This friday 4.4.08 im picking up a 68 Valiant, automatic, needs some front end work(dented fenders and bumper), interior needs some work(recover seats and new headliner) and fix the rear bumper.

I'm looking for some local SoCal shops in southern LA county or Orange County area. If anyone has any recommnedations on some rad shops to go to for custom seats or some solid body work!

Theres also a slight knock after you take your foot off the accelerator back by the drive shaft meets the differential. Im thinking it might need the u joints replaced there??

Oh yeah in the future possible upgrade the engine to a 360 V8 and new trans. Any suggestions there would be appreciated! Thanks!

 

heres an idea of what i might do for the seats. ostrich blue then fake snow tiger print. Same snow tiger print for the headliner.

 

Looks like a real clean car, for the knock, have someone disassemble the forward universal joint, one of the cross pin caps may have lost its needle bearings. What you describe is pretty much a classic u joint problem.

Good luck with the car, and maybe the slant 6 will serve you well when fuel prices are going thru the roof.

 

So far its been a pretty rad ride. I started to smell acetone or acid burning. Looked under the hood to see that one of the caps on the battery fell off. That and the previous owner bungie corded the battery to the battery plate! Went to Pep Boys bought another battery and an adjustable holder to bolt it in solid! LOL! Thanks for the advice, im going to have that checked out as I get my next paycheck/last paycheck from work. Im movin on to another company for some better pay and more opportunities for advancement.

 

Look under the hood and correct anything that looks out of place or is touching or rubbing things, most problems can be avoided by doing house keeping under the hood. If it looks like a rats nest you need to be ready to walk. If something is leaking, clean the area and tighten the hardware A LITTLE Bit, your car is very reliable and should serve you well. Good luck in your new job.

 

Hey can i suggest something tribalturtle2? Here in Australia, we have 265" Hemi 6's. They are an extremely good engine. Its a common practice to put them into Valiants like this, as they were the primary 6 cylinder engine used in later Valiants. The standard quater mile time for the stock engines is low 14's in a 3800lb car. You Valiant is much lighter than that. You could use all the same running gear as well, and not have to change suspention or brakes etc. I'm not sure how you would go about sourcing these engines. But if you could, that would be your best bet i think. It would have more torque and power than a standard 340 i would think. And there are a lot of upgrade options for the engine like tripple webers, and alloy heads. Just a thought.

 

I went to check the oil today and noticed that the battery was leaking a bit or persperating where the two covers are to add water or acid to it. Have you seen anything like that before?

 

I'll have to check that out and see what goes on with the 265" Hemi 6's. Right now its all stock and original everything through out the car except the exterior paint isn't the original color.

 

Make sure you battery is full only to the split ring inside each bore. There are holes (or bores) for each cell, should be six once you remove the covers.
Only add distilled water, its in the store next to the bottled water. Never add additional acid to a battery already in service. Never add bottled or tap water to a battery.
Fuming of a battery can be overcharing or a bad cable that is getting hot and the alternator thinks more current is needed and continues to charge a full battery causes it to overheat the acid fluid mixture and you see a stain or liquid coming from around those covers. Usually not a bad battery.
I also would like to hear more about those Hemi Slant six engines.

 

Well here's just a little on the Hemi 6's Origins.Just from memory off the top of me head But first i just gotta clear something up their not Slant Hemi's their Hemi's , they dont lean their straight up , Yeeehaaa no more reaching forr them bloody points (sorry bout that haha ).

Where were we
The Hemi was originaly designed over there ( U.S.A ) for Dodge trucks at 300ci but Dodge never made them.

Don't know why But we made them up to 265ci they also came in 215 & 245ci .

It's quite easy to get 300-350H.P out of them but once you go past that they become a bit unreliable .

The best i've seen was 800H.P with big fat twin turbo's & the guys where running around 9's on the quarter . But they had problems with blocks snapping in half .

I just wish someone would make a kit to stroke them to 300ci does'nt matter tho we've got poxy 253ci V8's (Holden) over here & i used to flog them constantly with just the 245 let alone the 265 would'nt put my money on'em to beat a 340 tho , i've seen one of them rev to 7 grand and shoot flames

 

So, the Hemi 6 cannot be a flathead. It is not slant 6 so I guess it is or was a conventional valve in head 6? Much like a Ford or GM? Only with Hemi combustion chamber with valve on the centerline of the piston with the spark plug in between?
I'll assume it was not a polysphere engine.

Did Mopar manufacture them, or where they sourced out like the Checker Cabs with Continental engines.

More info please, this is very interesting. I'm a sponge for this sort of thing.

 

No not a flathead & yes it was like Ford or GM, but only in the way it was a conventional 6 , valve in head, they are waaaay better than both of them put together IMHO , no replacement for displacement .

Yep you've got it in one , ' Hemispherical ' chamber , however the spark plug is not quite in the centre of the chamber so i've heard people refer to them as not a 'trrue Hemi'

I'm not sure what you mean by " polyshere engine' ??? .

