Music playing: "Walk This Way"

1969 Valiant Signet V8

Built for Vintage Road Racing

The Goodies
The Story
Pals of the Val

THE GOODIES

Engine: 1970 340 xheads, ported and polished, 2.02 int. 1.72 exh., roller rockers, roller cam custom grind, forged pistons, polished and peened rods, .10 under forged crank, custom oil pan with gates, windage tray, 9 qt capacity. M1 single plane, 750 holley double pumper, crank trigger ignition, headers, 2 7/8" exhaust. Lightened Hays flywheel, Center force pressure plate competition clutch, hydraulic. Does it go?......yes....How good?.......that's for ME to know!!!

The Val's fuel cell.

Transmission: 833 4spd standard, cast iron housing. Hurst shifter.

Differential: 8 3/4" Strange axles, 3.52 spool.

Body: 8 point cage, frame connectors, reinforced frames, battery in trunk, fuel cell, stripped interior, many lightened parts, reinforced seat mounts.

The Val's Interior.JPG

Frt Suspension: PST poly bushings, sway bar, reinforced K member, DC torsion bars, spindles reversed, rack and pinion front steering, 2.5 turns lock to lock, standard shocks.

Rear Suspension: PST poly bushings, kicker shocks, pinion snubber standard leaf spring set up other than that.

Brakes: 12 1/4" discs all around, dual master cylinder, no power assist, vented racing rotors, Wilwood 4 piston calipers, race pads, adjustable proportioning valve, braided lines.

Wheels and Tires: 3 piece aluminum 16"x8.5" 255x50x16 rear, 245x45x16 front. Also have a set of 15" depending on rules. And Many More Extras.......

THE STORY

Once upon a time, there lived a '69 Plymouth Valiant with aspirations of greatness. She sounded pretty nice with a set of glass pacs, but with a well worn 318 and an abused automatic tranny, she was all noise and no action. She lived at the mercy of her owner - a Chevy man at heart. One day the valiant Prince Joe, and his Princess Jacki, rescued the Val from her brutish lout of an owner, and brought her home to the "Realms of Mopar".

She took her place, as a daily driver alongside the trusty Newport and the true Queen of the Realm; the GLHT! One day she knew that she, too, would be fleet of foot.

Meanwhile Prince Joe was working a major spell to turn the little Val into a true 5 litre eater. Little did he suspect that this magic spell would also make his life savings vanish in a puff of blow by! He asked his magic mirror for the spell to make the Val safe, street legal (however marginally that might be), and able to perform and handle competitively on the circuit track for Vintage Racing. Neither the mirror nor Prince Joe were aware of a very similar spell being concocted at Mopar Action magazine for the One Lap of America event.

Unfortunately, Mopar Action's Fairy Godmother had a much deeper cauldron, and the "Brick" saw track time while we were still coping with the many surprises (all unpleasant) involved with building your dream from scratch. The other Knights of the Vintage Racing Club scoffed at our steed (not a choice for the circuit track), but we knew little Val could go fast in more than 1 direction, and by now, cost was no object - we had already sold the drawbridge, rented out the dragon...

oh yes, we had made our sacrifices. Finally in June 1998, after 7 years, the Val made her debut at Race City in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Was she the quickest of the Vintage Racing Club entries?........oh yes. Did she handle pretty well on the corners?......she did herself proud. Was she worth it all?........well......we could have done one of those 3 month around the world cruises and had $ to spend - it's hard to be sure.

PALS OF THE VAL

Dana Andrews - Andana Paint and Restoration
Crown Well Service
Pierre - Guyon Racing
Betty McLean - our own fairy godmother!
Dennis - To Go Tire
Roger Allard, Steve Goodfellow, Andy McKenna, Rod Farnsworth

Thanks to One and All

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