This is the best reason. NHRA mandates an aluminum hood and both fenders as a minimum. In 35 years, I have never seen a set of 63 Plymouth aluminum for sale. I have seen one fender for sale one or two times. I have heard about a few sets sold through private sales in the past.
Also, the heads are hard to find, the horsepower factor is not soft, and you will need to have a custom sheet metal intake made.

I will never restore the car. Max Wedges were designed to be a race car, and my car has been a race car from day one. It only has 237 miles on the odometer and I am sure that is because the speedometer was connected when it was first raced.

I want to race it again, but I don't seem to have any free time. I just removed the wiring I installed in 1985/1986 and rewired the car with TXL wiring. I also installed new battery cable and a new master disconnect switch. It took three months. Even when I could only work an hour on the car, afterwords, I was happy, in a good mood, and felt a natural high.

I also have a block at the machine shop. All of my 1980's and 1990's blocks where bored on a Kwik Way, decked on a Storm Vulcan 85, and lifter bushings installed using BHJ lifter bore fixtures. I have had several of those blocks put in a Rottler F69A and they would not qualify. The bore centers and angle of the bores, and lifter locations were so far off it could not be corrected for my application. I finally gave the machine shop a block that would pass qualifying. It should be finished in the next few weeks.

Yes, I know Darrell does not do verification but I was confused where the post was going as it seemed we (I) didn’t know if it was a steel or aluminum car.

Thanks for the update that it was a steel car to start.

As for the loose front end parts my brother had a new set of fenders and they were not in prime.
I sure wish he would have kept those babies.

I have an original 63 aluminum Plymouth, I know the ownership history from 1963 to now.

I have thought about running it again but haven’t gathered up the courage yet to risk the front end.

I love the look of your ride and the color to boot.

I sent you a PM regarding your block dilemma.

Bill, or anyone else, do you recognize this car or the track? I found this picture several years ago and have showed it to some Max Wedge racers, but nobody has identified it. I can’t read the lettering on the door.

It is a white Savoy with an aluminum front end in primer. The print date can be seen at the bottom of the photo and is May 63. But we don’t know how long the film was in the camera before it was developed. The actual date the picture was taken could be March or April of 63.

There are no emblems on the aluminum, and there isn’t the Plymouth letters across the front of the hood. It is as if someone put aluminum on their car and went straight to the track. Could this track be in Texas or Oklahoma?

While I don't recognize the track it certainly could be in Oklahoma, Texas or Kansas.

My guess is that it was an old WW II training/emergency air strip. This is because of the lights on the right side of the photo and the stripe on the concrete.

I first thought perhaps Cushing Oklahoma or Arkansas City Kansas but the terrain is flatter than what is shown in this photo.

Good chance this could be your car, but also a good chance one of the other ten with the front end replacements were white.

Has Don called you back yet? He had some serious health issues a few years back but from what I have heard lately he is doing well.

Bill

Nothing to add......... but this is a cool thread.

Mike,
I talked to Steve Christian today.

He was able to verify that the car was a radio/heater delete. He also said that they guy they bought it from in Dallas was originally from Oklahoma City.

He also thinks they guy they bought it from first name was Bob, after thinking about it a bit he thought it was Bob Richardson. That name sounded right to me also.

He said before I mentioned it that the aluminum front end had been added to the car later.

He said they car was pretty rough when they got it. He said "Bob" was living in an apartment in Dallas when they got it and it was parked outside. He had no place to store or work on it and that was one of the reasons he wanted to sell it.

I think we have tied up most of the loose ends.

Is there anything else you would like to know?

Bill

Bill, I have not heard from Don Grotheer, I called his cell and line line and left messages.

I do want to thank you for the help and information you have provided. It is a relief to find another piece of the puzzle. I will continue looking for information on the 63 Savoy with aluminum in primer. I will continue to look for the original owner. Bob may have been the original owner, but then how did he get the aluminum? I don’t remember a factory driver named Bob Richardson.

If you or Steve remember the name of the person the car was traded to in Minnesota, I would like to know. If you want, you can PM me your contact information, and I will call. That way if you remember anything later you can call me. Or you can use this thread. Thanks again for the help.

Its been fun, i was really glad to know where the car is now.

As of right now no one remembers the guys name in Minnesota.

I will send you a PM with my contact info.

Bill

Enjoyed reading this. Thanks for posting!

Here is a quick update. My 34 year search is over. I talked to Don Grotheer many times the past few days. I asked him if he knew of a white Savoy Max Wedge, blue interior, high compression, with radio and heater delete, that was sold by Fretwell’s in Oklahoma City the first or second week of January 1963. He immediately knew my car. He said a person named Bob Nelson had ordered the car from Fretwell’s. He said Bob was from the Northeast, then said maybe New York. He said Bob knew Bill Jenkins and bought a Max Wedge engine from Bill Jenkins.

The aluminum on my car came off of Don Grotheer’s black 63 Belvedere. I told Don I though the black car was only a steel front end, and never had aluminum. He said for a very short period of time the black Belvedere did have aluminum. He received one of the 10 sets of extra aluminum front ends in the early part of 63. It came through Sparks Motors in Cushing Ok. It came from Chrysler in primer. He installed the aluminum on his car. I asked if he installed a hood emblem on the aluminum hood. Don said he transferred the hood emblem off of his steel hood onto the aluminum hood. Bob Nelson then bought the aluminum front end from Don. I asked Don when did that happen, and he said before mid year. I asked why he sold the aluminum front end. He said for the money, and he knew what was coming in 1964, and the 63 wedge would not be competitive against that engine!

I emailed him many pictures of my car, and I also emailed the picture of the white Savoy with an aluminum nose in primer, with a print date of May 63, that I posted earlier in this thread. The next time I talked to him on the phone, he said that was probably my car. He said the track was an abandoned airstrip. He said it might have been in Southern Oklahoma, but most probably was in North Texas. He said Bob raced often at Caddo Mills, an abandoned airstrip, and Wichita Falls. Don said the print date would be the correct time frame. He said there were no other white Plymouths in the area with aluminum other than Bob. He said since the aluminum was black, Bob would have had to primer the aluminum to paint it white. Don also said the belt holding the hood down was what he used on his black car. Don did not want to drill the aluminum hood for hood pins.

Don sent me four pictures of the black 63 Belvedere with aluminum, three of which I will add to this post. I don’t think these pictures have ever been put online. Don did say I could post the pictures.

Searching for the history of my car has been a great journey, and it feels a little strange to realize it is over. Moparts.com has been a big help in finding the history and again I want to thank Bill for his help.

I was glad to help. I very much enjoyed learning the full history of the car from before I knew it and then after.

Bill

This thread is full of awesome!

One of the TEN sets went on to the Milne Bro's Plymouth Pasadena 63 Belvedere that has been in Australia since Nov 64.

How cool is that? Congrats to you for staying on the trail and getting to the end of it.