'68 Valiant 4dr CRUUUUZZZZAAAH

[puna_trav]

Aloha! I've owned my Valiant for about 3 years now, but it's finally got to the point where it's making actually progress. I've got a stock 225 motor out of a '68 'Cuda with 10k miles on a rebuild, newish 3 on the tree auto, all new brakes and lots of other work.

Story is that my neighbor across the street since childhood passed away. When he died, they auctioned everything off his farm, and this '68 Valiant Signet was hidden behind a bunch of pallets of wood. I got it for $300.

Over the last few years it's mostly sat, but recently the project has picked up steam. I want to finish it as a ratty DD by the end of Sept.

I've been referencing your forum for a long time, figured it was time to post.

Generic Dynamat:

Next to the current DD. I'm always surprised how small the A-body is.

 

[Plaschy]

Welcome from a '67 Valiant owner from Sweden.

 

[Rockerdude]

Welcome! Glad to see a 4 door get some lovin.

 

[bigtommy]

looks good man. if you need any parts. i got a 67 4door parts car.

 

[Dartnut]

Welcome to FABO!
Yes, 4 doors are cool cruisers.

 

[sleeper-oem]

Cool find and welcome. Good luck with the restoration I like the 67 and 68 front ends. What did you seal the floor with an epoxy i used KBS on mine.

 

[bernieca]

Welcome aboard! Looking good, keep the pictures coming.

 

[goldfish65]

Welcome, your Valiant looks right at home where you live, I've been to your town. Thank you for saving a worthy car.

 

[roadrunnerh]

Welcome to the site! My cousin restored a '67 4 door Signet, You have the start of a very nice and reliable cruiser! Keep up the good work!

 

[pauly v.100]

nice work and welcome to the site! -pauly

 

[puna_trav]

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone! This car is in pretty good shape mechanically now, but the body has definitely got some issues with rust that I'm not sure I've ever really going to cure. Luckily it's no in critical places, so I'm fixing what I can and running with it. This is a total budget build, so I'm going to let it look a little ratty. As of right now I have about $1200 into it total.

I've been working on sanding the body to where it's acceptably smooth and then I plan to just clear coat over the primer and run her as is for now.

I rustoleum-ed the entire interior and trunk, layed down some truck bed liner on top of that and then did some 'peel and seal' psudo dynamat from home depot throughout the interior. Cost me $75 to do the roof and floors and improved the sheet metal 'boom' considerably when I close the doors. Next week I think I'll try to get the car on a trailer and to my house so I can get it road worthy (hard to get much done 6 miles from my shop!) The main thing slowing me down right now is the fact that I need to patch the pass. corner of the rear windshield frame, and then I'll get someone to come put the glass in. I've never done it myself, and don't really want to have to find replacements if I screw up.
Some more pics:

Original chrome, one cleaned, one just out of storage.

Before:

After:

 

[puna_trav]

Welcome, your Valiant looks right at home where you live, I've been to your town. Thank you for saving a worthy car.

Hahaha! It really does fit in here. I've been calling it "da puna cruisah"

 

[pauly v.100]

nice to see another heater delete car, they're pretty rare!

 

[puna_trav]

Honestly it was a bit disappointing to not have a heater (I work at 4200 feet elevation in a very cold rainy rainforest!) but I've found some cigarette lighter plug in heaters online, so problem solved. I was petty jazzed to find out how rare it was not to have one. I just wish the PO hadn't cut a hole in the dash for the stereo:banghead:

Seems like they ordered a signet with NO options at all... I found the factory option sheet when I pulled the rear bench.

 

[puna_trav]

A few small updates:
I finally moved the car to the shop at my house so I can get to the bigger stuff. I drove it down the highway for about 10 miles, and she runs like a top. I didn't have windshields, front bumper, dash or a fuel tank plumbed up (I was running it off a gas can!) and it made the trip without a hiccup. I even got to wave at two cops through the (non)windshield as they passed going the other direction :glasses7:.

I finished mounting the fuel cell in the trunk (sorry, no pics yet) and it's in there good. I reinforced the spare tire well with a circle of sheet metal and trimmed the whole thing with rubber edging to prevent any rubbing.

Also re-did the entire exhaust. My cousin who had made the first version had put the muffler directly beneath the drivers seat, rather than in the recess under the back seat, so the muffler was just over 2" off the ground. I got everything tucked up nicely under the body now, I just need to go back and finish welding the flanges in between the downpipe and the rest of the exhaust.

Now: Bodywork. I fixed the little holes in the rear windshield frame, and now I'm going down the sides and straightening out what I can.

 

[goldfish65]

Looks like before long you and your Valiant will be a familiar site on the road up and down the mountain.

 

[puna_trav]

Some updates on the car:
Fuel Cell

I like the gas cap though...

Gettin' smoother:

PAINT! 1 gallon Rustoleum Smoke Gray mixed with 1/2 pint Hunter Green. Reduced 50/50 with mineral spirits and applied with a foam roller. This is second coat, next I'll sand with 800, 2 more coats, sand with 1000, 2 more, 1000, and then bomb a satin clear. $66 paint job, yeah baby!

 

[dennday67]

That's really smooth for a roll on paint job.

 

[puna_trav]

Yeah, I'm pleasantly surprised how well it's turning out. It looked like I was going to have a ton of imperfections when I put down the first couple of coats (lots of little bubbles, slightly drippy and uneven) but after drying for two days the paint has laid down nicely. I started on the 800 grit and it's already very smooth to the touch. It's a good option for a car like this that had lots of little issues all over the body because it seals it well, looks good and costs less than $100.

If anyone is interested, this is the video that had the best tutorial about it. You're limited on color choices, but the results are better than what I see come out of some body shops here for much more $$$. Just takes some patience and elbow grease :glasses7:

I recommend muting your speakers if you don't like electronic rap beatz.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qPJTTRWttQ"]How to paint your car with Rustoleum. The right way. - YouTube[/ame]

 

[goldfish65]

Very nice to see the new life you're giving this Valiant. It will be around for a long time. The custom paint color you did suits it.

 

[puna_trav]

Thanks Goldfish. She's not the prettiest, but I'm pretty attached at this point. I'm hoping to get a few good years out of her.

 

[Abodybomber]

Love the hunter green tinge,doin a good job.

 

[sleeper-oem]

Cool looking good

 

[71 Duster 440]

Making the best with what you have and working within your means and resources is the name of the game. Thanks for keeping it out of a junkyard. Nice work!

 

[4spdcuda66]

Looking good. That's gonna be a sweet cruiser. Keep the pics coming.