1963 AP5

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.

Yea you are right! There are a few good videos on YouTube of some nutter with a turbocharged slant 6 running some insane times down the quarter mile. Just goes to show it can be done.

That is actually the sensible option

That is interesting. The casting was very thin around one of the welch plugs on my engine. It may have been that way from day one as I suspect that manufacturing techniques weren't as good as they could have been 50 years ago. I doubt it would have always had corrosion inhibitors in the cooling system over the years and eventually the thin area cracked and leaked. It was quite a challenge to fix as it is difficult to weld 50 year old cast iron that is thinner than you would like it to be. Welding guru however got it done and the repair has held up well so far.

Yea it was the Mopar forum. Bit of a shame they couldn't keep it going but I see quite a few members are now active on this forum so I am in good company here.

Share your thoughts, comments and ideas for the AP5. Cheers

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/

Is the engine stock? If so there probably wouldn't be a significant performance improvement with a 350. If you rebuild the Carter nicely, get it set up right and working properly I expect that it will be capable of supplying all the air/fuel that a standard engine can demand. Since you already have the Carter it would be worth a go.

I run a 350 Holley on my one with the factory 2 barrel manifold, the adapter plates are available off the shelf for around $30 so its hardly worth the trouble of making one. I went that way because it's a very simple conversion and 350's work pretty well straight out of the box on Slant 6's. If you have a Torqueflite transmission however you need to get a little creative to make the push rod linkages down to the trans work properly. Anyway to answer your original question, of the two carbs you have I believe the Carter is the preferred option for a lot of people and they work just fine if they are in good condition. Sometimes the older carbs can be difficult to fix up because the shafts and linkages etc get worn over time. As above the Weber 38 DGAS should also work well.

Well even without oldschool company it was a good cruise down to Hamilton. Thanks to the good guys n girls at Midnight Upholstery for feeding my family and also thanks to everyone who put their cars on display at the open day. Decided to come home the long way and kept off State Highway 1 nearly all the way back, there are actually some great roads between Auckland and Hamilton and we should make an effort to have another go at this in the future. Hopefully we can get a few more cars on the road next time.

I'm still going, might be by myself. I can get the stickers but hopefully I have some company for the cruise down.

Yep the weather is going to be very average but all of NZ will be mocking us if we bail out because it rains.

The good folk at Midnight Upholstery will be horribly offended if we don't show up so I sure hope we manage to get some cars on the road for this one.

It's just like my Dad always said "be good to your Mum son and remember British cars don't work"

Sounds sweet to me, Bec's old Holden wagon is slow as an old Holden wagon so we will be taking our time on this one.

I will be bringing my boys along and I am assuming the boss will be into the cruise as well since I am planning on driving her car. 8:00 start should be manageable.

Here you go, not sure if this is for an Australian or NZ car but maybe it will be useful to both of you. I know at some stage they went to a full electronic distributor (no vac advance) so this diagram will not be applicable to all models. Bronze, maybe you can start a thread in the tech section as I am sure members on here will be able to assist you with your LPG de-conversion.

Pretty sure I have a diagram somewhere that shows all the vacuum connections. There are a lot of hoses to sort out so I will have a hunt and post it up if I can find it.

Hey there I noticed that the Weber carb you have for your car is the later model version with the anti-pollution gear on it. I recently rebuilt one of these for one of my cars and it works awesome however you will want to do away with the 2 stage idle jet as they almost always cause problems when they get old due to the little diaphragm inside failing. Weber performance in Australia can supply a simple and cheap jet holder that allows you to replace the problematic component and also allows you to fit different jets for tuning a modified engine. http://www.weberperformance.com.au/product_info.php?cPath=6_268&products_id=1345 The 2 stage jet is a 70 when the engine is cold to aid warm up and a 50 when the engine is warm for improved economy and reduced emissions (but probably not optimum performance). I am running a 60 in mine and it seems pretty good all round. This picture may be helpful showing the standard jetting for the 34ADM, it's good to check that nobody else has messed with the jets etc.

100% keen for the Hamilton mission. Swap meet will be worth a look and I am sure the open day at Midnight Upholstery will be a good time. Snags can only make a good thing even better.

Just in case you haven't seen it already.

I may join in, will discuss with the boss. When we did our run around to Maraetai a while back I noticed that we were short on aging bogans in old Commodores so I might look to remedy that situation this time round.

A few more for ya. The photos from inside the car were taken during the Thunder Cruise (also known as the most awesome day ever).

Just got back from this epic event. Unfortunately I am hopeless at taking photos but did manage to take a few of the Valiant at the beginning of a few of the cruises over the weekend. I am sure other members have way better photos of the event so please share them.

Just saw the pictures on the news. Sure hope everybody living out that way is doing OK and keeping safe.