FORGOTTEN Dodge Police Car - Will It Run After 25 Years? 

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Cop motor, cop suspension, 100 miles from Chicago half a pack of cigarettes, it’s dark and we’re wearing sunglasses…hit it!

Back in the 90s I drove a taxi in OKC and our cabs were ex-highway patrol cars. As a result I drove quite a few of the Plymouth Furys like this one. This car brings back a lot of memories for me. They were never fast but they were all kinds of tough. The last one I drove was a privately owned cab and it had well north of 400k on the clock and it ran and drove like new.

It's got a cop motor, a 440 cubic inch plant, it's got cop tires, cop suspensions, cop shocks. It's a model made before catalytic converters so it'll run good on regular gas.

the fact that the lean burn system is actually sending power to the coil and doing it's job (at least i think the lean burn is doing that, i'm not sure) is amazing, plus the fact that the AC unit is actually blowing air is a lucky find. You have yourself a good vehicle.

As a big city boy with little to no mechanical experience, I have to say how great it is to live vicariously through you. Love your style, rock on…cheers from Sydney

Keep on with the series on this car. I was a teenager in the 80’s and my first job was working at Avis car rental. Cleaning up the cars and bringing them back and forth to the airport for customers to rent. I drove all of the popular rentals of that time period. The Cutlass Supreme,Buick Regal,Chevy Celebrity,Chevy Caprice,Buick Skylark,Pontiac Grand Am,Ford Tempo,Dodge Omni, and the K car. We had a few luxury cars, the LeSabre, Olds 98, and my favorite, the Chrysler New Yorker. The New Yorker was boxy but had all the bells and whistles of the time. Even Corinthian Leather!! They rode like a dream. That started my love for 80’s cars.

Fun video! Not really into this era of cars but always interested in "will it run" videos. I remember back in 1978, my grandparents celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary. My mom hosted a family picnic at our house and she had a large family so a lot of people were there. My cousin was married to a State police trooper and at the time I think they were using Plymouth Furys or maybe Dodges. Anyway, he stopped at the picnic on his break and was eating when a dispatch call came through. He was kind of a jock and show off, so he ran to his car and pulled out of our alley and onto the highway like a bat out of hell showing off. He stomped the accelerator and that police car sputtered, stalled and died in front of the whole family!! I think the whole neighborhood heard us laughing at him as he slowly coasted down the road, trying to restart his cruiser! I'll never forget that moment!

Dylan, on the police light. Take the yellow covers off, buy at a hardware store Krylon Red Stained Glass spray paint. Spray the inside of the amber plastic covers. They will look like factory red covers and not rub off.

The 318 Chrysler small block is a never say die engine. I've seen these engines with 200,000 miles and still run good. Built to stand the test of time.

I was trying to buy one of those for years. Torsion bar front suspension, V-8, rwd. One of the best Police cars ever built. There was a TON of them.

Hey. I think it's really cool all the cars you save. My son and I are slowly getting our 1967 F100 back together. We put a 460 Lincoln motor in it.

Another option, do it up as an undercover "captain's" car... Lights in the grille and on the rear deck. Friend of mine had an '89 Crown Vic P72 that came from the Washington State Patrol originally. Looked like a normal CV externally, except for the missing front door mouldings, spotlights, and steel rims with hubcaps.

I've driven a 1987 Plymouth Gran Fury that used to belong to the California Highway Patrol. The car had a 318 V8 and had tan interior. I've also seen a 1988 Dodge Diplomat Salon that was also a former CHP cruiser. If I can remember clearly, that one was used in the Bay area near San Francisco. The '87 Gran Fury I've driven was used in Los Angeles.

The 318 is a real workhorse of an engine. They will run forever if you keep up with oil changes and basic maintenance.

My brother had a 1987 Diplomat in like 1989. It was a retired Detroit police car, had like 70k miles. He paid around $700 for it back then. It actually was a clean/nice car back in the day. Equipped with the 2 barrel 318 and 3 speed auto trans. No ac. Dog of the year.

