From the pasture; The valiant story of my '66 Valiant
So this weekend, I head back out. Opening the door, the Plymouth stares at me, mouth agape, as if surprised I finally came back to work. Close your mouth boy, you're attracting flies.
Once installed, it looks SO MUCH BETTER. I will have to do a bit of adjustment it appears.
I then moved to the real purpose of my trip out, to check my valves (more on that later) and drop the tank. I have a spiffy *** brand new one ready to go in. I lift and secure the rear, and climb under to release the tank strap and drop the tank. I had been soaking all the bolts ahead of time, so removal wasnt very bad. Once you lower it, you have to undo one fuel line, and one plug to the sending unit. I have been told to salvage the sending unit or at the very least the capture ring holding it in, as apparently the Chineese do not speak "Plymouth Fuel Sending Unit" and have been unable to re-manufacture one that actually sends you any real data. To drop the tank you also have to undo three screws holding in the fuel filler neck as well plus a vent line. All done, the tank drops free. I mistakenly breathe in and am immediately assaulted with the noxious odor of very very old rotted gas. Luckily the tank is empty, save the fumes. Gagging i drag it out and toss it on my tailgate for surgery. 36 brain cells die in the assault on my olfactory senses. RIP ye brave men.
A few tippy taps of the hammer and the locking ring swings free. I add it to the pile of things I need to sandblast and clean up at home. A little prying and I get my fuel sender out. Wow. Guess that is a lost cause too. Plus, the tank is rotted around the hole for the sender. Off to the nearest dumpster you go!
Off to the junk pile with tha lot of ya! So also super nasty and super corroded is the filler neck. I guess i can wire brush this clean maybe and soak it. Dunno, but the only one i found online was $75 on ebay. That buys a lotsa cleaner I think.
So since it looks like this Canadian made jewel will have to wait for another day to go in. Back in the box with ya!
So since I can't install the tank lets look under her skirt shall we? Don't mind me ma'am, I'm a doctor. I would snap my glove, but I don't wear them. Doesn't feel the same.
Well obviously everything under here is old. No rot, plenty of rust. I go ahead and lubricate up all the brake line fittings, shock bolts, etc. Im pretty sure ill just throw all the brake hardlines out and replace them anyway. I suppose now would be the time to find a gasket for that rear end, open it up and change the fluids as well. I don't think I'll replace the leaf springs, but i suppose if i wanted to now would be the time. ($99 per side)
Now lets go see if i really do have a bent push rod like he said.
Parts:
So this weekend, I head back out. Opening the door, the Plymouth stares at me, mouth agape, as if surprised I finally came back to work. Close your mouth boy, you're attracting flies.
Once installed, it looks SO MUCH BETTER. I will have to do a bit of adjustment it appears.
I then moved to the real purpose of my trip out, to check my valves (more on that later) and drop the tank. I have a spiffy *** brand new one ready to go in. I lift and secure the rear, and climb under to release the tank strap and drop the tank. I had been soaking all the bolts ahead of time, so removal wasnt very bad. Once you lower it, you have to undo one fuel line, and one plug to the sending unit. I have been told to salvage the sending unit or at the very least the capture ring holding it in, as apparently the Chineese do not speak "Plymouth Fuel Sending Unit" and have been unable to re-manufacture one that actually sends you any real data. To drop the tank you also have to undo three screws holding in the fuel filler neck as well plus a vent line. All done, the tank drops free. I mistakenly breathe in and am immediately assaulted with the noxious odor of very very old rotted gas. Luckily the tank is empty, save the fumes. Gagging i drag it out and toss it on my tailgate for surgery. 36 brain cells die in the assault on my olfactory senses. RIP ye brave men.
A few tippy taps of the hammer and the locking ring swings free. I add it to the pile of things I need to sandblast and clean up at home. A little prying and I get my fuel sender out. Wow. Guess that is a lost cause too. Plus, the tank is rotted around the hole for the sender. Off to the nearest dumpster you go!
Off to the junk pile with tha lot of ya! So also super nasty and super corroded is the filler neck. I guess i can wire brush this clean maybe and soak it. Dunno, but the only one i found online was $75 on ebay. That buys a lotsa cleaner I think.
So since it looks like this Canadian made jewel will have to wait for another day to go in. Back in the box with ya!
So since I can't install the tank lets look under her skirt shall we? Don't mind me ma'am, I'm a doctor. I would snap my glove, but I don't wear them. Doesn't feel the same.
Well obviously everything under here is old. No rot, plenty of rust. I go ahead and lubricate up all the brake line fittings, shock bolts, etc. Im pretty sure ill just throw all the brake hardlines out and replace them anyway. I suppose now would be the time to find a gasket for that rear end, open it up and change the fluids as well. I don't think I'll replace the leaf springs, but i suppose if i wanted to now would be the time. ($99 per side)
Now lets go see if i really do have a bent push rod like he said.
Parts:
- Rear Shocks
- Brake Hardlines
- Brake Softlines
- Gasket for the axle
- Fuel Sender
- Fuel Tank insulation
- Smarts to not adopt pasture projects
