68 valiant signet 2 door

[Blue]

Stroker small block is an even better idea, more cubes than a 383, 100lbs lighter and it's a nut and bolt job with plenty of room. Unless you are wanting 500+ cubic inches the whole big block A body street car thing has had it's day, it harks back to a time when it was the only way to get the cubic inches and you could get the engines cheap which made the hassle worthwhile. Anyway I'm sure you know all this..

[mygasser]

hi blue,
i've also been offered a 400 core motor for later on to which i'd fit a stroker kit to get the 500 ish cubes you mention. at least it's a low deck so more room to build fenderwell headers. they were really tight when i made some for the 65 dart i had and fitted a 440 to. the 383 came from a ford pilot and originally a jensen so at least it's finally going into a mopar. it's a good runner and only £500 for the engine and 727 box so it's cheap like they used to be. even if i were to pass on the 400 that same stroker kit would get me a 496 in the 383 block so still a good amount of torque. if i was offered a cheap 318 and box i'd happily build a 390 stroker for sure but i'll use what's available which for now is this 383
cheers, neil.

[mygasser]

Wise decision, and you will find a BB is still a bit of a squeeze!

yes not as bad as the 440 i put into the 65 dart i had before though. i'll make fenderwell headers like before giving more room around the engine and torsion bars so not so bad. cheers, neil.

[mygasser]

not much of an update, i ordered the new front wheel bearings from us automotive today. they don't keep the seals but i can get a modern match from kent bearings, my local bearing supplier. i'll be happier putting a lot more miles on it once they're done as it's a bit rumbly at the moment.

[mygasser]

the bearings arrived today and i collected the seals. so this evening i started with the o/s which was noisy for sure. easy enough, over to the n/s. this one however is silky smooth and quiet. i'll be doing a front disc conversion later so that side will get new bearings then. for now it's so much quieter to drive which gives much more confidence when driving any distance. i just want to go through it with a grease gun and reset the tracking and camber now the front's a bit higher.
cheers, neil.
ps us automotive didn't have the hub seals so i called my local bearing supplier 'kent bearings'. i gave them the part number from us auto's and it came up as a leather lip seal with a 1.5" spindle size, 1.99" hub size and 0.25" thickness. kent bearings said it's an automotive seal and not available to them. they could however get an off the shelf modern rubber lip seal with a 2" hub fitment (the other sizes were the same). as the outside is rubber coated too it fitted the hub with no problems. so if anyone cant get hub seals then try your local bearing supplier who can normally get you sorted.
neil.

[mygasser]

stop press.... looks like all the turbo chevy parts are going in one lot
so i can collect the 383/727 and may even order new fenderwell headers too

[mygasser]

yep, all the chevy parts are sold so i can collect/pay for the 383 now

[mygasser]

my new black and white number plates arrived from states plates but...... i really like the ones i made for it so may just shelve the new ones for now. at least i won't need to buy one if i fit a towbar to the car and want to drag a trailer/caravan about.

[mygasser]

i've ordered some blankets to make seat covers for the stock seats for now. i've got to 'make' the scorpio front seats tip forward and latch back as they are from a 4 door so in the meantime i want to improve the comfort if i want any chance of getting dawn out in the car with me. as i want to make it a semi daily driver i must have her 'on board' as it were. the ones i've got coming are i think keeping in period with the look of the material and will be sewn up into 'proper' slip on covers. here's what i've bought and no i'm not using the tassles (although hanging from the sunvisors?.........)

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/100-Cotton-G ... 2749.l2649

[lough3969]

Like those plates...

[mygasser]

Like those plates...

which ones mate? the new ones or the ones i made?

[lough3969]

Classic plates... not a fan of carbon fiber sticky stuff.

[mygasser]

i only used it as i had it. now they're fitted you have to get up close to see the carbon 'look', otherwise it's just black

[mygasser]

i got round to altering the rear light wiring yesterday. i went with orange bulbs in the reverse bulb holder. the wiring's easy enough, cut the brake/indicator wire from each bulb holder and connect to the reverse light bulb holder. then run a wire from the brake light switch 'out' connector to both brake light bulb holders. with the afore mentioned orange bulbs fitted it now has orange indicators and red stop/tail lights.
last night i went to invicta roadsters cruise night at ashford, the furthest ive been in the valiant. it ran fine even though it was very hot (the weather not the car). i need to adjust both headlights up a lot,i can just see the beam in the road over the edge of the bonnet. that and i really must get under there and adjust the tracking as it's a bit twitchy.

[mygasser]

forgot to say i also noticed a little clonk over bumps on the o/s/f last night so i jacked it up and checked all the front ball joints. there's a small amount of play in 3 of them (having said that i've not greased the front yet) but as i'm going to fit a big block i've just ordered all 4 joints so it's right.