My names Stuart Easling, im 19 and im from SA. This is my 1979 Chrysler Valiant Regal. It runs a relatively stock 265 with a modified cam that feeds a 3 speed TorqueFlite auto.
I bought it for $2200 from an Italian fella that i think wanted to restore it but had too many projects on the go. At the time it had stock speakers, an old clarion deck and was running on 14" charger rims up front and EA falcon 15's at the back. i figure its been thrashed at some point during its illustrious career.
Since then, i've had my licence suspended for 6 months and am due to get it back late November. So i've spent that time working and saving money to convert it to straight gas. Which is still a little while away.
Along the way i managed to pick up a set of 4 14x7 inch ROH W35 mags at a local wreckers for 150 bucks. Granted that is cheap, but they werent much to look at. Several litres of allbrite and a lot of scrubbing and a bit of brushing with a wire wheel brought them to a smooth silver finish. (not chrome)
As i was busy sorting out my career in the Air Force, the car kind of took 2nd priority but during this time i decided to get the audio side of it sorted out. Having done several jobs on various mates cars, i took it upon myself to engineer a solution to the stock audio that was already in place.
The parcel shelf was ugly at best (and is still yet to be carpeted black), and the simplest part of the job was fitting MTX 3 way 6x9s. The installed deck was a 90's clarion so that immediately got the flick for a Sony CDX-GT55IP. Which translates to this one below.
I wanted something that i could control my iPod with and this seemed like a practical solution. Cost me 200 so it was economical too. The joys of your mate managing strathfield.
The speakers on the side of the footwells (again, old clarions) were almost as old as the car, and the cavity behind them would not support much else. The valiant's doors are quite deep so i got hectic and cut holes in the trim and mounted 6.5 " Soundstream Van Gogh (all the way from the US) splits in them.
After that was done, it was just a matter of hooking up a precision 4 channel amp, mounting that under the passenger seat, wiring the soundstream splits to that and bridging the MTX woofer off the other two channels. the 6x9s are run off the rear head unit outputs and coming verry soon are MTX splits in the footwells. mostly to fill the annoying gap and run something off the front outputs of the deck. theyve sat in their box and im probably doing it this weekend.
Once the audio was done, i focussed on getting the wheels up to scratch and wrapping them in hankook 215/60s at the front and 235/60s at the back.
At the moment the audio and wheels/tyres are the only thing i've changed out of desire....the other thing was replacing the ignition barrel which got stuck with my keys in it. gooood fun. 150 bucks later.
Eventually im going to get it converted to straight gas, which i hear gives a slight increase in power rather than the slight decrease that occurs with dual fuel.
At the moment its the worst car for economy on the road... well not literally but its horrible.
The paints in all-right shape so at the moment that is last on the list. The roof isn't vinyl but might have been at one stage. its now black and lumpy....and thats the best way i can describe it.
My family's had valiants for ages, mum n dad used to drive them as taxis back in the day. and so began a lifelong love affair.... i love them because they're not holden or ford, they're not your typical japanese car that most 19 yr olds would drive, and because they're so unique. Although it does burn holes in my pockets with its petrol consumption.
