rmchrgr
Skate And Destroy
Having a dilemma regarding whether or not to keep my Valiant. I've been gearing up to sell it these last few months. There are a few reasons for this which I'll attempt to explain below. Thanks in advance for reading.
It's a well-known fact that early A's don't get a lot of love on the open market and there ain't much in the way of parts for these cars. It's not entirely bleak but nothing like what's out there for Chargers, Road Runners etc. I didn't buy it as an investment but the deeper you get into it, the harder it will be to recoup your costs if you decide to sell down the road.
They're also limited in two key areas, namely room in the engine compartment and rear wheel wells. Now I know there's ways around this stuff, but not without some effort. I'm running 245's on the rear and they just clear, anything larger would require moving the springs in one way or another. Headers are proven to work, but it seems like a nightmare to try to get them in, fenderwell or otherwise. To me, the effort could be better spent working on things that don't need as much massaging or expense just to get things to fit. Other cars are just easier to work with in these particular areas.
And really what I'm after is a '70-'72 Duster. I'm a Duster fan, I want one and have for a long time. There's much more out there in the way of parts and there's more room to work with on a '70s A body than an early A. Plus they're just cool when they're done right.
Here's the rub though. My wife and I have a little history with the car. I won it off Ebay back in the early summer of 2005. We are the second owners. We met the 90-year-old lady who's car it was for 40 years. We flew out to rural Indiana to pick it up and drove it back to Brooklyn. We took it on a baseball stadium tour later that summer and basically just enjoyed driving it around. There's a sentimental attachment there and it definitely would be sad to see it go down the road. I still had my '65 Belvedere project at that point, so I really wasn't thinking about hot rodding the Valiant. I figured it would need paint at some point but I never got to it with my other project still going.
I actually formulated a cool plan for it. I was going to make it into an econo driver - keep the Slant and hop it up with all the usual stuff and put an 833OD behind it for some real fun. I got the trans and related parts already. I would rebuild the undercarriage for safety, (disk brakes, etc.) which I did earlier this year. Drives great now and stops much better than it used to. Never rebuilt the Slant or put the trans in, it's all sitting in my attic.
The story took a little turn when I sold the Belvedere project back in February. Now the only Mopar I had left was the Valiant so I started eying it for modification. I hatched a new plan that included a small block stroker - definitely a bad-*** little street machine. Cool in anyone's book but something in me says I'd rather it be a Duster.
Also, the Valiant would require paint. It's a very solid car by all accounts, with the only rust I can see in two small spots - one in the lower driver's-side quarter and one on the top of the driver's fender. The fender could easily be replaced or repaired and patch panels are available for the quarter. The trunk and frame are in excellent shape. Painting this thing right would require taking it apart though, which is something I'd rather not get involved with again. My last project stalled at this point and I ended up selling the car because of it. Restoration requires a huge investment in time. I have some, but I'd rather be burning rubber instead of painting under-dash bracketry.
I'd probably be willing to pay a bit more for a car I didn't have to restore, though finding something like that can be difficult. Not impossible though.
So what to do - stick it out with the Valiant or sell it, take what I can get for it and find a Duster that doesn't need too much to make it presentable and build my machine from that starting point.
Thanks for the input!
Greg
It's a well-known fact that early A's don't get a lot of love on the open market and there ain't much in the way of parts for these cars. It's not entirely bleak but nothing like what's out there for Chargers, Road Runners etc. I didn't buy it as an investment but the deeper you get into it, the harder it will be to recoup your costs if you decide to sell down the road.
They're also limited in two key areas, namely room in the engine compartment and rear wheel wells. Now I know there's ways around this stuff, but not without some effort. I'm running 245's on the rear and they just clear, anything larger would require moving the springs in one way or another. Headers are proven to work, but it seems like a nightmare to try to get them in, fenderwell or otherwise. To me, the effort could be better spent working on things that don't need as much massaging or expense just to get things to fit. Other cars are just easier to work with in these particular areas.
And really what I'm after is a '70-'72 Duster. I'm a Duster fan, I want one and have for a long time. There's much more out there in the way of parts and there's more room to work with on a '70s A body than an early A. Plus they're just cool when they're done right.
Here's the rub though. My wife and I have a little history with the car. I won it off Ebay back in the early summer of 2005. We are the second owners. We met the 90-year-old lady who's car it was for 40 years. We flew out to rural Indiana to pick it up and drove it back to Brooklyn. We took it on a baseball stadium tour later that summer and basically just enjoyed driving it around. There's a sentimental attachment there and it definitely would be sad to see it go down the road. I still had my '65 Belvedere project at that point, so I really wasn't thinking about hot rodding the Valiant. I figured it would need paint at some point but I never got to it with my other project still going.
I actually formulated a cool plan for it. I was going to make it into an econo driver - keep the Slant and hop it up with all the usual stuff and put an 833OD behind it for some real fun. I got the trans and related parts already. I would rebuild the undercarriage for safety, (disk brakes, etc.) which I did earlier this year. Drives great now and stops much better than it used to. Never rebuilt the Slant or put the trans in, it's all sitting in my attic.
The story took a little turn when I sold the Belvedere project back in February. Now the only Mopar I had left was the Valiant so I started eying it for modification. I hatched a new plan that included a small block stroker - definitely a bad-*** little street machine. Cool in anyone's book but something in me says I'd rather it be a Duster.
Also, the Valiant would require paint. It's a very solid car by all accounts, with the only rust I can see in two small spots - one in the lower driver's-side quarter and one on the top of the driver's fender. The fender could easily be replaced or repaired and patch panels are available for the quarter. The trunk and frame are in excellent shape. Painting this thing right would require taking it apart though, which is something I'd rather not get involved with again. My last project stalled at this point and I ended up selling the car because of it. Restoration requires a huge investment in time. I have some, but I'd rather be burning rubber instead of painting under-dash bracketry.
I'd probably be willing to pay a bit more for a car I didn't have to restore, though finding something like that can be difficult. Not impossible though.
So what to do - stick it out with the Valiant or sell it, take what I can get for it and find a Duster that doesn't need too much to make it presentable and build my machine from that starting point.
Thanks for the input!
Greg
