I haven't been very good about keeping this thread updated...

Sorry Geoff!

I just got another email from Geoff the other day. His little 170 made 191 HP on a chassis dyno!
Pretty cool stuff, huh?

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Rob

I’m Mater
The Kentucky Poser

I felt bad about not keeping this thread updated, so I went through some old emails to catch things up a bit.

I failed to post that Geoff has actually RACED the Val several times!

Here are most of the updates I've failed to post:

Nov 09: I had a fantastic time with the 64 at the track and felt very pleased with myself for an old nuffer’s first time who has no idea how to drive. I kept it on the track and did not hit anything or break anything. It was the oldest vehicle out there and plenty of people were looking at it. Quite a few said it was ‘too good to be out here’. The track was Winton motor raceway and my trusty CL ute pulled the 64 as smooth as silk. We sat on 100km/h and got there in 2hrs. I just love the noise of the old girl at full song. It was a club day where you could have a passenger and we were put into one of four different groups according to your lap time. As I had no idea I asked a friend who suggested about the 1min 50. As it turned out that was a bit quick for me, but we were let out onto the track one at a time to spread us around the track so it wasn’t a big deal. There were four sessions that went for 15-20 minutes each. I was pretty nervous prior to the first session. In fact, I was in the car 30 minutes before I needed to be. There was a little rain about, but it held off for all but one session. On my first session I took off a bit quick spinning the wheels in first and second before waking up to myself. I threw a fan belt towards the end of this session, but did not notice the alternator light go on; no damage done. For one of the sessions I was passenger while the fella that built the engine (Linden) took the wheel to help me sort out the bugs. He is a smart guy and has done a bit of racing in his day. He does not pull any punches and made a few good suggestions. We both had trouble down shifting to second on one corner, and I think I have sorted this out. The brakes were in Lindens words $#^%*&%$. I think I have a solution to this issue as well. We only revved it to 6000 and Linden thought that there is some balance issues with the flywheel/clutch area so in the holidays I will be pulling the gearbox and getting this sorted. It was a dog to steer with the 16:1 box and 4 degrees positive caster.

Dec 09: I have rebuilt the 64’s original 24:1 steering box into a 20:1 unit using an NOS Aussie worm and ball assembly that I have had for 20 years. Can you believe it fitted the US box with no worries? Linden also suggested more negative camber as 2 1/2 degrees is not enough. My best time was 2.11, Lindens was 2.01. I know 10 seconds a lap is a lot, but I could not have cared less. I was a happy man! In the last session I got black flagged as Lance was holding the video camera in the car, a big no-no apparently. This cut the session a little short but it was time to go anyway. I am hoping to get to the track again in jan/feb 2010.

_________________
Rob

I’m Mater
The Kentucky Poser

The latest trip to Winton raceway on 26/01/10 was a bit of a disaster. I won’t go into detail but I did manage to miss a gear and over rev the poor thing bending two push rods in the process. No big deal. I just hope I have not bent any valves. I will check the valves this week. Somehow when I rebuilt the Aussie/ US 20: 1 steering box one bearing race managed to slip off during assembly. This allowed the worm shaft to move too far and 14 of the 54 balls were floating around in the grease as was the errant bearing race. Needless to say, cornering was not the best. What a dill, I can’t believe I did that. I have since taken the box out and put it together properly this time. I replaced the bent push rods and reset the valve clearances. The old girl seems to be running well, but I still have to check the valves. I cut open the oil filter to make sure I did not do any real damage, nothing of consequence thankfully.

_________________
Rob

I’m Mater
The Kentucky Poser

I took the 64 to Winton two weeks ago. I managed to knock 9 seconds off my lap time just by driving her more like a race car and using the brakes and gears more appropriately. I had a great time and was pretty happy that I did a quicker time than a 65 V8 Mustang. I only went gardening once, no damage thankfully. The old girl still isn’t revving cleanly and has a nasty vibration around 4500 rpm, so I thought I would try another damper. I swapped the fluid one for a Romac elastomer type last week but have yet to try it out. I am also in the process of relocating the clutch master as it was very heavy to operate.

The racing I am doing in the 64 is not door to door. They give you a transponder to time you and put you into groups with 10-20 others that have around the same lap time and let you onto the track one after the other. You get about 20 minutes per session and there are about five sessions per day. I actually passed a couple of vehicles last time I went. That was a real hoot! There is another one on 26th Sept, so I will be going for some more fun to try out the new damper and clutch mods. I am also fitting a rear anti-sway bar.

_________________
Rob

I’m Mater
The Kentucky Poser

I had a blast at Winton last Sunday. Unfortunately, it was a bit on the damp side so I did not crack the 2 minute barrier. The best I could manage was a 2.06. I only missed a gear once with no damage thankfully. I even managed to keep it on the black stuff, but did do a few ‘tank slappers’ that were a little scary. The new 27mm front anti-sway bar seems to have helped. Although I won’t find out how much until I get a dry day.

