New Guy Here

[LT512]

Hey folks, Scott here from North Alabama. What brings me here is that I am looking to buy a 74-77 Gran Fury or an 80s M body Gran Fury. Not completely opposed to a Diplomat or Newport. I have been lurking for a while and have been trying to gain knowledge. Getting frustrated at all these classic car sites that list cars sold years ago that clutter up the search engine. I have been around law enforcement since 1989 as an explorer when most of our units were box body Crown Vics. Prior to that, many agencies had the R bodies or M bodies and I always liked their looks. It's a shame that has taken me into my 50s before I could seriously consider getting one. I thought about getting a police spec one, but I am partially retired now and not sure I'd want to have a police car sitting around the house when we really only have 1 or 2 parades a year in our small town. I am thinking about a base to mid level Salon trim vehicle.
I have 2 questions out of the gate:
1. We have one locally for sale, but it has a vinyl roof and I have seen it for sale in MN in 2018, SD, here in AL in 2018 and now up for sale again. Is that normal for these cars to change hands so much?
2. It seems there are more of these up north than down here. How can you tell what is too much rust and to walk away, vs. rust that is superficial and should be ok on the undercarriage?

Thanks guys!
Oh, my current patrol vehicle is a '21 Tahoe, but I am a Mopar man having a '21 Scat Pack and a '19 Ram 2500 Cummins.

 

[Kern Dog]

Hey Lieutenant!
Welcome to the forum. I have a Mopar buddy in Huntsville. He moved there from here in California in late 2019 to work IT for NASA then got laid off in 2020. He liked it and decided to stay. He has a couple of late model Mopars, a 70 Charger and Challenger too.
Here is what I know about these cars that are specific to them:
The early years (76-78) Were the worst for rust. The years after that they did get better. Any place where water drains are clogged can be a potential rust zone. Bottoms of doors, quarters, below rear side windows, cowl...
I've found that the greatest amount of just about any model is the large cities and their outlying areas.
I've wondered why there aren't more car shows and clubs here in CA given that we had a reputation for being a car culture state. The Los Angeles area is but we have a lot of wide open areas of desert and farmland where there aren't many people. Back east, it seems that people are packed in tighter.
Regarding cars that change hands frequently...I'm unable to help with that one.
Cheers and again, Welcome!
Greg

 

[LT512]

Hey Lieutenant!
Welcome to the forum....
Cheers and again, Welcome!
Greg

Thanks, Greg! Yeah, we have a large NASA and defense industry presence here as well as Toyota engine and Toyota/Mazda joint vehicle plant, Polaris plant and some other things. It is an ever-growing area. He should have no problem finding work. We don't have the high property taxes so we don't have all the services he would have been used to out there.

Yeah, there is a beautiful 75 Gran Fury for sale that I like, but it has rust at the bottom of the fender wells and doors that's cracking through the paint. I asked my uncle who ran a body shop for 40 years about it and he told me it looked like it could get expensive based on what the issue could turn out to be. I stopped there. Sad, because my dad was a mechanic in the 60s and 70s before getting injured on the job. He would know how to work on them and it would be something we might could do together or at least have some fun with it. The R body is my next favorite with the M being the third.

 

[AMC Diplomat]

Welcome!

If you find a nice M body, they were galvanized for 88 and 89, possibly late 87. My Arizona 87 was definitely undercoated and is an absolute joy to work on. Everything comes apart without using any heat, for the most part. Even the brake line fittings came apart no problem. If you dig around long enough you can find police spec parts for an M body.

If you want an absolute parts finding nightmare, then try the R body. I know it's a pain in the ass to find M body stuff. R body is even worse. You'd have to collect a couple parts cars to restore one or try and find a really nice example.

 

[LT512]

Welcome!

If you find a nice M body, they were galvanized for 88 and 89, possibly late 87. My Arizona 87 was definitely undercoated and is an absolute joy to work on. Everything comes apart without using any heat, for the most part. Even the brake line fittings came apart no problem. If you dig around long enough you can find police spec parts for an M body.

If you want an absolute parts finding nightmare, then try the R body. I know it's a pain in the ass to find M body stuff. R body is even worse. You'd have to collect a couple parts cars to restore one or try and find a really nice example.

