Putting money into the valiant, suggestions?

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slipyoke

slipyoke

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Hey guys i have a good buddy who bought his girlfriend a 71 four door valiant for her daily driver. It's in great shape it runs and drives great never skips a beat but they want to put some money into it and make it a dependable car. Not that it isn't dependable already but he wants it so that she can drive cross country with no worrys.

I told them to start with an engine rebuild, trany service, painless wiring harness, and a good once over.

one other thing can you guys point me in the right direction for a good place to buy interior parts?

oh its a slant six
 
engine rebuild? if it runs fine then why?

painless wiring? junk. what kind of shape is the original wiring in?

i would go over all the brake lines replace the rubber hoses, check out the brakes,wheel cyl. and replace as needed.

hoses/belts

maybe some form of electronic ign.
 
wiring is okish there is a little bit of tape here and there.
painless is junk? i did a 67 Chevy short box with a painless and it was amazing.

Engine smokes a little and one of the cylinders dont have the pressure it should.
 
Um…yeah, if it runs and drives great, why are we talking about an engine rebuild? Engines that run great do not need rebuilding. Engines that need rebuilding do not run great. First make sure it's in tip-top tune; Tune-up parts and technique suggestions in this thread and the engine will need periodic valve adjustment. Then what you want to focus on is upgrades for safety, driveability, and comfort. If it hasn't already got disc brakes, install them. Invest in good tires and shock absorbers. Make sure the suspension, front and rear, is in top shape. Put in better seat belts. Pick one of the many options for going to electronic ignition; my preference is for the HEI upgrade. Want better performance and driveability? Put in a 2bbl intake manifold and carb and a thoughtfully-configured larger exhaust system. Driving at night? Upgrade the headlight circuit, put in better headlights (see here and here) , and upgrade the rear and side lights. Lots of seat time in the car? Upgrade the radio.
 
I agree with what Dan said. Basically, make sure it runs right, then look at upgrades.

IMO, Mopar put tires on these cars to keep them off the ground, not for driving enjoyment. Recommend going to a 6 or 7 inch wide rim with 4¼" back spacing (stock). Also recommend going to at least a 195/70 size tire to improve grip.

FWIW, both of my Darts were upgraded to BBP disk brakes and 15x7 wheels. The 73 has Magnum 500s with 205/60 tires, the 72 has cop car wheels with 235/60 tires.
 
a roller cam setup if they make it for /6s
 
I had good luck with a Painless harness, but I did TOTALLY replace all the wiring and used aftermarket gauges and ignition. Although you could do wiring, there are other places I would worry about first.

I would convert to electronic ignition. Nothing fancy needed, just decent used parts. And follow the typical wiring diagram to get it hooked up. Preferably wire it as a single ballast, four pin. Buy an extra ballast resistor and carry it in the glove compartment.

Brakes are at the top of my list. I would convert to front disk, then do a typical brake job, plus replace all the hard lines and hoses.

Modern seat belts are a good idea. I'm using some from www.wescoperformance.com

If it doesn't have one, put an anti-sway bar on it.

Flush out the cooling system. If it's at all marginal, replace the radiator. Bad radiators suck.

Obviously good tires and battery, but that should go without saying.
 
Charrlie_S said:
:wack:
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What can I say, I've always been a V8 kind of guy. That being said I have owned two 6 cylinder cars. First was a 1987 Buick Grand National (Made lots of performance mods to that thing, great car, easy to jerk the frontend of the ground). Second was a 2002 Nissan Skyline GT-R V-Spec 2 Nur model (one of 750 made and it was all stock, down to the twin turbos. Great car and the only one I really regret selling, but boy did I make money off that thing:twisted:!!!).
 
A roller cam can be done on a slant six, but You can build a complete engine with a regular flat tappet cam for what the roller cam alone would cost. Someware in the neighborhood of $1,000 for the cam alone. Then you would need a belt drive oil punp, and a distributorless ign, as the roller cam blanks do not have a pump/dist drive gear. Then you have the cost of roller lifters, and the rest of the valve train. Only a ultimate race engine would show any benefit from a roller cam over a good flat tappet cam. Besides the OP was talking about a daily driver, not a race car.
 
Charrlie_S said:
A roller cam can be done on a slant six, but You can build a complete engine with a regular flat tappet cam for what the roller cam alone would cost. Someware in the neighborhood of $1,000 for the cam alone. Then you would need a belt drive oil punp, and a distributorless ign, as the roller cam blanks do not have a pump/dist drive gear. Then you have the cost of roller lifters, and the rest of the valve train. Only a ultimate race engine would show any benefit from a roller cam over a good flat tappet cam. Besides the OP was talking about a daily driver, not a race car.
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What Charlie said X 2!!!
 
