1970 VF Valiant from NZ

[Dion]

Last year I was helping out in a small car restoration shop and one of the owners mates came in to sit around and chat (as he often did) about his latest wheeling and dealing. He was a Ford guy but had just done a deal on a 1970 Vf Valiant Hardtop. He showed me some photos but I didn’t show too much interest, figured it would be out of my price range. Anyway about 6 months later I was thinking about that car so I sent him a text and he told me to come and have a look because he needed to sell some stuff. The car turned out to be very rusty with no running gear, but the interior was very tidy and original, and all the exterior trim was complete. A few days later the car was delivered and tucked away in my shed.

This is my first Mopar so I’m learning as I go. I’ve got a few ideas for it that might not be to everyone’s liking but I’ll see how we go

 

[Dion]

Now I mentioned that this car had some rust issues...

The left rear quarter is by far the worst part, but the lower front guards (fenders) are gone too and the sills (rockers) are pretty sad too. No doubt I’ll find plenty more problems as I go

 

[Keith Mopar]

Yea you have your work cut out for you. I'm sure by the end of this project your welding skills and body work will improve immentsely by the time you are done.
Keep the pics and progress coming.

 

[RustyRatRod]

Yeah, it's rusty alright. Are you gonna fix it? It can be fixed, I am sure. Pretty industrious project, but never say never.

 

[moparmat2000]

1969 dart rear quarters and trunk drip rails are the same as your 1970 val. The bodies for these 2 door hardtops were shipped from the states as complete knock down kits. As a matter of fact ALL the 69 dart sheetmetal except for RHD specific sheetmetal is the same as LHD U.S. 1969 dart. Auto Metal Direct AMD makes these sheetmetal parts as repop. Get with others from Oz on here. Sometimes these guys will fill a whole shipping container from the states and send it home.

 

[Dion]

Yeah it’s certainly keeping me busy. These photos are a few months old, it’s changed a bit since then, I’ll keep posting over the next couple of days until I’m up to date. Then any new progress will have to wait for the Covid-19 lockdown to be over.

 

[HemiSSDart]

Don't have my VG Ute anymore, but it was fun! Had a VF hardtop once, it went to South America!

 

[moparmat2000]

I really wish we got the UTEs here in the states. Looks like it used the front doors off a more door dart.

 

[moparmat2000]

Looks like Australian mopars had the pentastar on the LH lower fender dog leg. In the states it's on the RH lower. This was so it was noticable curbside for advertising purposes. I bet those holes were for a gold pentastar.

 

[HemiSSDart]

I really wish we got the UTEs here in the states. Looks like it used the front doors off a more door dart.

A buddy brought that one in from OZ to California, then I bought it and transported it to Chicago more than 10 years ago. It is MUCH more expensive to find one and do that today!

 

[HemiSSDart]

Here is the hardtop that we bought also. This is the one that is now in South America...

 

[moparmat2000]

I always wondered what the rectangle slots were on the front edges of the fenders. Are they turn signals? Or just something put there for styling.

 

[Dion]

Here is the hardtop that we bought also. This is the one that is now in South America...

Nice VG! Looks very tidy.

So I started pricing up replacement panels but by the time you pay shipping, tax and do the currency conversion a rear quarter panel was going to cost me around $2300NZD ($1400US)
I ended up finding a guy selling a complete rear inner and outer quarter for $400 that was slightly better than the one I had and set to work repairing that so I could use it.

 

[Dion]

I always wondered what the rectangle slots were on the front edges of the fenders. Are they turn signals? Or just something put there for styling.

Yes they’re indicators (turn signals)

Once I got the front guards off I got a better looks at the front of the sills, which of course needed rebuilding...

I haven’t done much welding before so I’m teaching myself as I go, slowly getting the hang of it, but try not to judge my work to harshly

 

[moparmat2000]

You got skillz bro. I rebuilt a 60 chevy El Camino ute once. Had to fab a bunch of stuff too. I learned as I went back then too. If that's galvanized steel sheet, I hope your wearing a mask and not breathing the fumes from the galvanizing.

 

[Gearhed73]

Fun project. Your welding will come around on this build! Be sure you can see the puddle when your welding... My parents live in Whitianga, we visited last April.

 

[HemiSSDart]

I still have a real nice VE grille and headlight buckets waiting for the day I find the Safari wagon I want. I know, good luck with that!

 

[Dion]

I still have a real nice VE grille and headlight buckets waiting for the day I find the Safari wagon I want. I know, good luck with that!

I went and looked at a fairly tidy one a couple of months ago.

 

[HemiSSDart]

You're killing me Dion...

 

[Dion]

You got skillz bro. I rebuilt a 60 chevy El Camino ute once. Had to fab a bunch of stuff too. I learned as I went back then too. If that's galvanized steel sheet, I hope your wearing a mask and not breathing the fumes from the galvanizing.

It’s not galvanised.

Fun project. Your welding will come around on this build! Be sure you can see the puddle when your welding... My parents live in Whitianga, we visited last April.

Thanks for the tip. Oh nice, Whitianga is a great spot!

You're killing me Dion...

Haha sorry. It’s probably still sitting in the guys shed I would imagine.

 

[Dion]

Next up I decided to tackle the removal of the rear quarter. It came off really easily because there was very little still holding it on

 

[Dion]

Removing the rear quarter revealed even more rust but it really wasn’t as bad as I was expecting. So I got to work cutting and patching.

 

[dartfreak75]

Wow dude amazing work!! I'm following

 

[Dion]

Wow dude amazing work!! I'm following

Thanks!

It was at this point that I got offered a bulk deal of parts including brand new quarters and door skins, an engine and a whole bunch of other stuff. So I borrowed my dads van and a trailer and drove 12 hours round trip to pick them up. I won’t go into details but I only ended up getting about two thirds of what I had paid for
But now I had some of the more crucial parts so I could start mocking things up.

 

[dartfreak75]

Thanks!

It was at this point that I got offered a bulk deal of parts including brand new quarters and door skins, an engine and a whole bunch of other stuff. So I borrowed my dads van and a trailer and drove 12 hours round trip to pick them up. I won’t go into details but I only ended up getting about two thirds of what I had paid for
But now I had some of the more crucial parts so I could start mocking things up.

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Wow man hate to hear that but it didnt slow you down that quarter looks amazing!! What kind of welder you got ?