Modern Drivetrain Swap into '65 Valiant
Well the project is definitely turning into a lot more work than i had anticipated. Still, I’ve made some good progress! Made some budget choices with the frame design that I’m not completely sold on, but the new frame is in and square.
I was able to toss in a mockup motor and trans and fabricate a new crossmember.
i realized that I’ll have to inset the firewall about 3”, which I was initially hoping to avoid. Still, that shouldn’t be a problem. The hood torsion bars do clear the motor, and I would rather keep them than go to struts. The most difficult part is likely to be rebuilding a new cowl and fresh air system, since I had to completely cut away the old one as it was just too rusty to trust.
I also built a basic unsupported 6 pt cage to help with rollover protection and to stiffen up the chassis. Because space at the shop is at a premium, I had to do all the fab work in sections, so unfortunately the new completed chassis is about 1/4” out of square. The new suspension should be perfectly capable of handling that, however, so I’m pretty pleased with how it’s turning out.
Next I’ll have to finalize the cowl and firewall, and widen the rear tunnel to allow the car to sit at its new ride height, which will probably comfortably be 3” lower than stock, since I no longer have to worry about header clearance or front tire scrubbing.
Well the project is definitely turning into a lot more work than i had anticipated. Still, I’ve made some good progress! Made some budget choices with the frame design that I’m not completely sold on, but the new frame is in and square.
I was able to toss in a mockup motor and trans and fabricate a new crossmember.
i realized that I’ll have to inset the firewall about 3”, which I was initially hoping to avoid. Still, that shouldn’t be a problem. The hood torsion bars do clear the motor, and I would rather keep them than go to struts. The most difficult part is likely to be rebuilding a new cowl and fresh air system, since I had to completely cut away the old one as it was just too rusty to trust.
I also built a basic unsupported 6 pt cage to help with rollover protection and to stiffen up the chassis. Because space at the shop is at a premium, I had to do all the fab work in sections, so unfortunately the new completed chassis is about 1/4” out of square. The new suspension should be perfectly capable of handling that, however, so I’m pretty pleased with how it’s turning out.
Next I’ll have to finalize the cowl and firewall, and widen the rear tunnel to allow the car to sit at its new ride height, which will probably comfortably be 3” lower than stock, since I no longer have to worry about header clearance or front tire scrubbing.