1967 Valiant Suspension Dilema

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Rover/Scout

Rover/Scout

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Joined
May 20, 2020
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Location
Berthoud, Colorado
Hi Guys, I’m a long time Mopar owner now in my 50’s and starting down a new path to me. I have always had 1971 & 1972 Bodies till this time around. I am leaning towards the old adage “Little Car - BIG MOTOR - Go Real Fast!!” My question for Y’all (Yes I’m a Southern Boy!) is what direction to go with the suspension? With that said I live up here in the Northern Part of Denver Colorado and I LOVE driving in the mountains! I also really love Autocross and that sort of driving! I’m a drag racer from way back when “Street Racing” was not so looked down upon! I want to build “Jane” (name will be explained at a later date) to be capable and competitive in these aspects, not to the point of being the Best, but to have fun and not be wasting my time or others time. I know from my experience of street racing and driving spirited that the factory suspension with money spent in the right places and on the right equipment they do a Very Good Job! Now on that note the aftermarket has come along way! With what i want “Jane” to be able to do should I stick to Torsion/Leaf suspension or go aftermarket coil overs? Please give your feedback and experiences.

Build will consist of: Built Stroker small block backed up by a Tremec TKO 5spd and if necessary a 6spd, subframes connectors, 6 pint roll cage, Big Sway bars and Dana 60 with Detroit Locker and Disc on all four corners.


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To date the FASTEST road race mopars use the torsion bar suspension, none of the aftermarket systems offer any handling advantages over the torsion bar system. They offer more header room, and bling for those who dont know any better. The famous mopar action "green brick" build is good reading, and there are some good youtube vids of the hotchkiss "taxi" to give you a idea
 
replicaracer43 said:
To date the FASTEST road race mopars use the torsion bar suspension, none of the aftermarket systems offer any handling advantages over the torsion bar system. They offer more header room, and bling for those who dont know any better. The famous mopar action "green brick" build is good reading, and there are some good youtube vids of the hotchkiss "taxi" to give you a idea
Click to expand...
Thanks! Do you have any links I can go look at?
 
Although I'm heavily in favor of just beefing the stock system, it all depends on the class you will run in.

The Sandberg's are the only ones that have won a top trophy spot in C Prepared at Nationals with a mopar. Both front and rear suspension were changed - not because it couldn't be done - but because it saved time and money working within the expertise they could bring on board. It still took some testing and development. Nothing is a bolt in winning combination in classes that allow alot of modifications. And if it was good this year, next year you can be sure the ante will be upped by other top competitors.

The other mods mentioned will take it out of the Street Prepared based classes. So whatever you do, whether SCCA or another group, need to know the rules for the class.
You might look into CAM-T if you're looking at SCCA autocross classes. A couple mopars on the west coast have been running in it, and there's prob others I'm not thinking of. Hotckhiss should have entered in it. They kept hinting at it. I think they needed to make some changes to fit into the rules, but I don't think thats the real reason they didn't enter. They should have done well - the car seemed well set up and they had good drivers. Who knows.
 
Stay with the torsion bars - the car is already engineered for it. Make em' bigger of course, with some good aftermarket A arms for better caster.

 
Where to Start, A Reading List:

Most of the books and articles there are listed with full titles and authors.
That should make it easier to find with a search engine. Although these days the search engines often change words to better fit the products they think you want to buy.
 
spend a day looking through the builds on here with the cars in the same target profile. 72bluNblu comes to mind. like Mattax talked about, unless you target an auto-x class, you're probably going to get dumped in with who knows what cars. so unless you want to run for points, who cares. use it to help tune you and the car. build what you like and have fun...
also, :welcome:
 
Guys the help and info has been invaluable to say the lest! I pretty much had a feeling y’all would say stay with the factory setup as I figured from past experience it works the best. Now y’all have helped me to the next step. Suspension setup! Staying with torsion bars, what will be the best replacement for an all around car I’m going ENJOY DRIVING HARD? I will not be so focused on being the best road racer out there, just love pushing the car to the limits and enjoying the experience! So like Kursplat put it “build what you like and have fun!” and that’s what I want to do!!! So I want to build something that makes me giggle uncontrollably! I still have not decided big block or small block, but I know I want her to handle well and have PLENTY OF POWER!


Now for the name “Jane”. She is a Valiant, but she will be “Volatile”! And she is what we all call Plane Jane! There for she is going to be “Volatile Jane!” Ok kind of corny but it sticks for me. Ok flame on! Give me your feedback.
 
Just my $.02, it all depends on what you want to do. There are plenty of companies that you can buy individual suspension components for and if you do your research can can get a well balanced vehicle for A) Handling around curves/canyon carving/around town or B) Gripping hard in a straight line for drag racing
Just a couple of easy companies to look at is PST (they are vendors here and offer discounts for FABO members). Or look into the Hotchkis TVS system if you have the $$. Both retain stock style suspension, just updated for more modern performance
In my head, and some will disagree with me, the general rule of thumb is if you want to drag race, then go big block. If you want to corner hard, then go small block. But I know people have been successful using small blocks in drag racing, and big blocks in handling applications, its just harder to accomplish. (The biggest issue is the weight involved)
You have a lot to look into but you have a great head start, good luck on your build!
 
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