I have a 1966 Plymouth Fury 2, and I have a few questions regarding fixing this bad boy up
These cars had the option of having power steering, however, the original owner when purchased did not want that feature. I was curious as to how much trouble it would be to add power steering to my car. It’s not that hard to drive with no power steering, but the steering wheel is massive and I imagine it would have to be to be able to move into tight spots at slow speeds. Also though, driving with ease would be a plus, and not accidentally elbowing my woman in the face when I make a turn would be a plus as well.
The floor panels are rusted, which is normal for older cars. But, is there a way to repair this that doesn’t involve welding?
Is there a site online that specializes in older car parts? Other than Ebay of course.
First, I know nothing about 66 Furys. But I can tell you that my '64 Fairlane’s power steering was basically a hydraulic ram attached to the steering links and powered by a spool valve built into the conventional looking steering box, mounted where a regular recirculating-ball steering box would be (and I’m sure containing the same mechanical guts). If it’s hooked up like my Fairlane was you’ll probably have to mount a PS pump, replace the steering box with a PS unit, add the hoses, and replace the steering links with the ones made for the PS ram, hooking the ram into the linkage.
Nope. Unless you have a pile of spare license plates hanging around and lots of welding rod(I’ve seen this done).
Yup. Lots of them. Have you tried Google? Try “classic Mopar parts”.
I have a '62 Thunderbird in my garage that I’m restoring. It has a more conventional hydraulic steering box and belt-driven pump. And IIRC, a friend used to have a '68 Fury that also had a similar set-up. Check with www.lares.com. They specialize in rebuilding steering controls for classic cars. For floor pans, anything other that cutting out rusted metal and welding in new will be a crap shoot. For classic parts, google “classic mopar parts”. I found a bunch that way, including classic industries.
The easiest fix for the floor panels is a good gage galvanized sheet metal. I fixed my 1957 Plymouth that way; cut the right size with good overlap, add a tar sealant to the edges and fasten with sheet metal screws. Both front floor boards cost me about $20 or so in materials.
If you are seriously thinking of “restoring” this type of car you will be in for a mega expense with no real value for resale. The power steering is integral on these cars, and you will need the entire unit plus the pump from a wreck,
Since others here have a handle on 1) power steering, I’ll just comment on #2 The only way to fix the floor correctly is to weld in replacement metal. If you just want to patch the floor so you don’t fall through, screws or pop-rivets and seam sealer will keep out the water. The car will eventually succumb to tin-worm (rust) and fall apart. Your’s is known as a “C” body and a 4 door at that. Not the most popular Chrysler product. It will be very tough to find new replacement floor pans. A quick Google search found nothing. As for #3, try Hemmings, Google “mopar C body parts” and ready yourself for some in-depth searching for parts for your 48 year old car ( 48 years, is that right?? darn, I’m gettin’ old!)
We had a 66 Satellite with no power steering and a 68 Dart with no power steering. It really wasn’t a problem with either of them. I think you’re going to have plenty of other problems to deal with than to worry about the steering. I’d just leave it alone. Agree, the only good way to fix floor pans is to weld new ones in. The only other way, depending on how bad they are is to patch with POR 15. Rockauto.com has lots of parts and has some floor pan and sheet metal parts for some cars. Otherwise Google is your friend, or a local body shop can steer you in the right direction.
A plate of steel from a small town hardware store, some caulk, and a bunch of self-tapping machine screws did the job adequately on my $50 '79 Toyota truck. The truck eventually succumbed to frame rust, but the floor was fine for years.
Do look underneath to be sure the screws won’t damage something. Cover the ends of the screws with dabs of caulk or pieces of rubber tubing (unless exhaust is very nearby) to prevent ripping of clothes or flesh while working under there.
You will be working under there! Good luck and have fun.
When I was driving Mopars of this vintage, and didn’t have much money I would keep the hood and trunk lids of the one I junked to cut out sheet metal for new floor plans and shape them with the curb and a 32 oz ball peen hammer then either rivet or screw them in. My objective was to stave off junking the car for a few years, If the car is to be a “keeper”, welding in new pans is the only way to go.
Visit your local Barnes and Noble bookstore and check out the automobile section of the magazine rack. There’s several publications that cover restoring older cars and trucks, and most of them deal with various ways to fix rusted floor panels. Rusted floors are a common problem. Practical Classics and Vintage Trucks are two good ones as I recall, but there are many others. For the most part they recommend cutting out all the rusted sections and welding in new metal. Don’t discount this method, securing a welding job from an inde shop might not be as expensive as you think. In the meantime try to get this vehicle out of the weather and into a nice dry place.
The power steering cars came with a different pittman and idler arm which dropped the steering from 4 1/2 turns lock to lock to 3 turns plus you would need the right steering box and pump , hoses belts and pulleys. Not hard to source back in the day, but you can’t find these in the junkyard anymore.
I think but am not sure the steering wheel was smaller also.
A look at AutoZone surprisingly shows listings for a pump, gear box, pitman arm, hoses, and so on. Roughly about 500 bucks or more for that stuff along with possible core charges.
A sticky issue might be finding any brackets to mount the pump with. That could take some footwork and who knows how much someone would want for them as Mopar stuff goes for more than average. I also wonder if the harmonic balancer is different. ???
Neat cars. I’ve always like that body style. A buddy of mine used to have a beautiful '66 2 DR black on red with a lumpety-lump cam and 4 speed manual. Now and then we’d trade cars for the weekend; each promising the other no hot rodding. All lies of course…