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38 Yr Awakening, E86 ‘78 Fury 4-Door

I agree on being a FBI or supervisor's car. Did I miss the vin? but as in my car that does not mean everything whether it is a "K" car or not. My car is a "M" vin code and police like items were added. Keep us advised on further investigation like when you get the driver's door open if it has a property tag on the jam.

View attachment 1407387
On the fender tag it shows PH. It will be a little while before getting back to it. It was 4 hours away and now it’s 1 1/2 hours but I did purchase it.
 
@Gary P
The last of the B bodies, the last of the 440 cars....
Borat 1.jpg
 
It's looks pretty nice really. A little more than surface rust in some areas- but definitely worth restoring.
 
Look on top of the sun visors for a sheet with radio codes. My old ATF Plymouth had one that listed what 10-4, 10-20, 10-22, etc. meant. It also had an air conditioning cutout switch. The instructions were that it would cut out the compressor if needed during a high speed situation. Also look in the glove compartment and driver door jamb for an agency plate.
 
"A38" on the fender tag does make it a police car.

Two ways to get a "police" car- "xK" VIN or A38 package.
 
Very cool car. I rescued my 74 New Yorker after sitting over 10 years. Also a E86 440 car. Speaking of old Supervisor cars. My Dad had an old 65' Monaco 880 with a 426 Wedge that was an ex Ohio FBI car. I remember riding in that car as a kid. Man, was it fast. Unfortunately, he traded it off before I became of driving age.
 
I have a 78 Monaco. Same car some would say.
Mine was a County Detective car from the county my folks grew up in, in WI. Fortunatly, when it went to auction a guy about an hour away bought it to pull his summer vacation camper and parked it the rest of the time, or salt would have destroyed it. I picked it up 2+ years ago now. I have only seen two others in a 300mile radius, one was closer but had the springs in back holding the trunk lid up(yeah it was bad) and the other was dark green but across lake michigan and the guy wanted way to much cash for it.

All you needed to buy one of these back in the day was be part of a public agency. Police, county, state gov't, fed.... so forest service maybe, but could have been bought as a run around for a town official or something. The town I grew up in bought a mid 90's Caprice police but left it in plain blue and it was used as the City hall/ City Garage business car for taking trips to county meetings etc.
Given you have the "plush" interior with a split bench I suspect this was some official's ride for a couple years.

Not all were 440 cars, some had 360, some were 400. A few states had restricted the engine size even for the gov't agency.

it is not that unusual that it is green. Mine is Starlight Blue Metallic and had a wedgewood blue top with the wedgewood blue interior(called "light blue) The one I saw with the springs through the trunk was cadet blue with a plush interior like yours, and the one in michigan was Augusta Green(I think this is the color of the one from Hunter)
here, this may be handy:
1978 Chrysler Paint Charts and Color Codes

Interior options seem to be a bit all over too, my car has a more standard interior with a front bench, but it has the three spoke rally wheel with the round cap in the middle. I see a lot more with the upgraded interior option(gov't spending lol) like yours.
Parts are a PITA to find. I need a windshield, will likely end up buying new for like $400 because a parts car around here is going to be impossible I think.
People treat the police wheels and caps like gold too. I had the spare in the trunk yet, but previous owner put these crazy chrome salad bowl looking wheels on(never seen anything quite like them) so I went with some old Crager "D" window black steel wheels and chrome lugs. You can fit 275 rubber in back with room to spare(15" rims) and could maybe go the 295 route but then the sidewall has to get a little skimpy.

Find the 1978 Service manual(s) on ebay or something for cheap. I got both for like 15 bucks shipped from a used book store on the west coast. When you go looking, be advised the electrical manual is it's own book. It is it's own chapter "chapter 8". I found out when I got the regular manual and it went from chapter 7 to chapter 9 and when I went to look at the table of contents it has "see electrical manual" in italics for chapter 8. Then I get the electrical manual, and the table of contents says, and I kid you not, "Chapter 8".

Good luck! Keep us posted!
 
I have a 78 Monaco. Same car some would say.
Mine was a County Detective car from the county my folks grew up in, in WI. Fortunatly, when it went to auction a guy about an hour away bought it to pull his summer vacation camper and parked it the rest of the time, or salt would have destroyed it. I picked it up 2+ years ago now. I have only seen two others in a 300mile radius, one was closer but had the springs in back holding the trunk lid up(yeah it was bad) and the other was dark green but across lake michigan and the guy wanted way to much cash for it.

All you needed to buy one of these back in the day was be part of a public agency. Police, county, state gov't, fed.... so forest service maybe, but could have been bought as a run around for a town official or something. The town I grew up in bought a mid 90's Caprice police but left it in plain blue and it was used as the City hall/ City Garage business car for taking trips to county meetings etc.
Given you have the "plush" interior with a split bench I suspect this was some official's ride for a couple years.

Not all were 440 cars, some had 360, some were 400. A few states had restricted the engine size even for the gov't agency.

it is not that unusual that it is green. Mine is Starlight Blue Metallic and had a wedgewood blue top with the wedgewood blue interior(called "light blue) The one I saw with the springs through the trunk was cadet blue with a plush interior like yours, and the one in michigan was Augusta Green(I think this is the color of the one from Hunter)
here, this may be handy:
1978 Chrysler Paint Charts and Color Codes

Interior options seem to be a bit all over too, my car has a more standard interior with a front bench, but it has the three spoke rally wheel with the round cap in the middle. I see a lot more with the upgraded interior option(gov't spending lol) like yours.
Parts are a PITA to find. I need a windshield, will likely end up buying new for like $400 because a parts car around here is going to be impossible I think.
People treat the police wheels and caps like gold too. I had the spare in the trunk yet, but previous owner put these crazy chrome salad bowl looking wheels on(never seen anything quite like them) so I went with some old Crager "D" window black steel wheels and chrome lugs. You can fit 275 rubber in back with room to spare(15" rims) and could maybe go the 295 route but then the sidewall has to get a little skimpy.

