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1978 Plymouth Fury Cop Car with A38 and E86

What do you guys think about the 1969 Dodge Polara Pursuit Cop Car with the big 440 with about 375hp.

It accelerates a lot faster and has also a way higher top speed than the 1978 police fury.

But i cant find a lot of info in the book about if it has a reinforced frame or stuff like that so i do not know how it will handle at high speeds in comparison.
 
Could you easily rebuild the 440 in the 78 fury to the 69 specs (375hp) or would you have to change/modify more than just the engine that the car could handle all that power? :)
 
What do you guys think about the 1969 Dodge Polara Pursuit Cop Car with the big 440 with about 375hp.

It accelerates a lot faster and has also a way higher top speed than the 1978 police fury.

But i cant find a lot of info in the book about if it has a reinforced frame or stuff like that so i do not know how it will handle at high speeds in comparison.

The 1969 police package held the top speed record - on bias plys mind you - all the way until 1995 when it was finally broken by the LT1 Caprice.
 
Could you easily rebuild the 440 in the 78 fury to the 69 specs (375hp) or would you have to change/modify more than just the engine that the car could handle all that power? :)

And then some. Cam and pistons mostly. 69 big blocks had a forged crank as opposed to a cast crank in later 440s (I know they kept the forged crank for stick/HP cars for a while, not sure what the cut off year was) but many cast cranks have held up to 400 hp just fine. You really don't have to do much to wake up even a pedestrian 440.
 
The 1969 Dodge Polara is the "golden grail" of Police cars. The second in my opinion is the 1970 Plymouth Fury "Pursuit" as is what I own below.
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Honestly, any solid sedan can be upgraded to something on par or better than OE police. Firm Feel has torsion bars and sway bars for both 73+ B-body and a range of C-bodies. Other than some custom wiring for common accessories, police package cars were not much more than a taxi cab with performance and towing options. The idea was to build in power and reliability, but they also had to keep costs in line.

Have you visited our friends at forcbodiesonly? Just be careful with sedans, if there is any rot finding good replacement sheetmetal can be very difficult.
 
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And then some. Cam and pistons mostly. 69 big blocks had a forged crank as opposed to a cast crank in later 440s (I know they kept the forged crank for stick/HP cars for a while, not sure what the cut off year was) but many cast cranks have held up to 400 hp just fine. You really don't have to do much to wake up even a pedestrian 440.

thanks :)

I think a very well equipped and condition 78 fury would be the best bet when it comes to sedans.
At least i know that it should already have all the stuff i want stock.

would just have to rebuild to 400hp later on. :)

Honestly, any solid sedan can be upgraded to something on par or better than OE police. Firm Feel has torsion bars and sway bars for both 73+ B-body and a range of C-bodies. Other than some custom wiring for common accessories, police package cars were not much more than a taxi cab with performance and towing options. The idea was to build in power and reliability, but they also had to keep costs in line.

What about the reinforced frame for example?
 
That 360 valiant is the third cop car I've "almost" bought.

First was a 73 Polara 400 still in original white "unmarked" paint with package tray and behind the grill lights. highway patrol car.

Second was GA "detective" 74 Satellite 400 in original gold "unmarked" paint with bucket seats.
 
What about the reinforced frame for example?

I see a lot of references out there to "extra welds" and a "reinforced frame" but do we have any proof that anything was actually different? My guess would be more welds or gussets on the K-member and shock/spring mounts. Maybe something similar to the torque boxes on hemi cars. The cast K-frame biscuits didn't even come out until the 80s.

You'll see references to the "special handling" tags that usually came on patrol cars, and in many cases that's all it means - special attention to assembly. The police steering boxes were double checked for tolerances and hand selected but they were just regular production boxes.

Chrysler was willing to bend over backwards for large departments with huge fleet orders like CHP who held their feet to the fire for custom packages. I believe there were also patrol and pursuit packages. In other words, a police car is not necessarily an A38 car, and all A38 cars are not equal to one another.

These were all stout cars in their most basic form and unless you are going to push one into fleet service I wouldn't be too worried about one holding together. Larger cooling systems and things like that were off the shelf items necessary for a car that potentially needed to run 24/7 and go from idling for an hour to a quick 70 mph response across town and back to idling for a hour and stop-go-stop-go patrol duty. Chrysler had better motors, transmissions, brakes, suspensions and rears right out of the gate.