Nice work. It is not that the lean burn system was a bad system. It was pretty good for the era. The issue with it was that the soldering job on the circuit boad was shoddy. Also the fact that it was mounted under the hood meant the heat cooked it and the vibrations caused the solder joints to fail. If there had been a better solder job and the box installed in the cabin ( like Ford or GM of the same time) then lean burn would been more reliable

I've always been a fan of squad cars too. I've owned two p71 Crown Vics. I had a lot of fun with them.

Awesome to see you wrench on one of these! I remember them well back in the 80s. I grew up in NJ outside of Philly and NYC and both city departments ran Plymouth Gran Fury and Dodge Diplomat police package cars for a lot of years. So did Washington DC PD. Tons of departments in NJ used them as well. I think that car deserves a restoration so it can be shown at car shows maybe as an unmarked detective's car with a bubble dash light. Old police cars don't usually have a big representation at car shows.

Back in the late 90’s I bought 2 of these old cop cars and stole all the suspension parts to put on a 76 aspen that I ran on the circle tracks here in southern michigan and northern Indiana. Yes. I did very well with it 😊

I’m so glad you’re finally doing a video on this one. I’ve noticed it in the background in so many other videos and always hoped we’d get to see more of it! I used to have an 88 ex-TN state trooper car that was being used as a security car at Walters State Community College in Morristown, TN. Scored it for $400 with 67k miles!

I love watching your episodes It’s a shame that all your vehicles in the paddock can not be under put under shelter

As a retired officer in London, UK (and a former mechanic) - don't ever touch a police car from here, they are wrecks and been hammered senseless! Love what your doing, keep doing it 👍🇬🇧

I remember my mom had a Ford LTD cop car and I mistakenly activated the kill switch on it and my mom comes out and wonders why she can't get it running, low and behold flipping the kill switch off brought it back to life, awesome video Dylan :)

Back in college my buddy had a 1984 Chrysler Fifth Avenue (with the weird signal lights above the headlights) ex-police car from a Trenton, NJ police auction. We bombed around in it for quite awhile, never any issues. Looking forward to more of this revival.

Love these videos! That look you gave the hubcap was hysterical. FYI the light bar goes in the middle. Lined up with the B pillars. I drove these things when they were brand new. They come with some ridiculous rear gearing like a 2.32. Also your right the exhaust flows like a straw.

We used these in the mid 80s on the Marion County Sheriff Dept (Indianapolis IN). We had a bunch of them. Only major issue was something kept cracking in the front suspension causing a popping noise when the brakes were applied. Other than that it was fine.

One of my friends in high school, his parents each drove one of these Dodges. They were both a Dodge St. Regis. They bought them from a used car lot that specialized in used service vehicles. I don't know if the place is still in business, but it was called Pinkerton's Car Sales (appropriate name for a dealer selling used police cars)

Just for information, the lightbar that you have on top is called Code 3 LP6000. They came out in the middle 80s. Just in case you wanted to know

Dylan, I collected a few of those mid 1980's, what I call "Joystick" Radios, factory Cassette player with 4 channel output and a joystick for the balance/ left- right fader/front= back. When they work, they are the very best sounding car radios I've ever heard. The have enough power to make any speaker sound good. They come in silver and black face. I suspect the one in there was swapped in, since the other gauges are silver, it would have a silver faced one.

yes you weren't going to get anything out of that coil for sure wow never saw one that bad before. Funny I outran a CHP car in my 1968 Dodge charger back in the early 70's on interstate 5. You came a long way in a short time but you have a runner after it was sitting for 25 years can't beat that. Thanks for the video. The Blues Brothers live on again!

I worked (for 3 weeks) as a service writer at a Chrysler/Plymouth dealership, and I remember well helping to retrieve a customer's 1983 Chrysler Imperial with the lean-burn 318 with fuel injection. The car was notoriously unreliable since if you touched the accelerator pedal before turning the key, it would NOT start! The owner was a doctor, and he had had enough trouble with the car that Chrysler agreed to take off the fuel injection, and install a carburetor in its' place. Those were dark days for Chrysler, and I left as soon as I found another job.

