1968 Plymouth Valiant First Gen HEMI

[Mike P 52]

I’ve been working on the hood and scoop the last few weeks and finally got it passable. I’m not a body guy by any stretch of the imagination, so perfect is a bridge way too far.

The first step was to shorten the cowl induction scoop as much as possible…..in total I ended up taking about 21” off the length.

https://flic.kr/p/2rwwqzD]Scoop[/url] by https://www.flickr.com/photos/153889607@N08/]M Patterson[/url], on Flickr

Next was to cut the hole in the hood the scoop would go over. The hole is a lot bigger than I need for just air cleaner clearance. I cut the hole this large because the flanging tool I’m using only has about a ½” reach and I wanted the flange so the scoop will sit in the flange and be close level with the hood.

https://flic.kr/p/2rn8GHn]hood Hole[/url] by https://www.flickr.com/photos/153889607@N08/]M Patterson[/url], on Flickr

Then the scoop was welded on

https://flic.kr/p/2rss6kY]scoop attached[/url] by https://www.flickr.com/photos/153889607@N08/]M Patterson[/url], on Flickr

Primed

https://flic.kr/p/2rtYEQH]hood primer[/url] by https://www.flickr.com/photos/153889607@N08/]M Patterson[/url], on Flickr

And then both sides painted.

https://flic.kr/p/2rtDP2c]bottom hood[/url] by https://www.flickr.com/photos/153889607@N08/]M Patterson[/url], on Flickr

The Semi Gloss Black I used on the bottom of the hood was a little too shiny for my taste so the I used an almost flat black for the top.

https://flic.kr/p/2rwWXpv]Hood paint[/url] by https://www.flickr.com/photos/153889607@N08/]M Patterson[/url], on Flickr

I added HEMI emblems on the sides and filled the opening with perforated stainless-steel screen.

https://flic.kr/p/2rx93uP]emblem screen[/url] by https://www.flickr.com/photos/153889607@N08/]M Patterson[/url], on Flickr

And the hood was reinstalled on the car.

https://flic.kr/p/2rxxdxJ]Hood install[/url] by https://www.flickr.com/photos/153889607@N08/]M Patterson[/url], on Flickr


With luck the back of the scoop will be in a low pressure area which will help evacuate hot air from under the hood. Well it is what it is and actually I’m pretty happy with it.

 

[Mike P 52]

The driveshaft got re-tubed, shortened, balanced, and a new set of U-joints. The place I used to use is no longer in business so I’m trying out a new outfit and keeping my fingers crossed.

https://flic.kr/p/2rAVkHr]drive shaft[/url] by https://www.flickr.com/photos/153889607@N08/]M Patterson[/url], on Flickr

We’ve also been working on installing the cooling system; radiator, AC condenser and auxiliary transmission cooler. Once that was sorted out we started running the transmission cooler and PATC controller lines.

For a radiator I went with a 27” X 19” dual pass, 2 row (1” tubes), 22” core, cross flow radiator with a built-in transmission cooler. This seems to be a perfect fit for the core support. I’ve not used a dual pass radiator before and have heard both good and bad about them so this will be a learning experience. If it doesn’t work out it won’t be hard to change to a conventional cross flow radiator.

https://flic.kr/p/2rzwwFP]radiator[/url] by https://www.flickr.com/photos/153889607@N08/]M Patterson[/url], on Flickr


https://flic.kr/p/2rz7pJL]Rad core support[/url] by https://www.flickr.com/photos/153889607@N08/]M Patterson[/url], on Flickr

I decided to go with an electric fan for this build and found a 2 speed 17” fan with shroud that just fits the core and covers all the tubes.


https://flic.kr/p/2rzxMET]fan[/url] by https://www.flickr.com/photos/153889607@N08/]M Patterson[/url], on Flickr

And it provides sufficient clearance with the engine.

https://flic.kr/p/2rz8XRo]Fan spacing[/url] by https://www.flickr.com/photos/153889607@N08/]M Patterson[/url], on Flickr

I decided to use a fairly narrow (12” X 24”) AC condenser, which allowed me to stack a narrow auxiliary transmission cooler above it.

https://flic.kr/p/2rAVkPU]condenser[/url] by https://www.flickr.com/photos/153889607@N08/]M Patterson[/url], on Flickr


https://flic.kr/p/2rzzoiT]Trans cooler[/url] by https://www.flickr.com/photos/153889607@N08/]M Patterson[/url], on Flickr

The trans fluid will be routed thru the radiator cooler then thru the aux cooler before returning to the transmission. The aux cooler might seem like overkill…….until you’ve travelled over the Continental Divide in August.

https://flic.kr/p/2rCVs2Y]Condenser aux cooler[/url] by https://www.flickr.com/photos/153889607@N08/]M Patterson[/url], on Flickr

Not drivable yet, but a lot closer.

 

[jrc4y4]

Lots of cool work to make that hemi fit! Thanks for sharing the process.