armyofchuckness
The Flying Valiant
Ah, the miracle of the internet allowing me to find this fine forum. So nice to be here! Allow me to introduce myself and my car.
I'm Chuck. When I was 15 I rescued an abandoned 1964 V-100 from a car port days before it was sent to the crusher. Its registration had expired three years prior and it had clearly not moved in at least that long. Still it was in remarkably solid shape despite its neglect. A good friend helped a kid that didn't know a camshaft from a crankcase make the dead 170 purr again. I drove that car all through high school and college. In that car, I learned many things. Everything from bench seats make for better dates to The Dukes of Hazzard should not be left to television. (Incidentally, you CAN kill a slant six.) After replacing the front suspension, motor mounts and the entire engine, I kept the Flying Valiant grounded. The new powerplant came in the shape of a 225 Slant from a '76 Dodge van. It was bored .30 over to give a little extra oomph, but other than that, it was let be.
In 2003, the Flying Valiant was retired for a brand-new Neon with such modern marvels as "air conditioning." The Valiant went to my father who kept it as an "auxiliary" vehicle. In 2006, the friend that helped me make Valiant fly passed away suddenly. As a tribute to him, I started working on the car again, giving it disc brakes and a new front end kit. Unfortunately, no sooner had I finished this project, than I had to move to another town for work, leaving the Valiant again with my parents.
Last week, my parent's house went on the market, meaning the Valiant was suddenly a "liability." It's time for me to get serious about fixing up my old friend.
The Valiant is currently having the torsion bars, alignment and leaf springs fixed. As soon as that's completed, the car will be moving up here to become my new daily driver. (One can only drive a Neon for so long.) The Valiant will become my daily driver once again, and I hope to give its Slant 6 a bit of a boost while still enjoying a certain amount of fuel friendliness.
Enough of me yammering. Now for the stats:
225 Completely stripped and rebuilt in 2000.
1 Barrel Carter Carb.
Manual steering box.
Manual Wilwood disc brake conversion in 2006
Rebuilt front suspension in 2006
1973 Dart 7 1/4 axle installed in 2006
American Racing 15x7 Vector Wheels (I guess I still love the Dukes of Hazzard.)
Here are my goals for the engine (Thanks to Lou on the slantsix.org forum for advice):
Under dash air-conditioning. (Hey, it's Florida.)
Electronic Ignition
Dutra Duals
Large valves (1.70/1.44)
Port and plane
340 valve springs
Erson 280 int/270 exh duration cam, 0.465" lift
2600-3000 RPM stall converter
Offenhauser 4bbl intake with adapter plate
Holley 500 CFM 2bbl carb w/elec choke
Put O2 sensor in exhaust headpipe and Sunpro gauge under dash
Next comes bodywork, replacing the various window gaskets, upgrade the electrical system, and a complete revamp of the interior with some safety upgrades to the seat belts. (I'm currently debating three or four-point harnesses.)
Okay, that was far more than anyone would ever care to read. Glad to be here. Look forward to learning more about your cars and learning from your collective expertise.
I'm Chuck. When I was 15 I rescued an abandoned 1964 V-100 from a car port days before it was sent to the crusher. Its registration had expired three years prior and it had clearly not moved in at least that long. Still it was in remarkably solid shape despite its neglect. A good friend helped a kid that didn't know a camshaft from a crankcase make the dead 170 purr again. I drove that car all through high school and college. In that car, I learned many things. Everything from bench seats make for better dates to The Dukes of Hazzard should not be left to television. (Incidentally, you CAN kill a slant six.) After replacing the front suspension, motor mounts and the entire engine, I kept the Flying Valiant grounded. The new powerplant came in the shape of a 225 Slant from a '76 Dodge van. It was bored .30 over to give a little extra oomph, but other than that, it was let be.
In 2003, the Flying Valiant was retired for a brand-new Neon with such modern marvels as "air conditioning." The Valiant went to my father who kept it as an "auxiliary" vehicle. In 2006, the friend that helped me make Valiant fly passed away suddenly. As a tribute to him, I started working on the car again, giving it disc brakes and a new front end kit. Unfortunately, no sooner had I finished this project, than I had to move to another town for work, leaving the Valiant again with my parents.
Last week, my parent's house went on the market, meaning the Valiant was suddenly a "liability." It's time for me to get serious about fixing up my old friend.
The Valiant is currently having the torsion bars, alignment and leaf springs fixed. As soon as that's completed, the car will be moving up here to become my new daily driver. (One can only drive a Neon for so long.) The Valiant will become my daily driver once again, and I hope to give its Slant 6 a bit of a boost while still enjoying a certain amount of fuel friendliness.
Enough of me yammering. Now for the stats:
225 Completely stripped and rebuilt in 2000.
1 Barrel Carter Carb.
Manual steering box.
Manual Wilwood disc brake conversion in 2006
Rebuilt front suspension in 2006
1973 Dart 7 1/4 axle installed in 2006
American Racing 15x7 Vector Wheels (I guess I still love the Dukes of Hazzard.)
Here are my goals for the engine (Thanks to Lou on the slantsix.org forum for advice):
Under dash air-conditioning. (Hey, it's Florida.)
Electronic Ignition
Dutra Duals
Large valves (1.70/1.44)
Port and plane
340 valve springs
Erson 280 int/270 exh duration cam, 0.465" lift
2600-3000 RPM stall converter
Offenhauser 4bbl intake with adapter plate
Holley 500 CFM 2bbl carb w/elec choke
Put O2 sensor in exhaust headpipe and Sunpro gauge under dash
Next comes bodywork, replacing the various window gaskets, upgrade the electrical system, and a complete revamp of the interior with some safety upgrades to the seat belts. (I'm currently debating three or four-point harnesses.)
Okay, that was far more than anyone would ever care to read. Glad to be here. Look forward to learning more about your cars and learning from your collective expertise.
