'67 Valiant: Rebirth
So, I have a '67 Valiant Signet 2dr that has led a rough life before coming to me. The short version is the car was bubba'd up by previous owners and then got vandalized while I had it in cheap storage before moving into my house.
This thread will serve as a log of sorts for what's going on.
From last night:
So I had one of those "duh" moments the other day. I'd been sand-bagging on doing anything else with the Valiant until I got a window trim removal tool...Cheap, but right now I'm broke. The top dash bolts are located below the windshield gasket. To take the gasket out, you have to remove the chrome trim, take the windshield out and then pull the gasket out. At least, that's how it should work.
I'd never really stopped to think about how things were arranged until last night. It came to me that I could just go pull the gasket out from underneath the window trim since there was no windshield holding it in place any more. Thanks, vandals! Yes, it was kind of a "duh" moment. So I pulled the windshield gasket out. I'm very happy to see absolutely no rust anywhere in the windshield channels. This is a relief, cuse I don't really want to find any more problems with the car.
Pulled the gauge cluster out. The housing itself is in surprisingly good shape, but the finish is shot. The speedo is broken; the needle broke off. I'm surprised that a car this old, with a factory manual, didn't have a tach. I know they're not necessary for driving a manual---I never look at the tach in my Jeep---but it seems odd to not have one.
Yes, the needles are blue. It's odd. I think that might be the factory color. I'm not sure yet.
I think I'm going to go with aftermarket gauges when everything goes back together. There's really no use in sticking with the factory gauges, since all worth in the car from a collectible standpoint was killed long ago. I had originally thought about building my own gauge housing, but then I stumbled upon these guys: http://www.redlinegaugeworks.com/products.asp. The second item is an ABS plastic drop-in instrument panel that will fit my dash's opening. This is awesome and takes care of my biggest worry about going with aftermarket gauges.
There's a tear where the firewall meets the transmission tunnel. It's odd.
So, I have a '67 Valiant Signet 2dr that has led a rough life before coming to me. The short version is the car was bubba'd up by previous owners and then got vandalized while I had it in cheap storage before moving into my house.
This thread will serve as a log of sorts for what's going on.
From last night:
So I had one of those "duh" moments the other day. I'd been sand-bagging on doing anything else with the Valiant until I got a window trim removal tool...Cheap, but right now I'm broke. The top dash bolts are located below the windshield gasket. To take the gasket out, you have to remove the chrome trim, take the windshield out and then pull the gasket out. At least, that's how it should work.
I'd never really stopped to think about how things were arranged until last night. It came to me that I could just go pull the gasket out from underneath the window trim since there was no windshield holding it in place any more. Thanks, vandals! Yes, it was kind of a "duh" moment. So I pulled the windshield gasket out. I'm very happy to see absolutely no rust anywhere in the windshield channels. This is a relief, cuse I don't really want to find any more problems with the car.
Pulled the gauge cluster out. The housing itself is in surprisingly good shape, but the finish is shot. The speedo is broken; the needle broke off. I'm surprised that a car this old, with a factory manual, didn't have a tach. I know they're not necessary for driving a manual---I never look at the tach in my Jeep---but it seems odd to not have one.
Yes, the needles are blue. It's odd. I think that might be the factory color. I'm not sure yet.
I think I'm going to go with aftermarket gauges when everything goes back together. There's really no use in sticking with the factory gauges, since all worth in the car from a collectible standpoint was killed long ago. I had originally thought about building my own gauge housing, but then I stumbled upon these guys: http://www.redlinegaugeworks.com/products.asp. The second item is an ABS plastic drop-in instrument panel that will fit my dash's opening. This is awesome and takes care of my biggest worry about going with aftermarket gauges.
There's a tear where the firewall meets the transmission tunnel. It's odd.
