Hello all! I have always been a gear head ive owned quite a few cars but nothing as classic as my newest vehicle. it is a 1966 Plymouth valiant 100 wagon with the 255 slant 6 I have to admit i took one look at it and fell in love with it. might not look as purty as some of the cars on here but its a diamond in the rough for sure matching numbers as far as i can tell still has the identification card and the big thing is not much rust! which is very rare in Maine!

I will admit the oldest car i have owned is a 1984 Pontiac fiero 2m4 and some other cars around the same age but nothing from the golden age of automobile history so I hope i can find some helpful advice on here and restore this old girl to its glory days!

My current issue is fuel delivery it does not seem to fire up unless gas is poured down the carb it gets fuel to the filter but seems to be not enough. My main goal is to get it running once more after a year of sitting.

 

welcome aboard. i have a 67 valiant with the 225 slant 6. first thing i would do is replace the fuel pump and all rubber fuel lines if it has been sitting for a while. also get a carb kit and clean it out really good. also clean the tank as well.

 

thanks! the last owner had it on the road a year ago and it had a fuel delivery problem then as well, I thought it might be the tank as well, my first thought was the carb its not the original its a Holley single barrel. he also replaced the fuel line and manual fuel pump. he feels that the fuel pump is not pumping enough fuel up to the carb. I will know more once i start to take a good long look this weekend, I have to say for 450 bucks I could not pass it up!

 

Welcome aboard.

 

Welcome to the forum... Great find... Wagons are "hot" again.... Keep us posted on your progress... Start a thread in the"builds section".... Also take a lot of pictures along the way... One day you will be glad you did... Also check out the Mopar of the Month contest.....

 

Oh yes I Always have a camera with me. and I will defiantly start a build thread once i start into it which hopefully be this Saturday. I have to admit not a big fan of wagons but this one just looks very cool. The only down fall is the last owner was a bit of a do it yourself er and thought leds and a filled in tailgate with Bondo would look good so after i get it running that would be the next big thing to takel, along with getting the trim that he does not have which was almost a deal breaker to be honest I know trim for cars this old are often not reproduced and very rare considering its a wagon!

I am glad i found it when i did he was about to scrap it!

 

wecome I also just joined this forum. I came over from the muscle car forum. As for your problem with fuel the Holley one barrel is what they came with in that year. In later years the super six had a Carter 2 barrel. The needle and seat was a common problem with getting stuck on the holley after sitting for awhile they are rubber tipped and with the ethanol in the fuel today it will make it gooey and stick like glue. The other posts are also a very good idea. The new stuff will all be for the new ethanol fuel. Good luck and remember it is fun.

 

the holley carbs were used after 1970 or so. i think it was a carter 1 bbl at that time. when i looked up a kit for my car the holley didn't show up so i had to go up a few years to find it. there may be a sock type filter in the tank that is plugged or the sending unit is plugged as well. the beat way to tell is to remove the fuel cap and blow air back towards the tank with an air compressor. and see how much air you can hear coming out of the lines.

 

leaning tower of power! cool car.

 

Ok update on my '66 I got it home and filled the tank after checking all the lines carb fluids ect. it was out of fuel as far as i could tell the guy was just not all to bright. i cranked it over a few times got the fuel up to the filter fired up after a few trys. not its starts over the second turn, it needs at tune up for sure,

The only problem i have now is when i give it throttle under load it dies out I'm thinking it could just be the choke due to the cold weather It seems to rev up fine in park it does move though just sputters out if i give it to much gas. I will be starting a build thread Soon with tons of Pictures and updates, I even made a video of its firing up after a year of sitting

 

Welcome!

The Slant 6 motors are great motors! You know what size your's is?

As for the sputter, I'd go over and check the vacuum lines, give her a tune up, check the point in the dizzy and make sure the carb is clean. Also, replace the fuel filters as it may be getting enough to idle, just not go.

 

welcome to the forum

 

it is the 225 and so far i have replaced the spark plugs that was one of the causes, I plan on replacing the battery cables as there held mostly togeather with electrical tape and hope, the cap and rotor will be next, I cleaned the carb and noticed that who ever adjusted it last has it pinned wide open so its just dumping fuel in which may be the cause, Lucky for me I managed to fine the original carter carb off the car in the back and will be rebuilding that as soon as the kit gets in and replacing the Holley that's on it now. i feel that the combination of the choke not working properly and the mass of fuel flowing down into it may be the cause considering if i push down hard it stalls out and sprays out top of the carb. forgive me I only have one other corroborated vehicle and thats a 4 bbl carb performer carb. Im still getting to know the car itself the radio still works although its an aftermarket tape deck.
I have tomorrow off and Plan on getting down to the rout of the issue and hopefully go for a little joy ride down my street

thank you all for your support and comments!

 

Those are some black plugs.

 

Indeed they are,I feel that it is due to the last owne running the carb rich the metering screw is pinned wide open and is very rich, Im still dealing with the running issue so far i have ruled out the Spark plugs I have cleaned the carb well fuel filter is fine along with lines as far as i can tell its getting air and fuel although to much i feel, It could possibly be the coil.


