1966 Valiant Signet Convertible Resto

[memike]

Your work looks great and your welds look clean and well dun.
Nothing is better then seeing a young man getting it dun.
Congratulations Dave.

 

[Longgone]

Wow, 7/10ths done, UNFRIGGINBALEEVABLE!!!!! :-DI bet your painter gets abducted by space aliens or something before it`s done completely. Congratulations Dave!!!:cheers:

 

[fstfish66]

dave looking good,, take your time,,, trust me you dont want to skip some thing now just to get it running,,,and then later down the raod redo a few things,, thats where im at now,,wishing i would of done it all at one time,,,

LOOKS GREAT,,,,

can you please post or e mail me a pic from the top of the tranny,,so i can see shifter positioning on the tail shaft,,and when you get the shifter up thru the floor,, let us know how it feels comming up thru the middle verses to the left of the tunnel like in a factory location,,,im thinking it may be more comfortable thru the middle,,

 

[daves66valiant]

Hey guys it has finally got some blue paint her. 70% of the car is blue. Forget everything I said about my painter............He is going above and beyond the call of duty :cheers::cheers::cheers::cheers::cheers::cheers::cheers::cheers:

After getting the car back to his shop he went right to work on wetsanding and perfecting every body panel. I finally realize how much effort and time that goes into making a darker metallic colored car just about perfect.

This is my first resto ever and I learn something every day. All of my bitching and moaning was me being a cry baby for not having my car back when I expected. Well sometimes things take longer due to personal life issues and then the rest comes down to doing a stellar job that your integrity is built upon. The lengths he is going to now gives me a new found respect for this guy and the friendship we have developed over the last year. This car has gone from cool cruiser to a complete ground up-every nut and bolt resto-mod without going onto an actual rotisserie. This is going to be one bitchin-assed car for sure when I done with it. Forget rushing it now. I've patiently planned everything out this far so no need to screw things up. I'll simmer down on the time issue.

The pictures are not the greatest right now but it was dark by the time I got off work and made it over to the shop. You get the general idea. This color will be amazing when finished with the clearcoat. Doors, fenders and hood are getting final prep. He assured me I would not have any match problems with his painting. He said he is very good with his paint mixing.

Dusty after just a tiny bit of wetsanding. The color is dark

This was after 2 minutes of wetsanding and then some spray bottle water to get an idea of what the clear and glaze will look like at night. WOWOWOOW

Undercoating and sub-frames. Awesome.

I picked up some other parts that I'm going to sandblast and give back to him to paint. So that will keep me busy this weekend while welding new offset spring perches on my 8 3/4 rear. Should get my Mancini order this week. And I may get some more stuff powder coated since it turned out so well.

Cheers,
Dave

 

[Dodgenut64]

Wow, get a little paint on the car and you get soft. Ha ha, just kidding. Yeah, thats gonna look real good. Hey, i see you have the shelf for a power top motor/pump, i want my top to be an auto top also, but was wondering how different your tops frame was from a manual top.

 

[lenweiler]

Epic tale. Very nice!

 

[OneOfMany]

Glad we're back on the resto thread again! Much better than the ultimatum therad we've been reading lately. Very happy for you, and happy that your guy pulled through for you. Obviously he IS a man of integrity, and I am glad that this all worked out better than you expected. Waiting for more as always, Grant

BTW, the Val is looking GREAT!

 

[daves66valiant]

Wow, get a little paint on the car and you get soft. Ha ha, just kidding. Yeah, thats gonna look real good. Hey, i see you have the shelf for a power top motor/pump, i want my top to be an auto top also, but was wondering how different your tops frame was from a manual top.

I won't get too soft. I just feel better about the whole thing now. I'm sure there may be some more hang ups but Iknow that the job will be done right with me being around every step of the way. I can try to get more pictures for you if you like of the convertible frame if you like. I don't know if it was different. It may be an easy upgrade with an aftermarket kit for hydraulic top.

On a side note. He used less than a quart of filler on the entire car. There was more on the drivers quarter from a past macco-earl scheib(mexi-mudding according to my hispanic painter) job done previously.

 

[Dodgenut64]

Yes, if you have pics of your frame that would be awsome. Im not sure, but i think the frame for the auto top has to attach to the lift cylanders, so i think part of your frame has to be different then the area were my manual top has just a spring, the other difference is there should be two mounting brackets on your floor for the lift cylanders.

