but the previous owner could not remember who he had sold it to unfortunately...

 

[tallhair]

Good luck. Congrats to you and @Aidan1976 on a deal well done.

Agreed. Congrats guys.

 

[polara71]

so why did the "old guy" buy the engine and bury it in mess?

 

[tallhair]

What are the particulars on this car anyway?

Is it blue or turquoise?

 

[Samplingman]

so why did the "old guy" buy the engine and bury it in mess?

I think this is what happens to 90% of the harvested drive lines from our C bodies. The other 10% get stuffed into the POS A or B clone and covered up for "someday".

 

[SportFury70]

Congratulations on the Fury Charles, what a story with the engine to go with a very long drive. Just very very happy and lucky the guy still had it and you got it, that must of made the whole trip worth while. If you put up a build thread for this car I really am looking forward to seeing it, I can't believe you sold the 300 you bought at the Lebanon Valley show but hey plans change. Best of luck with the car, please keep us posted on the progress.

 

[67valiant 100]

so why did the "old guy" buy the engine and bury it in mess?

He was a backwoods mopar hoarder. Truth be told I think he traded a junk parts truck for it. It was a completely but fully dismantled engine when he got it. He was pretty adamant that because it had the HD rods it was a "six pack" engine. Anyway you slice it a '70-'71 HP440 is a desirable engine. He sold it back to me because he said he had 2 other "six pack" engines stashed away. It definitely was not cheap to get; it was a take it or leave it kinda deal & I was not just going to let it slip away. He was lucky it was my original block as I'd be the only one to pay his ridiculous price. He definitely made money on it & "misplaced" some of the parts I was really hoping to get such as the HP exhaust manifolds, the correct valve covers & the baffled 187 oil pan.

As far as I can tell based off the previous owner he received everything in the picture just completely disassembled, and the 727 was not included..

 

[67valiant 100]

What are the particulars on this car anyway?

Is it blue or turquoise?

It is a 999/999 special order VO2 two-tone car with tannish/brown interior. It is kinda a tealish green color with white/creamish roof that I believe is used by Florida Sheriff department. I dont have a good picture that shows the color well but it is really quite sharp looking. I bet it really pop'd when it was new. I will have to dig out the paint books to match the color up.

 

[75LandYacht]

Great story brother.. Congrats. it’s hard to explain what attracts you to certain cars, some are obvious! Others NOT so much. But! You want what ya want.. I completely understand.. I think you did a great thing. Enjoy the ride and keep us posted, saving a piece of Law Enforcement History is very cool..

 

[tallhair]

Looking forward to seeing your build.