might be buying a 66 valiant 4door as my first car hoping its not rotten but look farley mint is there any thing that i should look for other then the tipical thing you would look for on a 40 year old car or any other car (rust ,running engine ...) any info would be apprecated thanks
You probably won't be getting a warm welcome around here with a 1966 model. Too many guys are hung up on the pre-64 idea. Head over to: http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/ Good guys and alot of practical experience. .
Chassis. If the frame is rusted or modified I don't bother. I don't like to risk someone doing a half-assed front clip install or whatnot. Same with engine swaps, I'm just picky I guess. I go for all original or it's a bust. That's just me and one of the rules I set for myself though (seeing as I don't have the dough or time required usually to go and fix someone's mistakes since whatever old car I buy is usually my daily), I'm sure others will chime in with ideas for you.
These questions usually have more to do with your budget, time frame, and mechanical ability. Can you turn a wrench? Do you want something you can drive this summer or next? After purchasing the car do you have enough extra coin to fix some bigger stuff or just small stuff? As far as the car and what to look for. Always assume there will be mechanical issues. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but it's 40yr old car and even the best made parts have to fail at some point. I take a look at the structure of the car (moondog13). After that I test drive and if it makes it around the block, up/down a hill, and stops reasonably well.... it's sold.
I may be mistaken here, but I think this car will have a torsion bar front end? If so, abodies are pretty notorious for rusting here and proper repair can be a bear. The website Moparts.com is great; very helpful and obviously mopar specific. Good luck, they are cool cars.
yea i couldent rember the cutoff here on the H.A.M.B i know it was in the 60's but i couldent rember the exzacked year but thanks for the link
Check t-bar mounts, open the hood and check the corners where the hood hinges are and bring a flash light and look in those holes, floor boards under driver and pass feet, those are your only real trouble spots. If you buy it throw a few ballast resistors in the glove box. And if its gonna be a family car swap in a 73-76 dual bowl master cylinder trust me losing the toilet bowl pulling up to a stop sign is no fun.
dont know if the american ones are the same as the aussie cars but check for rust (or rust repairs ) around the steering box, thats generally a good indicator on the frame condition if there is signs of rust or patches in this area let it go it will be a pain in the arse.
Check out this link to tre A body's only forum. Thay have a section dedicated to early a bodys, such as the '66 valiant. There is lots of good info over there.http://www.forabodiesonly.com/
Like others have said watch for rust where the torsion bars mount to the crossmember. These areas rot out from the inside and usually above the torsion bar so look and poke around there. The tops of the front fenders can rust too as well as the floor pans by your feet. Also note that the wheels on these are usually a 4 inch on 5 bolt pattern which may limit your wheel choice. These can be nice cars when done right but make sure a 4 door is what you want before sinking a lot of money into a car that may not be popular enough to sell later and get back some cash for the next one.
I don't think many people regardless of forum are gonna get all wound up over a 66 four door anything. BUT, Per metalshapes (one of the HAMB mods) "Yeah, there is a cut off date for the Classifieds. "THE CUTOFF IS 1964. Unless the vehicle shares the EXACT same body style. NO VW'S or Mustangs. There are plenty of other sites for them." On the Main Board it is up to about the mid '60s ( in year and buildstyle ), unless its REALLY cool. Then we might make an exception for something thats a little newer. ( and please dont get too upset if something you think is really cool gets Deleted anyway...)" So there you have it. Oh and good luck with whatever you buy.
As I remember, Chrysler made it easy to convert the '60s Valiants to front disc brakes using early '70s factory parts.
alright i bought it is a 66 4 door 225 slant 6 in amazing shape whell my standards it is little surface rust here and there excepet for the passanger side rear quarter has some rot nothing a patch panel cant fix other then that she's in nice shape new brakes and ball joints it does need a minor tune up but i can do that at school o and aventuley paint did i menshion i only paid $700
I dated a girl in high school that own a baby blue one. We named it the "valium" because it was a very grandma looking car. Not saying yours is, because I definately saw potential in it......she just didn't use it. lol nice looking car
That's a great first car. Here in the US that's a Dodge Dart, but in Canada a Valiant. I think the wheelbase is just a bit longer than the US Valiant, and the interior a bit nicer. You may find subtle differences in cosmetic parts, but all the mechanical stuff is the same, and well built. Congrats!
Well where they were exposed to road salt here in the northeast life expectancy for those was about 5 years, at which point stuff started falling off, holes started to appear, and doors got hard to close. Typically, rear quarters rear wheel opening dog leg where it meets the door, bottom of the front fenders, rockerpanel to A pilla,r floor at the same place, rear sub frame near the rear spring shackles. Top of the inner fenders where the shock mounts are, and rear rockers where the meet the rear inner fender wheel well. Check em with a magnet for excessive bondo. If the car came from a relatively dry climate these aren't issues unless there was a windshield leak.
cool car. 66+4 door=not hamb friendly. will most likely be deleted. and if not, i would be very confused. then again, i've been surprised before around here.
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