68' Valiant 4 door
- Thread starter kursplat
- Start date
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Can't wait to see this thing put together and driving. Maybe in 10 or 20 years if you decide to sell I will have enough money to buy it haha. One of my favorite mopars and being built in a way that I would build my own 
had enough of that crapuh oh, sellers remorse
maybe in another 10 years i might have this worthy of swapping for the Hemi car 
me too. well, except the 76' capri that had already had an engine fire when i bought it. half the wiring harness was a brittle chard mess, but it ran. but the Mopars, yes
mygasser
Well-Known Member
yep, me too. 74 challenger rallye (small block), 66 fairlane gta (big block), 65 dart (440) and that's just 3 that spring to mind .
neil.
.neil.
more progress. should be able to take it for a shake down drive this weekend 
got some splash shields from DTM installed. had to redo some of the mounting holes. not a negative to DTM, these are very nice but meant to fit a lot of A bodies. adding in the amount of work that was done to get the fenders anywhere near straight, it was no big deal making a couple new holes in them.
also, not a big deal, made a bracket to keep the trans cooler lines off the center link.
and got the front end put back together woo hoo!
so a friend of mine spent, well, enough $$ for most of us to build a few cars, and had a Charger built a few years ago. he's not really a car guy, he just always wanted a Charger, and the car is sweet, and i'm glad he got what he wanted, but he didn't do a thing on it himself. just supplied the $$. and i think by not being a gear head, and not having any of his own blood in it, he missed out on the best part of these cars. the stupid joy you get making a little bracket that no one will ever see... anyway, here's his car
got some splash shields from DTM installed. had to redo some of the mounting holes. not a negative to DTM, these are very nice but meant to fit a lot of A bodies. adding in the amount of work that was done to get the fenders anywhere near straight, it was no big deal making a couple new holes in them. also, not a big deal, made a bracket to keep the trans cooler lines off the center link.
and got the front end put back together woo hoo!
so a friend of mine spent, well, enough $$ for most of us to build a few cars, and had a Charger built a few years ago. he's not really a car guy, he just always wanted a Charger, and the car is sweet, and i'm glad he got what he wanted, but he didn't do a thing on it himself. just supplied the $$. and i think by not being a gear head, and not having any of his own blood in it, he missed out on the best part of these cars. the stupid joy you get making a little bracket that no one will ever see... anyway, here's his car
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Johnny Dart
Well-Known Member
Looking good !
mygasser
Well-Known Member
looking real good!
hey, only 3 weeks between updates this time, feels like i'm getting things done ...drove it to work a couple times, about 50mi round trip, with the eyeballed alignment. drove great, so i decided to pull the K out to finish the front suspension.
fortunately i had a good piece if 1/8" wall 1x2 and some scrap pieces to weld up an engine support. harbor freight is getting a $80 for theirs now, so no thanks... managed to drop everything out and not pull the steering column, just tied it off and let it float until everything else was out of the way. QA1 strut rods, SPC upper arms, boxed the lowers, and Hotchkis sway bar all going in after i plate and weld up the K member. i also got started on the 8 3/4". even though it was already clean i took the housing over to the stripping place to get all the paint off. i'm moving the springs in 1/2" courteous of Dr Diff spring hangers so wanted it nice and clean.
i had the K member dipped too and i'll pick that up monday, should be able to get it welded up and a coat of paint on it by that night. really jonesing to get the suspension done so i can measure for wheels
...drove it to work a couple times, about 50mi round trip, with the eyeballed alignment. drove great, so i decided to pull the K out to finish the front suspension. fortunately i had a good piece if 1/8" wall 1x2 and some scrap pieces to weld up an engine support. harbor freight is getting a $80 for theirs now, so no thanks... managed to drop everything out and not pull the steering column, just tied it off and let it float until everything else was out of the way. QA1 strut rods, SPC upper arms, boxed the lowers, and Hotchkis sway bar all going in after i plate and weld up the K member. i also got started on the 8 3/4". even though it was already clean i took the housing over to the stripping place to get all the paint off. i'm moving the springs in 1/2" courteous of Dr Diff spring hangers so wanted it nice and clean.
i had the K member dipped too and i'll pick that up monday, should be able to get it welded up and a coat of paint on it by that night. really jonesing to get the suspension done so i can measure for wheels
what's not to love about factory welds...
K member is welded up and back in the car. added a B-body Shumacher torque strap that fit almost perfectly, and a slightly used Firm Feel sector shaft support i got at a good price from HemiDenny. Firm Feels directions are a little vague. basically it's "install like this 9 year old Mopar Action article says but, invert the nut".
K member is welded up and back in the car. added a B-body Shumacher torque strap that fit almost perfectly, and a slightly used Firm Feel sector shaft support i got at a good price from HemiDenny. Firm Feels directions are a little vague
. basically it's "install like this 9 year old Mopar Action article says but, invert the nut".
Very cool progress. It sounds great. You're doin some nice work!
what's not to love about factory welds...