Hi Dylan, from the UK 🇬🇧 I’m into Police cars too and have a 2005 Chrysler 300c Hemi that I’ve made into a cruiser, complete with siren and lights. I know they weren’t used as cop cars, but it was the cheapest way for me to have an American V8 and have a cop car. It gets a lot of love over here. If you’d like to see pictures, let me know where to send them. Love the channel. Mark 😊

Dang Dylan! As we speak, I am helping my buddy revive his dad's 88'! But, he went with a 5.7L and Transmission taken from a totaled 14' Charger. I am modifying the trans tunnel and engine bay while his dad works on a new Rear end while he works on the engine. These cars are nice; his dad worked for a Chrysler dealership and took good care of the car physically ( against salt and garaged; but the engine that was in it is very tired. My dad is going to help with the electrical and electronics.

Never though a dodge diplomat could be so exciting

To all you guys saying "delete the Lean Burn system", let me just say. 1. It isn't even called the "Lean Burn System" after the mid 70's. It is called ESC or something like that. Electronic Spark Control?? And it doesn't function the same as the Lean Burn system. 2. If it works, it is no worse than than any other system for normal driving. It is probably better than something you could patch together. If it works. But his does seem to work.

I'm glad you're doing more to this car than just getting it run. Looks like a great candidate for a daily driver of some sort. Whether for you or someone else.

A fantastic police car! I had an '87 Diplomat, ex Virginia county sheriff's car and had to sell it after a job loss. It had a 318 with 360 heads, intake and 4 barrel carb. It ran pretty strong but was constricted with a single exhaust and 2.94 rear end. I planned to fix that but didn't get the chance. I've tried to locate the car but no luck. Such a tough looking body style! I have a 2011 Crn Vic P7B now, love police cars, used to be a deputy.

A friend of mine in college bought a Michigan State Dodge Diplomat patrol car at auction, worked on it and had a fun car that he would take to the strip. Kept it the same color and look.

Great video, early in my law enforcement career, we had a entire fleet of these. They were tough and reminded me of my one of these “tanks”

i grew up with the Dodge Diplomats as police cars in Michigan. Worked on some of them in my fathers shop in the mid 80's when people would buy them at auction. Mostly wiring work after the police equipment was just cut out of them, but some mechanical work as well. usually brakes, go figure hahaha. one of the Diplomats we worked on was an interceptor. drank gas but was an awesome tire melter lol. Heck ya i want to see you bring this car back and put it where it belongs. Back on the road! Love the content!

I have a 1987 Diplomat with the same computerized carburetor. Became a big headache after a while. I want to remove it too. Love that car!

Can’t wait to see this series. You’re turning me into quite the dodge fan.

Dylan I have something to send to you for the car I believe it would add a little more of that old style LEO operation to it. It's just sitting around collecting dust it's nothing to big but I think you'll enjoy it.

Can’t wait to see part two. Great fun. Raced 318 for years. Great engine.

I used to drive one. Diplomat police packs were awesome tanks.

Been searching for one of these 10 years and only found normal civilian cars, these are RARE.. hecking rare! One day I'll own one of these too :) Because I wanna use it in the movie.

A old trick my grandpa taught me when he and i worked on cars when it came to freeze plugs. What he always did was take a little bit of silicone and rub it around the outside of the plug and then take a socket that was the size of the inside of the plug and hammer it in the block that way. It was his method of making sure the plug went in evenly and wasn't going to leak. As for the fast idle it's something the quadrajet's do i had an 81 Oldsmobile with a 307CI that had the quadrajet and it always idled high until the choke opened slightly.

Dylan a new toy. Looking forward to where you go with this old police car. Great start! Thank you for sharing!

Nice one Dylan. would be great to see a complete paint restoration on this one. If any of your fleet deserve it, this one surely does. God bless, stay well.

Keep goin Dylan on the Dodge Diplomat Police car! Can't wait to see how she turns out when it's completely cleaned up and painted!!!

25:24 - An unique moment of happines to any car guy.

