1974 Plymouth Valiant Scamp - Restoration is a strong word

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Two steps forward, one step back.

Brakes are bled. Power steering pump replaced. I bought one off a member here. My car came with a pump installed on the engine, but no pulley. There was an other pump in the trunk with a pulley on it, but it was bent like someone tried to remove it with a vice grip and a sledge hammer. I figure it was easier to by a used pump with the pulley on and keep the old parts just in case. Good news, the power steering works. Bad news, the input shaft seal is leaking badly. Oh well. New seal on the way.

This morning, I decided I was going to open the differential to change fluid and visual inspect, so I bought a new gasket and gear oil on Amazon, which arrived before I got home from work. I had seen a small spot under the differential like it had a minor leak. When I pulled the cover, I realized the previous owner had removed the cover at some point, smothered it with gasket maker, but didn't use a gasket. I believe I'm reading the ring gear stamp correctly that I've got 2.76 gears.

This weekend, I plan to drive an hour out of town to buy 2 14" 5x4.5 stock steel wheels for the rear. I'll get 4 new tires next week. I did put the Cragars back on the rear so I can drive to the gas station around the corner to fill up. I absolutely hate the way they go on the car with the elongated slots and offset washers to align them. The next time the wheels come off the car will be the last time.


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DigitalRelay said:
Thank you so much!! I've been working on cars for a long time, but I feel like the internet has made it easier to access resources on how to do things, which gives me confidence that there is very little on a car most of us couldn't figure out given enough time and patience.

My plan is to keep it as a driver/cruiser and keep the Slant 6. It really does sound good, and although more power is appealing, I know I'd almost never use it anyway. I also find the Slant 6 a super interesting engine. I'm kind of anxious to get the car to the point of being a safe and legal driving vehicle, but I think after that, I'll slowly address areas and components. The wiper motor needs new wiring, the radio seems to have an internal short, the dash pad is shot, the front seat needs new foam and a cover, the trunk metal patch work is a mess, I think there was a leak in the rear window, cranking windows is difficult, etc.
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Slant sixes are like stones and bearskins in the caveman days, but they are fantastic engines. Here's the 225 I put in my Valiant, Vixen.
 
DigitalRelay said:
Two steps forward, one step back.

Brakes are bled. Power steering pump replaced. I bought one off a member here. My car came with a pump installed on the engine, but no pulley. There was an other pump in the trunk with a pulley on it, but it was bent like someone tried to remove it with a vice grip and a sledge hammer. I figure it was easier to by a used pump with the pulley on and keep the old parts just in case. Good news, the power steering works. Bad news, the input shaft seal is leaking badly. Oh well. New seal on the way.

This morning, I decided I was going to open the differential to change fluid and visual inspect, so I bought a new gasket and gear oil on Amazon, which arrived before I got home from work. I had seen a small spot under the differential like it had a minor leak. When I pulled the cover, I realized the previous owner had removed the cover at some point, smothered it with gasket maker, but didn't use a gasket. I believe I'm reading the ring gear stamp correctly that I've got 2.76 gears.

This weekend, I plan to drive an hour out of town to buy 2 14" 5x4.5 stock steel wheels for the rear. I'll get 4 new tires next week. I did put the Cragars back on the rear so I can drive to the gas station around the corner to fill up. I absolutely hate the way they go on the car with the elongated slots and offset washers to align them. The next time the wheels come off the car will be the last time.


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Yup. That's a 2.76 alright. Great for cruising!
 
Big day!

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After cleaning up the rear end cover, installing a fresh gasket and refilling with gear oil, I made it approximately 1.2 miles round trip to the gas station.

Brakes worked, but I'll have to acclimate to manual drums.

Turn signals worked on the way there. Not on the way back. Worked again in the garage. Lol

I heard a hiss sound from the engine bay once I turned the car off. Coolant was dripping from t-stat housing or hose. I tightened both, but will keep an eye on it.

That power steering input shaft seal leak I mentioned previously is bad. I need to swap that seal out before running the engine any more. It's supposed to be here tomorrow.

Shocks are probably garbage.

The engine ran great, idled at stoplights, but it smells rich.

The transmission shifted into all three gears!

Not bad for a first real drive. Also, it's 105 degrees out.
 
