Nice and solid Valiant, one of twenty billion built between 1960 and 1976. It has the 225 slant six and 54,500 actual miles. It sat for a number of years before I bought it. Very strong running, it does burn about a quart of oil every 800 miles. There is a small exhaust leak at the manifold, but nothing obnoxiously loud. It has a manual choke that I installed. Even with the cold weather I've been getting around 19 mpg in town. I got 22 mpg when it was warmer, however I drive it like an old man. It has just had a coolant flush and a new genuine MoPar t-stat installed. Tabs are good until October 2008.
This car is a "stripper"; other than the larger slant six, it has absolutely NO options, totally stripped. Manual steering, manual brakes. It has three on the tree (a column-mounted three speed manual tranny for you young 'uns) and the clutch is not at all sloppy. No transmission issues. The car had no safety belts, but I installed four pairs of new, period-looking DOT approved lap belts. The car has a radio delete (NO radio, NO antenna, not even a hole in the fender for the antenna) and a one speed fan for the heater/defroster. All the gauges work, all the lights work. No four-way flasher. I replaced the factory rear view mirror with a day/night mirror from a '67 Fury.
The body is straight, but not perfect. The trunk and floor pans are solid, no rust-through. There was light bodywork performed around the rear wheel wells. It is a decent amateur job that could probably be smoothed out if you wanted to. The passenger side fender is starting to show some rust-through down low behind the wheel well. Some panels look to be repainted years ago. All of the paint is faded, it may buff out decently. Some miscellaneous dents and small creases, but the body is straight overall. All the windows work fine and the glass is good. It came without a driver door side mirror, I attached a period GM(?) mirror that looks fine. Bumpers are fair, the front bumper and grille is a little tweaked. The tail lenses are nice, one back-up lens is cracked.
The tires have plenty of tread and are in good shape. The Valiant now has early seventies vintage dog dish Plymouth hubcaps, not the full wheel covers shown in the images. Since the car sat so long, I replaced all four wheel cylinders and brakes shoes. Brakes work great, could use some final adjusting as it pulls a little to the right while braking. The e-brake is not functional.
The headliner is decent, there are a few small holes and it is a little dirty. The cloth seats have no tears and are in good shape. The old carpet was rotten, so I pulled it and installed some "auto carpet" from Menard's. It actually turned out pretty decent. The door panels are nice. The armrest on the passenger front door broke a few weeks ago-- that happens to forty-five year old plastic when it's zero degrees.
I bought this as a daily driver, but I have driven it sparingly this winter. My wife has another car now and I got her Horizon, lucky me. The only real issues with driving the Valiant in the winter; it doesn't have a wiper washer (car wasn't ordered with one) which is obviously good to have in the winter and the heater is somewhat inadequate. It will keep up in city driving around twenty degrees, but at 70 mph, the heater struggles when it's cold. I think it's tolerable, my wife would tell you different though. It's a lot warmer than my '69 Beetle was.
I think that's everything. This is a tough little workhorse and will probably last another forty-five years. In my opinion, the '64s were the nicest styled Valiant of the 1960-66 model years. You could drive while you restore it or just drive it. I get as many looks in this thing as I do in my '61 New Yorker! Looking to get $2200 cash or B/O, NO trades, NO scams, etc. Email me at [email protected], thanks....
More pics can be seen at http://rides.webshots.com/album/561167663ACHyfB
This car is a "stripper"; other than the larger slant six, it has absolutely NO options, totally stripped. Manual steering, manual brakes. It has three on the tree (a column-mounted three speed manual tranny for you young 'uns) and the clutch is not at all sloppy. No transmission issues. The car had no safety belts, but I installed four pairs of new, period-looking DOT approved lap belts. The car has a radio delete (NO radio, NO antenna, not even a hole in the fender for the antenna) and a one speed fan for the heater/defroster. All the gauges work, all the lights work. No four-way flasher. I replaced the factory rear view mirror with a day/night mirror from a '67 Fury.
The body is straight, but not perfect. The trunk and floor pans are solid, no rust-through. There was light bodywork performed around the rear wheel wells. It is a decent amateur job that could probably be smoothed out if you wanted to. The passenger side fender is starting to show some rust-through down low behind the wheel well. Some panels look to be repainted years ago. All of the paint is faded, it may buff out decently. Some miscellaneous dents and small creases, but the body is straight overall. All the windows work fine and the glass is good. It came without a driver door side mirror, I attached a period GM(?) mirror that looks fine. Bumpers are fair, the front bumper and grille is a little tweaked. The tail lenses are nice, one back-up lens is cracked.
The tires have plenty of tread and are in good shape. The Valiant now has early seventies vintage dog dish Plymouth hubcaps, not the full wheel covers shown in the images. Since the car sat so long, I replaced all four wheel cylinders and brakes shoes. Brakes work great, could use some final adjusting as it pulls a little to the right while braking. The e-brake is not functional.
The headliner is decent, there are a few small holes and it is a little dirty. The cloth seats have no tears and are in good shape. The old carpet was rotten, so I pulled it and installed some "auto carpet" from Menard's. It actually turned out pretty decent. The door panels are nice. The armrest on the passenger front door broke a few weeks ago-- that happens to forty-five year old plastic when it's zero degrees.
I bought this as a daily driver, but I have driven it sparingly this winter. My wife has another car now and I got her Horizon, lucky me. The only real issues with driving the Valiant in the winter; it doesn't have a wiper washer (car wasn't ordered with one) which is obviously good to have in the winter and the heater is somewhat inadequate. It will keep up in city driving around twenty degrees, but at 70 mph, the heater struggles when it's cold. I think it's tolerable, my wife would tell you different though. It's a lot warmer than my '69 Beetle was.
I think that's everything. This is a tough little workhorse and will probably last another forty-five years. In my opinion, the '64s were the nicest styled Valiant of the 1960-66 model years. You could drive while you restore it or just drive it. I get as many looks in this thing as I do in my '61 New Yorker! Looking to get $2200 cash or B/O, NO trades, NO scams, etc. Email me at [email protected], thanks....
More pics can be seen at http://rides.webshots.com/album/561167663ACHyfB
