Project Crusty Biscuit (65 Plymouth Valiant)

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Took me 3 years to weld up this rain gutter...

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I have a few things going on with the project now that I can bounce between to keep things interesting. Sometimes i don’t feel like doing sheet metal work so I move on to something mechanical or something.

I picked up this Ford 8.8 from my local junkyard, open diff with 3.55 gears. I stayed up until after midnight a few nights ago narrowing it as u have seen others on here do. WAY more stout than the 7.25 i had before, doesn’t even compare!
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This car was extremely rusty when I picked it up from my Grandfather’s place several years ago. Thankfully I only have two more patches I need to do and I hope to get them done this weekend and then I can start prepping for paint! This is where I’m at right now:

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I really only needed the bottom 5” of this patch panel from Laysons but the fit is so great and also considering the fact that there are several dents in the original panel I figured I might as well use the whole thing!
 
As the car sits in my garage now; they say that we instinctively show more compassion towards things with faces so I threw on the front end for some motivation!

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Car progress is looking great. Love the fuel cap too. Nice touch. I saw your 8.8 can I assume you going V8 and big bolt pattern 4 wheel discs? If so diplomat fifth ave front brakes from the spindle out will work. You need 73-76 A body disc brake lower ball joints, and 73-76 A body large ball joint upper arms. These will be the same wheel bolt pattern as the ford explorer. Incidentally the explorer rear uses 1/2" RH lug studs just like the chrysler front discs. If you can find a 2002 or thereabouts lincoln town car donut spare on an aluminum rim, it will sit flat in the spare tire well and has the same bolt pattern as the explorer and chrysler discs I mentioned.
 
I’d say I’m about 95% done with the rust repair patches on my car. I went around with a wire wheel today and removed the paint/seam sealer from a few questionable areas. I found just a few small spots that will need some attention. I found this spot on the top of passenger’s side quarter where the trim goes; pretty annoying repair!
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I’m pretty much done with sheet metal work for now except for the rear wheel tubs; I’m going to set up the suspension first. I started on the front and when I get a helper for the axle I’ll do the rear. Here’s what I got over the past 3 days:
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The shock was bottoming out before it hit the bump stop so I had to add a 1.5” cap on top of the mount to raise it up a bit. I’m very happy with how it all came out! This is just one side done, My brothers going to be in town so I’m going to take a break from the front and have him help me with the rear.
 
My bro had enough time while he was here to help me get the rear axle positioned under the car to make the measurements for the 4-link. It was really involved so I forgot to take pictures of how we did it...
I used the measurements we got to make the brackets that mount the lower bars to the axle.
 
I’m using .25” wall, 1.25” DOM tubing for the 4-link bars. I had to bring the bars to a machine shop to have the inside of the bars opened up to 1” x 1” deep to accommodate the bungs for the link ends. They did a really good job; the bungs almost fit air tight.
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Lower bars and brackets are done, now I can measure for the upper triangulated bars. It was late and the axle was too hot to move it under the car to start measuring tonight so I guess it has to wait until the weekend...
 
ChrisRomello said:
I’m pretty much done with sheet metal work for now except for the rear wheel tubs; I’m going to set up the suspension first. I started on the front and when I get a helper for the axle I’ll do the rear. Here’s what I got over the past 3 days:
View attachment 1715629850 View attachment 1715629851 View attachment 1715629852 View attachment 1715629853 View attachment 1715629854 View attachment 1715629855 View attachment 1715629856 View attachment 1715629857 View attachment 1715629858 View attachment 1715629859

The shock was bottoming out before it hit the bump stop so I had to add a 1.5” cap on top of the mount to raise it up a bit. I’m very happy with how it all came out! This is just one side done, My brothers going to be in town so I’m going to take a break from the front and have him help me with the rear.
Click to expand...

Dont need no stinking help for a rear end install !!
 
Awesome progress on the car, this thread is really inspiring me to get to work on my car. Where’d you get the parts for the four link? I’ve been wanting to do a triangulated four link to my car too.
 
Craig Burriss said:
Awesome progress on the car, this thread is really inspiring me to get to work on my car. Where’d you get the parts for the four link? I’ve been wanting to do a triangulated four link to my car too.
Click to expand...
https[URL="https://www.ebay.com/itm/4-Pieces-1-1-4-x-1-4-w-x-24-DOM-Carbon-Round-Tube-1-ID-1-1-4-OD-/284062199005?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49292"]4 Pieces 1-1/4" x 1/4"w x 24" DOM Carbon Round Tube (1" ID) (1-1/4" OD) | eBay://www.ebay.com/itm/Four-Bar-3-4x16-Thread-4-Link-Rod-Ends-Weld-Bungs-Right-Hand-Energy-Suspension-/333759737735?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49292[/URL]

These are the items I got for my 4-link.
 
The 4 link is finally complete and I’m very happy with the results! This was by far the most difficult thing so far on the project. The math to figure out the geometry I desired was pretty simple, but getting that to translate onto the actual car was somewhat of a nightmare! I learned the I really needed to just trust the math I did and go for it, and everything turned out great!
 
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