Popular Post 1963 AP5 Posted May 19, 2017 Popular Post Share Posted May 19, 2017 It's time to waste a whole lot of time and money that should probably be spent on other stuff. Some people on the forum will know our 1963 AP5 Valiant Regal but for everybody else who is interested here is a little history. My Dad purchased this car in 1983 and it was our regular family car for many years. Here is a photo taken some time in the early 80's. Dad had 2 AP5's at the time, the grey one on the right was a dedicated tow vehicle and was modified accordingly. The green one on the left is ours. About 7 years ago we were lucky enough to get our hands on this original and well looked car however a few things needed attention fairly quickly. Almost immediately we did a few safety upgrades. The car got a front disc brake conversion, new seatbelts and we replaced the wheels and tires in order to make it safe to drive in the rain. Until fairly recently I was hanging out on another forum dedicated to the fine products of the Chrysler Corporation with a few other members that have since come across to Oldschool and unfortunately a lot of the details of the work completed on the car to date was lost when the forum closed earlier this year. Lucky for me the Oldschool forum is awesome and I am very happy to be joining you all over here. This is how the car looked after its first round of upgrades. We drove it around for a while with the stock drive-line and aside from a little oil burning/leaking issue all was well. Then this happened. This was coolant leaking from a very bad place, yep cracked block! So naturally this happened next. And finally with the help of a local engine builder here in Auckland this happened. Sounds simple enough but it actually took nearly 12 months to resurrect the Slant 6 as the engine was in bad shape. We were very keen to salvage the original block and keep the car numbers matching but it was no easy task. I did as much work myself as possible but given the challenges involved in fixing the engine I was very happy to be working with a skilled engine builder and I am very happy with the result. This engine is awesome and it's still a numbers matching car. That's all for now, next post will be all about the current build. Feel free to discuss here. //oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/56384-1963-ap5s-valiant-regal-discussion/ 18 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1963 AP5 Posted May 21, 2017 Author Share Posted May 21, 2017 So here's the plan. Last time I pulled this car apart it was a major, it was properly broken and couldn't be used until a whole lot of stuff was fixed. This time things are different as the car is running great, has proved to be very reliable and doesn't really need anything major in order to keep it on the road. This project is all about fixing up a whole lot of little things that are bugging me and I want to starting getting the car finished to a higher standard. The to do list: My friendly WOF guy politely suggested that I should replace the upper control arm bushes and one of the upper ball joints before the next warrant check so this will be done. The weather belts on all the side windows need to be replaced as they are all in bad shape The side window glass is all pretty average as well and I have collected up a full set of replacement glass for the car so all the side windows will be replaced. Door seals are leaky and looking very shabby so all will be replaced Door cards require some attention to repair and replace the trim clips that hold them on, a couple are held on by screws that don't look too flash. The stainless trim on the side of the car also requires some renovation, a couple of them are held on by rivets so they will be removed, repaired and refitted with new trim clips. There is a little bit of rust showing in the left rear guard and this will be repaired before it gets nasty. I am sure I will discover plenty of other little things to tidy up along the way but I want it all finished before the start of summer so will do my best to stick to the plan. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1963 AP5 Posted May 28, 2017 Author Share Posted May 28, 2017 OK I actually did some proper work this weekend. I have had these old doors sitting behind my shed for a couple of years now. They are rusty as hell but the glass is pretty tidy so I dragged them out and set about removing the useful bits. Amazingly all the bolts and screws came loose with no problems at all so no broken bolts, screws or knuckles. The glass all came out intact so I added it to the other bits of glass that I have collected up over the last couple of years and cleaned it all up. The glass is not perfect but it is a whole lot better than what is in the car so I am very happy. Big thanks to fellow AP5 freak and all-round GC @64vauxhall for helping out with some of this. The stainless trim from the old doors was also worth saving so I salvaged it all for the parts hoard 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1963 AP5 Posted June 5, 2017 Author Share Posted June 5, 2017 I purchased the required suspension parts this week. The upper ball joints on these Mopar A-bodies are funky looking things, they screw into the upper control arm and the thread is more like an interference fit than a proper machine type thread. There is a special tool available for removing and installing them however the tool costs 3 times as much as the replacement ball joint so I am keen to know if anybody has a good alternative option for competing this job. If somebody in Auckland has the tool and would be happy to help me out installing the joint I would be extremely grateful (beer will be shouted). The proper thing looks like this. Please feel free to post suggestions or offers of assistance in my discussion thread //oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/56384-1963-ap5s-valiant-regal-discussion/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1963 AP5 Posted June 13, 2017 Author Share Posted June 13, 2017 I noticed that I was starting to wear a groove in the negative battery post by disconnecting and re-connecting the battery. I don't trust the 54 year old electrical system in the car so I always disconnect the battery when I park the car in the garage. I have decided to install a battery isolation switch and I would like to be able to operate it remotely (without opening the bonnet) to make it slightly more convenient for regular driving. I had this switch kicking around so it will do, pretty sure it is a marine switch for a boat but it has a very high current rating so should be perfect for the Valiant. The first thing you want to do when modifying a switch like this for remote operation with a push / pull style rod is to make things way more technical than they probably need to be. I cut a leaver out of a piece of fiberglass sheet that I had left over from another project and glued to to the switch knob with some hard core marine epoxy. Next I made a bracket to mount it all in the car. I had a nice piece of angle that looked like it would do the job but it wasn't quite big enough so I got brave and broke out the little arc welder. I don't weld very often so I am always stoked when I successfully stick bits of metal together. And here it is all ready to go in the car. There is room to mount the switch below the battery tray out of sight and I plan to operate the push / pull rod through the grille removing the need to open the bonnet every time I drive it. Should be way more convenient and will stop me from destroying the battery terminal posts. