Hey gang! The name is Russ and this is my first foray into the world of A-Bodies but not into the world of slant-6's. I have owned several B-bodies, most notably my 71 Charger (which I just sold) and a 73 Roadrunner that got nailed by a truck while parked. My first slant 6er was a 1980 Dodge utility van, ex Bell telephone, which boasted manual steering, manual brakes and a 4 speed overdrive tranny with manual clutch. My current slant 6er is the one shown below, a 68 Valiant. Bodywise, she is sound and the interior is in excellent shape. Just have to do the engine mechanicals to get her running. It came with 2 bent pushrods so I pulled the head to find 2 seized valves. Engine spins freely and the piston bores look new. Hopefully a rebuild of the head will get me running. I look forward to interacting here and hope to have some questions answered. Thanks for having me!







Russ

Welcome here! Looks like a good, solid basis for your project.

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

Thanks for the warm welcome, Dan. The car does need a lot of work, mostly a complete brake rebuild. It is a very solid car for it's age though. I am going to try to get better pics today to share. It is amazing just how intact the car really is. I am really looking forward to this project more than any other car that I have done!

Russ

It looks like you have a very nice starting off point there.
Good luck with it and come back often with pics and progress reports.
You will find this site to be a very valuable resource for all you wish to do with your car.

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Thanks "70". I like your ride. I especially like the way the rims compliment the body. Are those the small bolt pattern or did you upgrade? I ask because my car has the stock 13 inch tires and rims. They look decent with the hubcaps on them but I think that I will upgrade eventually.

Russ

Thanks.
The wheels are small bolt pattern. I get many compliments on those aluminum slots. I even got a screaming good deal on them, $100 for the set. They are 14x6 and I am running 195/65R14's on the front and 235/60R14's on the rear. I usually take them off and put on some steelies w/ snow tires for the winter.

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Thanks again. You even answered my next question about tire size!

Russ

Here is a pic of the rear:



Russ

I haven't posted much progress on my Valiant since October but the last 2 weeks I was actually able to work on it a bit. The result so far, I got it running! Here is what I did to date:

Rebuilt the head
installed a new fuel pump
new distributor
new coil
started the brake rebuild

Total investment so far has been the 400 dollars for the car and the 200 and change for the head. Fuel pump I had. Coil I had and the distributor was a trade for my old V8 points distributor.
I torqued the head and manifolds down last week but needed to do a few odds and ends before I attempted to start it. The last known time that this vehicle ran was approximately 8 years ago so I took no chances. I lubricated every moving component that I could engine wise. Next I got her to TDC and dropped in the distributor. Then I fabricated a fuel pump to carb line. Of course, I now had the itch to try and start her! So, I primed the carb and gave the key a turn. It tried firing on the first shot! Unfortunately, it did not stay running. I figured that was because the carb wasn't completely hooked up and it only had the fuel that I primed it with. Excited, I drove to the gas station and got some gas. I ran the pump right out of the can since I still want to boil out the tank and replace the lines. Again, it tried firing but went south after that and that was all that it did. No avail with ether either so I called it quits for the day and went here on the forum to get re-inspired.
Well, it worked and I started brainstorming (dangerous to me ) and decided to tinker with the carb. I adjusted everything, tightened down all the nuts and bolts, reinstalled it and then......PRESTO! She fired right up! It smoked for about 30 seconds until the rings got seated and then it idled as smooth as silk! This was still without all the vaccuum lines attached nor the choke properly adjusted. If I took my foot off the gas, it would stall out (again- carb adjustments to be done) but man, I was jumping up and down and it restarted with the smallest of effort. Needless to say, I am very excited now to do more work on her. This is truly all that I wanted for Christmas and Santa delivered

Thanks for listening and Merry Christmas to all!

Russ

Sounds like great progress and fun times. Happy holidays and keep us posted on progress.

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

It is fun. One minor setback today though. The car "told" me that I forgot to replace one of the exhaust manifold studs. It told me this by spewing coolant out from the stud's hole. It is the one right under the choke stove. Just goes to show you how easy it is to make a simple mistake.

The car also "told" me today that I will be making a project of bending some tranny cooler lines. It told me this by rupturing one of the lines. These are low pressure lines so it must say something about how rusty they were.

I hooked up the distributor advance to the carb and lo and behold, it kept the engine running at a nice idle without me having to keep my foot on the gas pedal. Now, with the holiday upon us, I probably will not be doing much else this weekend. Here is my to-do list though:

Retorque the head now that it has been heated up a few times
Adjust the valves
Install that missing head stud
fabricate some new tranny lines

After those chores, I will finish the brakes so I can get this car moving (at least back and forth in the driveway for now.

Again, Merry Christmas to all!

Russ