1966 Factory V8 Valiant Signet Restoration For My Other Daughter

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Jim Kueneman

Jim Kueneman

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So after restoring my Coronet

1968 Coronet 500 Project

my youngest Daughter Duster

1972 Duster Build with my Daughter

and my wife's Dart

1963 Dodge Dart 270 Convertible for the Wife

my oldest daughter is now getting the bug.... We are going to look at something tomorrow and there is a 99% chance we will drive it home..... get your popcorn out because Kueneman Mopar Works is going to be at it again..... this time with a brand new lift because dad is getting too old to be working on the floor anymore.

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I will get the adoption paperwork going Jim lol. I clean up well. We can call it Jim's drive for five hahhaa. Awesome though it's great to see all enjoying something together. Thanks for sharing your builds.
 
You will never be sorry about the lift. I can't say enough good about mine.
 
You make me look silly lol.... You will have fully restored 3 cars before I even get my motor back in mine lol.....

JW
 
Here she is. 360 engine, bit of hacking for big tires on in the quarters that needs fixing plus hit in the RR quarter but new quarters and tail panel part of the deal. Should be a piece of cake now that I have the practice on the Dart. She drove it home and loved it, even it is a more bit rough around the edges than I thought she would deal with.. Already found some original front buckets in town.

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You are pushing into unknown territory... Restoring 2 cars for 2 different daughters and each will want to put their own spin on their cars. You are probably the last true family man lol.....

JW
 
66 ain't my favorite year but that's a neat little car. Lookin forward to what you're gonna do with it.
 
Here we go again! Another mopar "extreme makeover" !!!!! Can't wait to watch the progress! More and more, more than ever before, I have the itch to own a early A-body. 25 years ago I wouldn't consider it, but the last 5 years or so, they keep nagg'n my attention. LOL
 
Jim Kueneman said:
front and rear glass trim?
Click to expand...

there is no front or rear window trim on a 66 sedan. All you get is the gasket, the Mylar biscuit that expands the gasket, and in the back there are 4 little corner trim pieces because the gasket comes to a corner. The front is more rounded at the corners and the Mylar strip goes around the corners and meets in the middle.
 
cosgig said:
there is no front or rear window trim on a 66 sedan. All you get is the gasket, the Mylar biscuit that expands the gasket, and in the back there are 4 little corner trim pieces because the gasket comes to a corner. The front is more rounded at the corners and the Mylar strip goes around the corners and meets in the middle.
Click to expand...

Ah that explains it. I saw the corner pieces and thought the rest was missing.
 
Speaking of quarter panels!

May as well get started. Quarter sections are pulled apart ready for blasting. Nice to have quarters with a lip. Damn kids and their oversized tires. Wish I had those trunk extension patches when I was doing the Dart.

Simple tag. 273, auto, buckets, console, cream exterior, black interior

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After 3 cars I have tried everything. Now that you can't get good Aircraft Stripper anymore there is nothing that works better than these cookies on a 90 degree grinder. Cleaned up the donor parts to see if there were any surprises. The one had a little damage near the bumper but now that the parts of off that can be dollied back much closer. I am done with time sandblasting. If I does not fit in the cabinet and it is portable it is going to the shop in Whetstone to be blasted. They get $90 an hour but if I do this much and only have them do the complex corner areas and get the rust area 100% clean (enforcing they stay away from the the main panel area so they don't warp it) I am going to bet I can get most of my heaving blasting done very reasonable. We will see with this first batch of parts.

Oh and there is no question that the patch panels for the Darts will give you most of the metal you need for this. I think the shapes are exactly the same below the Dart body line that parallels the arch and then runs back to the top of the bumper.

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Jim, I fully agree, better paying $90 to a professional sandblaster, than risking getting lung cancer and having all that mess in your garage. Lot of people don't know about, or underestimate the health the risks of sandblasting.
Looking forward following your next high quality restoration. Always a pleasure to read your detailed and informative posts.

Cheers,
Wolfgang
 
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