Dan...I plan on doing the fuel line mod in the near future.

For the very short term however, I just want to get the old girl running smoothly, so I just replaced the old rubber fuel lines with fresh rubber and I had a steel fuel filter in my stash, so I threw that on.....and that little issue is cured for now.

I knew there was roughly less than 1/8th of a tank of old nasty gas in the tank, so I didn't bother draining it and instead just filled it up with 5 gallons of good gas.

I got all of my coolant leaks fixed up and this allowed me to fire it up and let it idle for a longer period of time yesterday...to the point where it warmed up pretty good.

I adjusted the carb to the point that it was just idling and accelerating (in park) beautifully, however, I know that the carb is going to need rebuilding. It has a slight leak at the bushing where the throttle linkage enters the body of the carb and that bothers me a bit.

So...I have a beautiful "new" Holley 1945 that Dan sold me, sitting in the box. I compared it to the carb that's currently on this 1969 model engine (I think it's a Holley 1920) and for the most part, the linkages, etc look like they'll transfer. However, there are a few differences.

How readily will this new carb swap and take the place of the current carb?

_________________
1954 Ford, Tudor Mainline
1976 Plymouth Valiant, 4 door


www.automotive-ninja.com

Quite readily. You may have a couple of vacuum taps on the new carb that aren't present on the old one -- just take a look at the original '76 carb and use that as your guide. You can also refer to the carburetor operation and repair manuals and links posted here.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

I think I'm going to hold that Holley 1945 for the rebuilt 76 engine.

In the meantime, I'm going to rebuild the Holley 1920 with a Walker kit and float.

I seem to recall reading on here (but can't find it with the search feature) that the rebuilds go well with a good kit but that one still typically has a leak where the throttle linkage enters the body of the carb.

How do you get that fixed? I don't want to go through the trouble of rebuilding a carb and still have it leaking gas.

_________________
1954 Ford, Tudor Mainline
1976 Plymouth Valiant, 4 door


www.automotive-ninja.com

That'd work, or you can put it on the '69 engine now and transfer it to the '76 engine later.
Maybe or maybe not, depending on how much physical wear is present. It's where the throttle shaft passes through the throttle body. Repairing it is possible but not trivial; see here and here.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Big news today....

I took the day off from work today to push the Valiant project through to the "running and driving" stage.

Spent the morning tightening misc. connections, replacing all of the heater hoses and the thermostat housing gasket (for the second time). And...now that the transmission is properly sealed, I added 5 quarts of ATF-4.

It fired right up and upon shifting it into reverse, I knew immediately that my sluggish transmission issues were gone. It shifted firmly and continued to shift nicely in all of the forward gears.

A few low speed passes around the block and a pit stop back in the driveway to check for leaks again, and I felt confident enough to go down the road at around 50 mph.

Never having driven a torsion bar car (that I can remember), I was pleased with the great ride. The first ride lasted about 15 minutes, including a stop at a gas station for a half tank of good gas.

Here she is parked out on the curb....evidence of her new, mobile status.

_________________
1954 Ford, Tudor Mainline
1976 Plymouth Valiant, 4 door


www.automotive-ninja.com

Now for the inevitable To-Do list that comes after you get a car running that's been sitting for more than two decades:

- The exhaust connection at the exhaust flange is leaking pretty profusely and the gasket is in pretty poor shape.....that's on the list to replace.

- There are a few manifold bolts that are somewhat loose and one intake manifold bolt that is missing a nut altogether. All easy fixes and hopefully not requiring new manifold gaskets.

- It doesn't accelerate smoothly when I put my foot in it from a standing idle, and this could be a number of things so I don't want to jump to conclusions. It ran smoothly at speed during my 50 mph run.

First I'll get the manifolds tightened down and insure that there are no vaccuum leaks. It could probably stand to have a new cap, rotor and points. At that point, I'll most likely either replace or rebuild the Holley 1920, and then see where I am.

- I need to check the timing.

- The lifters are rattling just a bit...not bad...but they could probably stand to be adjusted.

- The speedometer isn't working...don't know what that's all about yet.

- The shocks appear to be toast.....need to replace them.

- Finally, there is a persistent small dribble/leak around the thermostat housing where it mates to the block. I've replaced the gasket twice now, with Felpro gaskets with a very light coating of RTV....to no avail....still leaking ever so slightly. I'm thinking I'll try just the gasket without the film of RTV, and then straight RTV as a gasket....whatever will plug that up. Each time, I've gotten the housing and the head surface perfectly clean. This one is starting to frustrate me.

So....that's my list....all easy fixes....especially now that I can pull the Valiant into my shop and work on it with my tools nearby.

_________________
1954 Ford, Tudor Mainline
1976 Plymouth Valiant, 4 door


www.automotive-ninja.com

Congrats on the maiden voyage!
If you're talking about the manifold-to-head junction, they're not bolts, but studs and nuts, and the odds are good that you'll twist one (or more) off when you go to tighten them. Proceed with caution. Apply good penetrant (Kroil or B'laster) and let it sit and heat/cool a few times before you touch those loose nuts. If they don't want to turn easily, stop and make a new plan. As for gaskets, if you do wind up removing the manifolds, it is very much worth your while to get the good gaskets for the manifolds-to-head and intake-to-exhaust junctions.
Tune-up parts and technique suggestions in this thread. Carburetor operation and repair manuals and links to training movies and carb repair/modification threads are posted here for free download. Probably an accelerator pump issue, but also make sure the distributor vacuum advance pod isn't blown (and its hose hasn't got a hole).
Faulty cable, probably.
Get Edelbrock IAS units. You will be very glad you did.
To the head, actually, is where it mates. Probably corroded; go ahead and put in a new thermostat housing.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

As always...thanks for the input and suggestions Dan.

