My Valiant project

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lowbudget

Mopar Man
Joined
Jun 21, 2008
Messages
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Location
Vernal Utah
Here are the pictures from the ad for the 1975 Valiant I picked up. I guess you could call these the before pictures. It has 130,000 on it and is rust free. The 1st thing is going to be change all the fluids, tune up and look everything over. Then I'm going to put wheels and tires on it as you got to be cool. Next will be to pull what's left of the vinyl top, order a new one and get primer on it. I think it will make a good highway cruiser.

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Valiant Brougham ? My grandfather had one till my uncle smashed it up.
 
Yes a brougham that's optioned out. The plan is to tune it up, put synthetics in it and see what kind of gas mileage I can get. A kind of modern rod that gets a little gas mileage. The price of diesel is eating me up. I guy might as well be different going down the highway.
 
Well I got the wheels and tires put on. I ended up putting 225 Coopers on back as the tire dealer didn't have any 205's to match the 235 Radial TA's. Now I have 205/225matching tires all around. I did alot of cleaning and shining. Drove 180 miles and heard a ticking from rear end checked and the drivers side hub was hotter than hell. So after a lot of running around the bearing will be here Wednesday. Oddball 7 1/4 rear end. It did get 18 - 19 mpg as I thought was pretty good to start with. I grabbed the wrong camera so I will post pics when I get back home. The old car is in really great shape so it was 1000.00 well spent.
 
Might also want to check the brakes and lug bolts. I found lug bolt that was replaced and not completely pulled into the hub. It was contacting the brake spacer part at the top and making noise.

The slant 6 has better economy if the timing is advanced a few degrees to the point just before it pings. The idle speed will need to be reduced slightly, and the idle mixture leaned some.
 
Well I pulled the plugs today. They were coated with a white deposit. Most of the ground straps has a brown color to the deposits. I don't know what they were running for fuel but it laid down some heavy deposits. I put in new plugs and will get a reading off of them. I changed out rotor and cap. When I touched the "tit" in the old cap that contacts rotor it fell off. I also changed out the aftermarket "Ultra" ECU box with a orange Mopar box. I put on all new belts,fuel lines, fuel filter and a new stovepipe to air cleaner. Tomorrow is fix dash lights and set timing. It seems to be running smoother.
 
Decided to take a road trip. I heard a tic tic tic..... from rear wheel. Pulled over and sure as **** the rr wheel brg was hot as hell. None in town so ordered it. While waiting for it I adjusted valves and timing. I noticed I needed plug wires so I changed them out. Put on a chrome vlv cover for a little bling. Put on seat covers to protect seats. Reinstalled original trunk kit. Got the wheel bearing/seal and installed. Drove on home today. 500 mile trip and the Mighty Valiant ran/drove great. Oh yeah I put tires and wheels on before I started my road trip. Oh most important of all I put on my forabodiesonly.com sticker. That alone ought to give me 5 more HP.

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Be careful with synthetics in high mileage older cars! I've had them cause oil lamp flicker at idle when hot.... :cheers: Cool car!
 
Looking great:cheers:
I will start on my up grades tomorrow, it will be 85 and cloud cover in the shade.:-D It has been 100 deg out side or raining,:angry7:
The wheels look great and very cool.:thumbrig:
And I see you put your FABO sticker in a good place too.:-D
Keep up the good work, I will be watching every move, I am doing a /6 valiant 66 model. Lets see the valve cover.:blob:
 
Put new KYB shocks all around today. The old fronts were shot and the rears so so. I put my Plymouth decal across the top of the windshield and a Mopar one across the back. I will try and get some pictures posted tomorrow. Tomorrow is try and get the top in primer. First stop will be auto paint store and get a lesson in new technology fillers and primers.
 
nice solid project! Those buckets are awesome are they original. I need some type of buckets for the 70 dart because i changed from column to console shift.
 
Nice! I'm excited to see this one as i'm trying to get a '74 Valiant from my uncle tomorrow at our family Christmas party...
 
I've kinda spaced this thread out. I've sanded all the old paint off and laid down 2 part primer on the hood and trunk lid. I killed the rust on the roof. I have my Christmas present to myself waiting on warmer weather. It is an Offy valve cover and Super Six set up waiting to go on. The carb is being professionally rebuilt as I write this. But alas the car is parked for winter as my garage is full of snowmobiles right now and Utah salts the roads so it won't be moved until spring.
 
pretty cool. nice clean car. i have to say i dont think ive seen an a-body with so much **** under the hood before.
 
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