They were made by Valiant Australia , Valiant by Chrysler & if i'm not mistaken they were made at Tonesley Park South Australia .

Hope this helps for now i'm a bit pushed for time , BTW i've contemplated the idea of sending a few over there more than once ... For sure they'd spin you guys out .

 

I believe if the spark plug is not in the true center it is not a hemi, but yet it is a _polysphere_ combustion chamber. The old Dodges had engines (The Red Rams) that appeared the be Hemi's from the outside but where _polysphere_ combustion chambers due to the valve and spark plug placement inside.

But even the _polys_ are high flow combustion configurations. Did they have domed piston heads? It would be great to have one of those engines over here to put in a Dodge Lancer? Maybe a 1962?
Now, that would be a kool item at a car show when the hood is popped for show and tell.

Later,

 

How rude of me , first things first tribalturtle2 thats a schmick car mate

& sorry for highjacking your thread

& Mopar guy it's a bit late but welcome ( i ain't seen you on b4 ) & thanx for clearing up the ' Polyshere ' bit for me

As for the domed pistons , mate not on any i've stripped , can't recall if the R/T's had'em ( never pulled or seen for that matter R/T donks apart ) . Plus the ones i have pulled apart have all been bored out & had flat tops in'em .Man i've forgotten a fair bit about the Hemi cause i've been playing with slants for the past few years , can't wait to feel the power of the Hemi again

Mate we have a Valiant over here called a Centura , they only came fitted with a 245 Hemi & alot of peeps put 265's in'em . Their a faily small car (never seen the weight for one) & i tell ya they go like the clappers .

 

Haha! Like the clappers! Stated like a true Aussie!

 

So, in the land of downunder, the pistons on the top and the valves are on the bottom like an inline aircooled Fairchild Ranger or Menasco Pirate aircraft engine.

 

Haha yeah cheers mate .

 

aaaahhh OK then







naah i get it was a joke , must admit i had to read it twice at first tho

 

Yes, I was trying to be funny, but those engines do exist.

 

I dont get the joke...

 

bwaaaarrrrhahaha


Look at the title ' upside down land nudge, nudge , wink , wink

 

Bloody yanks.

 

its all good,
Im getting a funky rotten egg smell coming in from the engine area, I think its the positive battery cable it has some corrosion on it, going to change it during my lunch break with a new one. I received the custom snow leopard print over the weekend on Saturday while the Grand Prix was going off in my backyard of downtown LBC. Darn cars woke me up at 6am every morning from Thursday through Sunday. Luckily for me I was out everyday in the bars meeting some new girls that were in the area for fun! So i was throwing down some pints of Peroni.

Im going to use some dynamat on the roof to seal off some of the outside noise, then use launa board to place over that, glue it to the ceiling edge with liquid nails and then glue on the custom fabric to that, an interior shop in Huntington Beach told me to use some thin foam glued to the launa board. I was thinking it would work better if i just glued the fabric to the launa board. Im doing research right now and saving money for the dynamat xtreme the bigger box option to do the roof, trunk and whatever else.

I want to cover the top of my dash also because its cracked pretty bad. I was wondering if i should trim the top of it off to smooth it down and then glue the fabric over it. Any ideas on that and how to trim the foam of the dash?

No worries on the writing on the page, just look at it this way another learning experience is always excepted or another point of view, paradign shifts can be fun now! LOL!

 

check the voltage with the car running, the smell might indicate that the battery is being overcharged. if the voltage is high, clean the mount of the regulator and make sure it is well grounded and recheck. if it's still high, replace the regulator and recheck it.

 

I cleaned and replaced the Voltage regulator already and its much better now. The one that was in there looked old maybe closely similar to the original when the car was brand new back in the day. The one that i put in there doesn't have a black cover that unscrews. Its a solid silver/chrome with no openings. So far so good. The kid that owned it before me said he replaced it several times. Guess he was getting the cheap one if there is one or the incorrect one. At least my lights aren't dimming anymore. Thanks for the pointer.

I've started the snow leopard print interior will have some shots up possibly this weekend depending on how busy i am working on other projects and trying to relax.

"Life is good!" Ras1, Long Beach Dub Allstars.

 

Well it made it on a road trip from CA to IL after 1,988mi. My dad went over the whole thing, somethings he told me I already new. Some I didn't, he fixed the ujoints, on the rear ujoint on one of the bearing a big chunk was missing. Next the differential was bone dry, front end needs realignment, both front tires on the inner walls were worn down to the metal threads! He tightened up the bolts on the engine which help slow the oil leak. Replaced all brake pads. I finished my interior recently looks pretty sweet.


As soon as I get a job out here i'll start fixing up some more things. Catch yall later...

 

Oh yeah if anyone knows where i can get a window vent glass for the right front side let me know and how much. I'd like to place that in than rather ride with my ex sponsors stickers in my window for skateboarding.

Later...

 

i just might have a set of vent windows for a 1970, do you know if they're the same?

 

Not that I know of off the top of my head if they fit or not.