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1963 AP5 Posted June 16, 2017 Author Share Posted June 16, 2017 I wasn't going to start the suspension work for a couple of weeks but I had some time this afternoon and decided to get stuck in. @Valiant was kind enough to send up his homegrown upper ball joint removal tool and I was itching to try it out. I tried to remove the joint with the upper control arm still installed in the car as a couple of members had suggested but it was super tight and I had no hope of moving it. I think this was mostly due to the fact that I was only using a 1/2 inch drive breaker bar and a 3/4 drive adapter. It might have worked if I had a proper 3/4 drive breaker bar. I persevered for a while but I was afraid of slipping and damaging the front wheel arch or guard so out came the control arm and I decided to go big and get some proper leverage happening. The control arm bushes require replacement to I ripped out the guts allowing me to pass a piece of round bar through. Next I held the removal tool in the vice so I could hold the ball joint and had a go at turning the control arm around the ball joint. It took a couple of good swings but I heard a delightful little crack and the joint started to turn in the control arm. Once it started to turn it was easy to remove the joint using the breaker bar and removal tool. After giving the control arm a bit of a clean up I installed the new joint. I had a bit of fun getting the joint to screw in straight but a couple of OS members who have done this job before told me to expect this. After few false starts the new joint started to screw in nice and straight and actually went in fairly easily. While I have the removal tool in the workshop I think I will do the other side so I will see my friends at BNT tomorrow and grab another. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post 1963 AP5 Posted June 23, 2017 Author Popular Post Share Posted June 23, 2017 Managed to find some time this week to finish tidying up the upper control arms. I got all carried away and gave them a couple of coats of paint and then took them into work and pressed in the new bushes. Looking very flash now. I am going to take the good advice of OS Valiant gurus and do the lower arm and radius rod bushes as well but that will be next weeks fun. 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1963 AP5 Posted June 30, 2017 Author Share Posted June 30, 2017 Managed to sneak in a mid week session in the garage and got the upper control arms refitted. And there is nothing like a good comparison pic to make you feel good about your efforts. This weekends job is to remove the lower control arms, torsion bars and radius rods. I have never taken the lower arms out of a Valiant before so I decided to consult the bible. I can tell that Dad never removed the lower arms or torsion bars because the pages in the manual are clean (almost like new). A little different from the more frequently visited pages. Removing parts that haven't been disturbed since 1963 is always fun so good times ahead! 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1963 AP5 Posted July 1, 2017 Author Share Posted July 1, 2017 I thought the torsion bars would be hard to remove and they lived up to all expectations. I love it when the workshop manual says "remove the torsion bar using the special tool" but gives no clue whatsoever as to what the tool might look like or how it is used to remove the torsion bars. I have no idea how people got by before you could do a google search! I did a little research and then set about making my own homegrown torsion bar removal tool. Not exactly rocket science, you just attach it to the torsion bar with the u-bolts and give it a bash with a hammer to knock the torsion bar rearward. The drivers side torsion bar however was perfectly happy where it was and it took some committed bashing to convince it to move. This photo of the "special tool" post torsion bar removal tells the story better than any words possibly could. I decided to reverse the tool for the passengers side so I had a fresh clean end to destroy. I got fully psychologically prepared for the battle ahead, crawled under the car and gave it a clout. In stark contrast to the drivers side the torsion bar popped out with no problems at all. From there removing the lower arms was fairly simple. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1963 AP5 Posted July 5, 2017 Author Share Posted July 5, 2017 More steady progress early in the week , feels like I have a little momentum going now. I removed the old bushes from the lower control arm assemblies. A little precision grinding was required to remove the bush sleeve from the control arm shaft but the bush was removed successfully. The old bushes were in a pretty bad state as shown here. I cleaned the lower arms up a little and installed the new bushes. All ready to be refitted to the car this weekend. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post 1963 AP5 Posted July 12, 2017 Author Popular Post Share Posted July 12, 2017 So the front end is all back together, the lower control arms went back in without too much bother and no drama refitting the torsion bars either. I set the front ride height just a little lower than standard giving it a kind of funky retro 80's stance. It would be good to go a little lower but I may need to modify the bump stops as it's not too far off them even now. Took it for a drive and even without a wheel alignment it's way better. I will get the wheel alignment done and should be all good for the next Auckland OS monthly meet. Still plenty to be done but having it back on its wheels is a good milestone. 