Up front, we knew we wanted...
Up front, we knew we wanted something classic, something affordable, and something two-door. Most hardtops were out of our price range, but this ’68 Plymouth Valiant post car was perfect. We wanted something rust-free under $3K; it took three months of looking through Craigslist ads, but we scored this Slant Six automatic Mopar for just $2,500. The deals are out there—you just have to be patient! In this state, it’s still far from being cruise-in or car-show ready though …
Those Occupy Wall Street folks just might be onto something. The 1 percenters have all the fun while the rest of us get nada. The hot rodding world certainly has its equivalent. The 1 percenters build sky-is-the-limit checkbook cars, while the rest of us window shop eBay and Craigslist. Sigh. Maybe one day. Screw that! Don’t stand around in some imaginary car guy unemployment line—we say, occupy Goodguys! Occupy Super Chevy! Occupy the Car Craft Summer Nats! Why should check writers have all the fun?
We decided to do something about it. We figured the best way to get the fence sitters out of the car guy unemployment line and into the cruisin’ lane was to prove that you can get into the game and be a real player for small bank. We spent real money on a real car and real parts—and you would be astonished to know what kinds of cool comments we’ve gotten on our ’68 Valiant since we pulled off this fantastic feat.
One tip to duplicating our low price of admission is that we started out with a long list of possible car candidates. Had we actually been looking for a ’68 Valiant, we surely would’ve paid more, but we were open to any car—the only “must haves” were that it needed to be locally owned, domestic, two-door, no convertible, no rust, driveable condition, mostly straight body, and ’60-72 model year. We searched for three months, looked physically at a dozen cars, and cherry picked the best deal when it came up. Three strategies saved us from overspending on project car fodder: we weren’t obsessed with finding a specific car model, we weren’t hell-bent on a V-8, and we placed fanatical importance on a straight, rust-free body with salvageable paint. That last one may seem like a costly concession, but it actually saves a bucket of money on body and paint. Framing those principles was the knowledge that a killer-looking wheel/tire package and the right stance can make practically any car look good.
Our Valiant had been sitting...
Our Valiant had been sitting in the desert, buried up to its axles in sand for 30 years, so saying it was covered in crap is an understatement. To even see what we had paint-wise to work with, we needed to give it a bath. We started with some Mothers California Gold Car Wash. Day one of our weekend resto was spent with the Mopar lovers at Picture Car Warehouse—PCW’s Al Kruger is shown giving us a hand.
When searching for a car, time is on your side—despite pressure from sellers telling you otherwise. That cash may be burning a hole in your pocket, but resist the urge to buy rust in the shape of a car. Can’t find anything nice at your price? The longer you take to add to the spending pot, the larger your cash kitty will grow, and the nicer your project can be. We started out with a $1,700 pot, but by the time we found our Valiant three months later, we had $2,500 stashed.
Patience and responsible buying habits do pay off. We found a remarkably nice Slant Six ’68 Plymouth Valiant for $2,800 and talked the seller down to $2,500. To the good, it was virtually rust free, it was a running car with no major mechanical issues, the interior was surprisingly well preserved, the paint was all there, and the body was mostly straight. On the negative side, there are numerous electrical issues, it’s a Slant Six, and there is some slight road rash on the front left fender. We figured those negatives would be easily worked out over time, as long as we could drive it over the short term. As for the parking lot scrapes on the front left fender—they’re small enough that they serve to add charm. At least paint still covers them and they are darned hard to see in photos.
Some gearheads might put the first priority on building a nasty motor with a snotty attitude. We’ve done that before, in fact it’s our normal mode of operation. Lay rubber first, worry about what it looks like later. Since we have the luxury of other cars that already pound the pavement with big cubes and massive pound-feet, we thought starting with the looks could be cool for a change. Buy the car, do a quick rehab, and get into the cruisin’ lane ASAP. When cash is thin, you don’t want to have to keep laying out Benjamins month after month, year after year, with no seat time in return. Our plan: have fun with the mon.
It seemed like there would...
It seemed like there would be no end to the grime we washed off the Valiant. Every time we thought an area was clean, we got yet another layer of dirt off! The Mothers car wash was the bomb on funk this thick. The perseverance paid off, however, as there looked like hope for the underlying single-stage paint.
For $2,500, don’t expect to...
For $2,500, don’t expect to get a V-8 in a rust-free car—not even in California. Our mill was a 225ci Chrysler Slant Six; the one redeeming factor is that these are stone reliable, leak-free engines that get decent mileage. (They don’t make enough horsepower to actually break—a good thing if you’re on a budget.) We soaked it in some degreaser, then hit it with a pressure washer; just make sure to cover all electrical components before letting the water fly.
Two weeks before our weekend...
Two weeks before our weekend resto, we ordered our Coker wheels and tires. When they showed up, they were already mounted and balanced—ready to bolt on. We wanted period-looking rolling stock, and chose Coker’s reproduction BFG redlines on 15-inch Mopar steelies. After doing some Internet forum research, we calculated our largest safe tire sizes at 215/65R15 (front) and 225/60R15 (rear) mounted on 15x6 (front) and 15x8 (rear) rims.
We’re thinking about swapping...
We’re thinking about swapping in a much more powerful V-8 driveline at a later date, so it didn’t make sense to buy rolling stock to fit the small 5x4-inch bolt pattern of the Slant Six Mopar. Instead, we found an interim solution—get the larger V-8 rolling stock now and use inexpensive hub adapters until we upgrade the rearend and front spindles. These Trans-Dapt hub adapters cost $123.90 (all four wheels) and made the Coker wheel/tire swap a cinch.
Nothing makes a bigger difference...
Nothing makes a bigger difference to the appearance than the right set of wheels and tires—just check out the stock 175/80R13 next to the 225/60R15 Coker redline. Next to the $2,500 cost of the car, the Coker rolling stock was our next largest expense at $1,592 (wheels, tires, dog-dish hubcaps)—which made their selection all that more important. We needed both visual impact, and a package that could handle the traction and braking needs of a future beefed-up V-8 powertrain.
We quickly discovered that...
We quickly discovered that the wider Coker wheels—when mounted on 1-inch-thick hub adapters—were too far out, and interfered with the rear fender lip and inner wheelhouse. Mopar expert Steve Dulcich was there to aid PCW’s Al Kruger with a clearance procedure that used a ball-peen hammer and a 4x4 wood block (as a dolly) to reshape the offending area. You can’t see it, but there are thick layers of masking tape protecting the outside of the lip from the wood block.