Recent content by Gadabout

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    1960 Valiant Restore: advice welcomed.

    Thank you!! I'm going to be alert to this issue. The old one looks fine and doesn't leak a drop.
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    1960 Valiant Restore: advice welcomed.

    I hear you loud and clear, Barbee. I have always had the deepest respect for tradesmen, mechanics, plumbers, electricians, etc, because they can DO stuff. I opt to try to find someone to do it because of several reasons: I can afford it, barely, and because I work full time and am in an...
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    1960 Valiant Restore: advice welcomed.

    I'm getting a bit frustrated with the shop. I went by there today, and it's sitting out in the yard, an ugly Corvette getting some wiring done—a general picture of inactivity. I asked for an update, and he hemmed and hawed and said they'd work on the radiator next. I held my tongue and wished...
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    KA-thunk

    I had to walk the boys at the shop how to gently shift out of park to engage D. Sorry for delay, was working a string of graves.
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    KA-thunk

    The 3 speed original tranny on the '60 Val winds up pretty high between 1 and 2, 2 and 3, and sort of slams into gear with a ka-thunk. I lessen this by letting off the gas at a lower rate of speed and pausing until the transmission finds the next higher gear, with less noise and jarring. I...
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    1960 Valiant Restore: advice welcomed.

    She has been sitting in the shop for six weeks now, but so far Jim got the speedometer cable, and it's gear, replaced, NOS speedometer installed, oil sending unit replaced, fuel gauge working. The big issue was the fuel tank. Jim predicated that after 60 years it would have significant...
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    Need some help getting her to daily driver condition.

    "Toad." I knew she resembled something!!
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    Tank you very much: advice please

    Has anyone tried this stuff? Is it applied to the exterior? I'm Googling around for NOS 1960 A Frame replacement tanks, and nothing is turning up. Will a later model Valiant or Dart tank fit? Where do you find these things? I'm thinking any good light source will illuminate enough of the...
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    Tank you very much: advice please

    Tank you all, yes it is a 1960 A Body, as pictured in the Avitar to the left. Finding a NOS may be a trick- are the tanks interchangeable for a few decades, or is this a one off? I take it there is not particular way to seal the interior of the tank? The guy is somewhat of an icon among classic...
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    1960 Valiant Restore: advice welcomed.

    So how did I get interested in tobacco? Well, my unit was training for the upcoming invasion of Kuwait and we were all enjoying ourselves struggling into this antique charcoal suits and rubber masks and what-not. It was pretty obvious that in any event we were going to be toast, even if we could...
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    1960 Valiant Restore: advice welcomed.

    So, back in '86, a recent college grad living on a shoe string, my '67 Dart had a little problem. The fuel tank leaked if I put more than a few gallons in it, at the seam. So, being young and intrepid I replaced it myself in a back alley on a February day with a pair of vice grips. This resulted...
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    Tank you very much: advice please

    So, the restorer wants to replace the gas tank right off the bat, sight unseen, because it is original to 1960 and, he says, "probably has bad interior rust." Well, when I was a recent college grad, my '67 Dart could not hold more than five gallons at a time before it dribbled through the seam...
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    Need some help getting her to daily driver condition.

    I'm a newbie in the sense that this is really an old old car, but it is Slant 6, #6 I've owned over the decades. Why I felt it necessary to lose the other five, which were all supreme runners, I cannot say. Temporary insanity, I suppose. Not letting go of this one- I'll get buried in it. The...
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    How do I get the ash tray to stay closed?

    Ahhhh, stubbing out the cigarette! Sorry to say, back in the day I just flicked the butts out the window, and sometimes the slip stream would circle the burning thing either down my back or into the back seat, where I would eventually smell something burning and have to pull over to douse it. I...
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