And what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
Tuesday, November 4, 2025
Mrs CW's first car was a Plymouth Valiant Slant Six that looked a lot like this one.
My dad bought a 68 Valiant with a slant six, three on the tree for us kids to drive. That thing was almost bullet proof. You could get a 318 from the factory however there is room to shoe horn a 440 big block in with some modification.
'65, '66? I got a ride in one, hitch hiking in 1966. It could have had a lowly 383 for all I know, but the 4 speed and crazy acceleration (for a 15 year old kid) was VERY impressive.
There was a 62 Valiant slant 6, 3 on the tree, that was my great-grandmother's car. It got passed to the oldest great grandchild as they were driving age and did not have a car. It was basic transportation and was intended to be passed on once grandchild could afford newer transportation. Somewhere along the way the 3 speed was changed out to a 4 in the floor. I dodged the Valiant as I have a cousin that is 4 months older than me. She drove that car for 6 years, 1 in high school, four and a half in college, then another 6 months till she could save up enough for a down payment on a new car. By the mid 90's it was still running but nobody wanted it. The odometer had stopped at 48k the second to it rolled up and that was in the late 70's. There is no telling how many miles it ran.
The Hemi was the most expensive engine option available. Less than 11,000 426 Hemis were ever made. The Valiant was a compact 'A body' car while the Belvedere was a mid-size 'B body' car. I don't think Mopar sold an A body with a big block V8 but lots of drag racers shoe-horned them in. Al_in_Ottawa
Hey, maybe you know what it was, gas station I was mechanicing at, went to do the front brakes on a rag too Valiant, had flower stickers on the front quarters, pulled a wheel off, and looked at the first six piston calipers I ever seen, popped the hood, had this monster of a cross flow dual 4bbl manifold, hardly see the engine. Any idea about it? (this was in the NorthEast USA)
Mopar sold some A body big blocks. The Dart GTS 383 springs to mind. Not to mention the factory drag car Hemi A-bodies. LO23 code for the Hemi darts. Not sure about the '69 Hemi Cuda codes but they also had th M code 440 Cuda in '69.
Just great cars. Had a couple, best was the Duster, thing just flew! Ran it till the cancer rot ate it up, 435,000 miles, rebuilt the tranny once, original good old Slant Six, engine near good as new, cause I changed the oil at 1500 miles religiously. Never had a bit of trouble with that engine. I truly regret not saving the engine for down the road. Miss that Duster big time. Very light weight unibody car, went like it had a good tuned V8. Was always tempted putting on one of those Clifford intakes and headers, they claimed like near 100hp increase with their camshaft.
Anon, sounds like you were looking at a "modtop" car. They had hippy print interiors and some even had what they called the modtop vinyl roof. It also sounds like you found a retro fitted crossram setting on an RB motor. 2 carbs, 1 above each valve cover, feeding the opposite cylinder bank? That's a throwback intake originally fitted to the early 60s max wedge 413 RB motors.
Yah, had exactly that carb set up, pretty sure it was two or 3 years old, worked on it summer 80 or 81, oh and it was a 4 speed floor shift, black leather very nice. My boss took it for the test drive, dirty rat!
My dad bought a 68 Valiant with a slant six, three on the tree for us kids to drive. That thing was almost bullet proof. You could get a 318 from the factory however there is room to shoe horn a 440 big block in with some modification.
ReplyDeleteThe Valiant was smaller than the Belvedere.
ReplyDelete'65, '66? I got a ride in one, hitch hiking in 1966. It could have had a lowly 383 for all I know, but the 4 speed and crazy acceleration (for a 15 year old kid) was VERY impressive.
ReplyDeleteThe first car I drove was a '63 Chrysler 300 with a 383. It took most of what that mill could deliver to get that massive car off the line.
DeleteThere was a 62 Valiant slant 6, 3 on the tree, that was my great-grandmother's car. It got passed to the oldest great grandchild as they were driving age and did not have a car. It was basic transportation and was intended to be passed on once grandchild could afford newer transportation. Somewhere along the way the 3 speed was changed out to a 4 in the floor. I dodged the Valiant as I have a cousin that is 4 months older than me. She drove that car for 6 years, 1 in high school, four and a half in college, then another 6 months till she could save up enough for a down payment on a new car. By the mid 90's it was still running but nobody wanted it. The odometer had stopped at 48k the second to it rolled up and that was in the late 70's. There is no telling how many miles it ran.
ReplyDeleteThe Hemi was the most expensive engine option available. Less than 11,000 426 Hemis were ever made.
ReplyDeleteThe Valiant was a compact 'A body' car while the Belvedere was a mid-size 'B body' car. I don't think Mopar sold an A body with a big block V8 but lots of drag racers shoe-horned them in.
Al_in_Ottawa
Hey, maybe you know what it was, gas station I was mechanicing at, went to do the front brakes on a rag too Valiant, had flower stickers on the front quarters, pulled a wheel off, and looked at the first six piston calipers I ever seen, popped the hood, had this monster of a cross flow dual 4bbl manifold, hardly see the engine. Any idea about it? (this was in the NorthEast USA)
DeleteMopar sold some A body big blocks. The Dart GTS 383 springs to mind. Not to mention the factory drag car Hemi A-bodies. LO23 code for the Hemi darts. Not sure about the '69 Hemi Cuda codes but they also had th M code 440 Cuda in '69.
DeleteJust great cars. Had a couple, best was the Duster, thing just flew! Ran it till the cancer rot ate it up, 435,000 miles, rebuilt the tranny once, original good old Slant Six, engine near good as new, cause I changed the oil at 1500 miles religiously. Never had a bit of trouble with that engine. I truly regret not saving the engine for down the road. Miss that Duster big time. Very light weight unibody car, went like it had a good tuned V8. Was always tempted putting on one of those Clifford intakes and headers, they claimed like near 100hp increase with their camshaft.
ReplyDeleteAnon, sounds like you were looking at a "modtop" car. They had hippy print interiors and some even had what they called the modtop vinyl roof. It also sounds like you found a retro fitted crossram setting on an RB motor. 2 carbs, 1 above each valve cover, feeding the opposite cylinder bank? That's a throwback intake originally fitted to the early 60s max wedge 413 RB motors.
ReplyDeleteYah, had exactly that carb set up, pretty sure it was two or 3 years old, worked on it summer 80 or 81, oh and it was a 4 speed floor shift, black leather very nice. My boss took it for the test drive, dirty rat!
DeleteMy paternal Grandfather's last car was a later '60's Coronet. It was rather plain paint but it had plenty of power.
ReplyDelete