Really enjoyed watching you begin the rescue of this old police car, Dylan, looking forward to part 2! If you can eventually get dual exhausts and maybe a different gear ratio in the rear - I'm assuming it has the 2.94 rear gears - it will be a pretty good mover, if that's what you want.

I had a couple, those things are sort of pre cats. They were plugged on both mine. The heads are cool because the have premium Stellite valves. Should be a flat tappet cam,but, the block should be a roller cam unit. The trans should be an A999 HD with a low first gear. Partly because the 5th Avenues came with a 2.21 7 1/4 rear. The police cars usually came with an 8 1/4 and 2.94 gears. These are great cars, looking forward to see more of this one.

She’s a beaut Clark

Nothing puts a smile on your face like a forgotten special car. Keep it up, waiting for part 2.

It's a match to my 87 Diplomat, rescued last year. I had to replace the fuel tank, and lines, but it's a daily driver now.

Had an 80 dodge aspen squad car, 318 police interceptor. That thing was a blast, ditched the emissions and original exhaust went with dual. Dropped a thermoquad 4 barrel on it a bit of tweaking on the timing and made a pretty good sleeper out of it.

Now that's going to be a cool build, have always had a thing for police vehicles since they were built a little heavier duty than the regular civilian versions, didn't know that Mopar put the 360 heads and intake on the 318 for these though.

I can remember when I was a kid these diplomats were all the cops used. In 1987-88 we got crown vics and one pursuit mustang. Super cool that's it's alive again.

Hey Dylan: As a long time Mo-Par motorhead, I admire your taste in the type of cars that you work on and restore and this car in particular, is a unit that I would love to see you do a complete roadsteration on.... 318s are Mo-Pars most reliable engines and on the pick-ups that I drove, the one part that I had to replace were the ballast resistors which were poorly placed on the firewalls... Other than that, the engines were good, strong and reliable for a good long time.... From the home of PB Blaster Silicone spray.... Cleveland, Ohio....

Was waiting for the day you'd do a Diplomat. I've loved these cars my whole life and currently daily one. Congrats on finding an AHB. if you need a new tail light to replace your cracked one. hit me up

I'm not even American and i just love these old American cars, especially old cop cars! Will be awesome to see this put back on the road! Subbed!

It's great to see you working on a new era of car where systems are a little more complicated. Keep on learning dude!!

Trust me!! As someone who messed with cars in the 80s, those smog carbs got pulled ASAP and replaced with a Holley Economizer.

Old cop cars are my thing, this is the content I LOVE. Can’t wait to see more!

Had a 1980 Aspen 4 door in great shape in the 90's, the rear sway bar from a Diplomat bolted right on. Handled great, but had to replace the tired motor with a roller cam 318 from a Fifth Avenue. Sadly got written off when I was rear-ended in the fog by a dump truck. The core plug probably rusted out, was pretty common. (The 'freeze plug' name is an urban myth, it's a core plug, part of the casting process). /salute

I had one of those old cop cars mine was a 1985 and it was a plymouth it was a beast of a car the suspension in it was built like a truck and it had a 9 3/4 rear end in it with the steel slotted 15x7 police wheels it was a great car plus it had 140 mph certified speedo

when i was a rookie cop I drove one back in 1990. Small city and its all they had but it was awsome! fast and the AC FROZE YOU OUT! it had a 360 V8 and had tons of power and ran great... for about a year. Engine went back with a rod knocking. they sold the car for 200.00..... and YUP! I bought it. I rebuilt the engine and used it as my warrant car and extra job unit. had it for 10 years until is just died. But it was awesome.

Buford Pusser called. he wants his car back.

good job, wonderful. All old cars deserve to be saved. My best cars were a dodge monaco 1967 et an eldorado 1979. they are the america that i love. long life to it. To fight rust efficently, you can put grease everywhere : between carpet and metal, inside doors, trunk door, rear wings... when you cannot reach the hidden parts with paintbrush you can pour oil with an extender - to be repeated every year for oil, for grease every five years. congratulations from france.

