[Scrounge]

Here's a good write-up on Mopar drum-to-disc conversion (it's mostly for B bodies, but he notes differences for A bodies toward the end):

DISC-O-TECH: Stop on a dime from Mopar Action and Rick Ehrenberg (at https://www.allpar.com/history/mopar/brakes/disc-main.html )

 

[saltydog]

Here's a good write-up on Mopar drum-to-disc conversion (it's mostly for B bodies, but he notes differences for A bodies toward the end):

DISC-O-TECH: Stop on a dime from Mopar Action and Rick Ehrenberg (at https://www.allpar.com/history/mopar/brakes/disc-main.html )

Thanks for the link

 

[saltydog]

Just an update: the Valiant has been dead reliable! And she has turned into my DD....and with no A/C...ugh!

 

[Scrounge]

My '99 Ram's a/c doesn't work, but I've never made that a priority, so long as the windows roll down.

 

[saltydog]

My '99 Ram's a/c doesn't work, but I've never made that a priority, so long as the windows roll down.

The Valiant is not too bad as long as you are moving, sitting in traffic is a killer! Yesterday was not bad, very mild and in the 90's, so we too the Valiant for a late night ice cream run

From what our weather man said, today will be the last day for tolerable temps and the rest of July will be in in the 100+

 

[Scrounge]

Good to read that your Valiant remains reliable. Agreed about sitting in traffic. Very little of that in the small town where I live, with a total of 5 stoplights, which I often avoid; most of my driving is on the highway, which is up to 70 mph in either direction.

You might consider keeping sherbet in your freezer.

 

[saltydog]

So its been well over a year since I updated this!

The Valiant is still very much alive and has been recently upgraded to Disc brakes. Saturday is the big MOPAR car show in Van Nuys(the first one since 2019) so I am getting ready for that.

So here is what has been done in the last year:

1. Motor Mounts
2. Disc Brake conversion - Used the Pirate Jack kit keeping the small bolt pattern, made our setup for the master cyl and booster, 80's Jeep proportioning valve, very clean setup and it looks almost factory.
3. New Battery
4. New voltage regulator
5. Front end alignment - this was a bit challenging as the younger guys have no clue, so I was fortunate that I know an older Gent that still has a local shop and was able to do it for me. He did not even bother asking his techs to do it, he told me they would not even know how. LOL
6. New wiper blades - this was wayyy more challenging as the TRICO repos are out of stock, so I had to use some cheap AutoZone(two different stores to find 13in) blads and took them apart and was able to mod them to fit.

So one theme I have been noticing, new parts are just plain junk! I know this has been an issue for years, but it seems to have really gotten way outta hand.

It took 3 new voltage regulators to finally get one that works and when doing the brake conversion, 4 brand new proportioning valves leaked(3 GM style and one Jeep/AMC style) finally just went to the junk yard and found an 80's Cherokee and pulled the proportioning valve and no issues and it works fantastic.

Thank goodness I don't have to rely on this as DD or would be up a creek....so beware of new parts.

 

[saltydog]

Here is a few pictures

 

[saltydog]

Well, the weekend flew by, but in all it was a fun car show Put about 400 miles on the Valiant all in all she did ok, not the best MPG about 14 on the way over(average 75mph) and about 18 on the way back(average 65mph) and was about 5 miles from home when the trans started making a god awful clatter(not sure what's going on) but she made it home.

I did not take many pictures of the event as I was busy trying to get the car clean and chasing my twins....Below is my dad and boys. We did take a home a nice ribbon

 

[saltydog]

Well glad this did not happen while on the trip to LA...
Anyhow, getting a new heater core has been rather slow...FedEx seems to have lost my package(no surprise as they just plain suck) and many other vendors have very high cost for these heater cores, I have seen some for as high as $193! So I checked in with my local AutoZone and they can have it to my local store tomorrow! Woot! And only $48.

I love using RockAuto, but they need other shipping opinions, in most cases, they only use FedEx which is expensive and in the last few years, they cannot seem to get packages to me on time. I don't have any issue with USPS or UPS almost always on time, but not FedEx...

Ok off my soapbox of hate/frustration with FedEx....Now I can get this fixed so it can be driven.

 

[AceHanlon]

Well, the weekend flew by, but in all it was a fun car show Put about 400 miles on the Valiant all in all she did ok, not the best MPG about 14 on the way over(average 75mph) and about 18 on the way back(average 65mph) and was about 5 miles from home when the trans started making a god awful clatter(not sure what's going on) but she made it home.

