The Great White Brick - '69 Valiant

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65s

65s

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It's kinda like the Brick in that Mopar magazine....

Found it advertised locally for $800 CDN. Bought it. It's got a '71 Dart/Demon front end, no seats and very rusty floor/crossmember/front frame area but very good upper body. A '79 318 (running condition unknown as of right now) mounted onto the /6 K-frame with homemade mounts! Last plated in 1990.

Along with my friend Tom (he's the chief mechanic/welder) we're going to breath new life into her.

In 3 days we've cut out most of the floor, removed the headliner and animal nests, purchased a good used front frame/crossmember section and now we're considering removing the whole front end and changing the whole front frame section! Just crazy!! :) But I love it......

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Yeah! The whole engine bay/inner fender/firewall area is mint! I guess that's why we feel we should save it with a whole new front frame. I'll be taking some more photos tonight of our progress...pretty good after 3 days!
 
An interesting assemblage of body parts! Being a valiant man, I never liked the darts rear but love the front ...so maybe it's the best of both. Looks like someone put earlier Valiant tailights on it too...I'd call it a Deviant Variant!!! I think when finished it will have one cool look.
 
I like "Deviant", sounds cool. When I think of a Vart I think of an early Canadian A-body, 63-64 with the Valiant front and Dart rear.

Anyhow, the motor runs now....that's a bonus! Here's a shot of the front frame sections we'll use and how the floor looks now. The chunky metal you see on the frame at the crossmember is leftover from someone's idea of frame connectors.

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I see you have at least one polyglass tire on her! I bet you could recoup some oif your funds on ebay with that!

Robb
 
look's like this one is in the write hand's.
Lookin good and I think you have made a good choise and found a jem.
 
Are you going to leave the Dart/Demon front end? I love the way it looks!!! For some reason it reminds me of the movie Mad Max. LOL!!
 
Thanks for the votes of confidence everyone.

The two front tires were the polyglass tires but they are so far gone I had to throw them away. Completely cracked and dry rotted and disfigured. They were only holding air for that photo, they would go flat in about 3 minutes. Don't think anyone wants those do they?
 
What color should I paint the engine? It's a 318 2 barrel. Original motor was a 225 /6.
 
Okay, time for this heart to come out so we can get on with this front frame/crossmember transplant deal....

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Aaaa, Dude, can you get that much floor from the aftermarket? Theres a bigger than big hole there. I thought I had some large holes.
I also never seen the frame rales out of a car. WHEW! Work ahead!

I like the car. Looks good with those wheels.

Are you looking for proper engine color or one that comploments the car color?
My next one is going to be RED! with black accents. Valve covers, air cleaner etc... and sprinkled with spars amounts of chrome.
 
I'm getting a complete floor pan (minus the front pans) from a donor car at a wrecker in upstate New York. $125 cut from the rear frame rails to the rockers to the back of the front floor pans. It will include part of the rocker panel. This car has serious rot underneath, but everything up above is really nice, that's why we think we should salvage it. I don't know.....it's fun to do too! I'm learning a lot from my buddy Tom who is the main welder.

I've been thinking about engine color, what would be correct for a 318 in this car? Was a 340 optional in a '69 Valiant?
 
What hole, you mean this little pin prick here? :sad:

This is Canada eh.....salt belt....we're not scared of a little hole!

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I bet that makes it alot easier to retrieve the sockets that roll under the car!!

Gotta give you a bunch of Cudo's for tackling the project. Alot of guys and gals would have passed this one up. (me included) I sure wish I had the welding skills to do stuff like that. (I probably should get a welder first:) Can't wait to see it done.


I like the idea of Red/black for the engine. Not correct but sure would look nice in a black engine bay.
 
I've been thinking about engine color, what would be correct for a 318 in this car? Was a 340 optional in a '69 Valiant?[/QUOTE]

I don't think the 340 was an option in those cars in 69, but who gives a rat's petunia, Power it up dude. :thumbup:
 
OldVart said:
I've been thinking about engine color, what would be correct for a 318 in this car? Was a 340 optional in a '69 Valiant?
Click to expand...

I don't think the 340 was an option in those cars in 69, but who gives a rat's petunia, Power it up dude. :thumbup:[/QUOTE]

Valiants or Scamps were available with the 340 option:sad: all they had were either a 318 or the leaning tower of power.
 
That's what I figured, thanks. Also, I just want to be clear, I'm not the primary welder willing to tackle this project. I found the car, bought it figuring I could part it out if it turned out to be too much trouble, then once my buddy Tom saw it he said:

"I love this car, it's amazing. Neil, we're going to fix this car then I'm selling my '73 Dart Sport."

And now we'll see....I'll post pics along the way. Here's the plan so far:

- new front frame and crossmember (got it)
- new floor pans, front middle and rear (got it, still need passenger front)
- new windshield (got rubber..)
- new seats (getting them)
- KH small bolt discs in front (got it)
- 318 fixed up a bit, painted (got it)
- 7 1/4" rear that came in the car, for now
- back to original white
- color change interior from green to black
 
Your blue one is sweet! I tell ya, photos of these cars don't do them justice...in person they're so much nicer. Want prompted you to shave the side markers?
 
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