Glamour Shots.. '62 Valiant Wagon
7/25/24:
It has been a while.
Over the last few weeks, I have put ~1000 Miles on the little wagon, and a lot of that was towing an ~800# tare weight trailer.
A few things I have been working on and sorting:
Cooling System - I thought I had this figured out, but It still needs flushing. I guess there is just a lot of crap in the head and block that causes sediment - as I have a ball valve on the coolant drain it's an easy affair to drain and fill on my angled driveway. Draining when hot after a drive, then flushing with a hose and refilling as needed to get the system clean. The ~650-mile drive to, from, and around the Carlisle, PA region helped dislodge a lot of sediment.
I have replaced the back half of the alternator with a core stator and back case, with good diodes. As my alternator was nicely detailed I left the front section alone and swapped the rear section. Since my Carlisle trip, I have replaced and tested everything in my original, detailed rear section. I have to swap the nice rear section back on and see if it Amperages and Voltges correctly.
Brakes - I had been chasing my tail with this one for a while. I could bleed and get a good pedal at the shop since I put the car back together in April / May 2024. But after driving, the pedal feel would never keep. I thought master cylinder, put a new one of those on.. nope.
Then I replaced the Proportioning valve, I bought a cheap eBay one a few years ago... It leaked on the Switch connection, so I weled up that port. I figured I had goofed up the function of it somehow by my welding of the steel cap where the switch contacts were removed from the valve. I bought a good new one from Dr. Diff. Replaced that on there.. Nope still wonky pedal feel. I knew it was not wheel cylinders or calipers, as I also rebuilt those and there were no leaks or anything.
I had used old used Rotors and pads for this build as I was trying to be somewhat budget-minded. I had the rotors turned by a local shop so I didn't think much to check them. Turns out they were way out of spec and had runout that you could see. I knew they were not true as I could feel it in the pedal too. With the fixed caliper design of the KH discs, the rotors were knocking the pads and pistons so far back in the bore it caused a pumping requirement on the brake pedal.
FINALLY! I solved my brake pedal feel problem my tossing on ned good rotors and while I was there I upgraded the pads To EBC Yellow stuff too.
Now the car stops very well with pedal confidence. Phew!
The trip to Carlisle went well. I showed the car and trailer, Picked up a set of 17"X8" Wheels with Advan A052's for the AutoX/Track Day vehicles, and had enough room to bring it all home.
Got an early start Thursday to go to Carlisle.
Arrived in the "green field and put down my tent and things. Started to work on my Carlisle Shopping list on Thursday. Got lots of small little swap meet stuff.
Later that evening, I met up with some slant 6 racing buddies Andrew, and Ryan. We went to Colonel Denning State Park for an awesome 2.2-mile hike that gave us ~1200 Feet of elevation gain and an expansive view of the Cumberland Valley area. Carlisle is somewhere out there on the left.
By the end of Saturday, the little wagon won 2 awards:
2nd place in the class and Dennis Kohr picked my car for a celebrity pick.
I left for an uneventful Saturday Night drive home, It was still pretty hot, and with the gooky coolant and small radiator with no overdrive, I just took my time going home It did well in the heat pulling a semi-loaded trailer good for ~1200#
A normal Trip to Carlisle for me would be usually around 300-350 Miles, But I did some extra driving to go hiking with friends on Thursday, and to pick up the autoX tires and wheels up near Hershey, PA
For the past week and a half, I have been using the Valiant to take the kid to daycare, the playground, and the bike trail.
I stopped by Dad's Shop yesterday too for a little visit. Sometimes Dad is a bit off as he is getting older, but he still knows some things. He will not remember that he saw me with this car last month and we talked about what engine it has in it etc.. But when I fired it up yesterday to leave, he asked "Does it have a cam in it" And I said yes it does. He can tell by the exhaust note.
Upcoming: in the next installment:
Concours d'LeMons
-and-
the PVGP countryside tour.
