Waiting for one more product to continue working on that.
1966 Factory V8 Valiant Signet Restoration For My Other Daughter
- Thread starter Jim Kueneman
- Start date
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Waiting for one more product to continue working on that.
Few hours under the hood and the entire front clip is now done. I am going to get fresh media to finish the underbody so it is not so dusty while I am sitting on the ground.... yesterday was miserable. Found a few surprises... Why would you punch 2 holes in the tunnel like that?
Previous owners (from years ago) use to be tree parkers I see... this sucks... the cowl was filled with mud, leaves and nests.....
Looks like the holes in the tunnel of my Dart that Sears put in for the drains on the under dash AC.
That is the consensus so far!
Ding ding, exactly this, i have a satellite with the same exact holes and it has a Sears a/c unit and the drain hoses go through the holes. I think Sears had a tool that made the holes all look the same.
Stormy day so I rearranged the garage to get ready to tear down the drive train... then got bored and tore down the drive train. I give up there is no way to do this without making a mess.... Looks good. It did have 1 or 2 oil changes in its life! She has been apart before but I am not seeing where it has been bored out and the cylinder walls look great. She will get some Toth Aluminum heads like the Duster and the work to get the compression up to 9:1 or so. Need to get the engine and transmission to the shops and let them store them for the next 6 months!
Hi Jim, I guess I'm guilty of the couple of oil changes. LOL. I tried to flush out the engine, then changed the oil & filter a few times with Lucas oil with zink. So maybe that was a good thing. MAC.
Haha that was the joke. It did not have many oil changes before you! Was a bit crusty but in good shape for 50 years of running.
Fixing some holes and bad spots under the hood. Nice to have it in this state in the garage so I can tinker with these simple things in the evening. Getting dark will grind down the patch welds tomorrow.
took 60 years but karma finally got Sears for that
My uncle has been a mechanic for 40 years, so he was around when the under dash units were being installed. A tool to make the holes makes sense since he knew about someone using a drill to make the holes. Cost the shop a new transmission.
My holes aren't that clean. Mine looks like they used a punch and hammer.
Rebuilt the hinges and worked on the RH door today. Worked out a number dents and welded up the hole that were drilled to sort of fix the dents the first time. I ran out of gas for the welder so I can only get things ready. Fixed the rust in the front of the door... these early A Bodies this front corner is a mud trap and they all have problems there... Started to work on the LH hinges. Thank goodness this '66 seems to have '67 and up hinges. '66 are hybrid '65 and '67 but these were full '67 and up.
Hinges: I bolt them upside down to drive out the pins and remove the "S" spring.
Hinges: I bolt them upside down to drive out the pins and remove the "S" spring.
I will show the rest of the steps tomorrow. Ready to blast.
Lower hinge gets an oversized pin (these are much better than the ones that add a bushing to the lower pin). First drill it out slightly undersized to the reamer (I use RestoRick kits and you can get the correct reamer from him) then use the reamer. Press the upper new bushing in with a vice or C clamp then install on the car to drive in the pins. Don't forget to put some grease on the pins.
Spent some time working on the door, blasted it then worked where it looks like 4 different mirrors were ripped off.... someone hated mirrors.... Just need to get gas so I can weld up those holes and do the final shaping.
Been getting the other cars ready for the Tucson Classic this weekend. The Coronet brake booster went out after I prepped it last weekend and Power Brake Booster Exchange and Booster Steve (old Booster Dewey) saved the day by getting one to me pronto! I will be getting back to the Valiant in a week or so!
Dang Jim, you're a madman! Really nice work you got goin on!
The 360 is getting some long overdue love.
Well that helps but this is at the machine shop. Dave texts me play by play.
Into the cool weather in Oklahoma perfect time to start welding and sanding just want to get on get underside and patches on mine and move on to engine get her running! I don't want crap in my eyes all the time so I will blast as you said and make a plan for a section at a time.
Back at it....
Finished welding up all the holes and rust under the hood.
Finished welding up all the holes and rust under the hood.
Once done moved to the Sears aftermarket AC damage and then to the extra holes from various seat installed over the years.. The drivers size the pan was cracked so I removed the reinforcement and welded it up like new.
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