Ridge911
Well-Known Member
Hello FABO,
I have just officially joined but have been reading and learning here over the past 6 months. 2 days ago I got my first Mopar, a 1964 Plymouth Valiant Convertible. I will give a brief personal history, and will then throw in a couple of pictures.
I am a car enthusiast, specifically, I can appreciate all cars of all makes and models. I knew nothing about cars growing up, but I went to auto-tech school after high school, learned some skills, and then honed them when I was a mecahnic at Honda for several years after that. I have since moved on in occupation, but I still enjoy working on my own car(s). I have owned many cars, mostly Hondas, but also a BMW and a couple Toyotas, on which I did almost all the work to myself. I have rebuilt countless motors, done interior work, electrical, suspension, but never body work. Before you ask, I never put neon lights on any of my cars, and I never had dreams of "living life a quarter mile at a time." I appreciated the cars I had for their reliability and each of their unique traits. I will spill about the specific cars I owned if anyone wants to hear. Nothing fancy, but I had clear reasoning for getting the cars I did. Good times!
A couple years ago, I decided, in the spirit of always trying new things and new challenges, to get my hands dirty with some classic American steel! After much reading, searching and exploring, I had carved out in my mind SOME idea of what kind of car I wanted. 6 months ago, a friend of a friend ("Rob") pulled up to the bar one night driving this 1964 Valiant Convertible. Rob told me a little about it, this is the story as he told it:
Rob bought the car from an Atlanta restaurant owner who lives in Canton, GA. Back in the late 80's, his (restaurant owner) then 16 year old son wanted to fix it up. The son promptly disassembled the car over a period of time and then left for college. The father, annoyed by the mess, rebuilt and reassembled the car in an inexpensive yet thorough manner during the 90's, over a period of several years. The motor and trans were rebuilt, and it was given a quick inexpensive paint job. All of this is supported by a good number of receipts from the time. After getting it together, the guy drove it occassionally, but the son never claimed it again. The guy sold it to get it off his property to Rob, who had owned it for about a year at this point.
Rob doesn't keep cars for very long, and is more of a "drive it the way it is" kind of guy. It had/has tons of little repairs that need to be made, but it is fully functional the way it (imperfectly) sits. I offered to buy the car from him right away (as I had already been saving for the future American car purchase). Rob agreed to sell it to me, but said he had to find another car first. That is when I discovered slantsix.org and FABO, and I've been planning and scheming ever since. Enough of my yakkin', let's boogie! On to the pics...
1964 Plymouth Valiant Convertible. Body seems to be in decent shape, as it has always been a Georgia car.
View attachment 1964 Plymouth Valiant.jpg
I guess this production plate gives the details about the car. I have no idea what any of this means, if anyone wants to contribute? I have the VIN that is listed on the title (I haven't found VIN on the car yet...), is this safe to share over the interwebs? The VIN decoder didn't tell me much.
View attachment Production Plate.jpg
It has a 225, I have no plans on swapping or trying to get huge power.
View attachment Engine Bay 225.jpg
The interior is in decent shape, but it definitely needs some attention!
View attachment Dashboard.jpg
My goals with the car aren't complicated. I want to make it really reliable and to make it real clean. I have no "restoration" aspirations, but I would like to stay true to the spirit of the car, while bringing it into the 21st centruy a little bit. I want to learn about it, and do as much work to it myself and enjoy the learning process. I am limited in how much heavy work I can do, meaning, I don't have a garage, so removing the motor or trans would have to be outsourced if I had to do something like that (hopefully not).
I'm excited about all the jobs to do, but I can't decide where to start (in no particular order): seat belts, chrome repair, full tune up, Electronic ignition upgrade, front disc brake upgrade, fix gauges and gauge lighting, replacing all the car's wiring, upgrading the alternator (bypassing ammeter), upgrading brake lights with LEDs (just kidding Dan!), repairing dash/dashpad, installing a humble stereo, putting in relays with new headlights, getting new interior, installing sound deadening material, rebuilding steering column (steering is pretty loose right now), fixing the small rust hole in the trunk, new paint job... so much to do, I don't know where to start! I'm sure there's even more! I'll have to refer to my list!
I will be posting questions in the appropriate forums, now that I actually have the car. Hopefully, someone can guide me in the right direction with where to start. I look forward to interacting with all of you finally. I am gracious for any assistance and advice. Now... I'm off to order the service manual!
