1966 Plymouth Fury III - From Day One

Power comes from a proven combo 440 with .030 over Speed Pro Pistons and home-ported 346 heads. Protruding from the custom fiberglass hood is a Weiend tunnel ram intake showcasing a pair of 650-cfm Holley carburetors and Summit Racing velocity stacks. The ignition was converted over to MSD and the exhaust exits the cylinder heads through Hooker Headers into Dynomax Super Turbo mufflers. Henry made cutouts in the bumper for the chrome 3-inch rolled-edge exhaust tips to sit in.

Henry claims, "Only a few tasks were farmed out and 95 percent of the work was done myself with the assistance of Dave Whipple." This is extremely impressive work for the self-employed scale model builder. He thanks Dave who he attests was instrumental in every aspect of the build. His wife Gilda and daughter Diana were also there to support him as he built the project. Everything can be traced back to his parents since they were the ones who purchased the car and held it for him to keep. It has now been 41 years and a long road with the same car, and there's still a lot of asphalt ahead.

Fast Facts
'66 Plymouth Fury III
Owned by Henry Valdes, Loxahatchee, Florida

Mopar Power

• Engine: Henry bored the 440.030 inches over and filled the holes with Speed Pro Pistons with pop-ups. These bring compression to 10.7:1 and are connected to Mopar rods that benefit from ARP rod bolts. The rotating assembly is controlled by a stock forged steel crankshaft. The brain of the engine is a hydraulic Mopar Purple Shaft with .509-inch lift and 292-degrees duration. This operates the large 2.14-inch intake and 1.81-inch exhaust valves housed in iron Mopar 346 heads which have been hand ported and polished. Sitting atop the RB big-block is a Wiend tunnel ram intake manifold with 650-cfm Holley carburetors and Summit Racing velocity stacks. The fuel is sourced from the 20-gallon fuel cell mounted in the upholstered trunk and is ignited by an MSD 6AL, coil and wires. Once the engine has ignited, the air/fuel mixture it's spit out on the exhaust stroke through large 1 7/8-inch primary Hooker Headers with 3-inch collectors. A pair of 3-inch Dynomax Super Turbo mufflers do their best to tame the sound before exiting the rear of the C-body through chrome 3-inch rolled tips.
• Transmission and Rearend: David Whipple and Henry built a 727 to distribute the power to the Dana 60 rear with Truetrac, 4.10 gears, Moser axles, and longer studs. It's shifted with a Turbo Action Cheetah STS reverse pattern manual valvebody and torque is multiplied through a 3,400 stall Turbo Action torque converter.

Sure Grip

• Suspension and Brakes: The 4,300-pound full-size Plymouth is supported by a rebuilt stock suspension that uses Moog parts up front and B-Body super stock springs out back. The weight is brought to a halt with a SSBC disc brake kit.
• Wheels: The traditional muscle car Torque Thrust II wheels look right at home on Henry's Fury. The massive 345/55-15 BFGoodrich Drag Radials offer plenty of grip and fill the expanded rear wheelwells and 10-inch-wide wheels. Back up front, the 15x5-inch wheels wear Summitomo rubber and deliver the "big and littles" look.

High Impact

• Paint and Body: Special attention was given to the paint and bodywork on this Plymouth. The custom metallic flake blend of B3 blue features ghost flames and was sprayed by Rick's Rods in West Palm Beach, Florida. Henry took care of all the panel repair and prep before it was delivered. The most unique exterior feature on the Fury comes from the modified front end. Henry made a fiberglass hood that has a hole for the intake and also took time to make the front edge of the hood separate.
• Interior: Another area that Henry completed with a little help was the interior. Tom Robilard at Royal Palm Auto Trim kicked up the interior by re-covering the seats with Silver and Blue covers from YearOne. These have velour centers and carry on the color scheme. An Alpine AM/FM CD player now sits in the dash and powers four Infinity Coaxial speakers located in the rear deck. All trim was restored, replaced, or refurbished.