early 60's valiant/dart guys, I need advice.

I may looking at a '64 valiant wagon if wife decides she interested.

What should I look for. Where do they rust.

This is supposed to be a driver with a cheap paint job on it. Intereior is complete, but could use recovering. I hoping to get some pics and details. I know the slant 6 and the push button tranny are fairly bulletproof.

They are asking $4k. That seems a bit high to me we are probably willing to go $3.5k max if it's really clean low mileage car that is mechanically good.

 

I had a 64 Canadian Valiant (half Dart and half Valiant).

The frame rails immediately behind the transmission are notorious for rust. Check for rot there. I would also check around the front control brackets and motor mounts.

As for the body, the usual rust is common (around the fenders, floors and rocker panels).

The slant six is a nice engine for just a daily driver for the wife and the 904 transmission is simple to work on as well.

 

like mentioned above....quarters ,tops of fenders , drivers floor, along the firewall , where the inner fenders meet. been awhile since we had a wagon at the shop, but parts that are wagon specific are fairly rare , or atleast they were back in the mid 90's.....

 

My '66 Barracuda was rusted in the control arm (A-frame) area. It was too expensive to fix at the time.

I have been told slant sixes tend to crack exhaust manifolds.

 

Great feedback guy's this is exactly what I'm looking for.

I hate to ask this but what a fair price for an everage car in average condition?

 

It's a MOPAR - check the TOPS of the fenders!

 

Other than to agree it sounds a bit high I don't want to tell you what to spend on a car you want that I have never seen.

Try to find some prices on something similar. Maybe check the internet for vintage car dealers. If it's been for sale for a long time chances are they may be interested in a lower offer. My Dad always said "start low you can always go up."

 

For a nice one that's not too bad. If it was a southern car the rust should be pretty minimum. Maybe find out the history of the car. Was it always a southern car? I'd look under the spare tire area. The bottom of the tailgate, bottom of doors. Sometimes the wiper grommets will go back and will allow water to come in and rot out the front floor boards.

 

How is the aftermarket support for these. are restoration parts available? I've done a little looking and I don't see any body panels available.

 

It's pretty scarce. I would imagine station wagon parts are really rare. You might go to slantsix.org or com and check some things out. I think Lawsons make some parts. I haven't had to buy any parts so I'm not much help.

 

when i did my last valiant , i was buying whole cars , just for a piece . i later ran into a guy that had some nos stuff , but he never would seal the deal...

 

I am lucky I have a mopoar wrecking yard close by. The price of the car is real high. I know of one here for 500 and drive it home. needs work ? yes but with the 3500 you save you can paint it and get new threds. also remember your wheel is a 5x4 pattern so your rim option is about three rims. My friend has a 64 with a 65 cudw grill and its tits. 225 super six intake and a header with a 40 flowmaster.20+ MPG.

 

A real , real bad spot for rust on them is where the torsion bar fastens to the body. They rust out there and it's a real problem to fix. If my memory is correct, that was so common that you could buy aftermarket repair kits for the problem. That price of $35 bills does seem pretty high, though. I can't imagine that particular car being worth that much for another 20 years. I could be wrong, though. I have been known to be. ( I've been divorced twice).

 

Price is high, but there are fewer each year.
Rust is common wherever water can sit. Spare tire well, floor boards (leaks through the wiper gaskets) and along the bottom of the fixed windows. Also where dirt plugs the drain holes. Lower quarters, bottom of the doors and tailgate, bottom of the cowl and where the front fenders meet the cowl. Salt adds other areas. Exhaust leaks will also rot areas.
The later ones had issues with the where the door latch post mounted, but I haven't seen that on the pre-66 stuff.
Front sheetmetal was shared, but rear trim and tail lights are unique.
If you have to go through the trans, make sure you or the builder is aware of the special parts and techniques for the pushbutton shifter. Those can set you back some money.

 

If you do get it and need tranny parts for it, I do happen to have a pushbutton tranny and the push button mechanism for a slant six. As far as whether it is any good or not, I do not know. But the price will be right for sure.
I also have the front sheet metal for a 64 Valiant, fenders, hood, no bumper.
Robert

 

Exhaust manifold tends to shear off the rear stud, due to extreme expansion/contraction.

