This is our 1966 Plymouth Valiant 100 2 door hardtop post. We bought the Valiant in 2010 from a guy in just outside Miami who was planning to get it on the road but had run out of steam. The Valiant came as a roller and without a hood, bumpers and door & rear glass.
Since then, in between a busy job, study and waiting for parts to become available we have been getting the car together. We have mainly used stuff that we had kicking around and have also been creative here and there where stuff hasn't been immediately available. Economy has been the 'name of the game' since registration of imports is apparently no longer guaranteed
The missing hood and bumpers presented our first problem to overcome. Fortunately, we were able to 'borrow' hood and bumpers from a 66 Cuda owned by a friend of mine in Croydon and swiftly took the hood to a glass shop and had a couple made. I had a go at making the bumpers and made a reasonable job. The car had come with a 67 front grill that I instantly liked the look of albeit that the previous owner had butchered this to make it fit. We shipped in a replacement from the US and fitted to suit. We also managed to find the year and model specific rear glass and gasket and door glass. The body is reasonably solid although a fair bit of welding was need to both floor pans.
The Valiant was originally a slant car but have since fitted a smoky stock small block and 904 in order to get it running. This sits on the original K frame and had used Schumacher mounts to save time and aggravation. The exhaust is a basic 'home-build' affair and merely comprises of twin 2.5" Thrush silencers with turn-downs. The rear end is a 7 1/4 although we have a 9" set aside
The front and rear suspension has been completely rebuild, painted and re-bushed. We have a new pair of Super-stock springs on the rear and Comp Eng shocks all around. The brakes have been completely rebuilt and new brake lines installed.
In a final push last month we managed to get the Valiant MOT'd of which it passed 1st time and promptly sent in the documents to Swansea for registration. With a big sigh of relief, we received notification from the DVLA on Friday and have issued an age related registration mark and V5
Future plans include the fitting of the 9" rear end and a replacement motor. We have some swag bought some time ago from 'Kev the Taxi' including wheels, seats etc. The front drums will also be replaced in favour of a disc brake set up we had picked up following the rebuild of the existing braking system. We previously had visions of a tube front end, but we actually now like it as is so probably won't bother now. There is still plenty to do although we don't have any radical plans, just keep it 'Old-School' and smoke around in her
A big thanks to Lloyd, 'The Bishop', Matt H and anyone else involved
