'67 Valiant 2 door sedan for Drag n Drive

[Garry in AZ]

It's been quite a while since I've posted anything... between work and trying to keep up with all the various projects, I barely have time to read posts, let alone make my own. But anyway, here's the story and the situation. You're welcome to follow along as the build continues. Required Warning for MOPAR or NoCar folks... this is not a restoration. The Valiant is being built on a budget, to go drag racing and be competitive. Therefore, it won't have a Mopar engine, trans, or rear axle. Apologies to anyone offended by that, but that's the way it is.

I bought the car very cheap 5 years ago, and it was really rough. Here are a few photos from 2017. Most of the major body damage was hidden by half inch thick bondo... so I didn't know how bad it really was until I had it blasted.

That's just some of the damage. Virtually every panel on the car needed/needs repair.

More to come...

 

[Garry in AZ]

After getting the car blasted and coated in 2K epoxy primer, I began strengthening the front half of the chassis, with a kit from US Car Tool.

This kit included subframe extensions, rad support brace, inner fender braces, and torque boxes.

Before I could install the torque boxes or frame connectors, I had to replace all the floor pans. The new ones came from AMD and fit well. But I think I must have cut out a thousand spot welds getting the old ones out...

Then I welded in the subframe connectors.

Before I went any further, I installed a new Gerst front suspension, so I could get rid of the heavy factory K member and steering box. I need room for headers and a deep oil pan...

In the next post I fix the quarter panels, and order up a back half kit and roll cage from S&W Racecars.

 

[Back in Time]

Anxious to see the finished project. Always liked that Body Style.

 

[Garry in AZ]

There was no way in hell to save the drivers front quarter... and new sheet metal is not available for the Valiant, (only Dart). So, a member on here traded me a rear door from a more door Valiant that had the body lines I needed. I cut the replacement metal out of that rear door, and replaced my mangled metal with it. Sounds easy now, but it wasn't. Here's a few pics...

Not perfect, but my bodyshop guy is going to get the final lines right when we go to paint....
Then, I filled in the gas cap hole..

And continued with the body work on the quarter panel. I got a lot of hammer and dolly practice, and must have used 200 studs for my stud gun puller. Eventually, I had both sides reasonably straight.

Tired of bodywork... I moved on to doing the balk-half kit from S&W. Here's what it looked like off the pallet...

Mocked up the 9" housing and 4 link... lots of measurements, squaring, leveling, re-measuring...

 

[Garry in AZ]

Next... I cut the entire rear sheetmetal out of the car, from the rear footwells to the rear bumper. Plasma cutter to the rescue, for sure.

I spent a long time making sure everything fit, and was square and plumb. I checked every measurement probably 5 times. Getting the back half frame rails in straight and true is critical to how the car will eventually drive and go down the track. I used digital levels, Starret machinist level, lasers, and anything I could think of to make sure it was in exactly the right spot before welding.

More to come... we're just getting started.

 

[mopowers]

That's a ton of work!! Great progress. Thanks for posting all of these photos. I can't wait to see how it turns out!

 

[Garry in AZ]

After getting the new rear frame rails exactly where I wanted them, I began designing the additional bracing to ensure they stayed in place.
In the back I welded in a 2x3 steel rectangular tube, (0.120 wall) and then I made triangulated braces for each side of the rails. The holes in the angled braces are to allow access to the rear bumper bracket bolts.

To securely attach the front end of the rear frame rails, I cut out sections of the floorboards, and used more 2x3 tubing to connect the rocker panels to the new sub-frame connectors. While I was at it, I used some 0.125 plate to connect the new torque boxes, sub-frames and rockers. You may be wondering why I'm doing this, but it will become clear soon.

The area with the yellow X got a cap welded on, so it is sealed to moisture and dirt. These added tubes are going to be the primary connection for my roll cage. Stay tuned.

 

[Garry in AZ]

With most of the underside of the chassis fabrication done, it was a good time to weld the seams where the new floor pans met the old ones.

Next up, approximate seating position, which determines critical placement of specific roll cage bars.
I quickly fabbed up some temporary seat mounts and determined where the seats needed to be. I should mention here that I was also planning to move the centerline of the engine, trans and driveshaft to the center of the car, instead of the 2.75" right of center where they were from the factory. This turned out to be a bigger deal than I anticipated as the build progressed. More on that later.
Here's a pic of the drivers seat mocked up.