 

Torsion bar anchors,(trans. crossmember area), and floor boards....................Stomp around in there with them big 'ol feets of yours, you'll find it!!!!!

 

Thanks guy's. I'm waiting on some pics. If the wife is up for it we're gonna go check it out next weekend. We'll keep y'll posted. This is the wife first old car so it's gonna need to be rust free and ready to go. I'm knee deep in rust repair of a '47 Dodge (which also has zero aftermarket support) and definitely not going to get into this again with a car for the wife.

 

Pre 67 A-body cars just don't command the prices of post 67 A-bodys or their year equivelent B-bodys. $3.5k is an ok number, but you shouldn't have to make any comprimises for that money, and should have your choice of cars.

Beware of rubber floor mats, they destory mopar floors even when the rest of the car is tip top. You might be able to buy floor patches, and doing floors wouldn't bother me.

 

Wagons are hard to come by and 66 was the last year for A-body wagons. The price sounds about right. the front brakes come be upgraded to disc with 5 x 4.5 bolt pattern with doner parts and the rear can be swapped to a later model for the bolt pattern too. Take a look at the B&T joint on the driveshaft. Make sure the boot isn't cracked. You don't want durt in there and the rebuilt kits for that is spendy. Most of the body and interior parts that share with the other valiants or barracuda are cheap and easy to find on ebay or one of a number of online junk yards.

 

we just looked at a 64 4 door dart for mommy. it was pretty nice 50,000 mile car with some bondo and a nice interior. they wanted 2800$ for it. that is about double the price i was willing to pay.

 

Rust...Floorboards, rear wheel well lip, lower quarters, lower portion of front fender by doors, trunk in the spare tire well no replacement panels available at this time, door hinges wear out, bulkhead electric connection can get corroded cause a wiring harness fire, gas cap no longer available, Small Bolt pattern makes wheels harder to find, right and left hand thread on lug studs, if push button, trans is expensive to rebuild, no cables are available, Slant six is a tough engine to beat, run forever, some are steel crank, also adjustable rocker arms, easily converted to electronic ignition with pertronix, narrow engine bay if doing a V-8 swap will need A-body exhaust manifolds, 7 1/4 axle is weak but will live with slant six or mild V-8, if swapping axle will have to narrow a rearend or use a B-body axle 1/2 inch difference. I have two 64 Valiants, V-8 two door and a Slant six more door.........still no wagon yet.......3500 sound a little on the high end for an A-body wagon, it needs to be in really good shape for that kind of money......one more thing the wagons had body panels only found on wagons so any rear quarter work require sheet metal surgery or a donor....good luck.....

 

Spring pockets @ the front of the rear springs is a bad spot on all MOPAR unibodies.

 

the wagons are going up, rarity makes them interesting...if it's not a rust disaster, just floors, grab it. Someone already mentioned the ball and trunion set up can be a trouble, and the cables for the trans--although you can get them made up for $$.

 

http://www.imperialservices.net/ sells the shifter cables. As for rearends, later Dart 8 1/4 is a bolt in so is a Ford 67-70 mustang 8 or 9 is a dirrect bolt in too. Magnum V8 manifolds work in the A-bodies with better flow than the stocker, also there are header choices for both small V8 and /6.

 

Cool now i know where to get the cables, I still need a park cable..I was told the magnum manifolds where a no go....

 

Frame sections and crossmember and torsion boxes

 

Imperial Services carries the park cables too. A couple people I have talked too used the magnums. I went with spitfire headers.

 

If you're asking about rust on a MOPAR, then you should be reminded what MOPAR is an acromyn for.

Mostly Old Parts And Rust

That being said, I love my rusty 64 Dart simply because it's a cheap and easy beater to work on.

 

$3500-$4000 is a fair price for a wagon if the body is in good shape, I would say it is high if it was a plain 4dr. These early A-Body's are going up in value quicker than the other A-Body's. I've been messing with them for 27 years and the interest I have seen in them recently is more than I ever seen.

As far as bolt pattern, disc brakes and wheel options. This is not a big deal, the disc brakes and rear ends from a 73-76 disc brake A-Body is a cheap way to go.