My First A-body and my brother’s First Car

Excited to be part of this forum finally! I’m no stranger to Mopars, with my first one being a 1989 W250, but I have mostly dealt with 1980s Dodge trucks (I just finished a 2 year rebuild on a 1989 Shelby Dakota) and the last time I worked on a Mopar this vintage was 2021 when I took my 1971 Polara to begin its restoration (4 plus years later it’s still in pieces). The story of this car and what it means goes back a little…

Back in April 2024 I went down to a buddy’s place to pick up a bracket for my Shelby, and saw this Valiant (his dad’s) sitting there in the yard. I knew it would be a perfect car for my then 14 year old brother, but I was in the middle of the Shelby rebuild and didn’t have time, money, or space for it. That summer my brother finished middle school and I decided to bring him to Chrysler Nationals at Carlisle for the first time, the same thing our dad did with me when I was about to start high school. That trip transformed my little brother into a car guy, so I knew I could prime his mind with A-body thoughts (especially since I’d be the one buying and building it). He survived his freshman year with flying colors, having major roles in both school plays and being one of the best percussion players in his band and marching band. When I was his age, I did well in school but barely survived the social aspect, but I knew I had an awesome Mopar to come home to. That’s when I devised the plan- I was going to surprise my brother with his first car.

I went down in early August to look at the car again (and get some pictures of it), and I made a deal with my buddy’s dad on it. Had to wait for a government per diem check to hit my account, and last night my dad and I went with my buddy Cade to pick the car up.

As you can tell from the pictures, my little brother is over the moon, and my collection has grown to 6 Mopars.

Nice.

Welcome aboard!

Great story.

Welcome to FABO!

Start young and its in your blood forever. Great story and glad to have you aboard

Thank you all! Now for the car:

1971 Plymouth Valiant. 51k mile almost all original 318 V8 car with factory power steering and A/C, but manual drums. Was stored in a barn in Lynchburg VA and had some small stuff (side trim, one fender emblem) removed, and someone had busted out the driver front window, leading to chickens turning it into a temporary chicken coop. Someone had also backed into it at one point and crumpled the fender/bumper. Interior needs a lot of help, but the only rust I’ve found on this car has been in the front floor pans, and they’re not large enough to be really concerning to me. You can tell from the pictures, but the rest of the car is stupid solid!

Welcome from Texas ... Jump on in the waters fine Texas Red

No idea why the pictures didn't post the first time (stupid technology), but hopefully this better.

This was how I first saw the car in Spring 2024. My buddy kept the SBP Rallyes but they look really good on it.


Had a close friend help me bring it home (he knows how to drive with a trailer).


As you can tell, my little brother was in shock and awe over his first car.

Now some pictures in the daylight.

Obviously the money shot side.


The not pretty side...


It's a shame because this fender is otherwise solid. I did talk to a friend of mine who specializes in rusty metal and he thinks he may be able to get this banged out.


Crispy underside, very original, and very rot free.


More rustlessness


The ugly side. The chickens were not nice to this car.


51,846 miles on the odometer, and judging by the originality, it is accurate.

Some more initial pictures. Interior is in need of alot of love, but that is what happens when it becomes a chicken coop (or sedan?).


Small holes in both floors, plan of attack will be neutralize rust and fiberglass it.



Basic and original 318 2bbl. Was excited to see that it has the better cooling package because of the A/C (thicker rad, 6 blade fan with clutch).


Yes you can get jealous over these floor pans. And hopefully we can get the original radio reinstalled (though it will be slightly modified with a bluetooth receiver).



And fender tag photo. Pretty low option.

Had to get the ugly wheel covers off. Plus my brother wants body color steelies with dog dishes. Other side still has the full covers for now.


As you saw above, the original seats were awful and I wasn't about to spend over $1600 on just material (SMS Fabrics was the only company that has L3F7). Instead, I drove 3 hours to Salisbury to pickup a front bench seat and dash pad from a 73-74 Dart for $150 (along with a set of 10x2.5 backing plates for free from another buddy).


Meanwhile the following weekend I sent Dad to the Fall swap meet at Carlisle to pick up an almost matching rear seat for $50, and then he found some more goodies (using those 67-68 hubcaps instead).


And then my eBay find- a full (or close to full) set of correct green seat belts from a 1971 Dart sedan. Unfortunately almost every female buckle is missing the plastic.

Decided the best motivation was to get at it and start cleaning, and I wanted to see what other treasures were hiding (I knew of one in plain sight), so we got to work.


Honestly alot cleaner than I anticipated. It will get the same treatment my 1971 Polara got on the floors, but it was alot more solid that I thought it would be.


Old seats out, new seats going in. Peep my Polara and D150 in the background. In the post above you would have seen my W250 and Shelby Dakota...I am a Mopar addict.


Treasure number 1- full broadcast sheet in the rear seat back. I could see it through the rear window, and it is severely sunfaded but complete.


Treasure number 2- remnants of another broadcast sheet in the front seat bottom.


Treasure number 3- a true factory build sheet! I have not seen another.


All the goodies together. Also found a AAA membership renewal from a past owner (who unfortunately passed but in a weird way, passed a week after my little brother was born) that confirmed where the car was from (Roanoke/Lynchburg Va area). I have reached out to some next of kin and hope to hear back from them.


New seats in! Front seats have to come back out because one of the tracks is rotted, so I have to swap over the ones off the original seats (it also has a seat spring that is creaky). Learned that Mopar changed how the rear seat backs attached, but its nothing some self tappers can't fix. And yes, before you say it, they are the wrong shade of green, but they will be covered with a cheap Mexican blanket seat cover for the forseeable future. Remember- 16 year old's first car.

She just needs a couple of things to have her going again. Nothing you cant handle .... Even factory air ..... 2 COOL Texas Red

Cool I like green

Man that car has SLEEPER written all over it. Keep it low key and stuff something potent under the hood!

str12-340 said:

Man that car has SLEEPER written all over it. Keep it low key and stuff something potent under the hood!

Click to expand...

Nothing crazy for it, but it’ll be a great cruiser once it’s done.