An introduction

[metallicaman0258]

Greetings all from the mountain state of West Virginia! I recently came upon a post on the local Facebook yardsale feed for an 87 Gran Fury. So I went to look at it and after a little bit of back and fourth, decided to pick it up.

She's a 1987 Plymouth Gran Fury Salon 318 auto. Vinyl top is weather torn, interior plastics are brittle and paint is dead. The chrome is peeling, the lights leak, and the passenger rocker chrome is missing. No rust (extremely rare here) and only minor dings and scratches. Best of all, only 38k on the clock. Enjoy!

 

[metallicaman0258]

Some before and after pictures of its first wash

 

[metallicaman0258]

Other things I've done so far:
- installed instrument cluster trim
- cleaned carb
- new battery
- fried radio
- adjusted and lubricated all window lift mechanisms
- adjusted lubed and fixed all door lock mechanisms
- reinstalled the adjusting levers for the mirrors that some jackass buried in the dash and doors

Really the radio was faulty from the start it was stuck on AM the just quit working after 3 days. Disappointing.

Also did some paint cleaning with some rubbing compound found in my dad's basement made a big difference!

 

[Jack Meoff]

Sweet ride!
Welcome aboard!

 

[metallicaman0258]

Thanks cap.

 

[80mirada]

Nice score, that color is sharp cleaned up

 

[metallicaman0258]

Nice score, that color is sharp cleaned up

Its still really dull. You can tell its has had a Maaco or Earl Scheib paint job done to it. Single stage, no clear, non laquer job. covered in fish eyes and orange peel. it looks to be about 10-15 years old too considering it has lost its shine. Nice matte (or dare I say semi-gloss) look on the car. The sides below the door handles shined up OK but still not "shiny". maybe someday this spring ill do the top and get a respray that's quality. Like to have base/color/clear maybe in a metallic or pearlescent. That would be nice.

 

[Justwondering]

Welcome!
My dad's kinfolk are in Kanawha County, up near Big Tyler Mountain.

I need to do the work on my windows but decided to do vinyl roof, headliner, and interior trim first.

Keep us updated as you make progress.
Thanks for sharing.

 

[metallicaman0258]

Welcome!
My dad's kinfolk are in Kanawha County, up near Big Tyler Mountain.

I need to do the work on my windows but decided to do vinyl roof, headliner, and interior trim first.

Keep us updated as you make progress.
Thanks for sharing.

Right on! I know exactly where you are talking about. I have friends in Tyler Mountain.

The Madness died on me yesterday and I have to figure out why there is no spark. I'm thinking its the distributor pick up coil as there is no spark coming from the ignition coil.

After fixing that, next step is to replace the radio. Anyone have a spare infinity cassette deck lying about? my old stocker bit the dust

 

[kkritsilas]

Single stage, no clear coat was the way it was done back then. I think the factory used urethane enamel, but the bodywork knowledgeable will correct me if I am wrong.

Fish eyes and orange peel are just signs of a rushed or poor quality job. Your car, your choice on repaint, but you may want to consider keeping the colour the same, just going with a basecoat/clear lacquer combination. Will save a lot of money on painting shut lines, and its a pretty nice colour to my eyes.

 

[slant6billy]

Nice car! Welcome to the party.

 

[80mirada]

Factory should be single stage acrylic enamel. Lacquer can oxides very quickly, but you can use just about any clear over it. Many Japanese cars were acrylic urethane over lacquer up until 2000., makes for a quick paint job with good durability and shine.

 

[Justwondering]

The background in your picture reminds me of West Virginia... Lots of inclines..

Are you planning on keeping the same color family with your metallic or trying something completely different?

 

[metallicaman0258]

Same color family. I like the old gal in baby blue. Reminds me of the 90 plymouth voyager I grew up in. We had that thing for 15 years. The last few years of its life were spent as a parts car for my 90 lebaron but I digress.

I'm thinking either a pearl or metallic baby blue and keep the top as a slightly darker blie to match the interior or go all out and paint it plum crazy and remove the vinyl top and redo the inside in white leather/vinyl.

I'm leaning more towards stock with a light metallic just to class it up a bit.

 

[metallicaman0258]

Nice car! Welcome to the party.

Thanks man!

 

[Joe12459]

Welcome aboard!

 

[metallicaman0258]

Welcome aboard!

Thank you!