_________________
Rob

I’m Mater
The Kentucky Poser

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Rob

I’m Mater
The Kentucky Poser

I just got a USB drive from Geoff in Australia with some videos of him racing the Valiant Down Under. I haven't had a chance to check it out yet, but will soon.

The Val took Best Competition Vehicle in their local Mid State Mopars show in June.

He said in his letter that he planned to take the Val to Sydney's Eastern Creek Raceway for the annual Muscle Car Masters September 7-8 for some parade laps. (The package took a little over two months to get from Australia to Germany)

Another note in the letter is that he took her to the Mopar Nationals last December to see what she would do in the quarter mile. With the little 170 and 4 speed she clicked off a 14.7 at 103 MPH, blowing away a big block Charger in the process. She is set up for road racing, not drag racing and spun at the line, but that 103 MPH indicates she could do better with some traction.

Once I have a chance to watch the videos I'll post again.

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Rob

I’m Mater
The Kentucky Poser

Fantastic results and rundown. Thanks!

Wish I had looked that guy up down there...

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

Bump

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Official Cookie and Mater Tormentor.

Hello All! Thanks to GTS225 and others on the H.A.M.B and Australian forums I was able to get back in contact with my old friend Geoff Pine!

It has been way too long since we updated this thread. Here are some new happenings with the Val Down Under.

This weekend just gone was the 25th running of Chryslers on the Murray held at Albury Wodonga. There were about 750 Chrysler vehicles of all types there. Last time I went to COTM was in 2013 and I won Best Competition Car, and guess what? In 2017 I also won best Competition Car. I also gave her a squirt on the dyno. In 2013 she pulled 191 RWHp at 6,500. In 2017 she managed 213 RWhp at 6400. Same dyno and same operator both times. I was very pleased with the result and the applause from the crowd was pretty good too. Like a fine wine she gets better with age.

In June last year as part of our club’s Mid State Mopars show we ran a motorkhana event. I let my friend Tim drive as I always mess up and go the wrong way. Unfortunately, on the second run he pulled a big neutral going from 1st to 2nd hitting about 10,000 rpm and the result was 4 bent push rods and two bent valves. I machined up two new valves and had some trick pushrods made, fitted new adjusting screws in the roller rockers, as the ball end on some of the adjusting screws were disappearing, so far, so good.

In 2015 I tackled Mt. Tarrengower Hill Climb, I will tell you about that later.

If you want to see the old girl in action, Search You-tube for 1964 Plymouth Valiant V100 Part 2. There is also part 1 but it is a bit dull. Tim put these on for me some time back.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ws4jSYeu9p0

I just watched the video (12:35). She sounds awesome at full song!

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Rob

I’m Mater
The Kentucky Poser

I've asked Geoff to give me some more stories of the things I've missed, so he just sent me his adventures at the Mt. Tarrengower Hill Climb.

Here is the story from Geoff:

I had never been to a hill climb event prior to Oct 2015. I thought it may even be a bit boring, but I was wrong. It was good fun. It is a two day event held every year at Mt. Tarrengower which is in the historic town of Maldon, about a 20 minute drive from Marong. It is a 2km climb rising from 375m to 570m with an average gradient of 9.8%. The event has been running for over 80 years and is open to pre 1972 cars and bikes.

The first day is practice for those who have not competed before and for those who can run under 60 seconds. I had two runs on the first day. The first was just to get a feel of the track and I ran a 59.2. The second I ran a 53.5. I gave her a bit thinking I would leave her in third gear. I glanced at the tacho as I went over the line, how does 7200rpm sound? Pretty good as it turns out, as it echoed down the mountain. But a bit high I thought so I planned to use 4th on the next run.

On the second day, competition day, we each had three runs. My first was a 52.5, followed by a scary 52.3 run when I dropped a wheel in the dirt! The resulting tank slapper was no fun, but I managed to hang on to her. I backed off on the last run with a 54.4 knowing that the previous 52.3 was a winning time.

I won my class and got a nice trophy for 1965 touring cars over 2000cc. I was up against a couple of 3.8 litre Jags, a Mk1 Zepher and a Falcon Sprint and I hosed the lot! I went home a happy man. Not a bad result for a first time old fella with Parkinsons who can’t drive.



Way back in 2005 when I first started this thread I was in Iraq and didn't have access to any of the cool photos Geoff had sent me of the build... It's taken me 12 years, but here are some of the photos with the story re-told:


Here is how she looked when I sent her to Geoff from Tucson, AZ in 1999.

























And baffled oil pan.









.





Taken home by the same trusty tow rig that picked her up at the port.


Geoff sent me more photos of some of the cool things he has done to her. I don't have them all loaded into my Image Shack account yet, so I still have more work to do.

Stay tuned!!

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Rob

I’m Mater
The Kentucky Poser

Super cool, Rob and Geoff. Wish I had contacted Geoff when I was in Aussie a few years back.

Fun in the sun with a V...

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

Very Cool Stuff.


Some things to consider when getting to the next Building stage for Grüne Hölle car.


Thanks Rob.


Greg

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http://www.youtube.com/hyperpack

She definitely went to a good home!

_________________
Rob

I’m Mater
The Kentucky Poser