1966 Plymouth Valiant

[JDCLE]

This is my thread for my 1966 Plymouth Valiant. I bought it last March and drove it back to Cleveland from Pittsburgh after some minor tune up work. It’s appeared here with a PO but I don’t know much about it other than the brakes were done when I bought it but nothing else. I should have swapped the tank then because when I finally did the rust, if you want to call it that, was horrible in the tank. I did triple filter it but sheesh, lesson learned. I drove it back in the rain of course, so I had to make a top out of a tarp. Worked amazingly well actually, not a drop inside.

This won’t be a typical beginning to end restore as I drive mine while I work on them. Once I get them running they stay running except for short periods of time here and there, just the way I like to do things, I’m not sure why!

So my son and I just did a 300 mile two-day road trip to Detroit and back, I took the old guy back to the place he was born, Hamtramck MI!! In preparation we did the best thing and my son and I repainted and worked on the interior. I’ve done a bunch of other things but I’ll start here. I hope you enjoy!

 

[B-i-n-g-o]

Look forward to progress and road trip pics. Sounds mechanically solid...I'll be glad when I get mine there! Eary Valiant convertibles...whoo!

 

[JDCLE]

I'm sure you'll get there soon!

For the restoration, here are some pics I posted in the Funny Stuff forum. Definition of insanity

We did the interior for the trip, so we were looking at a freshly painted interior with no working gauges rather than just a crappy interior with no working gauges. Mechanically I went through the entire car and drivetrain the best I could, new belt, oil, and coolant, kept the old water pump and fuel pump; they worked fine, but I have replacements already on hand. I pulled the distributor to do a rebuild of it and rebuilt the carb, twice. I had to dial that in using the small adjustment notches until it didn't bog anymore on a quick hit.

The biggest issue mechanically was the "sticky" clutch. Worked fine, but I had to do the old toe flick to bring it back up to the top. After staring at it for far too long, I realized it wasn't out of adjustment but that the Z bar was slightly off angle when pressed. So I found the trans side pivot was separated off the press weld and kinda dangly on the mounting bracket. The bushings were shot also. I welded the pivot, replaced the bushings, grease, etc. and it was like I installed a new clutch!

All this while driving it here and there, taking it to my office on nice days, etc.

Before planning the road trip, I had to fix some trunk rot. I went to Eastwood, and of course, they were out of their Rust Encapsulator black, so I bought the silver stuff, and it worked out. Much brighter and cleaner looking, I think!

Road trip update: 0 breakdowns, only 1 self-inflicted wound. I miscalculated the 18 or so MPG, and we ran out of gas about a mile outside of Port Clinton, OH. After figuring out that genius of a move, we put in half a gallon of lawnmower gas I tossed into the trunk on a whim, and we went back to the gas station where I should have filled up. Other than that, not a single issue, not even one stall.

 

[JDCLE]

And here it is with the tarp top. It worked amazingly well, one roll of duct tape, a black tarp, and some clear plastic. About $25 worth of stuff, not a drop came in on the ride home.

It didn't fold that well...

 

[Keith Mopar]

Nice ride, I'm glad to see you actually driving it the way it is! What did you need up using for a gas tank?

 

[JDCLE]

I used the original tank to get it home and triple filtered it, but I shouldn’t have. I had it on a gas can as I was tuning it up and should have kept it on that! The gas tanks are easy to find and around $120. Now it’s all replaced, new fuel line, sending unit, and refurbished filler tube!

 

[B-i-n-g-o]

Thanks for the tank information...I'd started cleaning out mine, vinegar and nuts/bolts,sloshed a few times, and it still looked like a spray-in bedliner inside. Based on you saying decent price, just bought a new tank w/sending unit, fuel pump, fan belt, shocks. Need to ID carb for rebuild kit, and doing fresh oil, new fuel lines. Gonna be like Christmas!

 

[JDCLE]

Out of all the work I’ve done so far, the shocks were the biggest improvement. The ride changed dramatically! I also got new tires, 185 14 in the front and 195 in the back. You’ll love the new tank, after I saw the inside of mine, I just ordered a new one, you did the right thing!

 

[JDCLE]

Some more work, I made some kick panels out of vinyl and steel. I used this caramel colored vinyl because I basically stole 10 yards from Joanns, and I got an end of the bolt discount to boot!

I also put on new Amazon door trim, without the weather strip, the one I ordered with the strip pinched the door and and after an hour I ordered this one. Wind noise??? It’s a convertible…

Another pic from our 300 mile 24 hour Det-Cle road-trip also! Hudson/AMC factory and Packard factory

 

[B-i-n-g-o]

Hey, on replacing your tank....on mine, there's one strap, but it had worked loose, just the T and a bungee cord holding it. I ordered a replacement from Year One, and it's a set of two, and the hangar bolts are 'set of two', too?

 

[B-i-n-g-o]

Oh, didn't actually ask...was yours one strap or two? It looks like it's Tee fitting to inside driver frame, then hangar bolt to outside passenger frame.

Thanks!