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1963 AP5 Posted July 18, 2017 Author Share Posted July 18, 2017 Wheel alignment was sorted today all ready for Auckland monthly met tomorrow. I also got my battery isolation switch installed. Pretty stoked with this, no more disconnecting and reconnecting the battery terminals. With the battery tray and battery installed the switch is nicely hidden away from view. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1963 AP5 Posted July 23, 2017 Author Share Posted July 23, 2017 Had a good evening with the car at the OS July monthly but it was straight back into the shed this weekend to crack on with the project. Started to work on the doors and interior tidy up. I removed the sheep skins as they really need a clean. I haven't seen the stock interior for a while now and man it's a whole lot of green!! Off with the door cards The door cards are actually in better condition than I expected, the damaged areas are small and shouldn't be too hard to repair. Next job is to remove all the stainless trim from the doors 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1963 AP5 Posted July 24, 2017 Author Share Posted July 24, 2017 More progress from the weekends efforts. I had a buddy round on Sat helping out so we actually got a whole lot done. We removed all the side window glass from the car and removed the old worn out weather strips. Crusty old glass out I removed the window regulators for checking and I am very happy that they are in awesome condition. They will benefit from a clean and a bit of lubrication but other than that they are good enough to put straight back in with the new windows. 1/4 windows removed Turns out there is a bit of a trick to getting the weather strips out without destroying them and I didn't really figure it out properly until the last door. The weather strips that I removed first are at the top of this picture and the ones that came out last are at the bottom. The window rubbers from the 1/4 windows are in pretty good condition so I will be re-using them. I will need to clean them up a bit as they are quite dirty and have some paint on them from one of the re-sprays that the car has had over the years. Should be able to remove the paint with care. Got to have the car ready for the panel and paint shop next week so still plenty to do, it will be a busy week! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post 1963 AP5 Posted July 26, 2017 Author Popular Post Share Posted July 26, 2017 After a couple of solid evenings work stuff is starting to look more serious. All the trim is off the sides of the car, door handles are removed and it's nearly ready to head off to the panel and paint shop to have the rust in the rear guard fixed and a whole lot of little stuff tidied up here and there. The car looks quite different with the 1/4 glass removed. There are quite a few trim clips that are either missing or not suitable for re-use. You can't buy these so I set about making my own replacements. The factory clip is on the right and my effort on the left. And installed in one of the door trims. These will work nicely but I need to make about 15 of them so will be moving to mass production this weekend. 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post 1963 AP5 Posted August 2, 2017 Author Popular Post Share Posted August 2, 2017 Murphy says that the day you want to drive your car to the panel and paint shop with no side window glass installed it will rain. Or it could just be because it is winter in Auckland. Anyway, rain it did so today I had to install some genuine South Auckland windows for the short trip down to Takanini. On the way down I was stopped at a set of traffic lights and a Police car pulled up in the lane next to me. I thought to myself oh dear, no windows, no exterior door handles, only one tail light installed, dodgy tires on the back, I'm screwed! The officer looked out her window at me then simply smiled, waved and let me be on my way. Freakin awesome! 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post 1963 AP5 Posted August 7, 2017 Author Popular Post Share Posted August 7, 2017 While the car is away having the panel work sorted out I decided to get started fixing up the interior door panels. I started with the left rear, this one actually as a corner broken off completely along with a couple of trim clip locations that can no longer retain the trim clips. I have built a few small boats in the past (you can see them in the background of a few pictures in this thread) and have plenty of fiberglass off cuts in a box in the shed. I decided this would be the perfect material for fixing the door cards so began by cleaning up the areas to be repaired with a sanding disc. Then I cut out a whole lot of little patches from fiberglass cloth so I can build up the damaged areas. Next I set about rebuilding the damaged areas with fiberglass cloth and resin. Finally I put two layers of glass cloth right along the bottom but by this stage my gloves were well coated in resin and I didn't dare try to pick up my phone to take a photo. You can see the strips of glass cloth that I used in the photo above (top left of the pic). I then sandwiched the whole lot together and allowed it all to cure overnight. And the next day it is all cured. Only 3 more to do. 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post 1963 AP5 Posted August 16, 2017 Author Popular Post Share Posted August 16, 2017 More fiddly stuff while the car is away, I made up a batch of my re-manufactured / homegrown trim clips for the exterior door trims. Cut out a bunch of small pieces from thin stainless plate Drilled holes for the fasteners Shaped them all up Tapped a thread and installed the fastners 12 should be enough to replace the missing clips assuming I don't break any more re-installing the trims on the car. 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1963 AP5 Posted August 22, 2017 Author Share Posted August 22, 2017 Cool stuff happened this week A local stainless steel fabricator has been busy restoring the exterior door trims for me, I got them back today and he has done a great job. As I mentioned in an earlier post the trims were full of holes where the trim had been pop riveted to the doors, all the holes have been repaired and they look great. Here is a comparison picture. I have also finished repairing the rear door cards. Very happy with how they turned out 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post 1963 AP5 Posted August 30, 2017 Author Popular Post Share Posted August 30, 2017 A very quick update this week All the panel repairs are complete and ready for paint Now all we need is some decent weather in Auckland so paint can happen, a big ask this time of year 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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