Flying Valiant Project

[armyofchuckness]

I finally got my 64 Valiant back after several years of if languishing away at my parent's house. It's getting an air conditioning system put in it now to make it a little more comfortable to drive. It's just one of a long list of modifications that need to be done. When it is done, though, I'm hoping to have a fun street car with just a little zip to it. Here's what is going on so far. This was originally posted over at slantsix.org, but I thought I'd share it here as well.

I'm looking forward to getting the Valiant back with it's new air, but at least the project is off the ground and going again.

Speaking of off the ground, my dad had some suspension work done to it while it was in his possession. The car is now about five or six inches higher than it was last I saw it with a slight rake to it. The look is growing on me, and I like that it no longer bottoms out over railroad tracks, but the rear end does get a little jumpy over bumps. Something to work on later.

Anyway, here's some pics of what it looks like now. It's going to need some serious TLC, but I'm still excited to have an old friend back.

And yes, I know the air cleaner is filthy. It's on my list.

Also, just for fun, here's a snapshot of me the day we found the car. It was 11 years ago this month. Front tires flat, all four wheels locked, and brake lines reduced to a fine red powder. I was the happiest 15 year old in the world.

 

[doug 371]

looks good

 

[armyofchuckness]

Thanks, Doug!

 

[Bigmacdak]

Looks like a sweet old slant! Keep us posted.

 

[1964 hippo]

nice car whats your plan ??

 

[memike]

Yes sir !! That 64 valiant looks great!!
Are the wheel sbp and how did your dad get it up in the rear ?
You have a nice early A young man, Keep us updated and glad you are here with us.

 

[armyofchuckness]

nice car whats your plan ??

The plan is this: Nice street car with a beefed up six. Cam, quad carb, headers or Dutra Duals are the menu for the engine. The body will be patched up. Interior is going to be modified and restored. Nothing flashy, just a clean, comfy space. Suspension is pretty much done. I just want to add some sway bars fore and aft to help the car turn corners instead of wallow through them. That's the plan in a nutshell, at least.

Yes sir !! That 64 valiant looks great!!
Are the wheel sbp and how did your dad get it up in the rear ?
You have a nice early A young man, Keep us updated and glad you are here with us.

Thanks, Mike! It's a nice 50 foot car now, but hopefully it'll be a nice 25 foot car by the time I'm done. My father, not knowing there were shackles made for these years, had someone weld together some very impressive ones. It's the highest I've ever seen four leaf springs arch. Frankly, I'm a little concerned about this putting too much tension on the spring but it seems to be okay. The front has stock shocks and freshly cranked torsion bars, so it's riding higher there too. It's a good beefy look to replace the soggy boat look it had in '06.

As for the wheels, they're LBP. The front discs were LBP or SBP but the the grease bearing in the middle was too big for the original 13" steelies. Since I didn't want to dismantle the whole thing again later to convert to LBP and I didn't like the limitations SBP wheels had to offer, I made an executive decision to order American Racing Vectors and a '73 Dart rear axle to switch to the LBP. At least now I don't have to remember "righty-loosey" when taking off the driver's side wheels.

 

[armyofchuckness]

Finally something new to report!

I recently scooped up a used electronic distributor on eBay for a pretty fair price. It came with new 7mm spark plug wires made right here in the good ol' U.S. of A. It's in pretty good shape for used. Charrlie_S recommended that I check for side to side play in the rotor and up and down play in the gear. I'm pleased to say there was none of the former and only the tiniest motion in the latter (which I'm told is acceptable).

I don't know if this matters or not, but I found these numbers on the metal plate near the vacuum advance.
14 3
3755042

If anything, this gives me a dizzy to practice on, and it gets me one step closer to an electronic ignition system. That's going to be my project once I get The Flying Valiant back from Charlie's capable hands. I'm sure some of you have already heard about the compressor bracket he's having fabricated for early A-body sixes. It's a really cool bracket and will save any other slanters a world of hurt when trying to do an aftermarket conversion on their early A.