|
|
This was my first car, a 63 Valiant. On the left you see my Mom's car I was 12 when this picture was taken. On the right is years later I drove it like it was for a while, but I couldn't wait to personalize it. The interior was green and the exterior, beige. I didn't want to go though the trouble of changing the interior color, but I knew that I didn't like the beige. I settled on the brown that you see. I also brightened up the green on the inside a bit. My Dad did all of the spraying, I did the sanding, and my Dad fixed the things that I messed up. I did my first engine rebuild on this car too,a 170 slant six. Which means, my Dad rebuilt the engine, I cleaned the parts, and took the credit. I did learn alot.
Three months after the engine was done I ran out of gas, left the car on the side of the road, and it looked like this when I came back. I told my Dad that I really liked this car and didn't want to let it go. He could have just told me to get another car and get over it, but I think he liked the challange as much as I did.We had a hard time finding another Valiant to use for a donor. When we did find one it needed alot of work. Mostly just rust repair behind the rear wheels.
We cut my car, and the donor car in half. This is my Dad welding metal into the lower quarters. Welding is easier when the car is upside- down. Maybe I should have done the Elcamino like this.
This tied up my Dad's garage for about a year. At the right my Mom looks at Dad's work. I'm sure she thought that we both had lost our minds.
My Mom did all of the Upholstery. She even made the roll pleats in the back seat to match the buckets that I took out of a Capri. It turned out pretty good.I drove it for years.