My buddy Dave was a NYPD detective and was issued a brand new one in a Chrysler color called "Black Cherry. " With the matching interior, steel wheels and dog dish caps I fell in love with these cars. That was 1988. Today I have 2 of them and my son has one. They are our daily drivers. Yep Dylan.... That is a factory radio.😎

Yeah, that car was made in the wrong decade to be a "Bluesmobile." I think the original was a 1974 Monaco, on the "C" body chassis. This car is on the rear-wheel-drive "M" chassis along with the 5th Avenue and the Gran Fury. If this car was originally a police car, it likely had a 4 bbl. carb good for 175hp and the "Leanburn" computer was inside the car; not attached to the air cleaner housing like civilian models. Great video!

I love that you're excited and you're going on about it it's a cool car can't wait to see it run and drive it's also doesn't seem like you have to physically rebuild the entire thing like the Plymouth it's also nice you have a lift you deserve it

My Dad was a policeman from 1964 to 1992 and I remember him driving one of these back in the day.

Hey Dylan,great car man.I think a part 2 would be awesome!!😊

Got my license recently and fixed up a 86 gran fury with my dad and it’s a great car to get around in

I like Dylans style of "will it run" not to bloated. Just right.

I had a 1983 Chrysler 5th Ave with 318 2 barrel. I absolutely loved that car. It was loaded with cloth interior, but was as comfortable as a couch. Blew head gasket and drove it for a 1-1/2 years before selling it. Never got stuck in snow. Wish I still had it

Retired LEO from Florida. In the 80's, I drove many of the Diplomats as a cop and as a detective. Out of all of the cars I drove throughout my career, the Dodge Diplomat was probably the best all around car. The agency I worked at only bought them equipped with the 318 2bbl, single exhaust. The car definitely was no speed demon, but the handling and maneuverability were pretty decent, and dependability was usually excellent. I always wanted to get one of those (police package version) and fix it up to use as a daily driver today, but never did. Last time I checked, they were a little hard to come by in decent shape, and a tad bit pricy for that type of car. I must admit to being a bit envious. (who besides me would be envious of a Dodge Diplomat) That car would have been a perfect candidate. Great video and I'll be curious to see what you do with it.

You're on a mission from God... To get this car on the road!

I was a mechanic in my fathers Dodge/Chrysler dealership in the mid-70's and 80's. The Chrysler Electronic Lean-Burn (ELB) system was an absolute nightmare to anyone not acquainted with it and not much better for those of us who were ~ LOL! We had somewhat of an advantage in troubleshooting these units however because we had saved quite a few that had been replaced with new ones. Each old unit had it's own problem which we had labeled. we could replace a suspected bad unit with another known bad unit that had a different problem. It would fix the existing problem but would of course create the new one as well, which we expected. Now we would know to replace it with a new unit. And if we didn't already have an old one with the same problem we would label and keep it. This system of troubleshooting was much faster than the dealership manual suggested.

question: is the lean burn system a milage or emission related thing? I don't know much about it, and from what i hear, that's a good thing. I dont know if you like unsolicited suggestions, but get some marvel mystery oil in it. you can hear the valvetrain getting clean!

I love those old Dodge documents. I had a 1978 Dodge diplomat four-door with a 318 CI motor in it. Back then you couldn’t kill it was 318 motors.

The first lean burn system from the 70's was real simple and then they went to the second style with all the trash on it and that is very complicated the one on my car was called the spark control system and luckily it worked but it gave me issues sometimes so I ended up going with the basic's I ran it with a points ignition for a while till I got everything to run it with the factory electronic ignition. If you have a points distributor just put that in it and hook it up it's real simple all you need is a hot wire to get it running.

Anyone else getting tired of "will it run" thing?

I recently picked up an unmarked 87 Gran Fury that looks almost identical minus the paint job. Great cars, great ride, and also they get incredible gas mileage.