I have found some documentation on the vehicle which is a good thing for any vehicle it seems that up until the last owner it was very well taken care of. the engine seems to have been rebuilt in 1993 before heading to Maine from Washington state. before that it was in California it seems. there is a big gap 1994 to 2013 unfortunately i only have information on it from between 1990-1994 and 4 titles all from Washington and one for a 1968 Chevy truck haha

I feel that it would not be cost effective to fully restore it as I planned.

I believe that repairing most of the issues and Customizing the interior as its almost completely ruined, the body is actually very straight and close to rust free and considering I have all the side trim I will be restoring the exterior to close to ogrigonal keeping the classic look IF and A Big IF I can repair the rear end damage caused by the last owner I hope so!
I have created a Built thread that I will update every time i fix replace or repair something. its located under A-bodys

Good to see a Fellow new Englander !

 

OMG... I see what you mean about the tail gate or lack there of.... Get the saw out quickly!!!! No it looks very good other than the back end ....

 

Luck for me it seems he just shut the gate and put some fiberglass and bondo over it all to close it up ill just need to chip it off and open it up hopefully i can find a rear bumper and other components ill need before this summer I am very eager to hit the local car shows with this.


Does anyone know what the best rim and tire set up would be for My wagon? I would like to get some 15 inch rims just for the sake of tires are eayser to find as well as gives a better look and feel then the 13s

I could also use some guidance on bolt pattern and back spacing as well thank you once again!

 

the bolt pattern is 5x4 so far i have only been able to find on style of rim that will fit that bolt pattern. which is this one here. http://www.americanracingwheelsinfo....t_Slot_Mag.htm

 

WOW, those are really nice they would look nice on the wagon, I wish i had more options though. thank you very much for the information that has helped me out a lot!

 

your welcome. you can upgrade your brakes to newer components and use the 5x4.5" bolt pattern. which will open up your options alot

 

I would really like more information on that for sure! I actually have a car with 5x4.5 bolt pattern altough i doubt they would fit considering there 295 50 15s

 

Hi all, hope ya don't mind me joining up. I've been racing Mopars since 1969, but took 35 years off to raise a family and get them through college. I bought our 69 Roadrunner when I got out of the Army, and still have it. Our 68 Dart was built from a salvage yard find in southern New Mexico (zero rust).........we have 7 NHRA class wins with the Dart and still race it competitively.

Gary and Donna Hansen

 

those may be too wide for the rear i was thinking of running those on my car for rear tires. i think any a body car after 1970 should be a perfect fit to get the 5x4.5" bolt pattern or if you want to you can get a disk brake conversion kit from summit racing and convert from drums to disk in the front. the cost of the kit is about 900.00 plus shipping.

 

that is a bit to much for my budget, I have been looking into 14 inch rims and seems to be a few more options, the rear wheel well is a bit constrictive. as other cars i tend to try and find other vehicles with the same bolt pattern and gab a set off of them.

this project of mine has a budget of what ever i can spare for now, Lucky for me I am rather resourceful and tend to stumble upon parts.

would it be possible to swap out the rear axle with something for again a better bolt pattern and stock drive line? that i feel would be more cost effective considering I would like to get a rake going with out using ladder bars or other bolt on stuff, just keep it simple with a bigger set of tires or rims.


what would be the biggest size of 13s i could run in the rear? silly question I know still have to ask

 

Welcome to the forum.. Just a hint... Start you own thread and you will get more replys to you ..... Glad to have another drag racer on here.. I totally understand about the raising the family plan. I did the same thing and got back into it around 2000..... Go Mopar..... Be sure to check out the Mopar of the Month contest...

 

any late model a body after 1970 i think will work same for the front end as well. you will need the upper control arms and spindles plus all of the braking hardware and master cylinder.

 

Alright great thank you for the information I will look into it for sure, Looking at the poor car more and more I don't think it will ever be back to its original state. I feel that it would cost way to much to restore it. however I do have a rather keen eye when it comes to cars and i'm thinking lowering it a bit with a nice rake action and black and red two tone paint with some 5 spoke craigers (if i can find them in the correct size) would look nice for this wagon.

I am working on a Photoshop rendering of what i would like to to be like.

 

hey it's your car build it the way you want it to look. but i think a manual trans and 4 bucket seats and custom center console would look pretty cool as well. along with a tripple duce intake manifold and a set of headers and dual exhaust to wake up that slant 6.

 

the center console would not work all to well i think with a wagon. I might bee needing a new engine anyways, i still cant get it to run right. i rebuilt the carburetor i know that was a big issue considering i cleaned it out and it was bad. it seems like the timing is off or something. here is a video of it turning over. I have to add that it did run for a little bit i had to feed it throttle to keep it going and it was running rough! you can hear some banging like its igniteing way to early. I'm good with engines i know how they work but for some damn reason this one is stumping me and i don't really want to just jump in and change everything to much because it does run almost.

another thing i noticed is that it seems when the engine turns over its almost like the engine runs but needs the extra turning power from the starter to just keep going? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

The 4.5 bolt pattern will work on your car also if you look here. Also check the brake forums and the A body Forum