I noticed the same with my 63 Belvedere. Installed the front licence plate and the running down the road temperature was 10+ degrees higher than without the plate. A restriction in air flow for sure. I have no front bumper or the lower valance on the car anymore but that plate in front of the lower part of the radiator was the culprit .
Glamour Shots.. '62 Valiant Wagon
- Thread starter slant six
- Start date
-
abdywgn
dismantler
what is the saying about having no luck at all? your balancer problem reminds me of a friends problem. blasting down the hiway, smoke starts rolling out from under the car. He slows down, nurses it to where he is going. it's dark out, of course. no oil. puts oil in, starts it up, no noise, good oil pressure but a stream of oil near the oil filter. (it's a 440). gets a flashlight to see where it is coming from: a sliver of the balancer broke off and impaled a black letter on his Fram filter. oh, I remember, if it wasn't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all.
Love the car! If I could find something like that around here, I'd use it for my daily driver. Great work!
Love the car! If I could find something like that around here, I'd use it for my daily driver. Great work!
Richard Sweet
Well-Known Member
Glad to see that you got it back on the road. Nice looking car.
6/26/24
Today I continued with finishing the fiddly jobs -
The new accelerator pedal from the D100 Truck needed the existing throttle cable repositioned, due to this the outer cable sheath was about an inch too short, so I ordered a new one and got that alll solved and corrected.
Some wiring on the firewall both inside the passenger compartment and underhood needed rerouted.
I found an old 3 gauge mounting pod, cleaned it up, and mounted it along with the oil pressure gauge (it was taped to the dash before), and the O2 sensor and gauge were installed as well. The wire routing under dash and under hood were all cleaned up and sorted as well.
For now, I have only one fiddly job left to do: Fix or reroute the exhaust as it goes past/near the left-side rear shock absorber. It rubs a bit and eventually, it will break the rubber membrane on the air shock meaning it will not work. When I built the exhaust the pass around the shock was not a problem as the axle was hanging down, but when there is weight on the car it interferes.
Some pictures:
New front License plate position: lower so hopefully it allows more air to the radiator.
Compared to before:
I installed one of the Dodge D100-D300 pedal brackets and fulcrums from say a 1972-1980 Truck / Ramchaarger before when I wanted to use a cable accelerator pedal on my '64 Dart. It bolted fine and required just drilling the firewall for the new studs.
It's a different story for the 1960-62 A body firewall. Much less space under there and fewer flat areas too!
So I had to do some fabbing and cutting/welding to make the new OE Style Pedal work with a throttle cable for the 4 barrel.
All of that was in an effoert to replace this Lokar billet hot rod pedal that looks great on a 33 ford street rod.
With this:
These tall / more forward OE '60-'66 Pedals make the heel-toe downshifting technique very easy too! FYI!!
First time I ever had to spend 4 hours to cut and modify an OE accelerator linkage.
Added the vintage 3 Gauge pod. I need to fill that 3rd spot or get a block off plate to finish it out.
O2 Sensor was installed to dial that carbby's PV and Jetting even better.
Now I just need to get the car out to check my work and begin carb tuning.
Today I continued with finishing the fiddly jobs -
The new accelerator pedal from the D100 Truck needed the existing throttle cable repositioned, due to this the outer cable sheath was about an inch too short, so I ordered a new one and got that alll solved and corrected.
Some wiring on the firewall both inside the passenger compartment and underhood needed rerouted.
I found an old 3 gauge mounting pod, cleaned it up, and mounted it along with the oil pressure gauge (it was taped to the dash before), and the O2 sensor and gauge were installed as well. The wire routing under dash and under hood were all cleaned up and sorted as well.
For now, I have only one fiddly job left to do: Fix or reroute the exhaust as it goes past/near the left-side rear shock absorber. It rubs a bit and eventually, it will break the rubber membrane on the air shock meaning it will not work. When I built the exhaust the pass around the shock was not a problem as the axle was hanging down, but when there is weight on the car it interferes.