Find the 1978 Service manual(s) on ebay or something for cheap. I got both for like 15 bucks shipped from a used book store on the west coast. When you go looking, be advised the electrical manual is it's own book. It is it's own chapter "chapter 8". I found out when I got the regular manual and it went from chapter 7 to chapter 9 and when I went to look at the table of contents it has "see electrical manual" in italics for chapter 8. Then I get the electrical manual, and the table of contents says, and I kid you not, "Chapter 8".

Good luck! Keep us posted!
I think that I remember your car. It was on Craigslist near the Schwano area. It was dark blue with a 400 motor and some guy bought it for the motor and put a 360 in it and was looking to sell it. I never got up there from where I live in Waupun and was working then. Do you have any pictures of it? I think it had a lighter blue vinyl top.
 
Good suggestions and links by all. Right now the front door lock mechanisms are being treated with penetrating oils. The lock pulls wouldn’t pull up or able to be pushed down.

Good thing there’s a set of keys.

Here’s two photos of the engine compartment, that’s all I have at this time because the hood was closed for towing and has to be finagled open again.

Good stuff here too!

A184D17F-02B3-4820-9603-AFB471E8C1DF.png


ED8A0736-E2A5-4517-9377-D75E4D8A197C.jpeg
 
That look like a heavy duty Leece-Neville alternator. That was what was on the 75 Monaco cop car I once owned.
 
I think that I remember your car. It was on Craigslist near the Schwano area. It was dark blue with a 400 motor and some guy bought it for the motor and put a 360 in it and was looking to sell it. I never got up there from where I live in Waupun and was working then. Do you have any pictures of it? I think it had a lighter blue vinyl top.
You got it!
He did pull the motor, and the rear end. The motor smoked terrible, and he found out from his machine shop it had a cracked head.
I have the correct 3.23 traction lock 9.25 rear for it anyway, and the 360 was actually a 318 and had been rebuilt with aluminum intake/new carb/brand new alternator/battery and old enough it has points ignition. I drove it home. The difference in price from when he bought it(I saw that ad but it sold while I was at work, danged retired guys!) and what i paid for it I think I got a better deal then he did!
I have a 69 383 I am putting in w/727. The light blue roof is gone, i pulled it off to check for rust. Interior is in my house right now. I don;t want to derail this thread with my car but I could put some pictures up maybe this spring, it is tucked away in my shop for winter.
 
I see a comment about build sheets-
When I pulled the carpet and back seat out of my car I found a few things-
A build sheet, one corner had water damage but otherwise intact
Some sort of quality control card with holes punched in it(little rectangle ones) that listed a few things
Some extra trim screws
An extra seatbelt anchor bolt
Several bolts that look like what was used to hold the front bench seat in, laying loose.

Also, over the trans tunnel up front you will find a THICK heat shield/sound mat. Wear a dust mask, it might have asbestos. I say that based on how it seemed to be made and it weighs a ton compared to modern materials, I stuck mine in a bag and will replace with some modern stuff. I got some for my Ramcharger from LMC Truck that is light and was easy to work with.

So be careful when removing the interior! You might find some buried treasures!
 
On the C-bodies site several folks helped in explaining the fender tags but there wasn’t an explanation of the star in front of the engine U code. Does anyone have an idea what or if it means something?
44B42E58-6D97-4EF6-8533-46A35942053D.png
 
Some sort of quality control card with holes punched in it(little rectangle ones) that listed a few things
I think what you are describing is the IBM card. From what I have read on this sight, they hold information, but you might need to do a search on here to find out how to get the information decoded. Nice project!
 
On the C-bodies site several folks helped in explaining the fender tags but there wasn’t an explanation of the star in front of the engine U code. Does anyone have an idea what or if it means something?View attachment 1413056
My '79 Chrysler 300 (not a 440 car) has a U on the fender tag in the same location as yours.
U=U.S.
C=Canada
I=International

I have no ideas or guesses about the preceding asterisk, or star as you called it.
 
This '78 Fury cop car has *U on the fender tag too.

1978_Plymouth_Fury_A38_140.jpg

See the code3garage link I posted in this thread:

Post in thread '1978 fury pursuit' 1978 fury pursuit
 
I was wholeheartedly surprised when on my second trip to pick up another “vee-hickle” I spotted an engine block hanging off a three point hitch on the rear of an old farm tractor.

Here is the original engine from this pursuit car. Good ol’ 188553

09231813-b925-4bff-896c-ebe65e2b9589-png.png


d5d0292e-fb0c-4876-8700-668b526ae32d-jpeg.jpg


It comes with the hard to find big block motor mount brackets.

ecb8936c-0da2-4975-b1d6-0d81280d34e0-jpeg.jpg


d512fca9-444a-4793-81cb-6b1dcfed4c00-jpeg.jpg


No damage that I see.

72f497f8-9bb1-458f-af78-ca54166190c2-jpeg.jpg


a95aecee-4979-4404-b0e4-504f8735cc90-jpeg.jpg


7a22c12d-8eb9-431b-b00d-cea3d2df5b55-jpeg.jpg


7d129a14-a91e-405d-9794-1a6a6c061656-jpeg.jpg


408251bd-ae8e-4609-a0de-d76485db9c2f-jpeg.jpg


a54ae6d0-53f9-49bc-94ab-5b51e769c51a-jpeg.jpg
 
You're getting that right block, right? Good luck getting that cam out though...yikes...
 
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