Interesting to know. There is an 85 Gran Fury for sale close to me. It shows 3-4 owners from what I can gather off carfax. Came from MN though. Vinyl roof. Wasn't sure about it. 1985 Plymouth Gran Fury I guess it is partially faith on these things.

 

[Camtron]

My ‘89 5th Ave has been bought and sold 7-8 times including myself but according to its carfax, never rolled 100k in any period of being registered, definitely some solid examples of Ms out there. I’m in the Midwest so, rust pops up everywhere. I’d recommend getting any potential car on a lift or stands and doing some good poking and prodding for weakness, lol. k frame welds can crack, frame rails can rust out, underneath trim/molding holds moisture, rear wheel wells. Standard places.
Fillmore California down in, Ventura County used to do a great car show for the 4th of July. Nice small agricultural city siting in between mountains, valleys and rivers. Nice weekend trip, close to the beach and Six Flags too; Nice lake area near by too

 

[Camtron]

Think most car shows in California are now just super car and AARP corvette owner meets for, cars and coffee. Most car people there could care less about old cars let alone obscure old cars.

 

[LT512]

My ‘89 5th Ave has been bought and sold 7-8 times including myself but according to its carfax, never rolled 100k in any period of being registered, definitely some solid examples of Ms out there....

Thank You sir for all the information!

 

[Kern Dog]

Not interested in the obscure?
Maybe that is the case for most people but when I see a row of Cudas or Challengers, I'm not interested. When I see an old cop car, I want to check it out.

 

[AMC Diplomat]

Interesting to know. There is an 85 Gran Fury for sale close to me. It shows 3-4 owners from what I can gather off carfax. Came from MN though. Vinyl roof. Wasn't sure about it. 1985 Plymouth Gran Fury I guess it is partially faith on these things.

The vinyl roof is the big question. It could be hiding rot or it could be completely fine. That's a nice car, I don't know if it's $5,500 nice though. An almost 40 year car will have a lot worn out on it.

There was an ok 5th Ave for sale here and on For A Bodies. It had a ton of mechanical improvements and the seller couldn't give it away for a grand.

I paid $500 for my Diplomat, but the paint and interior were cooked from being a desert car. And I honestly have more than 5k into it at this point when you count travel expenses and hotel stays. I probably have more than another 5k left to go before I'm satisfied with it.

 

[LT512]

Think most car shows in California are now just super car and AARP corvette owner meets for, cars and coffee. Most car people there could care less about old cars let alone obscure old cars.

I'm 1,700 miles from there. California isn't on my radar, but someone here might like to know that.

 

[Camtron]

sorry, that was in regard to Kern Dogs post. I couldn’t tell you about Huntsville but you guys get the, Ratty muscle cars: Mopar Vs Brand ‘X’ shoot out down in, Moulton Alabama. That’s a little closer for ya, lol

 

[LT512]

The vinyl roof is the big question. It could be hiding rot or it could be completely fine. That's a nice car, I don't know if it's $5,500 nice though. An almost 40 year car will have a lot worn out on it.

There was an ok 5th Ave for sale here and on For A Bodies. It had a ton of mechanical improvements and the seller couldn't give it away for a grand.

I paid $500 for my Diplomat, but the paint and interior were cooked from being a desert car. And I honestly have more than 5k into it at this point when you count travel expenses and hotel stays. I probably have more than another 5k left to go before I'm satisfied with it.

Yeah, it is a nice car and I could be in his driveway in 45 minutes. Just not sure if I should pull that lever or not. The one for sale in NC is hardtop and blue but has very few pictures. There is a one I saw in NJ with a guy scraping off brown crap from under the hood and saying it is rust proofing and not rust. It is more of the plain type and looks like it could have been a fleet model sold on the lot.

 

[AMC Diplomat]

Yeah, it is a nice car and I could be in his driveway in 45 minutes. Just not sure if I should pull that lever or not. The one for sale in NC is hardtop and blue but has very few pictures. There is a one I saw in NJ with a guy scraping off brown crap from under the hood and saying it is rust proofing and not rust. It is more of the plain type and looks like it could have been a fleet model sold on the lot.

If the car is good, and I mean really good, offer him $1500 and see what happens. He'll probably be glad to get the money.

5k is starting to get into better car territory and you can get some really nice cars for that price.