Now it was time for the roll cage.
I began to look at how and where the main hoop of the roll cage will go. NHRA has specific rules on the location of the main hoop relative to the position of the drivers helmet. That's why I had to get the seats installed before I could proceed with the roll cage work, the location and angle of the main hoop was dependent on where my head was going to be. I made careful measurements, and removed the seat. When I placed the pre-bent hoop from S&W in the car, I noticed that it had been slightly overbent, and the vertical tubes were not parallel. Thanks to my buddy Rick and his Porta-Power, we were able to straighten the main hoop and get it back to fitting perfectly in the car. I was amazed at how much force it took to bend this tubing even a little. This thing is going to be seriously strong.

The NHRA rulebook says that on a unibody car like this, you can mount the roll cage to 0.125" thick, 6" square steel plates, that must be fully formed and perimeter welded to the cars floor pans. While I'm sure that works for many people, when it comes to the structure in the car that might someday save someone's life, I decided to go a step or two further. This is why I made those outrigger connectors from the rockers to the sub-frame connectors. This will make the whole thing super strong, and further tie the frame connectors to the chassis of the car. Then, on top of those steel tubes, I will weld in the 6" square steel plates to the floor pans. The "sandwich" goes like this...
The main hoop bars will be welded to the top of the frame tube, and go through an 1-5/8" hole in the 6" square plate. Then the square plate gets welded to the sheetmetal in the normal way. I used this method on all four spots where plates needed to be welded to the floor pans. This direct connection (see what I did there?) of the roll cage to the frame of the car will be a lot stronger than just connecting it to the floorpans, and it also makes the roll cage part of the cars chassis and stiffens everything. Sort of the "belt and suspenders" method, but there will be no question of how strong the roll bar connection points are.

Same idea, for the front down bars.

Here you can see how the bar goes through the plate, and is welded to the bracing under the car, then gets welded in the typical way to the plate and floor pan.

The dash bar in most cars is in front of the dashboard, where it looks weird and gets in the way. I bent my front down bars so that I could move the dash bar behind the dashboard, where you'll never see it. This was a little tricky, but worth the extra time and trouble in the end.

Then, more bars were added in the rear, to triangulate the load from the rear axle and keep everything square and stiff.

Later on, I will add the front frame rail supports, and triangulate those to the front down bars as well.

More to come... a lot more. Next up, home made wheel tubs.
I appreciate your comments, and critiques as I continue this thread. Too many photos? Not enough text? Let me know. So far we have gotten to roughly mid 2019.

Garry

 

[Dartnut]

My hat's off to you, that is a lot of work that is done very well.
And it doesn't bother me one bit if the drive train isn't Mopar.
It's ''Hot Rodding'' at it's grass roots levels.
I can't wait to see more updates and pictures.

 

[Back in Time]

With most of the underside of the chassis fabrication done, it was a good time to weld the seams where the new floor pans met the old ones.
View attachment 1716100348

Next up, approximate seating position, which determines critical placement of specific roll cage bars.
I quickly fabbed up some temporary seat mounts and determined where the seats needed to be. I should mention here that I was also planning to move the centerline of the engine, trans and driveshaft to the center of the car, instead of the 2.75" right of center where they were from the factory. This turned out to be a bigger deal than I anticipated as the build progressed. More on that later.
Here's a pic of the drivers seat mocked up.
View attachment 1716100358

Now it was time for the roll cage.
I began to look at how and where the main hoop of the roll cage will go. NHRA has specific rules on the location of the main hoop relative to the position of the drivers helmet. That's why I had to get the seats installed before I could proceed with the roll cage work, the location and angle of the main hoop was dependent on where my head was going to be. I made careful measurements, and removed the seat. When I placed the pre-bent hoop from S&W in the car, I noticed that it had been slightly overbent, and the vertical tubes were not parallel. Thanks to my buddy Rick and his Porta-Power, we were able to straighten the main hoop and get it back to fitting perfectly in the car. I was amazed at how much force it took to bend this tubing even a little. This thing is going to be seriously strong.