Some pictures:
New front License plate position: lower so hopefully it allows more air to the radiator.
Compared to before:
I installed one of the Dodge D100-D300 pedal brackets and fulcrums from say a 1972-1980 Truck / Ramchaarger before when I wanted to use a cable accelerator pedal on my '64 Dart. It bolted fine and required just drilling the firewall for the new studs.
It's a different story for the 1960-62 A body firewall. Much less space under there and fewer flat areas too!
So I had to do some fabbing and cutting/welding to make the new OE Style Pedal work with a throttle cable for the 4 barrel.
All of that was in an effoert to replace this Lokar billet hot rod pedal that looks great on a 33 ford street rod.
With this:
These tall / more forward OE '60-'66 Pedals make the heel-toe downshifting technique very easy too! FYI!!
First time I ever had to spend 4 hours to cut and modify an OE accelerator linkage.
Added the vintage 3 Gauge pod. I need to fill that 3rd spot or get a block off plate to finish it out.
O2 Sensor was installed to dial that carbby's PV and Jetting even better.
Now I just need to get the car out to check my work and begin carb tuning.
Thanks, I dont know if you can push start/ catch in gear modern cars with all of the electronic sensors and electtic fuel pump and such, but you can with this one. So I saved myself $100 or more by not needing that tow truck.
O2 sensor just on one bank?
Yep that will give me a relatively good idea of what is happening. I guess i could futz with one on the rear set but I doubt it would be much different.
If you did that, would you get two separate signals, or just one?
I guess you could just put the one sensor in the single pipe where the two come together......but I believe how you have it will suffice.
Got to the shop today,
O2 gauge said a bit rich, so I swapped for the next leaner Primary Jet.
Looks about perfect now, had to set the idle a skosh rich..12.7 or so to keep it alive at a stop sign. No dashpot on this carbby.
The helper was around today to kick off the jetting session:
I also might experiment with going a jet size up on the the secondary circuit. It runs real well now, just sometimes it's 13.x on full throttle and I would perfer 12.x
Also I have to take a highway trip and see if my cooling issue is sorted.
O2 gauge said a bit rich, so I swapped for the next leaner Primary Jet.
Looks about perfect now, had to set the idle a skosh rich..12.7 or so to keep it alive at a stop sign. No dashpot on this carbby.
The helper was around today to kick off the jetting session:
I also might experiment with going a jet size up on the the secondary circuit. It runs real well now, just sometimes it's 13.x on full throttle and I would perfer 12.x
Also I have to take a highway trip and see if my cooling issue is sorted.
7/3/24:
I got my VE, VF, VG Fuel Spill tray installed. It is a reproduction, but it should do the job. It is not made specifically for the S series which this car is, but It does work and do the intended job with minimal modifications. There is no real room under the package floor area to do a fuel filler valve modification as I did with my '64 Dart.
We went to a local car show, and he helper was hawking her jewelry.
I thought I was going to be able to get the Holley 390 tuned for all driving conditions but It seems that is not the case. No matter what configuration I tried with power valves it seemed to be very inconsistent.
I bought an Edelbrock Performer 500 to replace it. Updates on that later.
Last week was the first time out with the '62 Valiant Wagon towing the '62 ValianTrailer. It was a blast and got a lot of attention.
I got my VE, VF, VG Fuel Spill tray installed. It is a reproduction, but it should do the job. It is not made specifically for the S series which this car is, but It does work and do the intended job with minimal modifications. There is no real room under the package floor area to do a fuel filler valve modification as I did with my '64 Dart.
We went to a local car show, and he helper was hawking her jewelry.
I thought I was going to be able to get the Holley 390 tuned for all driving conditions but It seems that is not the case. No matter what configuration I tried with power valves it seemed to be very inconsistent.
