44 replies to this topic

[Soop]

Don't know if you blokes are interested at all but...

The old boy bought this car to strip it for parts, but I spent maybe 10mins looking over it and said "Nuh-uh".
It's way to tidy for that IMO. 98% complete and what rust it does have is very easily repaired.
So the plan is to slowly but surely restore it. It will be a long process because I like to do everything myself and with a new business to run and a new born daughter time is scarce.

I want to restore it to basically original, although with the addition of a 318ci v8 and a manual gearbox of some sort (whether it be a ford t5 or w57 depending on the availability of conversion parts).








Yeah it looks like a total bucket. But I hope to change that.

7/1/11
Started pulling it apart today.Thought I might throw up some pictures.





















That's it for the rust that I can see at the moment too.

Cheers, Paul.

[Alex]

That's some significant rust there Paul.

You sure you reckon you can cut it all out and restore it?

Lead swiping?

Congrats on the birth of your daughter BTW.

[Soop]

Yeah I can fix it no worries.
It looks bad but its not really (To replace a floor pan in a CM charger, which is some 15-20yrs younger is nothing, So for a VF, this is epic condition). If it were an early commodore I would throw it in the tip, But there's not enough of these old girl left to do that.

Don't reckon I'll be touching the lead, I've no idea how to do that. I'll cut the rust and out use replacement panels from a donor car to repair it. Grind it flat and use a small amount of body filler to smooth the panels. That's the normal process.

And thanks, its a challenge but all worth it.

[Alex]

These are the Vals after the pushbutton auto ones, yeah?

These things are kewl. I like the wagons... Safari wagons?

[Soop]

lol, I have a wagon out the back too. Cutting the panels out of it. (It's totally rooted)
This one is a Regal, IIRC the push button auto was an option.

The wagon isn't a "safari". The Safari wagon is like a Regal Sedan. It's just the up market version.

As for being "Up market", the fancy thing about this regal is that it had a heater...

[XXB4XX]

err.. soop / Paul is a dad? WTF?

p.s, you willing to part the car? I bags the spider webs.

[Delete This Account]

Now this is a build thread!

[Hypnotic]

Good luck with it Paul, be great to see this oldie back up and running.

[Soop]

err.. soop / Paul is a dad? WTF?

p.s, you willing to part the car? I bags the spider webs.

LOL good to see you haven't forgot how to be a post whore Brendan.
Yeah, my daughter is 2weeks old.

I'm not parting the car, But I can spare some spider webs. Where should I send them?

Walts - Yep, no whole posts dedicated to installing center caps here.

It will be a fairly long build but worth it.

[XXB4XX]

Fark!! Congrats Paul! You're all grown up you're daughters iq us higher than 90% of the forum including me, at 2 weeks old!!

[Soop]

Yeah we'll that wouldn't be hard, Her mums a smart cookie.
She'd be fucked if she got my brains...

Anyway, more pictures of the Valiant maaaaate.

[RX25SE]

Looks like a good unit Paul.

Whats it like in the chassis next to the steering box?




I know of a VF 2 door for sale........with a 440 in it.
Yeah baby!

Interested?

[Soop]

The chassis rail is mint near the Steering box, checked it extensivly.

As for the 440 VF Hard top. If I had that kind of money I probably wouldn't have started this project! haha

[DukeNik'em]

Noice Project.

I also know of a nice Chrysler by Chrysler that a mate wanted to off load, perfect condition. There nice old cars. Good luck with the build.

Nick

[Soop]

LOL, I reckon those CxC's are ugly as sin. Thats just my opinion though.

[Richo]

That dash cluster is sweet.

[XXB4XX]

You rebuilding it or converting it to a tent? There's a fair bit of work gonna be needed..

What engine you planning on throwing in?

[Soop]

In the end a 318.
But to start with a 225ci slant six and a 904torqueflite. (160hp standard so probably as much power as a B4! )

Reason being I'll want to drive it while I build the 318 up and the 5spd conversion is going to take time to put together.
It looks like allot of work, but it's not to bad really. Its allot if you were to do the same thing to a newer car, Even the early commodores are a nightmare in comparison to these. Everything is easy or to get to or just laid out in a really logical way so you don't need 18 fingers or to break your arm in three places to get to things. Makes life so much easier.

[B4TT]

Nice work mate.

I reckon this could turn out sweet if you do it right. I am glad to hear you are going to cut and reweld plates into the rust spots and not just bog it up or lead swipe - those things are evil.

What colour are you looking at doing her in once time for painting comes?

[twinturbosubaru]

Hey Paul, nice one, as somebody said, a real build thread.
This is what I have been working on for the past 10 years, about 90% complete, very rare now just like the Val, just have engine to rebuild and gearbox, that's if I even bother with the box.
Personally, I would keep it standard, they are so enjoyable to drive and appreciate that way, plus if you ever go to shows people will seriously drooooooool, anybody can modify something, but to return a car of that age to it's original glory is an incredibly tricky process.
I ended up rebuilding all my instruments myself, I even redid the teak timberwork on my instrument cluster myself just so I knew it was right, my wife thinks I'm anal, I doubt it



Regards
Paul