I had a Dodge Diplomat Cop Car, it was an ex Indian Reservation Police vehicle. I owned it when I lived in Oregon in the mid 80's and absolutely loved it. It was all white with auxiliary hand operated spotlights both sides. The freeway traffic parted on every journey. Loved that car. It had some message like "speed certified" or something printed on the speedo. I lived near the Municipal Airport/Coast Guard Base and the security guards would often nod or wave when I drove home on my commute, thinking I was law enforcement. It is making me chuckle remembering those times. Great driver, handled well (to my European delight) but was actually pretty slow at an indicated 130 mph flat out. I thought it had a 2 barrel on it and that was why it was a little slow. I had to sell it when I came back to England. Wonder what happened to it.

It is a charming car and famous for appearing in so many works of art on film and TV such as: Loca Academia de Policia, The Dukes of Hazzard, Commissioner Lobo (a little older with previous models of course), The A-Team, C.H.i.P.s. etc.

New wheels and casings, change oil, get rid of old tech, a new intake and carb., throw on new exhaust great shape for its age I like it. This car could be a great series for you. It will never be a 360 but with gas prices these days it might be the best bang for the buck I've seen in a while.

Best thing to do with that lean-burn crap is to toss it and replace it with a standard non-ECC Q-jet with a vacuum-advance distributor. Trust me, a lot less headache and you'll be happier in the long run if you plan to drive it. The model name GM referenced these Q-Jet's by (possibly Rochester's name for them) is E4ME, and most all of them were a huge PITA. Pro tip: Look up the E4ME's carb number and cross-reference to GM models / engines that used it. I suspect this unit will cross-reference to either a small-block Olds or small-block Chevy. A pre-1980 version for the same engine cross-reference (Pontiac, Cadillac, small-block / big-block Olds / Chevy / Buick), carb should bolt right on with no electronic control BS (check engine light will stay on, bulb is easily removed on most cars), though I would recommend a pure vacuum-advance distributor to go with it. Only thing to watch for here is that some have a straight-on fuel feed line, others have angled feed line, but either should have the filter in the bowl where the feed line attaches.

i love the M body - I am so glad you brought out a video with one with a quadrajet. Not another on RU-vid showing the carb!

It seems you and I share one thing in common. I too like old police cars and other old emergency vehicles that have once served the city and the public.

Neat old car. Can't wait to see what all you do too it. And to see it done.

A friend had an 85 Diplomat that was an Ex State Trooper car back in the early 90's. A lot of our friends had Camaro's & Mustangs, and razzed him about buying a "Grandpa" car. They stopped laughing when he blew their doors off at the stop light.

73 thru 78 I Worked at Western Auto Distribution Center Delaware Ohio. Left Rear Tire on the Falcon is a Davis Tire Wide One. Had on my 65 Galaxie & 55 Chevy that I'm Bringing Back Which Still Has Them on it.

Good to see an old dodge cop car! So surprised you got it running that quick!

I love the old American police cars I have a fascination about them too.

My 1980 Dodge Diplomat 318 went $449,000 MI and the transmission went out and the radiator went out so I had to get rid of it but I did pull the engine and save it because it ran so good

I've had a few of those cars. One is my winter salt car right now. 727 trans and 8.25 diff. As good as it got in the '80's. Actually those 360 heads suck. The 'regular' 318 heads from that year are much better because they just introduced the heart shaped 'fast-burn' combustion chambers they were using on the 2.2's. They had higher compression too. The Quadrajunk supposedly had a whisker better performance and emissions over the TQ, but I'd take the TQ anyday. Carter ended production in 1984 which is why they went to the QJ. Those front convertors are called 'PUP', 'Light off' or Mini Oxidation convertors. They're heavily platinum saturated and placed up front to heat up quick and start the exhaust oxidation on a cold engine (to lower emission output). The climate control hoses on the back of the heater control usually come apart because the molded 'block' connector disintegrates due to being made out of some cheap waxy material. You can just convert those to standard electronic ignition. I think you might be able to keep the carb, but it has that feedback or mixture solenoid. On TQ's you could modify the carb. They do take a regular type coil. I always had a problem with that location for the coil. I continually have issues too from the road splash on the coil. It's a really lousy place to put a coil. The coupler is where the heater valve is supposed to be. I put a plumbing 1/2" ball valve on mine.