Hello from the Blue Ridge Mtns. in Virginia

[tleed]

I'm new to this board, but not Mopars. I'm a Mopar fan by birth: my uncle bought a brand new 1952 Chrysler Saratoga, complete with hemi & I now possess it. Being a 1964 model myself, I have a special fascination for 1964 Mopar convertibles. A few years ago I picked up an unrestored 1964 Valiant Signet convertible with a mostly great body, but lousy floors, and no original engine. It came with a ton of extra parts, including two 360 engines. I'm told they were the twin marine engines from the cigarette boat featured in the opening credits of Miami Vice. My car was an original automatic, so I have the pushbuttons, but I've acquired new floor pans and have a manual transmission hump & pedal assembly, should I decide to convert to a 4-speed. Somewhere along the way I picked up a "spare" 5.7 hemi. It has plenty of miles left, but wore out the original cam. I've debated a lot about how to rebuild this Valiant. Should I go with a pushbutton auto to retain the quirky, period-authentic design? Or install a manual, maybe updated to a 5- or 6-speed? How much will I need to mangle new floor pans to make that fit? As far as I'm concerned, there's nothing about the car that requires maintaining originality. The original color is light tan, which screams out "blah". And just a few days ago I found myself mesmerized by a video about a turbo-d Slant Six. Hmmm. So if it were you and you could pick your drivetrain of choice, which way would you go? Is it a waste to hop up a V8 and route it through a marginal 904 just to keep the pushbuttons? I poked around this site, but haven't find anybody fitting a Gen 3 hemi to an early Valiant engine bay yet. Has somebody here done it and I missed it? What would be your drivetrain of choice: ambitious Slant Six, 360, or 5.7 plus auto or manual?

 

[A56]

I'm new to this board, but not Mopars. I'm a Mopar fan by birth: my uncle bought a brand new 1952 Chrysler Saratoga, complete with hemi & I now possess it. Being a 1964 model myself, I have a special fascination for 1964 Mopar convertibles. A few years ago I picked up an unrestored 1964 Valiant Signet convertible with a mostly great body, but lousy floors, and no original engine. It came with a ton of extra parts, including two 360 engines. I'm told they were the twin marine engines from the cigarette boat featured in the opening credits of Miami Vice. My car was an original automatic, so I have the pushbuttons, but I've acquired new floor pans and have a manual transmission hump & pedal assembly, should I decide to convert to a 4-speed. Somewhere along the way I picked up a "spare" 5.7 hemi. It has plenty of miles left, but wore out the original cam. I've debated a lot about how to rebuild this Valiant. Should I go with a pushbutton auto to retain the quirky, period-authentic design? Or install a manual, maybe updated to a 5- or 6-speed? How much will I need to mangle new floor pans to make that fit? As far as I'm concerned, there's nothing about the car that requires maintaining originality. The original color is light tan, which screams out "blah". And just a few days ago I found myself mesmerized by a video about a turbo-d Slant Six. Hmmm. So if it were you and you could pick your drivetrain of choice, which way would you go? Is it a waste to hop up a V8 and route it through a marginal 904 just to keep the pushbuttons? I poked around this site, but haven't find anybody fitting a Gen 3 hemi to an early Valiant engine bay yet. Has somebody here done it and I missed it? What would be your drivetrain of choice: ambitious Slant Six, 360, or 5.7 plus auto or manual?

Welcome and what's your budget?

 

[Jeff Seighman]

Welcome, you are gonna love it here, some really great and knowledgeable folk here.

 

[tleed]

Welcome and what's your budget?

Yes, that's a very practical question, but I'd rather entertain conversation about features more than finances. I can fit my finances around my wants & needs more easily than I can figure out how parts fit and work together. I do a lot of work myself, including body work and engine assembly, so parts are often my biggest expense. Could I afford to pay someone $10-15k to drop a fully-assembled engine on my doorstep? Probably, but I'd rather put it together myself and spend the rest of that money on some other cool parts.