I did not take many pictures of the event as I was busy trying to get the car clean and chasing my twins....Below is my dad and boys. We did take a home a nice ribbon
View attachment 83103

View attachment 83104

Looks great! Also side note. The pictures from the start of the discussion are gone, do pictures just disappear after a certain amount of time on here?

 

[saltydog]

Looks great! Also side note. The pictures from the start of the discussion are gone, do pictures just disappear after a certain amount of time on here?

Let me look and see if I can post the pictures.

 

[saltydog]

Looks great! Also side note. The pictures from the start of the discussion are gone, do pictures just disappear after a certain amount of time on here?

Ok I was able to edit and add the pictures back on the first post. I am not sure what happened.

 

[AceHanlon]

Ok I was able to edit and add the pictures back on the first post. I am not sure what happened.

Much better! What a stunning car! Has the push button transmission ever give you a issue?

 

[saltydog]

Much better! What a stunning car! Has the push button transmission ever give you a issue?

Nope, this is my 5th or 6th mopar with push button trans. I do remember my prior 64 Valiant did have some issues with the R button not returning all way out, but that did not affect drivability. I eventually took it apart and fixed it. Pretty simple internals and in this case it was just really worn out from 200k miles of use. So some bending and taking of the mechanisms and grease and it was happy again. Also the reverse light switch in housed in there and that also caused some frustration, but in the in end I still got it to work

 

[AceHanlon]

Nope, this is my 5th or 6th mopar with push button trans. I do remember my prior 64 Valiant did have some issues with the R button not returning all way out, but that did not affect drivability. I eventually took it apart and fixed it. Pretty simple internals and in this case it was just really worn out from 200k miles of use. So some bending and taking of the mechanisms and grease and it was happy again. Also the reverse light switch in housed in there and that also caused some frustration, but in the in end I still got it to work

Wow 200k miles! Did you have to rebuild the engine or transmission?? My grandfather owned a Ford Edsel in the 60s, he liked it but had issues with the push button. I think the placement of the push button transmission selector on the Edsel's had to be the dumbest spot to put them.

 

[saltydog]

Wow 200k miles! Did you have to rebuild the engine or transmission?? My grandfather owned a Ford Edsel in the 60s, he liked it but had issues with the push button. I think the placement of the push button transmission selector on the Edsel's had to be the dumbest spot to put them.

Yeah the Valiant was well used but the owners took good care of it, I had so much documentation on it. The motor was not rebuilt and it did not use much oil, it did leak oil for sure and trans was all original.

So I was just watching a youtube ch and the gents had so much fun getting the push buttons on the 58 Edsel to function properly. What a crazy system that Ford used, its completely electronic and the pod actually floats, so there is a sun gear set in there and tons of bushings, wires, etc... Way over-engineered and thus why so many seem to fail. I think Ford switch to a traditional column shift for 59'.

The Chrysler system is completely mechanical and has a much more reliable setup.

 

[AceHanlon]

Yeah the Valiant was well used but the owners took good care of it, I had so much documentation on it. The motor was not rebuilt and it did not use much oil, it did leak oil for sure and trans was all original.

So I was just watching a youtube ch and the gents had so much fun getting the push buttons on the 58 Edsel to function properly. What a crazy system that Ford used, its completely electronic and the pod actually floats, so there is a sun gear set in there and tons of bushings, wires, etc... Way over-engineered and thus why so many seem to fail. I think Ford switch to a traditional column shift for 59'.

The Chrysler system is completely mechanical and has a much more reliable setup.

Well I think it goes to show that with regular maintenance and upkeep you can keep them going for a long time. I think majority of the transmissions from back then are bullet proof. My 79 Lincoln Town Car has a amazing transmission. Could drop a nuke on it and it would keep going.

Yeah I read somewhere about how complex they were and I think that really hurt Edsel right out of the gate. The one you have in the valiant is far nicer and reliable plus a common sense place to put it!

 

[saltydog]

So over the Christmas holiday, I did get the heater core replaced. Not very difficult, however at some point, the heater core had been replaced and they did not remove the HVAC box, thus many clips were missing and the box has cracks and a broken spot from the flat rate job. I was able to get all back together and working as it should. I am going to keep an eye out for an HVAC box the next time I am at a swap meet.

 

[AceHanlon]

Good that you got it fixed