Hi. It’s hard to begin. I have a 1974 Plymouth Valiant. My dad had gotten it for me for a real good price so I could have it for my first car. So it wouldn’t be a big loss if I wrecked it while learning to drive on my own. My dad and I had put about $500 in to it just to get it running, replacing some hoses, brakes and a few other little things. It is a sparkly brown colored with a dark tan top. No dings or dents at all (witch was kind of surprising to me when I got it since it was an old now a classic). This car wasn’t the ideal car but it got me everywhere I needed to go. At the time it was band camp (8 years playing the trumpet).

It had:
Power steering
No Power Brakes (nice for the right calf)
No power windows / Door locks
Security System (driver door lock doesn’t work so if I lock the doors you have to get in through the passenger side and slide over. No one would want to steal it anyways. Maybe the gas but not the car.)
AM radio (picked up only 1 AM channel. WBAC. So every morning on the way to High school I would hear the obituaries. Something was better than nothing.)


You have to let it warm up nice and good before you go anywhere or when you stop and hit the gas to make it across the street it would die on you. One special evening when I went to the local Collage to pick up my little sister, who is in grade school and was taking a summer class at the collage, and on the way home it started clanging really loud. It was loud enough to echo between the trees on the sides of the streets. We had stopped by Wendy’s to get some lunch and then went towards home. All most making it, the engine stopped and we coasted down the road a little. After trying to get it starting again and not able to, I ended up getting out and pushing it off the road so no one would hit it. Heavy as crap car. Anyways, my guess is that the oil pump quit and locked up the engine. My dad found another one about 2 years ago but hasn’t had time to put it in. I currently have a 2000 Toyota Tacoma PreRunner. Now that I have a good part time job and have seen movies like Fast and the Furious, Triple X, Men in Black 2, and have seen decent old cars turned in to bad beasts old cars, I am wanting to do that with my Valiant. Give it a paint job, put a bigger engine in it and soop it up, redo the inside and put power windows/door locks and a real radio system with a speaker in each door. It was a pretty weak car before but I want to change that. I also want to be able to drive it whenever I want and make it look good, but then I don’t want a show car that I never drive either.

Question 1:
How much? Can someone estimate me a round about $$$?
Question 2:
How long will it take to finish project?

I would like to know what everyone thinks and any suggestions anyone may have on what to do or anything special or whatever. Thanks for your time.

Jess Disney

_________________
Jess Disney

I would start by swapping-in a running used engine, good used Slant 6 motors are pretty easy to find.

After getting car going again, think about doing a performance rebuild on the engine that came out, that is, if you still want to fix-up the old beast and if you have the money to do the engine work. To do a good performance engine rebuild and buy a good intake, carb. and headers will cost anywhere from $1500 to 2500.00
DD

What are the traid offs and power diffrences between rebuilding my /6 into a preformance motor VS. dropping a bigger motor in it?

Jess

_________________
Jess Disney

Hey

Well if you really wanna swap in a V8 then i'd just grab a car that already is a V8 and to through in a 318 in place of a slant really isnt worth it, the slant makes almost the same power as a 318 and is way easier to work on and tune. But if you want to do a transplant, your lookin at around the same cash to do it as to re-build your six

Justin

You may not see the whole picture, yet. In a few years you may well wish you had kept your first car. I agree with Doc, drop in the replacement engine, and just get it running again. Fix the little things which bother you. At your leisure, do a few things to make it a more satisfying ride, like wheels, tires and suspenion. Use the search engine on this forum, and you'll get some ideas on what is necessary and what has the best payback. Once you get those things taken care of, you'll be ready to tackle a performance rebuild.

_________________
'66 Cuda 225/4spd
'66 Dart GT convertible 225/auto
'64 Dart GT 340/4spd

Here are some pics of the 74 Valiant. It's got a good layer of chicken crap on it because it has been sitting in a chicken house for a few years.

http://members.fortunecity.com/pink_dragon/valiant.htm

I currently allready have wheels. So the Valiant doesn't have to be going now. So what I think you guys are tellin me I should do is rebuild the engin and put performance parts on it. I have heard of drag cars with slant 6s in them, but I'm not getting how they have a slan 6 that powerfull. Just baised on my driving the Valian. If you know of anyone who has done this before or know what I should add to the engin or what kind of performance parts on the valiant, please let me know.

_________________
Jess Disney