Ryan Farnsworth
Member
Im new to the mopar thing and I was wondering if I could put a demon front end on my valiant with as little modification as necessary
What front clips will fit a 74 Valiant Brougham?
- Thread starter Ryan Farnsworth
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Sedanman
67-9 Valiant specialist
Does your car have bumper shocks?
Short answer is yes, you can put a demon front end on it. Or a Dart, or an earlier Valiant or Duster front clip. The only A-body front clip you couldn't use would be a Barracuda, anything else will work as long as you take everything from the doors forward as far as sheetmetal - fenders, hood, hood support/latch panel, grille, grille filler panel (if Valiant or Duster), bumper and brackets, and front valance (if Dart/Demon). The only one that would be easier is if you swapped it for an earlier Duster or Valiant, because you could keep your fenders and just add a few holes to mount the grille brackets. You'd still need everything else though. Regardless, if you take everything from the doors forward it should be a bolt on operation, with the caveat of the bumper issue.
The bumper issue- the longer answer is that some of the '74 cars had shock mounted front bumpers, but only from August-early December '73 ('74 model year). If yours is one of those, you won't have the captured nuts in the frame rails to use the earlier bumper brackets, so, you'll have to figure out how to mount the earlier bumper brackets. If it's sometime in December '73 or later, then you're in luck because your car (like mine) will actually have ALL of the bumper mounting locations, shock and non shock bumper.
Anyway, this thread probably has all the relevant information for you
Front Clip Swaps
If you're too busy to bother, this is the bumper issue. 67-73 cars only have the front two locations (standard bracket mounts), early '74 and 75+ only have the shock bracket mount, and mid-74 until the end of '74 has all of them like shown.
The other styles of rails, the later one is labeled incorrectly, it should be early '74 and then 75+ for the shock mount only
And the evidence that it works, my '74 Duster
What it looks like now with a '71 Dart front clip (Demon tribute)
The bumper issue- the longer answer is that some of the '74 cars had shock mounted front bumpers, but only from August-early December '73 ('74 model year). If yours is one of those, you won't have the captured nuts in the frame rails to use the earlier bumper brackets, so, you'll have to figure out how to mount the earlier bumper brackets. If it's sometime in December '73 or later, then you're in luck because your car (like mine) will actually have ALL of the bumper mounting locations, shock and non shock bumper.
Anyway, this thread probably has all the relevant information for you
Front Clip Swaps
If you're too busy to bother, this is the bumper issue. 67-73 cars only have the front two locations (standard bracket mounts), early '74 and 75+ only have the shock bracket mount, and mid-74 until the end of '74 has all of them like shown.
The other styles of rails, the later one is labeled incorrectly, it should be early '74 and then 75+ for the shock mount only
And the evidence that it works, my '74 Duster
What it looks like now with a '71 Dart front clip (Demon tribute)
Ryan Farnsworth
Member
Ryan Farnsworth
Member
I believe so it has the mandated rubber stops on the bumper itself as well but im not too sure. Ill run the VIN and tag to get a better idea of the year and reference that with the post 72bluNblu put up.
Ryan Farnsworth
Member
I appreciate your information I'm new to wrenching on mopars so anything I can learn to make my car look the way I want it and run how I need it is awesome.
Ryan Farnsworth
Member
My car was made in may on the 8th in Hamtramck MI so it would have shock bumpers correct?
May 8th '74? No it should have standard bumpers and all 3 mounting points like my car (June '74). At least in the front. The rear bumper will be a shock mount, but that doesn't change anything about the front clip swap.
The shock mount bumpers were weird, they started the '74 model year with the front shock mounts and then went away from them mid-year, probably due to some kind of production problem. So they back tracked, and the mid to late '74's had standard bumpers again. It's really easy to see, just look under the front of the car. If there's a set of GIANT shocks under there attached to the bumper, it's a shock mount. If the bumper brackets are just steel, it's a standard bracket.
This is the rear, but that's what the shock mounts look like...
Ryan Farnsworth
Member
Thank a million im putting together a parts list and this just about tops off body work
gregpurcell
Greg Purcell
I once put the 72 Demon front end on a 75 Dart. If you want the quick and easy way to deal with the bumper, what you do is put the 72 bumper where it is supposed to be with the 72 bumper brackets. Get a friend to help you line it up and hold it in place.
Then take a good drill with a 3/8 drill bit and drill ALL THE WAY THROUGH the frame rail two times on each side. Run the bumper bracket bolts (that you bought at the hardware store) all the way through the frame rail with a nut and lock washer on the engine side of the rail. My bumper never gave me any trouble at all.
Then take a good drill with a 3/8 drill bit and drill ALL THE WAY THROUGH the frame rail two times on each side. Run the bumper bracket bolts (that you bought at the hardware store) all the way through the frame rail with a nut and lock washer on the engine side of the rail. My bumper never gave me any trouble at all.
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