1966 Valiant Signet Convertible Resto

[daves66valiant]

Here is a short history of the car. It was bought by the original owner from Mancini Motors in Mountainview, CA for a whopping $3100. It has been in California it's whole life and is in great shape. I bought the car in June of 2005 from a guy in Fresno that consigns/auctions old cars. It came with the original bill of sale from the dealer and the original certificate of ownership. He went through the car and got it running since it had been sitting in a garage for some time. Everything on the car was practically original except for the top which had been replaced at one time. No rust or body work that I have been able to uncover besides some surface rust.

I thought I would keep it all original as a survivor but those plans went out the window pretty quickly. The plans now are a new 340, 5-speed keisler tranny swap, 8 3/4 rear, subframe connectors, new wheels, disc brakes, new interior and B7 color and a black top.

The car came with new seat covers from Legendary and so that was my first order of business along with new carpet since I would be driving the car around until I got all the parts I needed for the swaps.

Then came new wheels. Unfortunately I did not get any good pictures of the car with the new wheels. I think they look great on this car. They are from Stockton Wheel Company and they are te 5 X 4 pattern. They were a lucky find on ebay $300.

Currently I have the entire body stripped and getting it ready for the paint and body shop. I yanked the engine out yesterday. It came out very nicely. Sorry to see that trusty little 273 go. I will be hanging onto it though. I am reusing the pulleys, brackets and possibly the exhaust manifolds. I'm still waiting for tti to get the kinks worked out on their headers.

I will updated this resto page when more work is done.

 

[smokn440]

take good notes,,,,,cause mine will be next

 

[Longgone]

Love the wheels, they remind me of the old American Racing "Mags". It looks as though you`re making great progress and the 340 should really liven up that Valiant.

 

[Jim Lusk]

I've always liked the 66 Signet. Looks great.

 

[daves66valiant]

Got a few pictures after taking out the carpet and cleaning out the trunk. I'm amazed at the condition of the floors. The car is off to the shop Monday. Will be going with the Dark Mopar Blue from 1966. I've got plenty to keep me busy while at the shop.

Floor

Here's the trunk with the original spare tire. Still holds air

Here is the Clutch pedal assembly I took out of the other Valiant. I'm getting all twitchy thinking about mashing 5 gears.

Trunk floor. wow

Next pic will be awhile later when the paint is done

 

[Cerwin]

isnt it just exciting.. man im excited for you keep me posted on this redo as i will be doing a 66 vally vert 273 auto rebuild in the near future.

Looks good man

how does the Dark Mopar Blue from 1966 fair up to what the colour of the car is now? really dark? will you add pearl to it at all?

Cerwin

 

[daves66valiant]

I couldn't really tell exactly from the PPG paint codes from the mymopar.com site. The scanned pages are not that great. I wanted to go with an original color from the 66-67 year because the seat covers are from a 67 dart. The paint colors and interior colors did not really change between those years. The darker color should match the interior nicely. The Light Mopar Blue is nice but I've always liked the darker colors.

The 66' Dark Mopar Blue color seems like it matched the 1968 Midnight blue which looked nice too. I don't think I will add any pearl to the paint but it would look great too. I like the old school look on these 60's cars. I say leave the glitter and disco for the 70's :afro:

I will be visiting the shop during the strip down and laying of the paint for pictures and will post them in the next couple of weeks I hope.

I'm still can't stop thinking about rowing 5 gears of mopar muscle in this little A-body. Makes my hair stand up thinking about it. :burnout:

 

[1966 dart wagon]

dang the interior looks really good :headbang: lookin good i like the blue

 

[daves66valiant]

Well she's off to the shop. It was sweet sorrow seeing her loaded on the trailer all bare and naked. She'll be back home by the end of October hopefully. I think I got a great deal on the paint and body. Will have to see what the final bill is when she's done.

BYe-Bye

 

[Longgone]

Man! I wish the body on my B`cuda looked even a fraction as good as the body on your car does! I hope your car comes back from the body shop sweeter than ever!

 

[OldVart]

Guys, the original color on the Darts/Valiants for 1966 was EE1 - Dark Blue Poly. That's the original color of my 66 Valiant, but I went to a lighter blue because I found it didn't really suit the lines of my car - personal taste I guess.

 

[daves66valiant]

Thanks OldVart. That is the exact color I am going with on my car. I am rethinking the addition of pearl to the paint. It would really shine like crazy. Only thing is if I get into a fender bender it is almost impossible to match if I don't have enough backup paint made. Tough decision.

 

[OldVart]

That EE1 has a lot of poly (metal flake) in it. Keep in mind that metalics are hard enough to match, and adding pearl to the mixture also adds possible problems to any future repairs that might be necessary.

 

[Cerwin]

or you could remember the formula..

types and manufactors

like dupont or nasons
one bump pearl
one bump small metal flake
one bump large metal flake
ee1

then you can just remake it..
the colours dont really change duponts a861 will be the same blue for the last few years.. maybe a hair of difference

also at work we have a paint colour gun. tells me what colour you have and how to make it. regardless of what it is.

Cerwin

 

[daves66valiant]

I heard the shine is pretty spectacular and there is less work to get that show shine with pearl added. I'm not sure how exact he would be as far as how many "bumps" to put in. If a bump was a very specific amount/formula in miligrams or grams I could see where that would work out just fine. Should I ask my paint guy to just mix up a half pint of regular EE-1 poly(metal flake) and another half pint with pearl and then shoot a small scrap panel so I can see the difference? If I like the pearl and I can get an extra half gallon how long will mixed paint last in the can? Besides that, how many gallons does a whole car need anyhow? BTW, my paint guy is uses PPG. The paint gun sounds very cool.

