OK, I know this is a dumb question but I would like different opinions.
My new pride & joy, 62 Valiant, 225, push button auto 4 door. I've got a cracked exhaust manifold and exhaust with pin holes in it. She's showing 120,000 so I think it's just broken in. A real California car, no rust and really clean underneath. I would really like to do 2 barrel and dual exhaust but after reading the articles, that's out of my reach as far as cash and my abilities. I would have to farm it out($$$$$).
What can I do to the old girl for better economy/mild performance improvements?? I've got less than $1000 to spend and want to do it right. She's a summer cruiser and will be in a heated garage for the winter. I've got to pull the radiator and have it done over but aside from that and a new trunk gasket she doesn't need much. Any ideas???
Thanks.
Joe

the 2bbl "super six" can be had complete for $200 ish. Labor about the same and gaskets $500 total. Add a 2 1/4 exhaust pipe $250 and tune up parts and such, under a grand and WORTH EVERY PENNY. Read up on "tune up" and buy the good cap rotor wires ,proper plugs and have the same mechanic do a valve adjustment and for $1000 it will really wake up, oh yea gas mileage will improve too!

_________________
63 valiant v200 Wagon 9.5, Schneider cam, E.I. 22 mpg all day

Hey Joe,

Welcome!

Blue Hill... not too far from Augusta. I pastor a church in Falmouth.

I think you would be able to do the 2 bbl conversion yourself. It's really not that hard (unless you break a stud, then it's a little more difficult) and with a heated garage and a whole winter ahead of you it would make a nice "take your time" project.

Aside from that, I would seriously consider replacing the brake master cylinder with a dual cylinder setup. That way if one set of brakes fail (like a blown line on a front brake) you will still have something to stop you and save both you and the Valiant from destruction. That is also not a very difficult project.

-Mac

Rather than setting out to spend a thousand bucks, I would focus on getting the car into basically sound condition before you think about upgrades. Full tune-up with quality parts, valve adjustment, etc. Fix the weatherstripping, get the electrics all sorted out and working all the way correctly (and add some circuit protection). Fix the exhaust system — your dollar will go a fair long way here if you proceed thoughtfully. A replacement exhaust manifold (think you already have that), a 2¼" headpipe running to a Walker #21206 muffler (one of their premium "Quiet-Flow" types, specced for Chrysler products with the bigger V8s), and a 2" tailpipe. I bet there are other things on the car that are overdue for attention, too — the brakes, the suspension, that kind of thing.

The 2bbl swap isn't all that difficult in general, but it is nontrivial on a '62 like yours, because you have a rod-operated (rather than cable-operated) throttle linkage. There are ways of adapting the rod-type throttle to work with a 2bbl carburetor, and there are ways of converting to a cable-type throttle linkage, but both cost time, effort, and money. I'd vote for leaving the 1bbl in place for the time being and focusing instead on improving the ignition system — go to electronic, maybe HEI, with a thoughtfully-curved distributor.

_________________
一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Dan, As always you are the voice of reason. I like the way you broke things down. I've had the car less than a month now and am having a lot of fun with it. It's not quite time to put it up on jack stands yet but I think that's the way to go. Check what I've got then spend the social security check on what's left after I do brakes, etc., etc. Maybe an anti sway bar later on.
Thanks guys, you've given me good input.
Joe,

I forgot to mention, my replacement for the exhaust manifold is junk I'm afraid, It's got a broken stud in it that I can't get out. I think one of our fellow members has a newer one with my name on it.
By quality tune up parts, are you talking Chrysler or NAPA?? I never know if I can trust parts store parts.
Joe

Hi Joe. A machine shop should be able to remove the stud for you....shouldn't be a big deal for them. Napa's Echlen line for tune up parts are good, Standard Blue Streak stuff is also good....probably the best. I would really think about going electronic also. If for nothing else than the fact you don't have to change points anymore, a royal pain on a slant. Let us know what you want to do...we'll help you through it!

If you can't have that done, either find another manifold, or I have a spare that I can get reworked for you, its a 74 manifold with the newer choke pocket though. I do have some spare 1bbl pulloffs for it too.

Good luck to you!

_________________

'74 Duster 225 Super Six w/904
14" Cragar SS wheels

Yep, any decent machine shop ought to be able to remove that stud and repair the hole threads pretty easily. If this manifold isn't warped or otherwise less than suitable, that's probably a good route to pursue at first.

Always avoid "rebuilt" or "remanufactured" parts from parts stores or online outfits — they are most often unreliable, short-lived junk. Where you come across original working parts carburetor, starter, alternator, etc.) try and avoid trading them in when you buy replacement parts. Keep them aside, even if you wind up not using them. Tune-up consumable parts and technique suggestions in this thread, and here is the valve adjustment procedure. While you're in there under the hood, you may want to do the Fuel line mod, too.

_________________
一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Dan brings up a good point about the rod-style linkage. This can make swapping to a two barrel carb difficult. However, if you are going to keep the stock camshaft and stock valve size, I may have an interesting solution to the two barrel carb upgrade.

The Holley 5200 is a 280 CFM carb that came on numerous four cylinder motors in the 70s and early 80s. The Carter BBD (the stock slant six two barrel carb) also has a CFM rating of 280 CFM. Now, I recently purchased a 71 Ford Pinto for my sister (don't start). It came stock with the Holley 5200 carb, but the carb uses a rod style accelerator linkage very similar to the rod style linkage used by early 60s Mopars. You may be able to use a Super Six intake, a carb adapter, and a Holley 5200 for a early 70s Pinto with a 2000cc motor to have a near bolt on two barrel carb.

