Lou, any good alignment people near Pasadena or LA, CA?
I'm on the verge of replacing the torsion bars, bushings and thingies on my 63 Valiant.
Afterwards, I'm going to get an alignment, but I forget what a properly-aligned Valiant feels like, so I have to rely on a knowledgeable shop.

I took mine to two places in Pasadena.

Fremont&Purdon on the SW corner of Lake and Orange Grove is a good all around shop, and tends to try to rip people off less than any other shop I talked to. They are not alignment experts, but they do it, and they did custom specs for me.

The last place I used was primarily a suspension place, and was better. I can't remember the name now, but it was on Foothill, I think east of Allen and on the S side of the street. Might have been near that glass shop. He did the specs I wanted, and some other work on my Van and was very reasonable and trustworthy.

Modifying the specs a little from factory is good. What mods are you doing, what tires/rims, and what do you want out of the car?

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

The Plan:
10 inch drums
.870 torsion bars *
moog problem-solver UCA bushings
improved strut rod bushings
upper and lower ball joints
other bushings...?
4 new shocks
Y the twin pipes together into a single tailpipe because the right tailpipe always dents the right rear shock.

So far I only have the .870 bars...*

I just want improved handling for a daily driver. I'm going to lower the front 1 1/2" or so, hence the bigger bars. I got Tom Condran's book, but unfortunately he focuses on the disc swap.

I want to upgrade to big front drums instead of discs because I have to do this project over at least two weekends.
I need to be able to drive it after the first weekend.

The tricks I used to pull the big torsion bars out of the donor car didn't work on my 41-year-old stock bars. Using a clamp made from blocks of wood, it took 2+ hours to pull them at Ecology, but spent a whole weekend trying to remove the originals without success.
The bars are stuck in the LCA, not in the rear socket.

I plan to spend one weekend doing the front end rebuild and then doing the dual master swap the next weekend.

I constructed a massive clamp from a short piece of 1/2 x 4 x 8" mild steel angle, three U-bolts from 1 1/2" muffler clamps (heavier than generic U-bolts from hdwr store) and a 7" long 1/4 x 1 x 1 angle iron (freebie!) which is worn like a hat or roof on the torsion bar.
The idea was gotten from here:

http://www.4secondsflat.com/torsionbarremoval.html

but when I saw that 4 x 8 piece of scrap at Phillips Steel, I made it longer, added a third U-bolt and used the 1 x 1 hat which gives me a lot more clamping area and spreads out the force applied by the U-bolts when I clamp it.
I call it Jed.

FINALLY GOT THE PHOTOS TO SHOW!!








These photos were taken just after it successfully pulled a torsion bar.

I'll let you know how it works on the reluctant 1963 bars in a few weeks.

Unfortunately, I am only using wood blocks and jackstands to support the car.
If I could stand while wielding my hammer, I could make better use of the 4 x 3" target.

Oh yeah, wheels.
As I understand it, my 13" wheels won't clear the 10" drums.
I'm just going to get plain 14" wheels with 70 series tires from pickapart.

I looked at a 74 Valiant with huge 10" with cooling fins today. They are 4x5 bolt pattern, so I guess I can stick with my rearend.

I need to resist mission creep - and I edited out some other things, but sooner or later I'll have to do this upgrade too:

http://www.earlycuda.org/tech/ujoint.htm

I'm not sure about the wheels and tires.
I'd like to find some stock steel wheels and hubcaps and put cheap Dunlop 195 70R14 tires on it.

* I posted earlier they were .890s because they say 892L and 893R,
but according to Condron's book, those are p/ns for .870s.

the best place i've been to is in Highland Park, CA. it's right off the 110. it's called Lizarde Auto, talk to a guy named Gus. He gave me some great info on my leaf springs and fixed my shocks and replaced some bushings. He's also replaced my power steering. He's a good guy and really straight up. Gus is also selling a restored 63 valiant and he's got a coronet with a V8 sitting in the shop..

good mopar guy i must say...

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70 Plymouth Valiant 4dr

Thanks for the recommendations.
Editted plan:

I'm going to keep the 9" brakes.

They were totally rebuilt 18 months ago - new wheel cylinders, drums, master - and they stop good. I just have to adjust them every few months.

The thing is - Tom Condran says in his book that the early A-body (63) lower ball joints are too small.
Can I upgrade to the newer lower ball joints and still use the 9" drum brakes? (to make a future brake upgrade easier)

This weekend was educational. I am even more in awe of you serious slanters who can dismantle and whip together a front end.

I got the left idler arm free with the pickle fork in 5 minutes this morning, then spent the next 5 hours trying to pop the right one.
I will give me that the outer tie rod end was bent and the damn locking steering column was locked, but that's no excuse. I'm a girlie man.

I did take the opportunity to examine how the suspension and steering parts fit together and answered some of my own questions, but judging by my physical performance, it would take me 4 or 5 days to properly disassemble a A-body front end.
And I'd need 5 or 6 weeks of chiropractic visits to undo the damage.

Weep weep weep!

So I guess I'll save money by buying a front end kit for my year instead of buying a mismatched set of parts individually - unless you say I can use the later model lower ball joints.

By the way, my new torsion bars are .870, not .890 as posted earlier.
Lucky mistake, because they're probably a better fit for my moderate-performance daily driver.

Don't worry so much about the 9" drum BJs, they will be fine. Switch to discs when you can and skip the 10" drum step in your long-term plan.

If it were me, I'd go to a pick-part place (Ecology, P-Your-P, P-a-P) and get '73-76 A-body discs and UCAs. Just save your money and time and do it all at once if you can.

But, staying with a good set of 9" drums and rebuilding the rest is not so crazy. My '64 Dart actually stopped pretty well with the 9" drums from less than 80 MPH. My heavier '68 was always hurting for brakes w/ the 9"ers though.

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

It's a relief to hear that from you.

But how do you like Jed Clamp-it?

I think it's comparable to the AM 23461 tool in the center of this page


http://gearsandrears.com/americanmuscleparts2.html

Very nice work on the puller. Pretty close to Beverly Hills...

For the 9" brakes, I guess you know to leave extra stopping distance, esp in the wet.

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

I always go to a guy in Burbank named Lee. He does lots of hot rods and "Vintage" cars. Very good prices. I'll look up the address if anyone is interested. It's on Burbank Blvd near Buena Vista

Mike Andreas

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1965 Valiant 200 /6 2dr Sedan.
1965 Valiant 200 V8 4dr Wagon
1965 Barracuda /6
1965 Valiant Convertible V8