Wiggilez's 1963 valiant

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Wiggilez

Wiggilez

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Oct 5, 2020
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Location
canada
here are some as is pictures of the 63 valiant that I bought. and hopefully every now and then I'll even I'll be able to fix things on it to post less sad pictures of it.

Here is the car loaded on a trailer.
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and here it is tuck home safely

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and now for the bad, the first 3 are the driver side "frame" rail.
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and this last one is the passenger side floor, or at least the hole where it used to be.
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hopefully between now and may I can get it fixed up and on the road. but really I'd be pleased if I could get it done by next fall/winter.
 
one of the none rust related issues on my car is that the driver door can only be locked with the key, but not unlocked. So I set off to take apart the driver door to fix that.

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door handle and window crank removed.

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door card off. only 3 or 4 of the pin weren't already sheared off.

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the part that actuates the rod was loose, I tried just hammering the end part back flat hoping that it would keep the metal in place, but it was still too loose.

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So I just welded it all together works fine now :)
 
Whew! Frame rail work, been there done that. At least it’s not totally hammered. You can save that.
 
other then the torsion bar cross member I've been able to find reproduction metal, I plan on taking it slow and hopefully have something safe and fun to drive after I'm done.
 
Wiggilez said:
other then the torsion bar cross member I've been able to find reproduction metal, I plan on taking it slow and hopefully have something safe and fun to drive after I'm done.
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You'll find the torsion bar cross member around here before long. I almost decided to clean mine up as best I could and sell it shortly after I got it, but I didn't. It had more rust in it than I really wanted to deal with, but I dove in and fixed it anyway. I'm glad I did, because we're really enjoying driving it everywhere.
 
RustyRatRod said:
You'll find the torsion bar cross member around here before long. I almost decided to clean mine up as best I could and sell it shortly after I got it, but I didn't. It had more rust in it than I really wanted to deal with, but I dove in and fixed it anyway. I'm glad I did, because we're really enjoying driving it everywhere.
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I have a weird feeling that I'll have an easier time patching the existing one then finding a serviceable replacement. but I also haven't put much effort into looking yet, I'm gonna start with what is easy and readily available and work my way up to the harder stuff. I'm young, so I've got a fair bit of time to fix this stuff.
 
The torsion bar cross members pop up here time to time 4 sale. I’m going to remove mine out of my 69 dart at some point for coil overs. I’m just terrible with when I’ll actually get to it. Cool 63
 
I considered going that route, but I've convinced myself I can fix the cross member for less. however, is I mess up too badly its nice to know I have an alternate solution.
 
here's what you want for a start: AMD used to make them but they are discontinued, look up frame caps for an idea on how to use U channel for a weld in cap repair. Or PM @Lee Robinson and ask him when he's breaking a early A up again.
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Nice Project you have there , It pays to save them now .

If I'm not mistaken Canada got Dart bodies with Valiant front clips and called them Valiant , the Dart's got Valiant bodies with Dart front clips . When you look at production numbers it made sense to use the Dart bodies up north to counter the Valiant sales in the US .

When I was working new car prep in a Los Angeles Dodge dealer in '74 we got Darts on the outside and Valiant trim on the inside once in a while . Made me LOL and then I fixed it .
 
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GGs66GT said:
Nice Project you have there , It pays to save them now .

If I'm not mistaken Canada got Dart bodies with Valiant front clips and called them Valiant , the Dart's got Valiant bodies with Dart front clips . When you look at production numbers it made sense to use the Dart bodies up north to counter the Valiant sales in the US .

When I was working new car prep in a Los Angeles Dodge dealer in '74 we got Darts on the outside and Valiant trim on the inside once in a while . Made me LOL and then I fixed it .
Click to expand...

this is true, and I believe in 65 they standardized the bodies between the two countries.
 
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