 

[OldVart]

The real problem with metalic / pearl type paints isn't actually the color formulation - that's easy enough to get right, although getting two exact mixes is sometimes difficult enough! The more metalics /pearls in the paint, the harder it is to get a consistent sprayout. Things involved would include temperature, humidity, gun speed and settings, number of coats sprayed, and many other factors. A really big consideration is if the car is going to be assembled and painted or panel painter then assembled. Just the fact that you paint the doors, for example, laying flat on saw horses or upright the way they go on the car - the matalics will lay out in a different manner under these two circumstances and it will be difficult to get a perfect match even if they are painted at the same time as the rest of the car. The more variables you add, the greater chance of not getting a perfecr match in color.
The pearl won't really add to the ammount of shine involved or the work to make it shine. Just about anyone can get shine on a car, but I've always tried to get DEPTH in my paint jobs. When you stand back 10 feet from the side of the car and the reflection of your legs look like they are 1/2 a mile away in the side of the car, then you have depth and distinctness of image. Color sanding and buffing can provide the shine.
By all means, get a pint of each color and do some test panels because that's the only way you'll know if you're going to like the color or not. I was going to put Viper Red on my Vart so I got a pint mixed, sprayed a garden tractor for a buddy of mine, and then decided it would not really suit my taste on my car. I must admit though, my buddy has the sharpest little tractor in the county! It doesn't make any difference if the paint is Dupont or PPG, or any other quality name brand, just what your painter is familiar with using. Hope this helps.

 

[daves66valiant]

That helps a bunch. Depth is the key from what I am understanding. I think I will go with the EE-1 without any pearl just to make things simpler by adding less to the equation. The enemy of 'good' is 'better' in some cases. Thanks :salute:

 

[smokn440]

looking good,,,cant wait to see it painted,,,,did you pull the windshield,,,,do you have a source for new windshield gasket and also the roof rail weather stripping????,,,,mines all wore out,,,,good luck with the paint,,Aloha

 

[daves66valiant]

Got all the weather stripping from ebay. Check it out. I thought it was a pretty good deal for a complete set of weather stripping. It included the window gasket. You still have to get the window gasket seal strip that goes inside the gasket. you can find a chrome one on ebay for $25-30. You can get the window/doorlace from Paddock in the color you need ~$70-80. http://cgi.ebay.com/28-Piece-Weathe...2668857QQihZ016QQcategoryZ10076QQcmdZViewItem There is another company in Mopar Muscle that has stuff too. I will get that for you later when I get a chance.

I took out the windshield and Door glass. Super easy if you are ditching the gasket. I just cut it out with a utility knife. Putting the door glass and window regulator back together will be a challenge. I basically striped the entire car of all trim and piece that were not going to be painted. My guy is going to undercoat the whole car for an extra $500. :headbang:

Hope this helps for your resto. Can't wait to see how your's goes.

 

[daves66valiant]

I'm looking into finding a company that makes a glass window for the valiant. I may need some luck on this one.

 

[smokn440]

wow,,,that seems like a bargain,,,to get everything,,,,I just scored a brand new washer bottle and pump kit from those guys,,,atlas parts,,,,everything i buy new is just sitting off to the side,,,waiting till i restore it,,,I figured the hardest thing to find would be the chrome strip for the windshield,,,mine is bad,,,,I even have a perfect grill sitting on the shelf,,,firewall gasket set,,complete nut and bolt resto kit,,,and I had a 65 signet that was a bucket seat,,floor console auto,,,,so I parted the car on e-bay,,,kept the 65 motor,,trans,,,buckets and steering column to put in the 66,,,and I have an edelbrock 2x4 intake for the 65,,,,gonna make a nice sleeper,,,,thanks for the info,,,Aloha,,Joe

 

[daves66valiant]

Try restorationspecialties.com for the door windlace and other weather stripping. Not sure if they would be cheaper for an entire kit.

 

[daves66valiant]

Don't have much to add at the moment for the resto. Have been doing little things like trim pieces and cleaning parts. Lots of drooling over new parts to buy $$$$$...fuel setups, brakes lines, rear-end overhaul, differentials, instrument gauges, etc... All the little things Santa or a good sugar momma should bring.

This is the latest progress. I got a little 40 lb sand blaster from Harbor Freight and got to it on the 8 3/4 rear. I must say the little blaster unit did quite well. I used some nice sand from a nearby beach. Used a strainer and voila...ecologically safe, reusable and effective blast media.:flower:

The cardboard cutout worked really well to keep the sand out of the banjo. And yes that is carpet padding under the rear (been re-moldeling the house some too). That stuff was great. Kept everything fairly clean and made it easy to vacuum the sand up too.

Ahh isn't she sexy all naked...sick I know

Next up is the carrier and axles this weekend :headbang:

 

[daves66valiant]

Paint Shop Visit

 

[daves66valiant]

Got the rebuilt 8 3/4 rear today from the driveline shop. Packed with goodies. Detroit Truetrac, 3.91 Richmond ring and pinion, new large yoke, and all new bearings/seals and complete overhaul kit. Put together the new hardware and brakes tonight. Now I just need to order up new drums and paint them. The pictures are a little dark.

:headbang: