Valiant in Texas

[Jetech38]

Hey all,

I just inherited a '71 Valiant from my uncle who's lost interest. I'm very excited to jump into the world of MOPAR. I've got a lot to learn, as I normally work on either aircraft or Japanese cars.

Here are some pics of where my spare time will be going for the foreseeable future:

Those are the good pics. Now for what I'm on a mission to fix:

With that said, I need to source a driver's side fender, grille and a front bumper. I was hoping someone may be able to point me in the right direction with interchangeable parts given there's not much out there Valiant specific (from what I've been able to see).

I look forward to being both a student and contributor to the forums!

/RK

 

[KnuckleDuster]

Welcome!
Nice car!
Looks like a lot of the hard work is done and it's ready to go drag racing. The strip in Marion just reopened.
Any info on what he did to it?
Engine size, suspension mods, rear end gear ratio,etc?
Any timeslips in the car?

Are you planning to race or street or both? I take it it's an auto?
Interior pics?

I'm about 25mi north of Austin and a good buddy, TXDart is in Buda. We are down there quite a bit.
Fender shouldn't be hard to find, Valiant, Scamp and Duster interchange 70-72 as do grills and bumpers.

 

[famous bob]

Welcome!
Nice car!
Looks like a lot of the hard work is done and it's ready to go drag racing. The strip in Marion just reopened.
Any info on what he did to it?
Engine size, suspension mods, rear end gear ratio,etc?
Any timeslips in the car?

Are you planning to race or street or both? I take it it's an auto?
Interior pics?

I'm about 25mi north of Austin and a good buddy, TXDart is in Buda. We are down there quite a bit.
Fender shouldn't be hard to find, Valiant and Duster interchange 70-72 as do grills and bumpers.

cool car! cool uncle too!

 

[73hcode]

Welcome aboard I am sure you will find what you need here. Just a bunch of good guys and gals

 

[Jetech38]

Welcome!
Nice car!
Looks like a lot of the hard work is done and it's ready to go drag racing. The strip in Marion just reopened.
Any info on what he did to it?
Engine size, suspension mods, rear end gear ratio,etc?
Any timeslips in the car?

Are you planning to race or street or both? I take it it's an auto?
Interior pics?

I'm about 25mi north of Austin and a good buddy, TXDart is in Buda. We are down there quite a bit.
Fender shouldn't be hard to find, Valiant, Scamp and Duster interchange 70-72 as do grills and bumpers.

I appreciate the compliments. Yeah, I heard the strip shut down and reopened, not sure what the story is behind that.

As far as modifications are concerned, I've gotten limited information from him thus far. From what I've been able to piece together with the info that I've gotten and the box of receipts I've got:

It's a factory 4 barrel 318 with a Proform 650 double pumper. As for suspension mods, it has things done to it that I lack knowledge of. Again, I'm used to Japanese cars, so this is a totally new game to me. Rear end is a Dana 60 limited slip, ratio is unknown to me at this point. No time slips to my knowledge. A new trans was just installed, 727 Torqueflite with a TCI Outlaw shifter- no aftermarket stall/tq converter as far as I know.

My plans for the car are undetermined at this point. It'd be foolish of me to not take it to the track eventually. On the same token, I'd like to drive it regularly, but I'm unsure of how TX DPS will respond to a street car with a cage and a nitrous bottle in the back seat; not to mention insuring it.

Interior pics:

If you guys are ever up for it, I'd love to meet up sometime. I'm sure you can teach me some things about the car.

 

[Dartnut]

Welcome to FABO, good looking car you have there!

 

[mguner]

Welcome!

 

[txstang84]

Alright another Texan! Welcome to FABO--cool Valiant, looks like it'll be fun regardless of what you do with it. I would say if you were near Abilene, I bet I could find a pretty straight fender for you at FM600 wrecking...and if I were back in Texas...really miss home.

...but I'm unsure of how TX DPS will respond to a street car with a cage and a nitrous bottle in the back seat; not to mention insuring it.

I don't think it'll be a problem...lots of guys I knew have their caged pseudo racecars tagged and insured in Abilene complete with nitrous bottle. That being said, if you think SA is more stringent on that, dismount the bottle for the afternoon, get it inspected and registered, then you can put it back in later. I heard something about Texas getting silly with the yearly inspection and registration nonsense, what all changed?

 

[eestatic]

Welcome!

 

[eestatic]

If you register it as an antique vehicle you are not subject to an annual Safety Inspection.

 

[bigtom]

My 71 Dart only has to pass for brakes and lights and it is not registered as an Antique. It is exempt from emmissions testing and the sticker only cost me $16

 

[Jetech38]

Alright another Texan! Welcome to FABO--cool Valiant, looks like it'll be fun regardless of what you do with it. I would say if you were near Abilene, I bet I could find a pretty straight fender for you at FM600 wrecking...and if I were back in Texas...really miss home.



I don't think it'll be a problem...lots of guys I knew have their caged pseudo racecars tagged and insured in Abilene complete with nitrous bottle. That being said, if you think SA is more stringent on that, dismount the bottle for the afternoon, get it inspected and registered, then you can put it back in later. I heard something about Texas getting silly with the yearly inspection and registration nonsense, what all changed?

I'll look into that junk yard in Abilene.

As far as the Texas inspection changes go... Starting this year they've done away with inspection stickers. Apparently, you get inspected, get a slip of paper that verifies that and hit the tax office to register. One sticker. It gets a bit confusing when you're in a situation such as myself, where you buy a car (who's inspection expires in 2 weeks), and register it. I don't know if I need to get it inspected next month, or if I got a free year lol.