Like I said some of the A38 package included things like wiring upgrades - these cars usually had a higher output alternator and battery for things like lights and sirens, and they would bypass the firewall bulkhead on some models. Nice to have but not necessary to have for even a daily driver.

If you are serious about buying one of these cars, and it doesn't have to be an A38 package car, look for the cleanest one you can find with the motor size you want and AC (bigger rad standard). I had a no-frills 78 Monaco with a 318 and highway gears and while it wasn't too strong down low, it would break 100 mph with ease on the highway. The ride was phenomenal but not sporty - would love to drive one some day with HD torsion bars!
 
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I'd guess that cop cars got the same unibody reinforcement that performance cars got, IE Road Runners, etc.

That sure would be the easiest thing to do since the parts and procedures are "off the shelf", at least for the 68 and up B body cars

The book we've been referencing does in fact state that an A38 package car IS a police car.
 
The book we've been referencing does in fact state that an A38 package car IS a police car.

Right, but the A38 package could be modified depending on who was doing the ordering, and would have been different by body style when Plymouth opened up the A38 code to ALL of their model line. There were also police cars that weren't A38 cars, and A38 cars that had plush interiors, etc. If a department wanted to order a dozen non-A38 slant six Valiants as pursuit vehicles, Chrysler would build them - it wasn't like ordering a 1969 1/2 six pack car or a Superbird.
 
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You should really be over on forcbodiesonly - lots of threads over there on police package cars. Apparently what you are really looking for is a K code VIN.
 
I am living in germany, so i am looking for a car that is ready for cruising 110mph or more on the autobahn.

I simply guess the 78 fury for example would be a "cheap" turn key option if it has all the cool police engine and handling stuff.

I do not need police paint, radio, light bars and all that stuff. So basically i am not after a police but more a 60s/70s us car with the power and handling for high speed cruising.

as said above i guess you wont find something much cheaper and turn key than that.

At the moment i am also watching dukes of hazzard, yeah i think it comes down to a 69 charger and performing some mods or a 78 fury :D
 
I am living in germany, so i am looking for a car that is ready for cruising 110mph or more on the autobahn.

Keep in mind these cars are rolling bricks. From personal experience I have been in a 1978 318 Monaco, a 1973 440 Challenger and a 86 Jaguar XJS over 100mph (non-certified speedos and on a closed track of course). The Challenger got to around 124mph and it felt like the front end was going to lift - very light steering wheel feel and violent buffeting. I had more motor but the aerodynamics weren't going to allow it. The Monaco ran out of motor and gear at 120mph but felt reasonably comfortable to drive - much better than the Challenger but a little numb and floaty. The Jag broke 130 with a LOT of effort but it was out of motor way before that and you started to lose confidence past 115 or so.

Of the three I'd have to say the Monaco was the best but the other two were nose heavy and I have no idea how it would have played out with a big block in the sedan. I'd definitely want some good shocks and V rated tires. Just because a car can reach a speed doesn't mean that it was designed for it.
 
When I first got my 318 73 Satellite and was sure it was 100% mechanically sound (54,000 original miles in 2012), I took it out on a very lightly traveled 4 lane divided (median) road with gentle, sweeping curves.

I got it up to about 80 and right before I turned around near the end, a nissan 350 z turned onto the road and hammered it, flying past me going the other way.

WTH, I said as we were the only 2 cars.

At about 115 I was comfortable that I had proved it would do over 100 and it definitely had more gear (2.76) and enough power left to go faster. Handling wan't terrible either.
 
The Monaco ran out of motor and gear at 120mph but felt reasonably comfortable to drive

Was that a stock car or modified? anyway even if it feels comfortable at 120mph i guess you have to add auxilary engine, transmission and power steering oil coolers and a bigger oil pan and pump to do that for longer periods of time, right?

but thats some of the stuff police cars already have. (at least the coolers)
 
Bone stock 318 with a 2bbl. Only modification was to get rid of the lean burn and add a mopar (mallory) electronic distributor.
 
I Think these cars are really cool and underated.
You can grab a nice on for a few grand.

or for a little more grand you can get an 440 police car which is what i would buy if a nice one comes along.
 
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