I bought an Edelbrock Performer 500 to replace it. Updates on that later.
Last week was the first time out with the '62 Valiant Wagon towing the '62 ValianTrailer. It was a blast and got a lot of attention.
I agree. I wasted $400 on a 390 and hated it. Went with the Edelbrock AFB 500 and purred like a kitten.
7/25/24:
It has been a while.
Over the last few weeks, I have put ~1000 Miles on the little wagon, and a lot of that was towing an ~800# tare weight trailer.
A few things I have been working on and sorting:
Cooling System - I thought I had this figured out, but It still needs flushing. I guess there is just a lot of crap in the head and block that causes sediment - as I have a ball valve on the coolant drain it's an easy affair to drain and fill on my angled driveway. Draining when hot after a drive, then flushing with a hose and refilling as needed to get the system clean. The ~650-mile drive to, from, and around the Carlisle, PA region helped dislodge a lot of sediment.
I have replaced the back half of the alternator with a core stator and back case, with good diodes. As my alternator was nicely detailed I left the front section alone and swapped the rear section. Since my Carlisle trip, I have replaced and tested everything in my original, detailed rear section. I have to swap the nice rear section back on and see if it Amperages and Voltges correctly.
Brakes - I had been chasing my tail with this one for a while. I could bleed and get a good pedal at the shop since I put the car back together in April / May 2024. But after driving, the pedal feel would never keep. I thought master cylinder, put a new one of those on.. nope.
Then I replaced the Proportioning valve, I bought a cheap eBay one a few years ago... It leaked on the Switch connection, so I weled up that port. I figured I had goofed up the function of it somehow by my welding of the steel cap where the switch contacts were removed from the valve. I bought a good new one from Dr. Diff. Replaced that on there.. Nope still wonky pedal feel. I knew it was not wheel cylinders or calipers, as I also rebuilt those and there were no leaks or anything.
I had used old used Rotors and pads for this build as I was trying to be somewhat budget-minded. I had the rotors turned by a local shop so I didn't think much to check them. Turns out they were way out of spec and had runout that you could see. I knew they were not true as I could feel it in the pedal too. With the fixed caliper design of the KH discs, the rotors were knocking the pads and pistons so far back in the bore it caused a pumping requirement on the brake pedal.
FINALLY! I solved my brake pedal feel problem my tossing on ned good rotors and while I was there I upgraded the pads To EBC Yellow stuff too.
Now the car stops very well with pedal confidence. Phew!
The trip to Carlisle went well. I showed the car and trailer, Picked up a set of 17"X8" Wheels with Advan A052's for the AutoX/Track Day vehicles, and had enough room to bring it all home.
Got an early start Thursday to go to Carlisle.
Arrived in the "green field and put down my tent and things. Started to work on my Carlisle Shopping list on Thursday. Got lots of small little swap meet stuff.
Later that evening, I met up with some slant 6 racing buddies Andrew, and Ryan. We went to Colonel Denning State Park for an awesome 2.2-mile hike that gave us ~1200 Feet of elevation gain and an expansive view of the Cumberland Valley area. Carlisle is somewhere out there on the left.
By the end of Saturday, the little wagon won 2 awards:
2nd place in the class and Dennis Kohr picked my car for a celebrity pick.
I left for an uneventful Saturday Night drive home, It was still pretty hot, and with the gooky coolant and small radiator with no overdrive, I just took my time going home It did well in the heat pulling a semi-loaded trailer good for ~1200#
A normal Trip to Carlisle for me would be usually around 300-350 Miles, But I did some extra driving to go hiking with friends on Thursday, and to pick up the autoX tires and wheels up near Hershey, PA
For the past week and a half, I have been using the Valiant to take the kid to daycare, the playground, and the bike trail.
I stopped by Dad's Shop yesterday too for a little visit. Sometimes Dad is a bit off as he is getting older, but he still knows some things. He will not remember that he saw me with this car last month and we talked about what engine it has in it etc.. But when I fired it up yesterday to leave, he asked "Does it have a cam in it" And I said yes it does. He can tell by the exhaust note.
