1968 Plymouth Valiant 100

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mjbarbee516

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Apr 26, 2015
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Location
Ohio
I'm finally in possession of a vehicle older than me. I'm new to restoring cars, but not new to general maintenance.
It's a pretty basic car, no power assist on anything. It's got the 115hp slant 6 engine with 60k miles. I'm kind of lucky (maybe) that it has an automatic transmission. It runs and drives.
My first task is replacing what looks like a 47 year old brake system. I've seen brake dust before in drums, but not like this. The second task installing the new gas tank. After that is a general tune-up, fluid & filter changes.
Exterior is pretty good, only a small softball sized hole in the front passenger side quarter panel by the door.
Interior looks like an old car interior, a rip in the seat and no carpet on the floor. (Did it have carpet?)
The tires on it are P185/80R13 but I don't think those are right. The owner's manual says 650.13. I'm at a loss on those if these aren't the original rims.

My goal is to restore it as close to factory as possible.
Advice & Comments Welcome, Please :)

I'll post more pics once it's off the trailer. Hopefully these pics work.




 
Welcome to FABO.Nice find..couple members here love the More-doors.I had one about 30 yrs ago..ran like a top.Good luck.:D
 
It looks like somebody relocated the fuel filler location on your Valiant. That patch on the driver side quarter is the tell tale. You said it has no carpet. Is the floor bare, or is there a rubber mat? Some of the bare bones cars had rubber mats instead of carpet. Post a picture of the tag on the driver side inner fender. Someone on this site will help you de-code it and tell you how your car was optioned from the factory. Post a few more pictures that include the interior, engine bay, and trunk. Nice Valiant, by the way. Welcome to FABO!
 
Hi!

your car could be the twin to mine, i have a 1968 2dr in WW1 (same colour...white). The carpet was optional in the basic trim, mine has got a rubber mat from the factory. There should be either the rubber mat or a carpet.

The Wheels could be original, stock tire size was 6.50-13 as far as i know. Some were delivered with 14" wheels....could be due to different brake options (mine has got discs up front). I think the 185/80-13 comes close to the original size when 13" wheels are used.

What´s the interior colour?

I like your car, have fun restoring an driving it!

Michael
 
My inner fender tag is missing. I found a site to look for additional information on the car. I'll check for those later.
 
Here's my engine compartment. Besides the windshield wiper reservoir & fender ID plate missing, I think it's pretty complete.

 
New drum brake parts ordered today!

My wipers are locked but not the motor. While attempting to remove the glove box liner to access the linkage, I ripped it. It wouldn't come out nicely but that's okay, it was horribly weak from age. Any pressure tore it. Gotta get a new liner.

BUT On the back was MY BUILD DOC!!!!

It was more brittle than the dried leaves stuck in the crevices. I got a few good pics before it flaked apart.

 
will be a totally cool car. the economy cars generally came with that covering on the floors. the 13 rim would be original. tire sizes way back then were measured that .
 
I had so much fun yesterday, I forgot to take pics. (Insert sarcasm)

The car was on the trailer with no room up there to work so we decided to take it down. I didn't trust the brakes since the guy I bought it from said the guy before him said they needed bled and when I press on the pedal, there's no resistance. So we used the winch to let her down.

Turns out, I need new parking break cables too.

The hook my husband used gave out and the car rolled. I pulled the parking break lever and slammed on the brakes but she just kept rolling. Luckily it was a slow roll. It hit the garage pillar that separates the 2 garage doors. The pillar ended up 3" off the foundation support.
No damage to the car, tail lights or otherwise.

The parking break kept the car from rocking while it was up there but I guess the momentum was too much.

I'm only a tiny bit upset I HAVE NO BRAKES, but it could be worse. I now know that the parking brake mechanism does work like it's supposed to but not at the breaks. And she's off the trailer so I can start the brake job today if the weather stays nice.
 
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