-Ridge
I hope to learn a lot from everyone here
I have just officially joined but have been reading and learning here over the past 6 months. 2 days ago I got my first Mopar, a 1964 Plymouth Valiant Convertible. I will give a brief personal history, and will then throw in a couple of pictures.
I am a car enthusiast, specifically, I can appreciate all cars of all makes and models. I knew nothing about cars growing up, but I went to auto-tech school after high school, learned some skills, and then honed them when I was a mecahnic at Honda for several years after that. I have since moved on in occupation, but I still enjoy working on my own car(s). I have owned many cars, mostly Hondas, but also a BMW and a couple Toyotas, on which I did almost all the work to myself. I have rebuilt countless motors, done interior work, electrical, suspension, but never body work. Before you ask, I never put neon lights on any of my cars, and I never had dreams of "living life a quarter mile at a time." I appreciated the cars I had for their reliability and each of their unique traits. I will spill about the specific cars I owned if anyone wants to hear. Nothing fancy, but I had clear reasoning for getting the cars I did. Good times!
A couple years ago, I decided, in the spirit of always trying new things and new challenges, to get my hands dirty with some classic American steel! After much reading, searching and exploring, I had carved out in my mind SOME idea of what kind of car I wanted. 6 months ago, a friend of a friend ("Rob") pulled up to the bar one night driving this 1964 Valiant Convertible. Rob told me a little about it, this is the story as he told it:
Rob bought the car from an Atlanta restaurant owner who lives in Canton, GA. Back in the late 80's, his (restaurant owner) then 16 year old son wanted to fix it up. The son promptly disassembled the car over a period of time and then left for college. The father, annoyed by the mess, rebuilt and reassembled the car in an inexpensive yet thorough manner during the 90's, over a period of several years. The motor and trans were rebuilt, and it was given a quick inexpensive paint job. All of this is supported by a good number of receipts from the time. After getting it together, the guy drove it occassionally, but the son never claimed it again. The guy sold it to get it off his property to Rob, who had owned it for about a year at this point.
Rob doesn't keep cars for very long, and is more of a "drive it the way it is" kind of guy. It had/has tons of little repairs that need to be made, but it is fully functional the way it (imperfectly) sits. I offered to buy the car from him right away (as I had already been saving for the future American car purchase). Rob agreed to sell it to me, but said he had to find another car first. That is when I discovered slantsix.org and FABO, and I've been planning and scheming ever since. Enough of my yakkin', let's boogie! On to the pics...
1964 Plymouth Valiant Convertible. Body seems to be in decent shape, as it has always been a Georgia car.
View attachment 1964 Plymouth Valiant.jpg
I guess this production plate gives the details about the car. I have no idea what any of this means, if anyone wants to contribute? I have the VIN that is listed on the title (I haven't found VIN on the car yet...), is this safe to share over the interwebs? The VIN decoder didn't tell me much.
View attachment Production Plate.jpg
It has a 225, I have no plans on swapping or trying to get huge power.
View attachment Engine Bay 225.jpg
The interior is in decent shape, but it definitely needs some attention!
View attachment Dashboard.jpg
My goals with the car aren't complicated. I want to make it really reliable and to make it real clean. I have no "restoration" aspirations, but I would like to stay true to the spirit of the car, while bringing it into the 21st centruy a little bit. I want to learn about it, and do as much work to it myself and enjoy the learning process. I am limited in how much heavy work I can do, meaning, I don't have a garage, so removing the motor or trans would have to be outsourced if I had to do something like that (hopefully not).
I'm excited about all the jobs to do, but I can't decide where to start (in no particular order): seat belts, chrome repair, full tune up, Electronic ignition upgrade, front disc brake upgrade, fix gauges and gauge lighting, replacing all the car's wiring, upgrading the alternator (bypassing ammeter), upgrading brake lights with LEDs (just kidding Dan!), repairing dash/dashpad, installing a humble stereo, putting in relays with new headlights, getting new interior, installing sound deadening material, rebuilding steering column (steering is pretty loose right now), fixing the small rust hole in the trunk, new paint job... so much to do, I don't know where to start! I'm sure there's even more! I'll have to refer to my list!
I will be posting questions in the appropriate forums, now that I actually have the car. Hopefully, someone can guide me in the right direction with where to start. I look forward to interacting with all of you finally. I am gracious for any assistance and advice. Now... I'm off to order the service manual!
-Ridge
I hope to learn a lot from everyone here
