63 Plymouth Signet 200

[Ron 73]

I have a chance to buy a 63 Valiant signet 200 for 1,000 dollars. This is supposed to be in great shape except part of one floor pan. He said the doors open and shut good and im waiting for pictures now. Im wondering if this is a good price as i know nothing about them. It has been in the garage for a long time and he said its been awhile since the engine (slant 6) has been started, its a push button trans, bucket seats hard top... This is about all i know as of now.. I do have a question, Can you put a 64 grill in this or are the fenders different? Im curious if the price is good and ill post up a couple pictures when i get them and maybe that will help. I have no real plans for it outside of repairing and painting it. Is this car worth the money, time and effort? Ill be doing all the work myself and i do have a 273 from a 67 Coronet i guess i could put in it.. One other thing, is parts hard to come by, more then the usual cars we all do? I thank you for any suggestions or advice..

 

[slantsixdan]

$1K is a very nice price if the car is in great shape with limited rust.

V8 swaps are not impossible on '63s, but they're much easier and less costly on '64 or later cars -- there was no V8 option in '63, and substantial changes were made to the firewall for '64, the first year when a V8 was offered. The '63 wiper mount gets in the way of a V8 distributor. Then there are all the other factors that go into a substantial power upgrade: you need to upgrade the radiator, the brakes, the suspension, etc. to handle the extra power.

If you're keeping the slant-6 (and of course my vote would be for you to do so) there is a great deal of upgrading you can do to it for better performance and driveability.

Is this car worth the money? No. None of our cars is worth the money. They're worth more than they were 10 years ago, and more than they were 20 years ago, but as with the vast majority of car projects, you will almost certainly spend more than you will get back out of it. Unless you get freaky lucky and have someone come along offering big bucks because s/he has to have your particular specific car (that almost never happens) the only way to make decent money on a car like this is to have a big stash of parts and know-how, fix everything that's broken, and turn around and sell it at a profit.

Is the car worth the money? Yes, if it's a basically sound starting point for a fun and interesting project that winds you up with a reliable cool car.

'64 grill won't swap directly onto a '63; you have to change other parts, too. Fenders are different. Any '63-'66 A-body (Dart, Valiant, Barracuda) complete front end assembly can be swapped onto any '63-'66 A-body and the lines will match up. Interchange of individual parts is considerably more limited. Shame we didn't get the Australian '63 Valiant grill setup; I like it better than the US '63:

 

[Sussmad]

good price if the body is more than decent especially for a PA car. The slant (even the 170) is perky enough for the little car. mechanical parts are available; clean body parts are another story.

 

[Ron 73]

First, Thank you both for your comments, Dan, I really didn't have the intention of changing a motor, the slant 6 is one of Ma Mopars greatest inventions if i can word it that way, ive seen timing chains stretched to look like a bicycle chain hanging down before it jumped time.. Very well built engine in my opinion. I thought of painting fixing interior and maybe driving a little and selling it.. i do have a 273 but, gas prices? why do it, might sell it with the car, if someone else would want to do it. I don't think the extra weight would be that much different in a 6 or 273 would it? im curious now hearing of needing suspension upgrades and brakes, 273 isint to much HP, slant 6 with some work could keep up close to it.. im guessing of course, ive read your posts, i know you enough to listen, 10-4 ? Besides, you could have the same argument, gas prices? 6-273, same thing not that much difference.. this 273 is not the Commando, im really not sure with HP, but ill bet it isint to much more? Hey thanks again guys, Have a great day!!!

 

[Ron 73]

OH, Sorry, i forgot... I totally agree with you on the Australian '63 Valiant grill, i like that myself.

 

[Darter6]

I got mine about 6 years ago. I paid 3600 bucks with a 500 mile delivery included.Everyone said that was too much, they wouldn't have paid more than 800 bucks for it.I look at it this way,,68,000 miles, the car was all there,nothing missing and everything worked down to the radio.20,000 miles have been racked up since with daily driving,I up graded the brakes,suspension and minor maintenence.It just completed a 2400 mile Nevada to Pennsylvania trip with no problems,20+mpg and not using any oil.Not bad for a car that's almost 50 years old. I bought it to drive and not flip so it was worth it to me. I plan on selling it some time and if I get half of what I got in it I'll be happy.View attachment Threequarter_front.jpg

 

[slantsixdan]

the slant 6 is one of Ma Mopars greatest inventions

I agree!

I don't think the extra weight would be that much different in a 6 or 273 would it? im curious now hearing of needing suspension upgrades and brakes

The basic equipment (9" drum brakes, 4-leaf rear springs, thin front torsion bars, no front or rear sway bar, 13" wheels with narrow tires) was enough to give the '63 Valiant good handling and braking characteristics compared to the utterly pathetic "competitive" offerings from other domestic automakers, but taking a more objective view, the basic-equipment undercar setup was just adequate for 1963 traffic and even in perfect condition is really not safely adequate for today's traffic unless you live and drive somewhere with slow or sparsely-populated roads. Add weight and power and the inadequacy is greatly aggravated.