View attachment 1715566065
View attachment 1715566066
K member is welded up and back in the car. added a B-body Shumacher torque strap that fit almost perfectly, and a slightly used Firm Feel sector shaft support i got at a good price from HemiDenny. Firm Feels directions are a little vague
View attachment 1715566071
View attachment 1715566073
So since you're addin reinforcements like that, I guess you're gonna do some canyon carving?
i do canyon carving just going around the block
i don't want the steering wheel to feel neglected. planning on some track days and maybe get back to auto-xing.
R4Sedan
Larry
Doing great work. Thanks for sharing.
so i've swapped out the champion radiator for a 26" copper core one from Radiators Express. main reason being trying to get enough room for a shroud with the March pulleys. but now that it's in i really prefer the way it looks vs the aluminum one. also finished getting the front end together. still need to set the ride height and align it, but it's too dang hot for now. i'll head out tonight and see if i can get it dialed in
so what happens when you get it driving? you move on to the next project and start tearing it apart again 
as hot as it's been i figured i would take a break from working on the car, but it's supposed to drop 20' from what it was a couple days ago, so screw it, i'm wrenching
rear end is next up while i'm waiting on a fan shroud. the car came with an 8 3/4" housing and axles, just another reason it was such a good deal. thanks again Darter6 going with 3.73's and an Eaton sure-trac from Dr Diff.
so when inspecting things after the old rear was out, i notice a not too old drip line from the fuel sender lock ring, and that it's not quite seated.
well that's easy to fix... one tap with the hammer and the freakin seal tore
gas starts pouring out all over the place. lucky i had a drain pan handy.
and of course i had just filled it...guess i was due, i hadn't done anything truly stupid in quite a while.
anyway it's mostly drained. the house didn't blow up, but i did shut off the water heater for a bit.
as hot as it's been i figured i would take a break from working on the car, but it's supposed to drop 20' from what it was a couple days ago, so screw it, i'm wrenching rear end is next up while i'm waiting on a fan shroud. the car came with an 8 3/4" housing and axles, just another reason it was such a good deal. thanks again Darter6
going with 3.73's and an Eaton sure-trac from Dr Diff. so when inspecting things after the old rear was out, i notice a not too old drip line from the fuel sender lock ring, and that it's not quite seated.
well that's easy to fix... one tap with the hammer and the freakin seal tore
gas starts pouring out all over the place. lucky i had a drain pan handy. and of course i had just filled it...guess i was due, i hadn't done anything truly stupid in quite a while.
anyway it's mostly drained. the house didn't blow up, but i did shut off the water heater for a bit.
mygasser
Well-Known Member
doh! that's a pain. still better to fix it now than it leak out on the road somewhere and cause even bigger problems.so what happens when you get it driving? you move on to the next project and start tearing it apart again
rear end is next up while i'm waiting on a fan shroud. the car came with an 8 3/4" housing and axles, just another reason it was such a good deal. thanks again Darter6
so when inspecting things after the old rear was out, i notice a not too old drip line from the fuel sender lock ring, and that it's not quite seated.
well that's easy to fix... one tap with the hammer and the freakin seal tore
and of course i had just filled it...guess i was due, i hadn't done anything truly stupid in quite a while.
anyway it's mostly drained. the house didn't blow up, but i did shut off the water heater for a bit.
View attachment 1715572248
View attachment 1715572250
neil.
well this thing is being a *****. never had trouble with just using a drift and hammer to set the lock ring before. broke down and ordered the tool from ebay. at least it's not leaking for now, drained about 8gal out before it got low enough.
also found out the seal didn't tear, looks like it just moved. the one on the left is what came with the sender, the one on the right i got a few years ago at spring fling, it's thinner with a wider surface.
the one i took out looks like it wasn't seated evenly to start with. the reflection shows where it took a set off to one side
also found out the seal didn't tear, looks like it just moved. the one on the left is what came with the sender, the one on the right i got a few years ago at spring fling, it's thinner with a wider surface.
the one i took out looks like it wasn't seated evenly to start with. the reflection shows where it took a set off to one side
transmission jacks, they work on everything
spent the morning screwing, around trying to get the sending unit to seal, with the tank in the car. gave up and dropped the tank, only had about 5gal left in it anyway since my brush with fiery death last week. drained it and even on the work bench the lock ring was giving me fits. the tangs are buggered so i ordered a new one from DTM. also got the rear housing and pumpkin in. apparently i managed to measure correctly for the spring relocation because everything lined up good thing i wasn't worried about it... hoping i can get to the driveshaft shop tomorrow and be back driving this weekend
spent the morning screwing, around trying to get the sending unit to seal, with the tank in the car. gave up and dropped the tank, only had about 5gal left in it anyway since my brush with fiery death last week. drained it and even on the work bench the lock ring was giving me fits. the tangs are buggered so i ordered a new one from DTM. also got the rear housing and pumpkin in. apparently i managed to measure correctly for the spring relocation because everything lined up
good thing i wasn't worried about it... hoping i can get to the driveshaft shop tomorrow and be back driving this weekend 
Moparbrad
You don’t know me
Dang! I need to stop looking at this. I miss that car every time I do! Looks real nice.
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