7/25/24:
It has been a while.
Over the last few weeks, I have put ~1000 Miles on the little wagon, and a lot of that was towing an ~800# tare weight trailer.
A few things I have been working on and sorting:
Cooling System - I thought I had this figured out, but It still needs flushing. I guess there is just a lot of crap in the head and block that causes sediment - as I have a ball valve on the coolant drain it's an easy affair to drain and fill on my angled driveway. Draining when hot after a drive, then flushing with a hose and refilling as needed to get the system clean. The ~650-mile drive to, from, and around the Carlisle, PA region helped dislodge a lot of sediment.
I have replaced the back half of the alternator with a core stator and back case, with good diodes. As my alternator was nicely detailed I left the front section alone and swapped the rear section. Since my Carlisle trip, I have replaced and tested everything in my original, detailed rear section. I have to swap the nice rear section back on and see if it Amperages and Voltges correctly.
Brakes - I had been chasing my tail with this one for a while. I could bleed and get a good pedal at the shop since I put the car back together in April / May 2024. But after driving, the pedal feel would never keep. I thought master cylinder, put a new one of those on.. nope.
Then I replaced the Proportioning valve, I bought a cheap eBay one a few years ago... It leaked on the Switch connection, so I weled up that port. I figured I had goofed up the function of it somehow by my welding of the steel cap where the switch contacts were removed from the valve. I bought a good new one from Dr. Diff. Replaced that on there.. Nope still wonky pedal feel. I knew it was not wheel cylinders or calipers, as I also rebuilt those and there were no leaks or anything.
I had used old used Rotors and pads for this build as I was trying to be somewhat budget-minded. I had the rotors turned by a local shop so I didn't think much to check them. Turns out they were way out of spec and had runout that you could see. I knew they were not true as I could feel it in the pedal too. With the fixed caliper design of the KH discs, the rotors were knocking the pads and pistons so far back in the bore it caused a pumping requirement on the brake pedal.
FINALLY! I solved my brake pedal feel problem my tossing on ned good rotors and while I was there I upgraded the pads To EBC Yellow stuff too.
Now the car stops very well with pedal confidence. Phew!
The trip to Carlisle went well. I showed the car and trailer, Picked up a set of 17"X8" Wheels with Advan A052's for the AutoX/Track Day vehicles, and had enough room to bring it all home.
Got an early start Thursday to go to Carlisle.
Arrived in the "green field and put down my tent and things. Started to work on my Carlisle Shopping list on Thursday. Got lots of small little swap meet stuff.
Later that evening, I met up with some slant 6 racing buddies Andrew, and Ryan. We went to Colonel Denning State Park for an awesome 2.2-mile hike that gave us ~1200 Feet of elevation gain and an expansive view of the Cumberland Valley area. Carlisle is somewhere out there on the left.
By the end of Saturday, the little wagon won 2 awards:
2nd place in the class and Dennis Kohr picked my car for a celebrity pick.
I left for an uneventful Saturday Night drive home, It was still pretty hot, and with the gooky coolant and small radiator with no overdrive, I just took my time going home It did well in the heat pulling a semi-loaded trailer good for ~1200#
A normal Trip to Carlisle for me would be usually around 300-350 Miles, But I did some extra driving to go hiking with friends on Thursday, and to pick up the autoX tires and wheels up near Hershey, PA
For the past week and a half, I have been using the Valiant to take the kid to daycare, the playground, and the bike trail.
I stopped by Dad's Shop yesterday too for a little visit. Sometimes Dad is a bit off as he is getting older, but he still knows some things. He will not remember that he saw me with this car last month and we talked about what engine it has in it etc.. But when I fired it up yesterday to leave, he asked "Does it have a cam in it" And I said yes it does. He can tell by the exhaust note.
Upcoming: in the next installment:
Concours d'LeMons
-and-
the PVGP countryside tour.