68 Valiant Hellcat Swap

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hemivaliant57

hemivaliant57

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Hey guys, long time FABO member, but first time posting a thread for my build. I hope to give others further insight in this swap as I may be one of the few people attempting a Hellcat swap to an A-body Mopar. My 68 Valiant started off as a ground up restoration I completed about 5 years ago with a good running 340 backed by a A-833 4 speed and an 8 3/4 rear with a 3.91 gear ratio. As far as suspension goes the car had a full Hotchkis TVS suspension kit which handled great. After 3 years of some fun the 340 ultimately spun a bearing back in 2016 which snowballed into this build. I bought the Hellcat engine from one of my suppliers this January and have started cutting up the car this weekend to fit the running gear. Heres some photos of the build up until now...
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And fast forward to last weekend...
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This powertrain cart we made, made the job much easier when lowering the car onto the K frame
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With the supercharger on some cutting to the firewall needed to be done in order to clear the charge air cooler fittings and the supercharger coolant sensor.
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I decided to cut the whole heater box section of the firewall out until I figure out how I want to modify my firewall/heater box. (I still want heat lol)
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That's amazing. I remember the first time I saw a Hellcat engine and thought how awesome it would be for someone to put it in an A body. Hope you can keep posting the progress as I will definitely be following. Keep up the awesome work
 
Yes please keep us posted ! Looks frickin awsome. because you did a resto. On it where did you find the sheet metal ,fenders quarters I’m stuck and can’t find a source ?
 
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Thanks everyone! I will be working on it again this weekend, so hopefully a lot will get done. As for @Biff, sheet metal for this car was very hard to come by. A lot of hand fabricating was done on this build. For quarter panels I molded 67-69 Dart sheet metal brand new from year one. The passenger side fender needed alot of fabrication - I couldn't find any good donor cars. Luckily for me the hood, trunk and doors were in good shape. As for the floors I was also able to buy a lot of new sheet metal from year one. Looking back now I believe Duster quarters from the top line down are very similar to the valiant and those can be purchased brand new. Even Duster fenders are very similar to the 67-69 Valiant and may be a better alternative. Hope that helps!
 
I guess you will be going with a hydraulic clutch set up. That engine doesn’t leave much room in the engine bay. This is going to get interesting, can’t wait for more updates.
 
this is one of the greatest things i have ever seen. 68 Vallie is my a-body of choice and hellcat? are you kidding me? So far this is come clean and thoughtful work.

Not much room for any brakes other than manual. your plans?
 
Hemivaliant, congrats on you HC choice and purchase! We'll have to start a club to learn about these awesome engines from each other! I bought a Hellcrate back at the beginning of December but haven't been able to touch it until I finish my home remodel and retire from my career in a couple of months. I expect to get started this summer for sure.

Meantime, I'm getting ideas in my head for making things fit with minimal changes to what I've already completed. My changes to my firewall for factory looking, aftermarket heater/AC were all done for fitting an awesome 6.1 / 393 stroker in it with perfect fit and clearance. I use to tell customers "don't change directions in the middle of a project because it gets real expensive" (at a custom shop I use to have) but I'm the new poster child for doing just that with my '69 Cuda project, several times!

Thank you for the pics of the firewall to water manifold clearance (none!). I wouldn't have been able to confirm this until later mockup. Could you possibly post more pics of that area from a couple of angles? I'm now considering ditching the cast aluminum manifold and fabricating some nippled tubing that could maybe exit out both sides. Desperate idea, but dang, I just don't want to re-do my firewall and heater/ac box. The car is literally ready for paint.

What is your plan for water lines, heat exchangers and pump? There's a lot less room in these A-bodies than the cars these engines were intended for! Lolol. Please keep the pictures coming.
 
Awesome build! You should consider some sub frame connectors while you're at it. I'm building a 64 A Body with a 6.4 and adding a supercharger. Hellcat the way to go!
 
Wow! I like it!
Looks like you do fine work.
The car is a great starting point, seeing how clean it is.
I can't wait for more upgrades and pics as you progress.
The power to weight ratio is gonna be awesome, that Valiant will weigh at least 1000 lbs lighter than the Challenger or Charger it was meant for originally.
I hope you have plans to stiffen up the whole unibody, it'll definitely need it!
Someone had to do it, might as well be you............
 
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