Upcoming: in the next installment:
Concours d'LeMons
-and-
the PVGP countryside tour.
It has been a while.
Over the last few weeks, I have put ~1000 Miles on the little wagon, and a lot of that was towing an ~800# tare weight trailer.
A few things I have been working on and sorting:
Cooling System - I thought I had this figured out, but It still needs flushing. I guess there is just a lot of crap in the head and block that causes sediment - as I have a ball valve on the coolant drain it's an easy affair to drain and fill on my angled driveway. Draining when hot after a drive, then flushing with a hose and refilling as needed to get the system clean. The ~650-mile drive to, from, and around the Carlisle, PA region helped dislodge a lot of sediment.
I have replaced the back half of the alternator with a core stator and back case, with good diodes. As my alternator was nicely detailed I left the front section alone and swapped the rear section. Since my Carlisle trip, I have replaced and tested everything in my original, detailed rear section. I have to swap the nice rear section back on and see if it Amperages and Voltges correctly.
Brakes - I had been chasing my tail with this one for a while. I could bleed and get a good pedal at the shop since I put the car back together in April / May 2024. But after driving, the pedal feel would never keep. I thought master cylinder, put a new one of those on.. nope.
Then I replaced the Proportioning valve, I bought a cheap eBay one a few years ago... It leaked on the Switch connection, so I weled up that port. I figured I had goofed up the function of it somehow by my welding of the steel cap where the switch contacts were removed from the valve. I bought a good new one from Dr. Diff. Replaced that on there.. Nope still wonky pedal feel. I knew it was not wheel cylinders or calipers, as I also rebuilt those and there were no leaks or anything.
I had used old used Rotors and pads for this build as I was trying to be somewhat budget-minded. I had the rotors turned by a local shop so I didn't think much to check them. Turns out they were way out of spec and had runout that you could see. I knew they were not true as I could feel it in the pedal too. With the fixed caliper design of the KH discs, the rotors were knocking the pads and pistons so far back in the bore it caused a pumping requirement on the brake pedal.
FINALLY! I solved my brake pedal feel problem my tossing on ned good rotors and while I was there I upgraded the pads To EBC Yellow stuff too.
Now the car stops very well with pedal confidence. Phew!
The trip to Carlisle went well. I showed the car and trailer, Picked up a set of 17"X8" Wheels with Advan A052's for the AutoX/Track Day vehicles, and had enough room to bring it all home.
Got an early start Thursday to go to Carlisle.
Arrived in the "green field and put down my tent and things. Started to work on my Carlisle Shopping list on Thursday. Got lots of small little swap meet stuff.
Later that evening, I met up with some slant 6 racing buddies Andrew, and Ryan. We went to Colonel Denning State Park for an awesome 2.2-mile hike that gave us ~1200 Feet of elevation gain and an expansive view of the Cumberland Valley area. Carlisle is somewhere out there on the left.
By the end of Saturday, the little wagon won 2 awards:
2nd place in the class and Dennis Kohr picked my car for a celebrity pick.
I left for an uneventful Saturday Night drive home, It was still pretty hot, and with the gooky coolant and small radiator with no overdrive, I just took my time going home It did well in the heat pulling a semi-loaded trailer good for ~1200#
A normal Trip to Carlisle for me would be usually around 300-350 Miles, But I did some extra driving to go hiking with friends on Thursday, and to pick up the autoX tires and wheels up near Hershey, PA
For the past week and a half, I have been using the Valiant to take the kid to daycare, the playground, and the bike trail.
I stopped by Dad's Shop yesterday too for a little visit. Sometimes Dad is a bit off as he is getting older, but he still knows some things. He will not remember that he saw me with this car last month and we talked about what engine it has in it etc.. But when I fired it up yesterday to leave, he asked "Does it have a cam in it" And I said yes it does. He can tell by the exhaust note.
