I just bought a 63 Valiant 2-dr and not being at all familiar with that year, I've got a couple of questions:

1. It now has an 8 1/4 rear with 2.94 gear. Anyone got a source for suregrip with a little more gear?

2. What other year parts with interchange with the 63?

3. If anyone has replaced the front bench seat with buckets, which did you or would you use?

Thanks...I'll be asking a lot of questions in the near future I'm sure.

John

I used Cressida buckets in my 65(same thing)[/img]

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Yeah....Im the one who destroyed this rare, vintage automobile.....

The rear gears and sure grip is an over the counter through a rear-end shop or a performance place like Summit... if you have to get some gears out of the junk yard it's any 8 1/4" rear in a car or truck (mostly your want truck rears for the 3.21 to 4.11 gears...but they can be hammered from towing) from 1974 to 1994 (plus or minus...the gears should be good from 72+, but if you get a sure grip unit as salvage the axle splines changed post 95).

Your car interchanges with some stuff from 1963-1966 Dart/Valiant/Barracuda.

-D.Idiot

On those seats...

If you want a "vintage" appearance, try to find some buckets from a '65-'68 C- body. (Chrysler, Fury, Monaco/Polara)

When the front bench was out of my '65 Val so my girlfriend could make new seat covers (she's now my wife as of 9/3!) I used a bucket seat from a '65 C-body. They fit the floor pan like they belong there. You just have to drill out the factory bucket seat bolt hole locations. The outer ones are obvious - about an inch inboard of the bench seat holes. The holes are aready in the reinforcement plate, just not the floor pan itself. then sit the seat in place to find the inboard hole location. I sat the passenger seat in place just to see what it would look like, and almost changed my mind about recovering the bench! They are of course a bit bigger and bulkier than A-body buckets, so you couldn't use a console, but they don't look out-of -place. I think they'd look pretty classy. A lot of '60s English and European cars used big separate front seats that nearly met in the middle. They are very comfortable, too.

What ever buckets you use, don't forget to add some reinforcement on the inboard side to keep the nuts from pulling through the floor pan.

HTH,

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Brian (Valianator)

'65 Valiant V100 170/T-flite
'82 D150 225/4-speed
'65 Dart 225 4 door
'68 Dart 225 4-door with Valiant front clip (future project)

Replacing bench seat: probably the easiest is to use buckets from a 66 and earlier A Body. Tracks are correct for the chassis. Repro upholstery is available for those models that came with buckets. I used 65 Signet buckets in my 65 Dart wagon - everything fit like it was factory.

As a side note I found that the mounting bolt spacing from a power seat track from a 68 Chrysler wagon is the same as the early A Body as well as a 65 Coronet (now have a pwer driver's seat in the Coronet). I may be parting out the Coronet, so I'd definitely be using the power seat track in the wagon.

Others have used buckets from a Sebring convertible; for example, and were able to incorporate the shoulder harness from the seat.

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65 Dart station wagon slant 6 - now under construction
47 Dodge Custom 4 Door sedan
87 D100 Short Bed slant 6

Retired USAF 1966-1986
Retired US Postal Service 2004-2014

Bucket seats are no good for cuddling up with someone special on those long romantic drives...

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God took you away, then brought you back to me.

summit racing sells a powertrax mechanical locker for the 8.25rear you can install with out messing with the ring and pinion at all. Just pull brakes off remove rear cover push axles in and remove c clips then pop axles out and install it with rear end still in the car. cost is around 385 to 425 dollars. If you are happy with the current gear if not they sell richmond / motive / and superior axle and gear ring and pinion sets. might still be cheaper than buying a complete differential with ring and pinion.

Just a thought , shop and compare. good luck and i hope this helps you out some.

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dont compromise customize

boost IS a substitute for cubic inches

Hmmmm... they were fine 35 years ago and I have a daughter to prove it. <smile> Looking at them now though, I sure don't know how!

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David Kight
'62 Valiant Signet, White
'98 Dodge Dakota
'06 Jeep Liberty

Growing older is unavoidable but growing up is strictly optional.