 

[daves66valiant]

Yes, if you have pics of your frame that would be awsome. Im not sure, but i think the frame for the auto top has to attach to the lift cylanders, so i think part of your frame has to be different then the area were my manual top has just a spring, the other difference is there should be two mounting brackets on your floor for the lift cylanders.

Yes there are two brackets. It would be really easy to make those for the cylinders. I send some pics some time.

 

[Dodgenut64]

Yes there are two brackets. It would be really easy to make those for the cylinders. I send some pics some time.

Yes, i think the cylander mounts would be easy, but i gotta see were the top of them connect to the frame. Looking at my spring loaded top, i cant see how/where to mount the top of the cylander to the frame. Pics would be awsome, i could put them on file and use them later. Thanks

 

[daves66valiant]

Okay guys it's been a long time coming but I finally have something to show that is worth while. The engine bay is pretty much finished except for color sanding and buffing. The color looks incredible after the clear coat. I have to work late all week so I can't get her back until Thursday or Friday. More pictures to come later this week. I've been busy doing all kinds of other stuff. Ground the perches off my 8 3/4 to get ready for the offset kit. Rebuilt my steering column so I could get rid of the column shift lever and indicator collar. Blasted the door hinges and prepped and primered them and some other parts. Ended up getting a bunch of goodies from Summit racing too. Can't wait to get it all together soon.

 

[Longgone]

Beautiful Dave!!!

 

[OneOfMany]

Looking great Dave. Glad to see it coming together! Waitng for more....

Grant

 

[Rob]

Wow, what a long haul. I always thought I was slow, now I don't feel so bad :mrgreen: Looks great, can't wait to see it assembled.

 

[daves66valiant]

thanks guys. she's getting there. i'm ready to piss myself when the car rolls up to the house. anyone have any spare depends undergarments handy. HAHA. Maybe fastback340 has some left over.

 

[redfastback]

thanks guys. she's getting there. i'm ready to piss myself when the car rolls up to the house. anyone have any spare depends undergarments handy. HAHA. Maybe fastback340 has some left over.

i've got a used pair of "oops i crapped my pants" brand. they clean up fine with soap and water.:fart: :mrgreen:


looks great dave.

 

['64 Cuda]

Car's gonna' look SWEEEEEEEEEET!

 

[fstfish66]

looking goooooood dave,,,,,

 

[daves66valiant]

hey guys,
I get my car body back tomorrow. I've been working long hours all week and this is the first chance for me to get it delivered. Should be a fun weekend installing the engine and tranny I hope. Will have pics tomorrow.

 

[fstfish66]

DAVE is it rumbleing yet???

 

['64 Cuda]

Vroooom Vrooom Rumpity Rumpity Blat Blat Blat Blat ?

 

[daves66valiant]

quick post. got my car today and got the engine and tranny installed in 45 minutes. tti headers included. my plan worked flawless. install from the bottom. the tranny still has a couple wrinkles to fit absolutely perfect but should have that done tomorrow. will post pictures as soon as I get them loaded.




YIPEEEEEEEEEEEPPPPPPPPEEEEEEEEEEE

 

[daves66valiant]

Well I got the shell back today around 3pm. By 430pm it was sitting in my garage with a new thumping heart and new gills. I had not planned on installing the engine today but my painter (Douglas) could not wait to see the motor in the engine bay. I had prepared earlier in the day with the parts car. This setup raised the front end over 4ft. I used the old bumper brackets mounted to the front frame rails (no need for a welded bar/frame to clear the radiator support). Then, I used some carabiners to link some heavy chain between the lowest points on the brackets. Worked like a charm with plenty of clearance for the motor to slide right under as you will see in the upcoming photos below. Lots of pics coming. Car **** is good :bootysha:

Now for the actual homecoming 8)

Ready for the new heart and lungs SAY AHHH

Yep that's me manning the hoist

Steady :clock:

Of course it decided to rain on my parade as you can see. :thebirdm:

SWEET SUCCESS. I love it when a good plan works

And some crude video action. Camera battery died halfway through the install. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUmeUHC5VL8 The rain didn't help but made us move fast. :cheers:

More to come later. The body still needs to be color sanded and buffed. I'm sure I will put a couple scratches on it and find flaws. Those will be fixed though

Still a long road ahead but now I'm as happy as pig in shitt

Dave

 

[Dodgenut64]

Congrats, cant wait to see it together. Im very interested in seeing the 5 speed setup done, and see you get the top installed.