I ordered a Walker 15519A rebuild kit for the Holley 1920 from OReilly tonight. It'll hopefully cure what Dan susgested might be the accelerator pump (I agree).

_________________
1954 Ford, Tudor Mainline
1976 Plymouth Valiant, 4 door


www.automotive-ninja.com

More progress today....

I got the exhaust flange leak fixed....with a new gasket. It is still leaking from the exhaust manifold somewhere, and that'll probably take a new gasket to solve.

The short length of rubber fuel line that feeds the fuel pump started spraying gas while I was checking for leaks this morning, so I replaced it. Allow me to express my dislike for the factory hose clamps that Plymouth used in 1976. They don't appear to be reusable and when they're in a relatively tight spot like where the abovementioned rubber fuel line starts, they're hard to get off. You have to bascially just twist them off, unless there is some simple method that I overlooked.

For whatever reason, the thermostat housing dribble/leak stopped leaking after sitting overnight....keeping my fingers crossed that it'll stay that way.

And, with those two leaks fixed, and after running it long enough to burn off the fluids and oil that inevitably get on an engine during a swap, it's no longer smoking and emitting questionable fluids.

That inspired me to take her out for a highway speed run, which she hanlded like a little lady....very smooth and responsive at speed.....with good transmission response and shifting.

So....my high priority now will be a tune up and a carb rebuild and I should have a great little car with a running total of about $800 invested. Try that with a Nova or Falcon...not gonna happen.

Allow me to repeat myself....I LOVE slant sixes!

This little car is truly remarkable and thoroughly original. The paint is in very good condition and the back seat is essentially new. The front seat has come undone at one of the verticle seams, but I think I can get that fixed.

I'm getting pretty attached to it. About the only thing that will make me want to turn loose of it will be someone wanting to trade for a good running stock Model A.

_________________
1954 Ford, Tudor Mainline
1976 Plymouth Valiant, 4 door


www.automotive-ninja.com

Rebuilding my 1920 with a Walker kit this evening.

_________________
1954 Ford, Tudor Mainline
1976 Plymouth Valiant, 4 door


www.automotive-ninja.com

Rebuilt Holley 1920



The acclerator pump was pretty worn out, but the rest of the carb seemed to be in decent shape.

I installed it, fired the BFV up and let it warm up, then took it for a spin....much smoother acceleration, but still not perfect. I'll replace the vacuum tubing this evening and then concentrate on the distributor.

_________________
1954 Ford, Tudor Mainline
1976 Plymouth Valiant, 4 door


www.automotive-ninja.com

Today's BarnFindValiant update:

I replaced the distributor cap, rotor, points, condensor, PCV valve, a few cracked hoses and spent some time dialing in the carb while the car was good n' warm.

The little sweetie is idling and responding to throttle pretty nicely now, but there's still a little roughness. I'm thinking it's probably in the valves...no telling how long it's been since they had an adjustment.

I'm using the 76 model fan and shroud instead of the 4 blade fan from the 69 engine and after a good engine/radiator flush, it's running nice and cool.

All that combined gave me the confidence to really put the BFV through its paces this afternoon, so I took her down the county highway to the interstate and opened her up. She did well....good accleration, good throttle response and nice smooth transmission shift points. She didn't really want to run 80mph with the Houston insterstate traffic but I don't think a brand new 76 Valiant would appreciate that either.

However, 65mph was nice and smooth.

So....on the list of things to do is adjust the valves and start in on the Air Conditioning system. It's about to get hotter than the surface of the sun here in Houston.

_________________
1954 Ford, Tudor Mainline
1976 Plymouth Valiant, 4 door


www.automotive-ninja.com

valve adjustment procedure
Good...
Disagree. They'll run 80+ easily. When I bought my '73 last autumn -- another low-miles unit like yours -- I spent several drama-free hours at 80+ mph in Michigan before crossing into Ontario (w/lower speed limit and stiffer enforcement). The question isn't whether the car will do it, the question is whether your tires, brakes, steering, and suspension are in safe enough shape that if you do it, you'll survive to do it again. Usually on a barn find, the answer's "no" until you've put a good bit of time, money, and effort into them. My MI run was after a great deal of attention (+time/money/effort) went into the undercar components and I had a new set of high-quality tires.
What's the status of the A/C system now? There are various techniques and materials you will/won't want to use to get it up and running, which specific ones apply will depend on what needs doing.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

The AC system was 100% complete when I bought the car....status unknown of course, because the car wasn't running.

I left everything intact in the engine bay with the exception of the compressor and the compressor bracket. I pulled them off together, right before pulling the engine, primarily because they were in the way, but also because they had to come off of the 76 model engine anyway....and...the compressor was nasty/grease covered and I wanted to give it a good pressure washing. Like the rest of the engine bay, the grease covering acted as a paint preserver....I noticed that the compressor still has a nice coat of factory paint on it....under all that gunk that is.

So....the first step is to reinstall the bracket/compressor and go from there. Hopefully it'll play nice and mate up to the 69 model engine.

Like the rest of this car's various engine bay hoses, the AC hoses are fairly brittle and I don't plan on re-using them unless I have to.

_________________
1954 Ford, Tudor Mainline
1976 Plymouth Valiant, 4 door


www.automotive-ninja.com

Here's a shot of the engine bay as it is currently configured...more work left to do.




Some interior shots.

I've had old cars in all sorts of conditions over the years, but out of the probably 20+ oldies, I've only had 3 with perfect or near perfect interiors. This is one of them. It's nice for a change.

Note the under-the-dash AC. I'm guessing this is a dealer installed thing....or did Plymouth put them in at the factory this way?

_________________
1954 Ford, Tudor Mainline
1976 Plymouth Valiant, 4 door


www.automotive-ninja.com