Mopar newbie - '66 Belv
 

Hey all-
Hello from Attleboro MA. I'm completely new to Mopar (as well as American muscle). I've spent a fair amount of time around european sportscars (mostly Alfa Romeo) and currently am finishing up an Alfa Vintage racecar (pic included).
Here's my story:
Over the last few years I have been lusting after some kind of old American iron convertible. Because of my racing hobby, buying a classic muscle car was not realistic for me right now (I vowed never to get involved in a restoration project again...long story)
Despite that fact, I had been spending time dreaming on Ebay. As I started looking at cars, I began gravitating toward the Satellite as my ideal candidate.
About a month ago, I was making the 3 hour trek to the shop building my Alfa racecar to discuss next steps. I stumbled upon a '66 Belvedere sitting 3 cars deep in the side lot of a run-down service station in Rhode Island. I called the number posted in the windshield, spoke with the seller and got the details (I had no intention of moving forward with it based upon the price). I was busy the next couple of weekends (We have 4 yr old twins) and tried to forget about it. Then, something amazing happened.......my wife began bugging me to follow up on the car and make an offer! A few hectic days later, and the car came home today.
Anyway, I'll apologize in advance......I'm sure to be asking basic and, in some cases, foolish questions. I'm realing looking forward (if the Mopar Gods are on my side) to be cruising with wife and kids soon.
More to follow as I dig a bit deeper.....

welcome to the forum, excellent car, the wifes a keeper too pushing you to get it.

hey, welcome!! You'll be glad to know that mopars had a strong following in all of the New England states back in the sixties. So if someone asks you why you picked a mopar to mess with, just tell'em your preserving a historic artifact of Massachusetts.
ENJOY!!!

Welcome! That is a beautiful 66. The body looks to be in mint shape.

66 Belv
 

haha- No doubt about the wife. Let's just say that we she wants a new coach handbag or ring from Tiffany's, I say go for it! She's been exceptionally cool about all of my car insanity over the years......

-JT

66 Belv
 

Thanks. Body looks to be in very good shape. There appears to be some filler in the lower rear quarter sections and in the mid rocker section, but everything else looks good. Somewhere along the line (I think 2 owners ago) the car lived in Mississippi.

-JT

Hey, welcome JT, nice 66, nice Alpha also. You have come to the right spot.:D

Wow nice ride .I guess it pays to listen to the wife once in awhile.LOL,and welcome to the forum.Lots of good people and info here

welcome to the forum
nice 66

welcome, nice plymouth

Nice car and a late welcome to our MoPaR forums :D

belv update
 

Thanks guys- I just got the car back from the shop late last week, so not much new going on in the meantime. As I mentioned, I don't have much Mopar knowledge ( and not very mechanically inclined, quite frankly) so I had a local trustworthy shop give it a once over to be safe. Took it out for a spin last weekend and it runs and sounds awesome. Just ordered some odds and ends from year one and will be tacking a bunch of little things. I'm also trying to piece together the "history" of the car......looks like the door VIN went missing at some point and what appears to be a "State issued" tag is in it's place. Fender tage is there, core support number is there and now I'm trying to find all the engine stampings to see what is what.
More to follow......

-JT

Keep us posted and keep the pics coming.

couple of questions.....
 

So, it was kind of a lousy day today, so I managed to crawl under the car to look at the block. Quite a tight squeeze with the car on the ground!
Anyway, I looked at some of the websites realted to engine casting numbers, but still have a couple of questions:
Casting numbers on both left and right side of the block read 2658930-6. Looks like a 361 (1965?)according to some of the sites out there. On the passenger side of the block above that same number is what appears to be 3.5.66 (or maybe a B6) Is this a date code...if so why does the casting number refer to '65?. Also on the passenger side of the block are the letters DNLS. does this mean anything?
On the front of the block near the pulleys is the casting 2468007. Does that mean anything of note?
As far as the fender tag goes I'm having trouble understanding the paint code. The listing is SS1 B. IS the code the B (Black?)
Since the door VIN tage are gone, is there any way to "piece" together what would have been the original VIN from the fender tag and cross member?
Fender= A1302016RH27H4XSS1B
Crossmember=bIAI3020Ib (that's what it looks like , although according to the series number I'm guessing it's probably 61A302016
Finally, I'm probably going to refurbish the Magnum 500 wheels. What color is the rim edge (between the chrome rings and the centers) as mine are pretty crusty.
I managed to get a door and trunk lock installed today (althought the YearOne "plymouth original" trunk lock required some "customizing".
I'll try to get some more pics in the next couple of days. Had a great ride with the wife and kids on Saturday. Great day, all the old muscle was out cruisin. Saw a nice Cuda and a Fury convertible along the way.
Thanks in advance
-JT

Well JT, the 2658930 is a 361 ci engine for 1965 and its a B block. You're right on the paint..Black, and the same for the Mag 500's -black.

engine codes and stuff
 

Thanks Polaradude! Much appreciated. Since the car came with so little "history", I was just curious to find out as much about what it is (and was) as possible. No complaints so far, as I picked it up for $5500.
No plans for anything special now, but maybe someday down the road a resto is in order ....perhaps a hemi belvedere convertible clone ;)
For now, it's time to have fun with it!

No problem JT, glad to help. :D

A side note, will someone get rid of this A-hole that has posted in JT's thread. Some pill pushing monkey has invaded it.:mad:

Thanks Tim.

No problem. There was two of them posting stuff this morning. Looks for a thread in the general section about spam coming soon.

i had to delete some spam from here a few days ago

some more pics
 

Hey all-
Snapped a few more pics over the last week. Started taking the door panels out and installing lock cylinders. I'm trying to decide whether to re-do the door panel inner cardboard or not, as mine are a bit warped. Also ordered some wheel paint from Eastwood, so I'll be refurbishing the Magnums soon.

Thanks for the update JT, looks good man.

car looks awsome man