 

[JDCLE]

Mine is a single strap, yes a T into the frame. I made the bolt hanger myself, the original broke as I tried to undo it. I used a hook bolt from Lowe’s and matched the size of the bolt, worked well!

 

[B-i-n-g-o]

Cool deal, a LOT cheaper than Year One, I'm sure! Thanks, man!

 

[Keith Mopar]

A really good tank brand to buy is Quanta. Back years ago when I ordered a new tank strap it came with the J bolt. You can also upgrade to larger fuel line size if you need a new pickup.

 

[halfafish]

Just curious, are the license plates covering holes in the floor?

 

[JDCLE]

Sadly yes, I’m working my way replacing metal while I drive it. When I drove it home from Pittsburgh it was pouring rain so we slapped on the plates the best we could. I used tape, cardboard, garbage bags and basically everything I could in the trunk but that’s fixed now! I had plates in the back floor in front of the rear seat but I’ve tackled the rust repair there.

 

[JDCLE]

It’s been a while since I posted but I’m back at doing some work and getting out and enjoying some drives. A couple of weeks ago I replaced the bench seats with some buckets I snagged. The buckets are in pretty rough shape but they are so much better than the original seats!

I also did some rust repair on the drivers side. The non-Craigslist side of the car had some damage. The drivers door had been replaced already and I used a donor door to pull the skin off and use a piece for the worst of the rear quarter. Of course there was rust in the inner fender, I did my best in replacing the steel but had to resort to fiberglass in one small corner, I just couldn’t get a piece of metal in there without doing major cutting.

It turned out pretty well. Please don’t judge, this is not any kind of restoration, I just like working on things like this. You all are the real pros!

 

[Keith Mopar]

Great job on the body work. When I did my rear quarters I painted the inside of the quarters with Eastside's rust converter just to give it a coat of protection.

 

[mygasser]

what a good idea using door skin steel for the rear 1/4 repair, how simple is that .
neil.

 

[JDCLE]

what a good idea using door skin steel for the rear 1/4 repair, how simple is that .
neil.

Thanks, I searched and searched for a "reasonably priced" quarter but wasn't going to spend 50% of the purchase price of the entire car for some steel. Then it hit me, if I was doing it again, I'd replace as much as I could get away with instead of just the worst area - with everything in life, hindsight is 20/20!

 

[ZooKypr]

We learn as we go!...keep at it...love the back story of driving her home w/ your son 300 miles! And the tarp vert top, you get an A+ for creativity!

 

[JDCLE]

Next project: I'm going to be creating a custom top, and will alter the roof line a bit. The original roof line (with appropriate tarps and tape installed) was a bit too boxy, I wanted more of a sweep to the rear of the car. I mocked up what it might look like, I dropped the bar about 3-4 inches in the back. It looks so much better I think. I'm not going to cut the original bar, I have a "donor" top and I'll pull the connecting brackets off that one and make a new bar out of steel. Then, I'll fit and finish the roof - with semi-appropriate material. The only thing I'm slightly still noodling over is the rear window, I'm not sure exactly what to do, I'll probably not have one for now and then cut it in later. More to come!

Original:

New profile:

 

[memike]

I sure enjoyed this thread the other day and didn't have a chance to reply, drive it as you do updates to it I did the same with my 66 sedan, 7 years on the road, and now 7 years under construction you could say.
Can I ask where you got your gas tank and sending unit from please, my tank did great for 7 years and daily driving it on these Arkansas and Missouri roads , but it sat being worked on now for 7 years with an empty tank, almost empty, pick up sock was out of the gas, so I just put 5 gallons of gas in mine and its coming out the fuel line on its own up by the engine, but its some funky chit

 

[JDCLE]

Of course! You have a great looking car!

I got the tank at carparts.com probably because it was the most affordable as they say: (it's actually $3 cheaper now).

​ Fuel Tank, 18 gallons / 68 liters​ SKU # REPD670104 For your 1966 Plymouth Valiant​ Amount: $111.99 Quantity: 1​

I got the sending unit at Rock Auto 1966 PLYMOUTH VALIANT 2.8L 170cid L6 Fuel Sending Unit | RockAuto

Filler neck to tank grommet and filler neck gasket at Detroit Muscle Technologies, LLC Mopar & AMC muscle car restoration gaskets

Mopar A Body 63-66 Fuel Gas Tank Tube Grommet 2203473


Good luck!

 

[memike]

Of course! You have a great looking car!

I got the tank at carparts.com probably because it was the most affordable as they say: (it's actually $3 cheaper now).

​ Fuel Tank, 18 gallons / 68 liters​ SKU # REPD670104 For your 1966 Plymouth Valiant​ Amount: $111.99 Quantity: 1​

I got the sending unit at Rock Auto 1966 PLYMOUTH VALIANT 2.8L 170cid L6 Fuel Sending Unit | RockAuto

Filler neck to tank gasket and filler neck gasket at Detroit Muscle Technologies, LLC Mopar & AMC muscle car restoration gaskets

Good luck!

Let me thank you so very much for an outstanding complete reply , and thank you, I love this little lite Plymouth.
this will help me tremendously to make a decision on today.
If you need any help with this site or anything don't hesitate to ask me.