First day out in the 65 Signet!

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396 Signet

396 Signet

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Was the first really nice day in Pittsburgh so took the Valiant out, first time since September. Fired right up, ran fantastic!

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Nice looking car. I had mine out of hibernation for a bit today too. Fired right up, let it warm up and did a burnout in the street. :D
 
Bad Sport said:
Nice looking car. I had mine out of hibernation for a bit today too. Fired right up, let it warm up and did a burnout in the street. :D
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This may be a dumb question, but when you guys say "fires right up" do you mean after a few cranks or on the first crank?

The reason I ask is because, if I let my dart sit for more than a few days, all the fuel in the filter drains back and I have to crank on it a bit before the fuel reaches the carb.

Is there a check valve in the pump that keeps the line primed?


BTW: Very nice ride!
 
Kevin D. said:
I love that look.Really cool car.How about some specs,Thanks Kevin.
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Basically did this car in my garage, took 10 years of off & on work with much cursing & busted knuckles. Originally was a CA car owned by a teacher who blew the 273-2V, apparently by never changing oil. Was a factory 4-speed, baby blue paint, with little else. Did the full rotisserie deal, see pic below. Now has a bored & stroked 340 (4.08 x 3.79 stroke= 396), 6.4" Howards rods, custom lightweight pistons, hydraulic roller, & many more tricks, but looks like 273 commando. Can't say enough about how super this car drives. The big power & light weight just makes it fly without any effort. The manual Wilwood discs stop on a dime. The 4 speed shifts really slick and it even handles excellent with the various basic suspension mods. I've been fortunate enough to drive a number of much more expensive 60's Plymouths but this little Valiant gives nothing up. As far as starting right up, that's a little stretch, about 5-10 seconds of cranking after sitting 6 months.

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That really IS a sharp little car, very unassuming.. I bet you can surprise more than a few other cars.


I need to find something similar, I have a couple of engines that need a home. :D I've been wanting an early A for some time.
 
Bad Sport said:
That really IS a sharp little car, very unassuming.. I bet you can surprise more than a few other cars.


I need to find something similar, I have a couple of engines that need a home. :D I've been wanting an early A for some time.
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Find yourself a nice rust free Arizona car for $1000 and make a plan.Care to be different?:D
 
i was walking around a wrecking yard here in utah today and found a 65 signet. never even heard of them. funny i just found this post. btw love the car.
 
I think more so then most MOPARS, painting 64/65/66 Valaints a dark color & give it some painted rims with dog dishes gives it a more sinister look:) Nice looking ride, I'll be taking mine later today.
 
One of the most well done Signets I have seen, congrats on a superb build, just fantastic! A Signet will find it's way into my stable one day, I hope!
 
Very nice guys I too got my 65 Barracuda Formula S out for the first time yesterday and after a few pumps of the gas she fired right up, as she does most of the time I did this winter in the garage. It was a nice day finally here in the North side of Chicago and we went out for a ride, over to my golf course shop for a bath, then out for a ride. She runs so nice and gets many heads to turn with the big glass rear window as most don't know what kind of car it is or have never seen one! I love giving the short story if its history, mine has been on a rotisserie at a HS in New Jersey for a year where a group of wonderful students did a lot of nice restoration to the mechanical part of this car. I got it back then had a battle with Epilepsy and it had sat for two years at a friends garage wondering if it would ever see me again! Then I got lucky had brain surgery and won my battle with seizures won my ability to drive again. One year after becoming seizure free and returning to working on golf course maintenance I decided to get my baby going again. I was now in Chicago and my car was in Maryland so I flew in to my brothers house and he drove me down to southern Maryland to where my barracuda was waiting for me. My good friend had kept her fired up and drove her occasionally so we filled up the tank and I drove her out! Then took 2 days to get back to Chicago stopping to visit my cousins in Cleveland! It was a joy to cruise her down the road and she responded with no issues whatsoever!! Now 2 yrs later I go to shows and weekly hang out at train stop here in Mount Prospect on Saturday nights all summer! It is so much fun to meet other Mopar lovers and just old car people life is too short to sweat the small stuff!

65Cudalover
 
Beautiful car and black is the only color which make these stand out from the rest...
 
Thanks for all the kind words! Car is actually dark blue, not black. Had the car out again today, can't believe the nice weather we're getting this month, typically it's nothing but rain or even snow. What's really cool about these old Valiants is nobody knows what the heck they are, they're almost totally incognito. Camaros & Mustangs are way too common.
 
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