Upcoming: in the next installment:
Concours d'LeMons
-and-
the PVGP countryside tour.
Sure looks good in that blue!!!
Keep the stories coming please!!
If no one ever pulls the trigger on my Lancer, it will go from B3 to B5 next fall.
Keep the stories coming please!!
If no one ever pulls the trigger on my Lancer, it will go from B3 to B5 next fall.
Dutchman
Member
Very cool. The mothers would take turns car-pooling a few kids to school and one of the mothers had beige car like this
Thanks!
Ha ha, you said beige..AKA "OLDMANTAN"
I have and have had a few of those.
And finally..
The "ugly one"... someone tried to make it not Beige, but the Sandstone/ Beige is under that awful taxicab yellow.
Thank you Will do.
I don't know the difference in those blues - I will have to look them up.
7-27-24:
We went to the PVGP Historics at PittRace and participated in the Extremely Small Concours D'LeMons that was hosted at the event.
I brought along my '62 Valiant Wagon with ValiantTrailer, and we parked in the LeMons section on spectator hill. We had a nice vantage point of the racing action within a few steps of my Plymouth monstrosity. Seems that even towing at ~ 88°F on the interstate with the trailer it is running in the normal engine temperature section for now, Not ideal, but not overheating either. If I push speeds over 70 MPH it gets hotter, but at 65MPH it remains consistent.
We brought the grille and also had lunch and dinner under a shade tree before leaving.
The complete album for the day is Here if anyone is interested.
A few / favorite on track shots:
Later this week the PVGP Countryside tour with the '62Valiant Wagon!
We went to the PVGP Historics at PittRace and participated in the Extremely Small Concours D'LeMons that was hosted at the event.
I brought along my '62 Valiant Wagon with ValiantTrailer, and we parked in the LeMons section on spectator hill. We had a nice vantage point of the racing action within a few steps of my Plymouth monstrosity. Seems that even towing at ~ 88°F on the interstate with the trailer it is running in the normal engine temperature section for now, Not ideal, but not overheating either. If I push speeds over 70 MPH it gets hotter, but at 65MPH it remains consistent.
We brought the grille and also had lunch and dinner under a shade tree before leaving.
The complete album for the day is Here if anyone is interested.
A few / favorite on track shots:
Later this week the PVGP Countryside tour with the '62Valiant Wagon!
^^^^ Thanks for sharing. Great pics and looked like a fun day!!
8/1/24:
I ran the car at the PVGP Countryside tour today.
Got up early as usual to clean the car, get fulled up etc...
This year in our driving group, It was all British cars and the '62 Valiant. The group consisted of a '62 XKE, a MGB, and an Austin-Healey Sprite.
We traveled about 200 miles of back roads, crossing over the mountain ridges a few times.
We found at the first stop that the Sprite had loose manifold nuts causing a vacuum leak, The MG Driver somehow had an extra fine thread nut and a washer, got things tightened, and then we were back on our way.
There is always an eclectic mix of cars at this event. Since we had a bit of a longer route than some of the other participants, we left earlier and I did not get a bunch of pictures this year.
After our tour was over I stopped by Eriie's house on the way home. He Bought a Mint Green '62 Valiant Wagon with a lancer Dash in it off of FB a few years back and flipped it on BaT. I bought some leftover trim bits off of him in February for my Wagon.
I told him that if I was back over on his side of the county, in the neighborhood, I would show him the car.
I kept my word - I met the dude for like ~10 Minutes in Feb of this year.
We drove past his house and sure enough, his garage door was open.
He checked out my wagon and we talked cars and Bikes for about an hour - He has some neat bikes that I have not really ever seen.... well ' 'cause I don't know bikes.
It was a good tour, and meet up with Ernie! The wagon ran great, with no problems, whilst beating on it hard for a good 100+ miles, and made it home with nothing imperative to fix on it this week!
It was a great day.
I ran the car at the PVGP Countryside tour today.
Got up early as usual to clean the car, get fulled up etc...
This year in our driving group, It was all British cars and the '62 Valiant. The group consisted of a '62 XKE, a MGB, and an Austin-Healey Sprite.
We traveled about 200 miles of back roads, crossing over the mountain ridges a few times.
We found at the first stop that the Sprite had loose manifold nuts causing a vacuum leak, The MG Driver somehow had an extra fine thread nut and a washer, got things tightened, and then we were back on our way.
There is always an eclectic mix of cars at this event. Since we had a bit of a longer route than some of the other participants, we left earlier and I did not get a bunch of pictures this year.
After our tour was over I stopped by Eriie's house on the way home. He Bought a Mint Green '62 Valiant Wagon with a lancer Dash in it off of FB a few years back and flipped it on BaT. I bought some leftover trim bits off of him in February for my Wagon.
I told him that if I was back over on his side of the county, in the neighborhood, I would show him the car.
I kept my word - I met the dude for like ~10 Minutes in Feb of this year.
We drove past his house and sure enough, his garage door was open.
He checked out my wagon and we talked cars and Bikes for about an hour - He has some neat bikes that I have not really ever seen.... well ' 'cause I don't know bikes.
It was a good tour, and meet up with Ernie! The wagon ran great, with no problems, whilst beating on it hard for a good 100+ miles, and made it home with nothing imperative to fix on it this week!
It was a great day.
8/23/24:
We went to a local car cruise last nite.
The Valiant Wagon was parked between a Rolls Royce and a very, very, very nice original Mustang Mach 1.
Our little Valiant got more looks and comments than the other more expensive and well-known popular muscle car on each side of us.
We went to a local car cruise last nite.
The Valiant Wagon was parked between a Rolls Royce and a very, very, very nice original Mustang Mach 1.
Our little Valiant got more looks and comments than the other more expensive and well-known popular muscle car on each side of us.
9/10/24
Drove it to work today.
I had an Aurora Designs FM conversion done by Retro Radio Restoration in Elizabethtown,PA.
After I installed the radio, I had less than desirable results, and as usual, it was all my fault. I did not follow the wiring instructions and I tried to sum the Stereo connections together into one feed for my crappy repurposed by the previous owner 4" car speakers.
The radio worked but it was not right. It would wander and lose stations whilst driving. Of course that was not what I expected from a new Digital radio in a 1962 Box. So, I got a new speaker - I think It is a 4"x6" size and it fits the OE opening very nicely.
I also read the fine print in the Aurora Manual and it chooses mono/stereo automatically based on the speaker configuration and how it is wired to the unit. Since I had it wired incorrectly the unit was confused.
Now I have some tunes for the family if needed
. This was, as many Valiants of the era seemed to be an original Non-Radio car. The Shop / previous owner added a radio, but it was a mess.
Drove it to work today.
I had an Aurora Designs FM conversion done by Retro Radio Restoration in Elizabethtown,PA.
After I installed the radio, I had less than desirable results, and as usual, it was all my fault. I did not follow the wiring instructions and I tried to sum the Stereo connections together into one feed for my crappy repurposed by the previous owner 4" car speakers.
The radio worked but it was not right. It would wander and lose stations whilst driving. Of course that was not what I expected from a new Digital radio in a 1962 Box. So, I got a new speaker - I think It is a 4"x6" size and it fits the OE opening very nicely.
I also read the fine print in the Aurora Manual and it chooses mono/stereo automatically based on the speaker configuration and how it is wired to the unit. Since I had it wired incorrectly the unit was confused.
Now I have some tunes for the family if needed
. This was, as many Valiants of the era seemed to be an original Non-Radio car. The Shop / previous owner added a radio, but it was a mess. -
