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1965 Plymouth Belvedere I Station Wagon

Works in Progress

Craig writes from Winnipeg, MB, Canada:
The 1965 Plymouth Belvedere I Wagon that I purchased in October 2004
will be going into storage for the time being, but a restoration
is planned for the near future. 		1965 Plymouth Belvedere I Station Wagon, on trailer

I was beginning to think I would never find one of these. Who would have thought I would come across this exact year and model, in this condition, for sale at a very reasonable price, in my own hometown! The Plymouth is the only one like it in the city, and probably all of Manitoba. The previous owner brought it up from California and has had it in storage for the last couple of years. Barely anybody even knew about it!

For now, the car will remain in storage. I have a few other things I must take care of first before I begin a restoration. But there was no way I was going to let this one slip away.

1965 Plymouth Belvedere I Station Wagon, driver's front 1965 Plymouth Belvedere I Station Wagon, interior
1965 Plymouth Belvedere I Station Wagon, passenger rear 1965 Plymouth Belvedere I Station Wagon, rear view


The Plymouth is a 3 speed column automatic, slant six with 86,000 miles. Absolutely rust free and straight. All trim is in excellent condition, glass is perfect, interior is in excellent condition (seats are in great shape - no tears, no cracks in dash pad, door panels are mint).

The Plymouth is not running, but who cares - the slant 6 will be long gone before I am done with this car! This Mopar is in beautiful condition and should be a relatively easy restoration.

Here is what I have in mind for the car:
  1. Super Stock hood scoop.
  2. 440 engine done up to look like a Max Wedge.
  3. Max wedge exhaust with cutouts.
  4. Remove side trim.
  5. Fill in antenna hole and add radio delete plate.
  6. Super stock springs.
  7. New brakes and suspension.
  8. 15x6 Torq-Thrust rims on the front, 15x8 steel wheels
    on the back. BF Goodrich tires.
  9. Repaint (original color).
  10. Clean up interior, replace carpet.
 1965 Plymouth Belvedere I Station Wagon, side view on trailer


1965 Plymouth Super Stock Belvedere Wagon, Photoshop rendition My goal is to turn this into a "one-of-none"
Super Stock Belvedere Wagon, as visualized by this
Photoshop rendition.

Update February 2005

1965 Plymouth Belvedere Wagon 1965 Plymouth Belvedere Wagon, rear


I have changed directions slightly in terms of what I intend to do with the wagon. Here is what I now have in mind for the car:
  1. Super Stock Hemi hood scoop.
  2. 496 ci stroker engine.
  3. Rebuilt 727 transmission with shift kit.
  4. 3.55:1 gears.
  5. Custom 2.5 inch max wedge-style exhaust with cutouts.
  6. Remove side and tail trim.
  7. Convert car to radio delete.
  8. Convert car to appear as heater-delete (heater controls hidden under dash).
  9. New drum brakes and new suspension.
  10. 15x6 Torq-Thrust rims on the front, 15x7 steel wheels on the back. BF Goodrich tires (215/70/R15 Front and 275/60/R15 Back).
  11. Repaint (white).
  12. Gary Ball Super Stock Interior (Front and Rear Super Stock seats and door panels, new carpet).

Here’s an updated Photoshop rendering of what the Plymouth
will look like when I have completed the Super Stock conversion. 		1965 Plymouth Belvedere Wagon, photoshop image

Update January 2006

The Mopar is currently in the paint booth and I hope to get it back within the next couple of weeks. I can then finally start putting it back together!

While waiting for the wagon to get painted, I have been busy working on painting and detailing the engine. Special thanks needs to go to Aime and Verna Verrier of ALV Automotive in La Broquerie, MB for all of their help with this project. Without them, I would be completely lost.

1965 Plymouth Belvedere Wagon, front 1965 Plymouth Belvedere Wagon, rear


Over the last few months, I have been trying my best to find time to get everything ready for reassembly. Among the things I have ready for the car are a complete Super Stock interior from Gary Ball, rechromed bumpers, a beautiful re-anodized grille and headlight bezels from Ano-Brite, a rebuilt 727 transmission with a shift kit, a 3.55 Sure Grip, a recored radiator, and a complete front suspension kit. I have just about everything I need now.

The engine I settled on is a mildly built, extra-storng running 440-6 BBL engine from a 1970 ’Cuda that will be done up to look like a 1965 426 wedge engine (but a Super Stock version instead of a street version). It will have an Edelbrock CH4B intake, electronic ignition, and an Edelbrock 750 cfm carb.

Here is a graphic that shows what the Plymouth
will look like when I assemble everything: 		1965 Plymouth Belvedere Wagon, photoshop image of finished restoration


I still plan to have the Mopar ready for Summer, 2006.

August 2006

The car is no longer a work in progress. I am just waiting on a fuel tank sending unit and then the car is finished!

See the finished wagon!

Check out my online photo album, with 95 pictures of various stages of the restoration.
Thanks Craig!

You never know what you’ll find in a local garage!

Great project and very good progress!

Re: August 2006 -- Congratulations on finishing the project! smile!

Gary H.

October 26, 2004, revised October 31, 2004; February 22, 2005; January 28, 2006; February 9, 2006; August 26, 2006
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