The NHRA rulebook says that on a unibody car like this, you can mount the roll cage to 0.125" thick, 6" square steel plates, that must be fully formed and perimeter welded to the cars floor pans. While I'm sure that works for many people, when it comes to the structure in the car that might someday save someone's life, I decided to go a step or two further. This is why I made those outrigger connectors from the rockers to the sub-frame connectors. This will make the whole thing super strong, and further tie the frame connectors to the chassis of the car. Then, on top of those steel tubes, I will weld in the 6" square steel plates to the floor pans. The "sandwich" goes like this...
The main hoop bars will be welded to the top of the frame tube, and go through an 1-5/8" hole in the 6" square plate. Then the square plate gets welded to the sheetmetal in the normal way. I used this method on all four spots where plates needed to be welded to the floor pans. This direct connection (see what I did there?) of the roll cage to the frame of the car will be a lot stronger than just connecting it to the floorpans, and it also makes the roll cage part of the cars chassis and stiffens everything. Sort of the "belt and suspenders" method, but there will be no question of how strong the roll bar connection points are.
View attachment 1716100377 Same idea, for the front down bars.

View attachment 1716100378

View attachment 1716100379 Here you can see how the bar goes through the plate, and is welded to the bracing under the car, then gets welded in the typical way to the plate and floor pan.

The dash bar in most cars is in front of the dashboard, where it looks weird and gets in the way. I bent my front down bars so that I could move the dash bar behind the dashboard, where you'll never see it. This was a little tricky, but worth the extra time and trouble in the end.
View attachment 1716100382

View attachment 1716100383

Then, more bars were added in the rear, to triangulate the load from the rear axle and keep everything square and stiff.
View attachment 1716100384

View attachment 1716100385

Later on, I will add the front frame rail supports, and triangulate those to the front down bars as well.

More to come... a lot more. Next up, home made wheel tubs.
I appreciate your comments, and critiques as I continue this thread. Too many photos? Not enough text? Let me know. So far we have gotten to roughly mid 2019.

Garry

We also put the front crossbar behind the dash. Makes for a cleaner look without compromising strenth. So far The pics are great and comentary is perfect.

 

[RustyRatRod]

Glad to see you back, Garry. I don't care what engine it'll have. It's one more Mopar that's not in the scrap yard and that's a good thing! Great job so far!

 

[SpeedThrills]

Very nice work. It's been mentioned that the motor won't be a Mopar. Okay, but I guess you realize that the only Mopar in it will be some stampings and maybe the grill and lights that used to be a Valiant. I guess that's enough to give it an identity. I never thought about it much. Guess I should!

 

[Matts440]

Very nice work, you have some great skills.

 

[MOPARMAGA]

After getting the car blasted and coated in 2K epoxy primer, I began strengthening the front half of the chassis, with a kit from US Car Tool.
View attachment 1716100077

This kit included subframe extensions, rad support brace, inner fender braces, and torque boxes.
View attachment 1716100078
Before I could install the torque boxes or frame connectors, I had to replace all the floor pans. The new ones came from AMD and fit well. But I think I must have cut out a thousand spot welds getting the old ones out...
View attachment 1716100084

View attachment 1716100090

Then I welded in the subframe connectors.

View attachment 1716100091

View attachment 1716100092

Before I went any further, I installed a new Gerst front suspension, so I could get rid of the heavy factory K member and steering box. I need room for headers and a deep oil pan...
View attachment 1716100095

View attachment 1716100096

In the next post I fix the quarter panels, and order up a back half kit and roll cage from S&W Racecars.

How much does that front k member weigh?
The factory k member hardly weighs much

 

[MOPARMAGA]

With most of the underside of the chassis fabrication done, it was a good time to weld the seams where the new floor pans met the old ones.
View attachment 1716100348

Next up, approximate seating position, which determines critical placement of specific roll cage bars.
I quickly fabbed up some temporary seat mounts and determined where the seats needed to be. I should mention here that I was also planning to move the centerline of the engine, trans and driveshaft to the center of the car, instead of the 2.75" right of center where they were from the factory. This turned out to be a bigger deal than I anticipated as the build progressed. More on that later.
Here's a pic of the drivers seat mocked up.
View attachment 1716100358

Now it was time for the roll cage.
I began to look at how and where the main hoop of the roll cage will go. NHRA has specific rules on the location of the main hoop relative to the position of the drivers helmet. That's why I had to get the seats installed before I could proceed with the roll cage work, the location and angle of the main hoop was dependent on where my head was going to be. I made careful measurements, and removed the seat. When I placed the pre-bent hoop from S&W in the car, I noticed that it had been slightly overbent, and the vertical tubes were not parallel. Thanks to my buddy Rick and his Porta-Power, we were able to straighten the main hoop and get it back to fitting perfectly in the car. I was amazed at how much force it took to bend this tubing even a little. This thing is going to be seriously strong.