 

[Car Nut]

Nice.

 

[Lift&Move]

Welcome to FABO!
Cool Project!

 

[WV64Signet]

Welcome to the show. Sounds like a great project. I used to visit B'burg often.

 

[tleed]

You a Hokie? And you have a '64 Valiant as well?

 

[WV64Signet]

You a Hokie? And you have a '64 Valiant as well?

64 Valliant...yes

Had family down there on staff at VT

 

[Michael Siple]

beautiful part of the country

 

[DC 340]

Welcome to FABO. Great place here. I am a former Hokie. Blacksburg almost made me stay there after I graduated as it is a great place. I am still near, living in Hardy VA just south of Roanoke. I would keep the pushbuttons and just upgrade what you have. Just me though.

 

[340six]

Welcome

 

[jrc4y4]

Welcome! 360 with auto is probably your easiest most practical option that still provides power. 5.7 plus manual adds a lot to the equation but adds cool factor. Guess it depends your end goal and time constraints. I imagine swapping in a new gen hemi and 5 or 6 speed would add a ton of time and cost to the project. Do you want daily reliability and to drive across country? Do you want something to just cruise around town or little trips? Power desires? Is having something VERY different valuable to you? Or is having a nice uncommon 64 convertible that looks nice sufficient? The answers to those questions should help steer things.

 

[tleed]

Will a pushbutton 904 survive behind a magnum roller cam 360? The 360 being the same external dimensions as a 273 would constitute the least amount of fitting considerations, yes? As for the transmission, there's a 1975 F-body 4-speed not too far from me. Current owner says it's a one-year item, cast iron. No other details. Good match for the 360?

 

[jrc4y4]

Will a pushbutton 904 survive behind a magnum roller cam 360? The 360 being the same external dimensions as a 273 would constitute the least amount of fitting considerations, yes? As for the transmission, there's a 1975 F-body 4-speed not too far from me. Current owner says it's a one-year item, cast iron. No other details. Good match for the 360?

I don’t know the specifics on those. But 904s can be built plenty tough. And yeah the 904 would be the least work. Maybe another guy could speak up about the f body trans but I wouldn’t think it would be an issue.

 

[tleed]

If I had my druthers, I'd put a 3.6 Pentastar in it, but from what I know, that would open up a large kettle of challenges, like how to overcome the theft programming, motor mounts, bell housing & transmission mating issues, not to mention oil pan, exhaust, etc. The appeal is 305 hp factory, shorter, less weight with a modern, robust, non-leaky design. However, I recently saw a PowerNation video about a turbo'd Slant Six. Yeehah! Not a sexy as a hemi, but outstanding power/torque figures and twice the quirk factor. However, it isn't much lighter than a V8, so no huge handling gains there.

I'm the sort of person who has too many projects going on at any one time, so maybe ultimately a magnum 360 mated to a 904 would give me the excessive hp I'd like with the quaint pushbutton control with the least amount of custom time-suckers.

 

[jrc4y4]

If I had my druthers, I'd put a 3.6 Pentastar in it, but from what I know, that would open up a large kettle of challenges, like how to overcome the theft programming, motor mounts, bell housing & transmission mating issues, not to mention oil pan, exhaust, etc. The appeal is 305 hp factory, shorter, less weight with a modern, robust, non-leaky design. However, I recently saw a PowerNation video about a turbo'd Slant Six. Yeehah! Not a sexy as a hemi, but outstanding power/torque figures and twice the quirk factor. However, it isn't much lighter than a V8, so no huge handling gains there.

I'm the sort of person who has too many projects going on at any one time, so maybe ultimately a magnum 360 mated to a 904 would give me the excessive hp I'd like with the quaint pushbutton control with the least amount of custom time-suckers.

I believe there’s a 3.6 swap on this forum if you want to go that route. And I agree a project finished is better than more unique that never gets done