1966 Valiant for the Other Daughter....

Since Robert is not gonna finish my daughters car we need to get back to it...

Welcome to Season 2 of "A troubled '66 Valiant for a troubled daughter" (inside joke between her and me, she thinks she likes this car because it has seen some rough spots in its life just like her). Not sure if I have said this before but Kylie is on the Autism Spectrum so her visits to work on the car are typically short and the medications she takes really affect her in the heat and sun so I am just thrilled for what time she can work with me. She was very scared of the air tools but I think she got comfortable with them by the end. So where we go... we stripped the rest of the front sheet metal and then pulled out the 50 year old wiring and cleaned off the firewall. There are a few hidden things in those front fenders..... Then a thunderstorm rolled in and it was time to quit.

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Felt like I was possessed by Robert's Spirit Animal Hawk as sparks flew, muscled bulged and sweat dripped while I weildied the hammer and dolly on the front fender that was really messed up this evening.... It came out really nice.... brought all the shapes and body lines back. Guess his 2 minute tutorial and hawk will guide me to a successful restoration and keep the profits for a second gallon of Platinum Plus out of 3M's pockets.

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Here's the how-to on making the leaf spring hammer for working the concave of that quarter....


Wagon Progress

More progress in the shop, another upholstered piece getting assembled... this one the driver's side rear kick panel. Our polished stainless seat belt escutcheons are installed, one in the front for the lap belt and up top for the shoulder belt. Midrange and tweeter installed...
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Gutted the RH door and documented everything for reassembly. Reverse the order shown here, vent window frame (leave the lower track bracket off to get the regulator in later), door handle/key cylinder, lock assy, inner door handle, regulator, glass, front track bracket (part of the vent frame). Got the rear right quarter gutted, will show how that was done on the left side in next weeks episode.

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So if I don't get this painted by Thanksgiving I am done until April as it will be too cold in the garage to paint. If I did not have all that metal work in the back to finish I think there is a good change I could make it, but.... With all that work there is no way just working weekends so I am going to try to put in a few hours after work every day. I still think the odds are low but at least there is a chance I could get lucky.. We counted up the car shows coming in Sept/Oct and that will take 5 weeks of Saturdays or a full work week out of play...

Stripped the worst fender with the most hidden sins. I knew they existed as I could see them on the backside. The other fender is much better. This one is ready for the welder, hammer and dolly then the final sand blasting in the complex areas and it can get epoxied. If I can have both fenders epoxied by the end of this weekend I will be happy. Then next week will be the same plan for the doors. By then the summer rains should have ended and I can get busy on the rear metal work.

90 degree grinder, 60 minutes and Blackhawk disks are all you need to get here.


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Sorry Robert, I was offered some perfect fenders and hood so I will just be replacing the parts that are in need of hammering.... I am lazy ;)
 
Few quality hours with the grinder and the Blackhawk blue abrasive disks and I am ready to fix some metal and sandblast to get ready for the epoxy primer. My high rise garage door kit came in too so one day this weekend will be getting it installed so I can stack two cars and get the Valiant in the garage... Not sure how long this dry spell is going to last.

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What a day. But I finally have what I dreamed of when I bought the lift! Unbelievable that a lag had been in the water line for 18 years without a leak. The moment I stated to unscrew the lag a loud hiss from ceiling. I knew what it was. Emergency weekend plumber bill to splice the PEX and we were fixed.

The Valiant goes in the garage tomorrow!

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