Yesterday at the salvage yard, I grabbed an oil dipstick tube and dipstick from some random Mopar, and a license plate light with bracket from some random Mopar truck with a steel bumper. Today, I fitted the dipstick with the addition of a small bracket extension.

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It’s been on my list for awhile to remove the rear bumper and cut that massive bracket down. I figured I could tackle that and fitting my new license plate light. The light bracket needed to be cut down a little, and bent significantly to make it work, but it looks pretty good off the car right now.

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I had cleaned the trunk light switch and socket a few days ago. New 1004 lamps arrived today, so installed the lamp and reattached the socket. It works great!

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I’m jealous, courtesy lights and switches have been on my list to work on for a while, nice to see the original switches worked!
 
I pulled the distributor this morning so I could adjust the bolt underneath so I could get slightly more rotation to set timing. I was maxed out and getting about 4 degrees BTDC. While I was in there, I checked the vacuum advance, which was dead. Then I pulled all the plugs to remove the crush washers. Number one was damaged. The ceramic around the electrode had broken off somehow. A quick trip to AutoZone on my e-bike and I had a replacement. The vacuum advance will be available later today, but that might have to wait since I plan to drive about 90 minutes north to get 14" steel wheels for the rear of the car.

The rear bumper is back on, and the license plate light worked out grea. The only change I might make is switching to stainless steel bolts with a lower profile. No biggie though.

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I picked up two 14" 5x4.5" steel wheels for the rear yesterday after a 75 minute drive out of town. I took my kid with me and we stopped for lunch on the way back, which was nice, but traffic back into town was awful. Oh well.

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Today, I pulled the front wheels off...

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... wire brushed, scotchbrited, and cleaned them. Then hit them with some primer and paint...

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Since all four tires will be replaced later this week, it made masking totally unnecessary.

I then cleaned up the Scamp emblems that were collecting dirt and dust in the glove box and had my kid repaint them.

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I got the new vacuum advance installed yesterday after picking up the tires. I buttoned up the distributor and stabbed it back in the car and checked timing again. I also made sure the vacuum advance was working. It was.

The PS input shaft seal got delayed. It's supposed to arrive tomorrow. I also bought an OEM front sway bar from a member here since my car has no sway bar and felt like a boat on my short drive to the gas station the other day. I'm hoping by next weekend this will be a working, driving car. If so, I'll get the level III inspection scheduled with the DMV so I can register and get plates.
 
The PS input shaft seal came in and I came really close to butchering it trying to install, but I was able to pull it out, get it back into shape and install properly. No more power steering leak!

After picking up steel wheels for the rear to match the ones I already had in front, I decided to paint the wheels black and paint a sliver trim "ring". I don't think this is going to be popular with everyone, but I like it, and the price was right. I had a '94 Caprice 9C1 years ago and gave it the same treatment. Anyway, I went from this...

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to this...

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I half-*** washed the car, and some of the gold respray came off. Here's what it looks like now...

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I've got a significant transmission fluid leak. I cleaned things up under there and I think (hope) it's the pan gasket. I'll swap it out tomorrow.

I took another short drive this morning. Everything worked, the car ran great. I have an AZ Level II inspection scheduled for next week so I can get the Dismantled Title reassigned and finally register and plate this thing.
 
It is a real pleasure to see a neglected machine being brought back to life. And it's always enjoyable to observe someone really competent at work.

Believe it or not, I always wanted a green Scamp.
 
Saturday, I dropped the trans pan so I could change the gasket, which I suspected was the source of my leak. After catching most of the fluid in my drain pan, and spending an hour with a wire brush cleaning the pan, bolts and trans surface, I put it all back together with a new filter. I decided to go for a short drive around the neighborhood, and before leaving, I checked under the car, no trans fluid!

I stayed close to home, but figured putting some more miles on before my Friday DOT inspection was a good idea. About a half mile out, I passed a '67 Mustang with its hood up and flashers on. There was a truck there too, and it looked like he was getting whatever help he needed, so I carried on. But on my way back, the car was still there and the truck was gone, so I stopped to see if he needed tools or anything else I might be able to grab from home. The car would run for a short time, then die out. He suspected his ignition system. I ran home, grabbed some tools, came back and popped the distributor cap to find a Pertronix module inside. Not a whole lot either of us could do with that if the module, or the coil was going, so he was going to try to limp it home. I got a chuckle thinking to myself I was on a shakedown run with my car that hasn't been on the road in well over a decade and my car became his rescue vehicle.

