Editor's Note: Ron sold the Plymouth in the Summer of 2003
February 2003 Mopar of the Month
1965 Plymouth Sport Fury
Ronald writes:
Hi Gary H. and all the readers,
I bought this car in July of 1999 and drove it until about September of
that year.
The 383 engine the car came with siezed one night on the way
home from a friends funeral. Can you say "bad night"? Eventually I was
able to buy the original 383 that had come out of the car and figured
I'd do a mild build-up and throw it back in and have a numbers-matching
car. I took the 383 to a local engine builder named Dennis Smythe for
the basic prep and then I planned on doing the assembly work. After
about an hour of him showing me various exotic engines such as cast iron
and aluminum hemi's, aluminum Keith Black blocks, etc. he told me he
liked my car and thought it would be a good home for a 1965 426 street
wedge he had "lying around" but he'd build it up much more and it would
be about the same price as him completely doing the 383 and then I'd
supply the rest. Needless to say I said yes and here's what we came up
with:
Ported and polished 516 heads w/ 2.14/1.81 Manley SS valves
292/292 .509 Mopar "Purple" cam
Shot peened and weighed stock con-rods
Stock stamped rocker arms
785 Holley/Titan carb (modified and tweaked dbl feed/dbl pump 750)
Modified Edlebrock Performer RPM intake
Jacobs Electronics Ultra "Pro Street" ignition
Mopar Performance distributor
K and N filter w/ Xstream top
Schumacher Enterprises "experimental" motor mounts
Modified Hemi oil pump and enlarged oil pan
Flowmaster Delta Series mufflers and 2 1/2" aluminumized dual exhaust
Driveline and rolling stock:
727 Torqueflite automatic
8 3/4 rear w/ 323 gears
All new disc brakes in front from '70 C body
Hurst roll control/line lock on front brakes
Cragar SS wheels 15X8(rear) & 15X6(front)
Addco Manufacturing sway bars in front(1 1/8") and rear(3/4")
KYB 50/50 shocks(a little soft in front so may change)
What I did to the car during the engine build:
Engine bay and frontal subframe stripped to bare metal and repainted
Rechromed bumpers
Interior gutted and restored
Autometer Phantom & Barry Grant mechanical gauges
Anti theft, rev limiter and misc. electronics
Coming attractions:
'64 Dart GT or Max Wedge hoodscoop
Re-arch rear springs
3.55 or 3.91 Suregrip gears
But I'm driving the car too much to want to take it off the road for very long to make these changes!
On a desktop dyno the engine rated at 521@6500 but with a single plane
intake and a 1000cfm carb the car would be about 540@6000; with that
and solid lifters it rated at 636@7000 but I think it's fine where it's
at.
The car is a kick to drive with tons of power and decent manners but I'm
not sure I'd want to do another C body, mostly due to lack of parts,
wrong parts and limited information, but I'm glad I did this one! I'm not
much for car shows but people tell me they like seeing the C's so I will
go to a few. I am planning on taking it to the track and will post
numbers later in the summer.
It was important to me to restore this one without butchering anything
up(except the hood) or tearing anything out and I think I stuck to that.
If and when I sell this car I already have the original 383 to go back
into the car so it'll be a numbers matching vehicle. That way the 426
can go into whatever I buy next.
Special thanks to Dennis for a fine job on the motor, Schumacher
Enterprises for the awesome motor mounts and to our host, Gary H., for
putting together and maintaining such a great Mopar site! Through this
site I was able to make contacts for parts and information I wouldn't
have been able to find anywhere else.
Thanks, Ron!
You have a beautiful example of a
And you certainly know the power and road crusin' fun that a big block C Body brings!