1963 Valiant Street Machine. (HUGE UPDATE)

[Mopar Charlie]

Picked this up at the swap this past weekend. It is a AMT 1963 Valiant Friction Promo. The hood was already cut open so I took this one to the next level. I added the firewall, radiator support, and the chassis from an MPC 1969 Barracuda. Grabbed some spare tires and wheels and cobbled it all together.
Here is the car I started with. The original Friction motor still works LOL.

A little Mopar Charlie magic and here is the updated version of this little A body,

[Tuffone20]

Nice save!! What color are you planing on painting it?

[DusterEd]

Wow what a great find.

[Mopar Charlie]

What do you think of Mango Orange and a Mango Orange and White interior? Liking the idea of stuffing a 426 Hemi into that engine bay too.

[Mopar Charlie]

Feb 27, 2018 20:28:11 GMT -5 DusterEd said:

Wow what a great find.

Got it pretty cheap because the resin bumpers and the cut open hood. Body and interior are mint too.

[tubbs]

great find Charlie. really cool. I am sure your "cream cycle" valiant will look great. I would go a little further though...



... and the "cream cycle" reference came from a car show a loooooooong time ago, there was a 55 chevy pro street with the same colors and the license plate said "CRMCYCL" don't know why I remember that.

[69beepbeep]

Love the look and stance

[Mopar Charlie]

Feb 28, 2018 7:33:06 GMT -5 tubbs said:

great find Charlie. really cool. I am sure your "cream cycle" valiant will look great. I would go a little further though...

View Attachment

... and the "cream cycle" reference came from a car show a loooooooong time ago, there was a 55 chevy pro street with the same colors and the license plate said "CRMCYCL" don't know why I remember that.

Ha ha, like that Al. The paint scheme will keep changing if I dont get the paint on it. Thats the problem. I do so much changing to the chassis and dtivetrain adding bigger tires, bigger motors, scoops etc I spend like forever doing this and paint stays on the back burner until i get everything else done. By that time my ideas on paint changes, just like the 41 Plymouth. Tgst originally was going to be candy purple, go figure?

[Mopar Charlie]

Feb 28, 2018 7:53:57 GMT -5 69beepbeep said:

Love the look and stance

Thanks, it came together pretty quick. I will not be making changes to the chassis. I will get better tires on it the same size. It's now getting the motor in the chassis, figuring if and what scoop will be used, then starting the build to the finish. I have many on the bench now. If I don't get distracted (which I always do) this one could be done pretty quick as the hard choices are already done.

[sportabout]

It looks really good. I love these old Mopars.

[Mopar Charlie]

Feb 28, 2018 15:54:18 GMT -5 sportabout said:

It looks really good. I love these old Mopars.

Me too. Messing with big blocks in the car right now. Just a bit more and it's time to strip it down and begin painting.

[Mopar Charlie]

Decided I did not like the setup after all. That chassis was just too narrow and looked bad under the hood. So I had this idea!! I grabbed a parts AMT Duster kit and began the retrofitting. Had to cut an 1/8th of an inch of the back edge of the chassis, trim along the trunk drops and rear wheel wells. In the center of the chassis I had to split it and take an 1/8th of an inch out of it to fit under the Valiant body. Next phase of this idea of mine was to cut the inner fender, radiator support part out of the spare Duster body. Then started cutting away at the front to fit it into the body. Once I got everything fitting the next thing was to tack on the front and rear suspension to check if the wheels and tires would line up in the wheel openings. Once satisfied I installed junk tire and wheels to check fitment. I had issues with motors too. Started with an 8 barrel 383. It did not fit under the hood. I would have had to cut the hood and add a scoop, did not want to do that. Next was an 8 barrel 426 Hemi, same result in the old chassis after adjustments. On the new chassis I had another idea. Since the big block and Hemi did not fit and I felt there would be more cutting and trimming on the new chassis I did not want to do I came up with plan "B". Now the chassis has a 340 six pack. The bigger motors did not go with the build. The car was a bit too mild for the big blocks. It works better and has the flow I want with the small block. Here are the latest pictures, you guys be the judges!




Out with the old, in with the new.

[tubbs]

That Looks a hell of a lot better. Nice job on the chassis. As much as I love cubic inches, I really think the 340 looks good in there. Nice job on the engine bay too.

[68383]

That's miles better

[scooby]

I agree that chassis is perfect for it. Dam I wish I could find one of these Valiants