From the pasture; The valiant story of my '66 Valiant
Before heading off into the garage, wouldn't a quick wash be good? Of course! The only thing better than tinkering on a Plymouth is tinkering on a clean Plymouth, and much like that fat, sweaty relative everyone avoids at the family functions, my Valiant could benefit greatly from some soap and water.
Months of shop dirt and grime went floating down the drain (street). My neighbors, drawn either by the thumping, rhythmic sounds of 80's music playing on my tiny garage radio, or noticing the addition of a dead automotive relic wearing long expired tags to the neighborhood all came by to check it out. I would like to say that their comments were all positive, and that they didn't roll their eyes while glancing sideways at each other, but I also am not a liar. To say this was well received would be stretching the truth a bit, so lets leave it at that. This thing was over due for a good scrubbing, which I gave it, most enjoyably. I think once the time for spit and polish comes, I can pretty her right back up.
Clean and dry, its time to tuck baby away to bed. She seems impossibly long in my little tiny garage, but hey, you make due with what you have.
Unfortunately, once I had the car in the garage, all warm, snuggly and dry, had my game plan all worked out and had her back on jackstands, sans wheels, my house flooded. And not that "oh the toilet over flowed, darn it" type flooding, more the "MY DAMN WATER HEATER BLEW UP AND SOAKED EVERYTHING I OWN, TIME TO LIVE LIKE A HOBO IN MY OWN HOUSE!" type soaking. So because of the vast and extensive water damage, all my surviving possessions needed a place to live while the house was repaired. So much to the imagined vexation of my neighbors, the Valiant rolled back out into the driveway once more, and into the garage goes all i own in the world*. (*okay not quite but you get the idea)
To be honest, I haven't been able or motivated to do much lately, since just getting to where my tools are is a HUGE undertaking and my house is a mess. That being said, I did finish the rear hard line and shock install. It did require the destruction of one of the hard lines, but I was able to get the little brass block off and cleaned up too so that's a plus. Arent wire wheels the best? Also, if you were considering the hard line kit from eBay (inlinetube) I highly recommend them. Came with instructions, the lines they send match each line nearly exactly, AND the main line is clearly marked where you are supposed to unbend, and shape it. Their communication was great, and while this kit wasn't overly cheap, I felt like it was a good value.
Before heading off into the garage, wouldn't a quick wash be good? Of course! The only thing better than tinkering on a Plymouth is tinkering on a clean Plymouth, and much like that fat, sweaty relative everyone avoids at the family functions, my Valiant could benefit greatly from some soap and water.
Months of shop dirt and grime went floating down the drain (street). My neighbors, drawn either by the thumping, rhythmic sounds of 80's music playing on my tiny garage radio, or noticing the addition of a dead automotive relic wearing long expired tags to the neighborhood all came by to check it out. I would like to say that their comments were all positive, and that they didn't roll their eyes while glancing sideways at each other, but I also am not a liar. To say this was well received would be stretching the truth a bit, so lets leave it at that. This thing was over due for a good scrubbing, which I gave it, most enjoyably. I think once the time for spit and polish comes, I can pretty her right back up.
Clean and dry, its time to tuck baby away to bed. She seems impossibly long in my little tiny garage, but hey, you make due with what you have.
Unfortunately, once I had the car in the garage, all warm, snuggly and dry, had my game plan all worked out and had her back on jackstands, sans wheels, my house flooded. And not that "oh the toilet over flowed, darn it" type flooding, more the "MY DAMN WATER HEATER BLEW UP AND SOAKED EVERYTHING I OWN, TIME TO LIVE LIKE A HOBO IN MY OWN HOUSE!" type soaking. So because of the vast and extensive water damage, all my surviving possessions needed a place to live while the house was repaired. So much to the imagined vexation of my neighbors, the Valiant rolled back out into the driveway once more, and into the garage goes all i own in the world*. (*okay not quite but you get the idea)
To be honest, I haven't been able or motivated to do much lately, since just getting to where my tools are is a HUGE undertaking and my house is a mess. That being said, I did finish the rear hard line and shock install. It did require the destruction of one of the hard lines, but I was able to get the little brass block off and cleaned up too so that's a plus. Arent wire wheels the best? Also, if you were considering the hard line kit from eBay (inlinetube) I highly recommend them. Came with instructions, the lines they send match each line nearly exactly, AND the main line is clearly marked where you are supposed to unbend, and shape it. Their communication was great, and while this kit wasn't overly cheap, I felt like it was a good value.