After a short break, I went back to the garage to find a massive puddle of trans fluid under the car. The new gasket split. Great. Luckily, I had a second one available. I had ordered it first, then the next day I decided I should just get a kit at Autozone and change the filter too. The Autozone gasket split. It seemed a little dry when I installed. Anyway, I dropped the pan again, cleaned everything again, and put the new gasket on, this time staying under the torque spec of 150 inch pounds.

I also bought new lug nuts. Twice, since I didn't realize at first that my 5x4.5 wheels on the rear use 1/2"-20 lug nuts, and my 5x4 wheels on the front use 7/16"-20.

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Sunday, I tore open the box to the new-to-me stock sway bar I bought from a member on this forum. I crawled underneath and scraped and brushed dirt and grime for 30 minutes before figuring out the orientation of the brackets and bar and got them installed. My LCA's do not have the sway bar tab from the factory, so I'll be working that out soon. I took the end links out for now and wired the sway bar up so it can't drag down while I sort out completing the install.

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My first idea was to add an angle bracket to the bottom of the LCA and mount the sway bar above. After researching more here, looking at the Hellwig instructions for their bar, and watching several videos, this seemed like a better approach for my stock '73-'76 sway bar...

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I drilled all the way through the LCA. Technically, I drilled from the front, then from the back. Then I cut a sleeve for the inside of the LCA out of some scrap steel tube I had laying around...

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Then I bolted it all together...

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I'll repeat on the other side tonight. My end links seem a little long, so I'm going to cut the sleeve down a little so the sway bar doesn't hang too low. Hopefully, I won't need new bolts, but that'll be pretty easy to solve if I need to.
 
Looking good! I welded tabs on my LCAs while I had them off the car, but then I never got a sway bar. I was welding a cross-piece on the LCAs anyway, to stiffen them up. I guess your bolt-on bracket will have a stiffening effect as well. Unfortunately all the pictures in my thread got deleted when the board software was updated, and I don't have those photos any more.
 
rich006 said:
Looking good! I welded tabs on my LCAs while I had them off the car, but then I never got a sway bar. I was welding a cross-piece on the LCAs anyway, to stiffen them up. I guess your bolt-on bracket will have a stiffening effect as well. Unfortunately all the pictures in my thread got deleted when the board software was updated, and I don't have those photos any more.
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Oh man! Thats a bummer losing photos!
 
looks like you'll need longer bolts, they don't reach the nyloc part of the nut. good idea bolting right through the lca and using a sleeve, that'll stiffen the lca too.
neil.
 
mygasser said:
looks like you'll need longer bolts, they don't reach the nyloc part of the nut. good idea bolting right through the lca and using a sleeve, that'll stiffen the lca too.
neil.
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Good eye! The photo was taken before I torqued it down, but I'll double check and make sure it's into the nylon, or I'll be getting new bolts.
 
Sway bar installed, test drive a success!! I’ll eventually either cut down or replace the end link bolts for more clearance.

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Well, this is frustrating. I drove to my DMV inspection so they would modify my dismantled title to clear, but the inspector spotted that the seventh character listed on my title (8) does not match the car (G). Sooooo, they rescheduled me for an inspection in two weeks and advised that I go back to the third party DMV that issued the title in my name to see if they have the old title, or a scan, and can verify that they made the typo, and issue a new title. If they can't do that, I may have no choice but to go down the bonded title path. Not the end of the world, but inconvenient. I'll stop there this afternoon and find out.

The good news is, the car drove great, no stalling, no issues. The ambient temperature on the way back was over 90 degrees. I even got on the freeway for a few miles at 70+ mph.
 
Slants do seem to like hot weather. As long as you don't park somewhere and then try to leave while the engine is still warm... :)

Good luck straightening out the title. "Dismantled" to driving is a feel-good story.
 
The third party MVD knows there’s an error, and that the typo happened in 2021, but, you’re not gonna believe this, they wouldn’t fix it. They said I need to bring the car in for a visual inspection so they can verify the VIN. Even though they issued me a title 6 weeks ago without looking at the car. Super fun times. I’ll run the car over for a 10 second visual inspection in the morning. But they won’t guarantee that will be the end of it.

In the meantime, I’m working on something…

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(…it’s a killswitch)
 
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