1970Duster said:
What can I say, I've always been a V8 kind of guy. That being said I have owned two 6 cylinder cars. First was a 1987 Buick Grand National (Made lots of performance mods to that thing, great car, easy to jerk the frontend of the ground). Second was a 2002 Nissan Skyline GT-R V-Spec 2 Nur model (one of 750 made and it was all stock, down to the twin turbos.
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Then, your post is like me passing out engine advice over on hotcivics.com... I've never owned or worked on a single Honda in my life, so I don't feel informed enough to offer suggestions to tuners. Nor would they have any interest in what I have to say.
 
slantsixdan said:
Why would you suggest a race-only piece like this for a street-driven car? C'mon, the guy asked a serious question and he deserves serious, thoughtful answers.
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That was a thoughtful answer. I've never owned a /6 and figure that if they make a roller cam for v8 they might make one for /6 because they seem quite popular.
 
vynn3 said:
Then, your post is like me passing out engine advice over on hotcivics.com... I've never owned or worked on a single Honda in my life, so I don't feel informed enough to offer suggestions to tuners. Nor would they have any interest in what I have to say.
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Again it was a very thoughtful answer. I didn't know that a roller cam in a /6 was race only. Having a roller cam it is less wear and tear then a standard cam meaning longer engine life.
 
1: front disk brakes
2: suspension rebuild
3: new tires
4: electronic ignition upgrade
5: complete tune up
 
1970Duster said:
I didn't know that a roller cam in a /6 was race only. .
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That is exactly the point, "YOU DIDN'T KNOW", but you offered advice anyway. And if others had not stated otherwise the OP would have been misled. People, please if you offer advice, and you are not sure, at least state so. That way it is not taken as gospel.

1970Duster: You could have put it this way.
"Not really sure about a slant six, but roller cams seem to work on other engines. You might want to check on that."
 
Charrlie_S said:
That is exactly the point, "YOU DIDN'T KNOW", but you offered advice anyway. And if others had not stated otherwise the OP would have been misled. People, please if you offer advice, and you are not sure, at least state so. That way it is not taken as gospel.

1970Duster: You could have put it this way.
"Not really sure about a slant six, but roller cams seem to work on other engines. You might want to check on that."
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Guess what there is a roller cam for a slant 6 that's what matters! Be it race or street is a different matter, that being said as long a core can be acquired you can get a custom grind on it for the best performance. With that said are you telling me that a standard cam, is more efficient then a roller cam.
 
1970Duster said:
That was a thoughtful answer.
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Not. It was a random one, seemingly because you thought the phrase "roller cam" sounded cool and figured you'd use it in a sentence and this was your opportunity.

I've never owned a /6 and figure that if they make a roller cam for v8 they might make one for /6 because they seem quite popular.
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What was it about the original poster's question that made you think a roller cam was an appropriate, relevant suggestion?

(And, having never owned a slant-6, what made you think your engine-related suggestion was accurate?)
 
1970Duster said:
Guess what there is a roller cam for a slant 6 that's what matters! Be it race or street is a different matter, that being said as long a core can be acquired you can get a custom grind on it for the best performance. With that said are you telling me that a standard cam, is more efficient then a roller cam.
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If you include price/cost, yes. A "custom" made blank has to be aquired, at a high cost. There is no production blank. Just like a "hemi" head could be aquired, but not feasible.
 
slantsixdan said:
Not. It was a random one, seemingly because you thought the phrase "roller cam" sounded cool and figured you'd use it in a sentence and this was your opportunity.



What was it about the original poster's question that made you think a roller cam was an appropriate, relevant suggestion?

(And, having never owned a slant-6, what made you think your engine-related suggestion was accurate?)
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Nope roller cams are more efficient than standard cams and I looked at it as less wear and tear on the valvetrain meaning longer engine life. Now if you wanted to know my point of view, all you had to do was ask.
 
Charrlie_S said:
If you include price/cost, yes. A "custom" made blank has to be aquired, at a high cost. There is no production blank. Just like a "hemi" head could be aquired, but not feasible.
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There is a cost to everything you do, that being said its like buying standard brakes or performance brakes. It's just a choice you have to make and I'm just pointing out a different route than standard
 
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