The NHRA rulebook says that on a unibody car like this, you can mount the roll cage to 0.125" thick, 6" square steel plates, that must be fully formed and perimeter welded to the cars floor pans. While I'm sure that works for many people, when it comes to the structure in the car that might someday save someone's life, I decided to go a step or two further. This is why I made those outrigger connectors from the rockers to the sub-frame connectors. This will make the whole thing super strong, and further tie the frame connectors to the chassis of the car. Then, on top of those steel tubes, I will weld in the 6" square steel plates to the floor pans. The "sandwich" goes like this...
The main hoop bars will be welded to the top of the frame tube, and go through an 1-5/8" hole in the 6" square plate. Then the square plate gets welded to the sheetmetal in the normal way. I used this method on all four spots where plates needed to be welded to the floor pans. This direct connection (see what I did there?) of the roll cage to the frame of the car will be a lot stronger than just connecting it to the floorpans, and it also makes the roll cage part of the cars chassis and stiffens everything. Sort of the "belt and suspenders" method, but there will be no question of how strong the roll bar connection points are.
View attachment 1716100377 Same idea, for the front down bars.

View attachment 1716100378

View attachment 1716100379 Here you can see how the bar goes through the plate, and is welded to the bracing under the car, then gets welded in the typical way to the plate and floor pan.

The dash bar in most cars is in front of the dashboard, where it looks weird and gets in the way. I bent my front down bars so that I could move the dash bar behind the dashboard, where you'll never see it. This was a little tricky, but worth the extra time and trouble in the end.
View attachment 1716100382

View attachment 1716100383

Then, more bars were added in the rear, to triangulate the load from the rear axle and keep everything square and stiff.
View attachment 1716100384

View attachment 1716100385

Later on, I will add the front frame rail supports, and triangulate those to the front down bars as well.

More to come... a lot more. Next up, home made wheel tubs.
I appreciate your comments, and critiques as I continue this thread. Too many photos? Not enough text? Let me know. So far we have gotten to roughly mid 2019.

Garry

Great job, I have a thread going on with my build for a drag car ...very nice work on the cage and everything so far. More pictures please!!!

 

[Garry in AZ]

So, for the wheel tubs I looked at all the usual suspects... trailer fenders, wheel tub kits... nothing seemed to be what I wanted. I wanted my wheel tubs to be the same shape (flat top) as the originals, only a lot wider and longer to accommodate as big as a 30" tire.
So, when I couldn't find anything I liked, I broke out the shrinker/stretcher and the bead roller, and made my own.
I began by cutting off the bottom of the trunk lid hinge brackets. This means I will have to lose the torsion rods too, but it's okay. That's what struts are for.

I used the remaining OEM sheetmetal to make a template of the shape I wanted for the new tubs.

Then I had to make a template for the inner section.

For perspective, this photo is taken from the passenger side, the front of the car is on the right. You can sorta see the 4 link bars, and the sway bar brackets. (with the bungee cords wrapped around it) The flat bars with the green tape were going to be substituting for the shocks to hold the rear end up once installed.

This shape would define the inner panel of the tubs, where they weld to the frame rails. Then I cut out the shapes in 18 ga steel, and also cut out the steel that would form the front, top and back of the tubs. With the parts cut, I used my bead roller and a hammer and dolly to form a 90 degree bend on the edge of the side panels. This took a bit of time and patience to get them to fit, but with the help of a handful of Cleco fasteners to hold things in place, I managed to get everything fit and ready to weld.

The welding was done in a series of tacks, never allowing any section to get hot enough to warp.
Eventually I had a solid complete weld, which I ground smooth and then sprayed a coat of primer over top to keep things from rusting until I got the rest of the trunk floor in and could prime everything.

The next project, putting a floor back in the truck, and figuring out the locations for the battery and fuel cell.

 

[Garry in AZ]

Here is a photo of the passenger side wheel tub approximately clamped in place prior to final fitting. Gives you a better idea of the shape I wanted, compared to the usual curved tubs...

The trunk floor was pretty simple, just needs a couple of custom shapes to seal up all the openings.

I put a little pattern shape in the flat panels with the bead roller to give them some added strength and reduce the rattles.

Here's a look at the trunk floor before it was welded in place. The 15 gallon fuel cell is mounted in the center. The battery (or batteries) will go on the right side. I had to make a support bracket under the sheetmetal to support it and provide a good anchor for the battery hold downs.

Lot's more to come... gotta finish the roll cage too...