1963 Valiant

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HaveABody

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Cincinnati
Anyone know anything about this car?

Looks to be loved on a bit so thought maybe an old member.

Just picked it up on co-part and going to get it back on road.

I'm in Cincinnati. This will be my first muscle car. If this thing is considered muscle car. I dunno much about them. Was looking for a 70 Camaro but found this little gem cheaper. Looks to be well cared for and Cali car is like a bag of gold in Ohio.

It's got the slant 6 in it. I dunno what size though. I read there was 2 options. I'm hoping there might be some disc brakes under those wheels.

Needless to say I'll be opening a parts wanted list soon. :)



Rodney

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I love the 63. It's what I was looking for when I found my 64. That actually doesn't look too bad. No, they were never a muscle car, but that doesn't mean you cannot make it whatever you want. It will not have disc brakes unless they've been added.
 
I was told once that the '63 model had some weird heater box that protrudes into the engine bay and makes it impossible to install a V8. The "fix" is to pull the heater box and patch the hole?
 
Whoa, good luck finding that grill! I think the 64-65 hood will work. 63 is tough to V8 swap, has a heater plenum right where the LA distributor sits. Of course the B is in front...
 
pishta said:
Whoa, good luck finding that grill! I think the 64-65 hood will work. 63 is tough to V8 swap, has a heater plenum right where the LA distributor sits. Of course the B is in front...
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I was thinking more of a 350 with ford rear end. Lol.
 
The hump on the firewall is for the windshield wiper motor, not the heater box.

63 hood is unique. 64-5 won't fit without changing other front clip parts to 64-5, mostly the grille, valence and front bumper, but the fenders will need to be modified, too, or replaced with 64-5.
 
65 Cuda 340 said:
The hump on the firewall is for the windshield wiper motor, not the heater box.

63 hood is unique. 64-5 won't fit without changing other front clip parts to 64-5, mostly the grille, valence and front bumper, but the fenders will need to be modified, too, or replaced with 64-5.
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Good info to know thanks.
 
The 63's front fenders don't have the inner headlight bucket that the 64-5 grilles attach to. I actually have a 64 right front fender on my 63, all I had to do was drill out the spot welds for the inner bucket and - voila - a 63 fender. Doing the reverse - adding the bucket to a 63 fender wouldn't be so easy, since you'd have to add something that isn't there instead of removing something that is.
 
HaveABody said:
I just don't know anything about Chrysler parts so 350 was the first thought. It goes into anything.
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Anything will fit into anything if you've got enough gas in the torch, and a big enough hammer...
Just off the top of my head, there's no center sump oil pans available to clear the front suspension and steering, the turbo 350/400s won't fit the floorpan/tunnel, no exhaust manifold/header options that fit the early A, the mouse is a hair longer than an LA going into an already cramped engine compartment... It's been done, but it's far from easy.
 
keep it a 6: shave the head .100, Oregon regrind cam, headers and a clifford intake. >3.5x gears and go to town. Get a whole 64-65 front clip, probably cheaper than the 63 grill and hood
 
Professor Fate said:
Anything will fit into anything if you've got enough gas in the torch, and a big enough hammer...
Just off the top of my head, there's no center sump oil pans available to clear the front suspension and steering, the turbo 350/400s won't fit the floorpan/tunnel, no exhaust manifold/header options that fit the early A, the mouse is a hair longer than an LA going into an already cramped engine compartment... It's been done, but it's far from easy.
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Oh. I am see what you mean now. The 350 is a oversized pig n requires a lot more cutting and hacking.

What a good estimate on the parts needed for a v8 swap done. No frills just basic stuff?
 
pishta said:
keep it a 6: shave the head .100, Oregon regrind cam, headers and a clifford intake. >3.5x gears and go to town. Get a whole 64-65 front clip, probably cheaper than the 63 grill and hood
Click to expand...

Yes. I think I've already decided on 64 front end. Found one in TN. Missing bumper. At least she will be back on road. Then I can decide future plans and enjoy the ride.
 
HaveABody said:
Oh. I am see what you mean now. The 350 is a oversized pig n requires a lot more cutting and hacking.

What a good estimate on the parts needed for a v8 swap done. No frills just basic stuff?
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It's not a pig, it just does not lend itself well to an early A body.
The LA will require some work, too- but it can all be done with existing factory parts. Or just go through the slant like @pishta said- they can be plenty peppy in a light early A.
To give yourself an idea of what's involved in the swap, in the Early A forum, go to the search box and type in something like "63 V8 swap" and you'll have enough reading on the subject to last you the rest of the day...
Such as
Search Results for Query: 63 v8 swap | For A Bodies Only Mopar Forum
 
You could megajolt the ignition and run a 36-1 wheel off the balancer. EDIS-8 coil packs and no rear mount distributor. Would have a fully programmable curve too. Can be done with some research.
 
There's a member here who had a 63 hit HARD from the rear while sitting in his driveway. You might do a search and see if you can find it. It had everything to make yours good again.....unless he decided to fix it or sold it.
 
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A V8 will fit. You need to modify the firewall by the distributor and wiper motor area. IIRC will need a V8 steering link too. Can keep original K member but new motor mounts. Header selection is limited and tight fit. Now, I have heard others have cut out a section of a donor 64 firewall and replaced it into the 63. Also heard of some doing customized (shorter) distributor to clear. Here is mine with stroked 360 LA block. We upgraded trans, rear, wheels, brakes, torsion bars, rad. It is slippery slope. Maybe stick with /6?
 
reddog said:
View attachment 1715876896 A V8 will fit. You need to modify the firewall by the distributor and wiper motor area. IIRC will need a V8 steering link too. Can keep original K member but new motor mounts. Header selection is limited and tight fit. Now, I have heard others have cut out a section of a donor 64 firewall and replaced it into the 63. Also heard of some doing customized (shorter) distributor to clear. Here is mine with stroked 360 LA block. We upgraded trans, rear, wheels, brakes, torsion bars, rad. It is slippery slope. Maybe stick with /6?
Click to expand...

You have a picture of how you modified the firewall? Just curious as to how you did it. Here's a pic from an early sixties Hot Rod Magazine article on swapping a 273 into a 63 Dart:

63 A body firewall (2).JPG


I thought about putting a small block in my 63 Valiant convertible, but decided to stick with the slant six, mostly because I already have two small block A bodies and slant sixes do make nice, smooth drivers capable of cruising at any reasonable speed you might want to go.

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