Just a thought.

_________________
Casually looking for a Clifford hyperpak intake for cheap.

You guys are good!!! Way too much food for thought. Can you buy stock exhaust pipes for the 62?? I haven't asked at my local NAPA yet. I'm going to have to sit down and make a real list of just what I want to do then figure out what will actually work.
I do appreciate all the help, It convinces me that I came to the right neighborhood.
Joe

Reed, those Pintos are almost as reliable as slant sixes aren't they??? It should be easy to work on too.
Joe

Joe,

I love to see notes like yours because I get just as UP now every time I start in on another slant as I did when I was looking at my first and had done no mechanic-ing.. It makes me feel good to see another SS aged person getting ready to extend his life with something interesting!

In my opinion there are some "supporting cast" member you will need. Man with a heated garage and retired...what an enviable position you are in, and with time you can save money. I believe you MUST have a good jack and safe supports. You don't have to spend polydollars to start with. the seriously heavy jackstands from Harbor Freight are often $16 the pair and have served me many projects. DON'T be fooled on cheapos..many places sell tin ones that are painted pretty....pick them up and ask if you are willing to bet your life on them. Likewise, you don't have to spend $100 for a good jack. Get the 2 foot long or so roll under jack often available from Pep Boys for as little as $15. Stay out from under you vehicle til it is supported, always. Of course its nice to have big jacks like some us acquire over time, but the little ones work just as well. You dont need a creeper, a piece of plywood lets you scoot just fine on it.

Right now as Dan always says, get a service manual. You can learn huge amounts raading it on long nights. Then just go lean over your car with the manual in hand a match what you see to what your manual says. You can learn anything. Go to a brake fixing place and ask if you can watch a set of drum brakes being done because you want to learn how. This is the first mechanical task I ever learned, and it is so easy you MUST learn how to do it yourself. You can do it SO much better than a shop because you have time to thoroughly clean everything, take pictures, and use white lithium grease properly on the plates. Parts are cheap, labor is high.

Don't farm out the manifold. Learn how to do a broken bolt repair because you will live to see more. Many places sell a punch that looks like a fat pencil and you should have one. All you have to do is punch a dimple in the broken part center, then just drill it out starting with small drill bits, then going larger until near the bolt diameter. USE EYE PROTECTION! Put a little light oil on occasionally to lube and cool the drill. I have found the Harbor Freight left hand drill set of 4 bits at $12 superb at this process, and if you can believe it , the $9.95 tap and die set from HF is such a good value for cleaning threads I find myself often reaching for it just in case I might "hurt" my $250 set! It might take all of a 1/2 hour to do the job and there WILL come a time you will need to do it on your own. Doing little jobs like this makes you confident you can do bigger and bigger jobs, and you need some basic skills to do more complex things.

Right now is a great time to buy used tools from pawnshops. The shops are going broke because the shops took in so many tools at summer end and now no one is buying. A real pawnshop charges less the m ore you buy and is prepared to negotiate. You can rent many tools from parts stores nowadays but you don't sound as if you are need of those yet. Just buy what you need for a job and slowly add to your skill set by makeing what tools you have do the job...it is good for thinking.

SO do what Dan has said and make it safe first. You will come to beleive you can do anything and have developed a skill set that will let you do anything. Very satisfying feeling.

rock
'64d100

No. And you wouldn't want to, anyhow; you want to take the opportunity to upgrade to larger-diameter pipe.

_________________
一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Better and easier: get the other two books beside the shop manual linked in this thread and learn how to do it on your own.
True...which is why it's best not to learn how to do it by watching a shop!
NO. White lithium grease has no business anywhere near brakes. You use brake parts grease only.

Don't farm out the manifold. Learn how to do a broken bolt repair because you will live to see more. Many places sell a punch that looks like a fat pencil and you should have one. All you have to do is punch a dimple in the broken part center, then just drill it out starting with small drill bits, then going larger until near the bolt diameter.[/quote]

And definitely agreed on the left-twist drill bits. They are relatively hard to find, you can get them at a fastener-speciality place like Fastenal or Brafasco or your local equivalent, and they will often save a great deal of time and effort on repair jobs like this, because sooner or later in the progressively-larger-drill-bit sequence, they'll often grab hold of the remains of the stuck stud and spin it out, leaving the threads undamaged.

Do try and be somewhat discriminating in your tool purchases. The Harbor Freight catalogue and others like it are full of tempting goodies...most of which are of low, Chinese-made quality. That is why the price is low! Sometimes a cheap tool is all that's called for, because it's a light-duty application and you're doing the job only once (or in any event, not often enough to warrant a costly pro-grade tool), but remember that cheap tools can break in ways that can injure you, damage your car, and/or make the problem you're trying to solve much worse and more expensive to fix in the long run. As Rock suggests, you may want to find the used-tool stores and pawnshops in your area and patronise them; often you can find high-grade tools with plenty of life left in them for bargain prices.
Absolutely! Before you start a job, take 60 seconds (measure it!) to think about what could possibly go wrong, and how, and take precautions appropriately. Eye protection, skin protection, good ventilation, ready access to a fire extinguisher...whatever-all is appropriate to the task at hand.

_________________
一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.