Thought I’d go ahead and throw my current project up on here. A long story short, I built what should be a nice street 354 Gen 1 Hemi a couple of years ago with plans on putting it in a 55-56 Dodge or Plymouth.

CVC by M Patterson, on Flickr

Engine build Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzFdDWr1XcY

Over the last year the degenerative arthritis in my lower back got a lot worse, to the point where I have problems driving a manual transmission car. I decided I needed something that could serve both as a daily driver and a toy. 50s cars draw too much attention for me to feel comfortable leaving it in a box store parking lot while I shop so I starting looking for something a little newer/plainer than the 50s Mopars I’d been looking for as a home for the HEMI. I’d always liked the late 60s A bodies and came across 3 possible candidates. I ended up buying a “street/strip” 68 Valiant 2dr Post car.

valiant 2 by M Patterson, on Flickr

valiant 8 by M Patterson, on Flickr

It’s a normally aspirated 11second car that’s far more race car than street car. It has a 508 440 based stroker motor with stealth aluminum heads.

Valiant 5 by M Patterson, on Flickr

The paint has issues, but what sold me on the car was the suspension work that was already done. The car was a rotisserie build and already has sub-frame connectors, been converted to 5 on 4 ½ front suspension and disc brakes. It has an 8 ¾ rear end hung on coil-overs and ladder bars. It currently has 4:10 gears (that were improperly set up) that will be changed out for 4:30s. It’s also been mini-tubbed which is nice for the wide tires.

Rear end by M Patterson, on Flickr

In order to finance the car I ended up selling my 37 Dodge pickup…..neat toy and a fun build but not real practical or comfortable.

In addition to the green car I also bought another 68 Valiant 2dr post car for parts. When they were new the only difference between the 2 cars is the green car came out of Michigan and the red car was built in California. This will give me a stock hood and I’ll probably also use the trunk lid. It also gives me a heater, gas tank hardware for when I replace the fuel cell, and a bunch of little odds and ends you always seem to need.

1968 PC by M Patterson, on Flickr

After thinking and planning for a little while I’ve decided to do the engine/transmission mock-up on the red parts car so I can leave the green car complete and moving under its own power while I figure everything out.

Fortunately I had a builder Hemi block and heads I could use for the mock-up and was able to borrow and empty 46RH case and overdrive housing from a friend at the transmission shop.

mock up parts by M Patterson, on Flickr

I When I built the HEMI that will be going into the green car I used a rear sump pan…..unfortunately to clear the cross member drag link that needs to be changed to a center sump pan (57-58 392 Hemi and 354 Poly only). I did manage to find one, not real cheap but still easier than building one.

The old Hemi just fits and I think I have the motor mounts pretty much figured out. I still need to crawl back under the car and do some trans tunnel modifications to properly fit the 46RH.

MU2 by M Patterson, on Flickr

The last issue will likely be exhaust. I have a few different options on hand to try (manifolds and headers), but it might come down to building custom headers to clear the steering box.

Anyway that was where I left off when the weather turned cold and it became too painful to work in the shop. Now that it’s warming up again it looks like I’ll get a chance to get back to work on it again.

That's a pretty clean little parts car! I am heading out to San Diego from Oklahoma this weekend to get my 69 Valiant. I had it in a body shop and made the mistake of feeding them money (15k) before it was done and as a result I have a stripped out Valiant that looks worse than your red car. I almost want to leave it out there but it's the last thing I have to move from leaving there in Jan 2023.

If you ever want to part with it let me know!

".....I had it in a body shop and made the mistake of feeding them money......"

Yeah I made that mistake once on another car. Finally got all my parts back, but the paint job was so bad I sanded it back own and redid it myself. It actually came out pretty nice but the year in body shop purgatory is something I never want to go thru again.

As far as the parts car, the current plan is to finish the mock-up, then I'll probably swap the K frames between the 2 cars. The Green car has appears to have an aftermarket K frame with spool mounts and I'm building the mounts for the HEMI off the 6 cyl mounts in the red car. Once I get to that point, I'm looking at packaging the red body with the left over parts from the green car including the engine and transmission and see if I can find someone who wants to build a race car to get rid of everything at once.

If I was a bit younger and in better shape I'd probably keep it and throw a straight axle under the front with some fender well headers and turn it into a gasser LOL.

Well, you may have a buyer when that time comes!

I was living in San Diego. In 2018 I got my VA disability figured out and got a back payment and a monthly amount. I decided with my new found extra income I would build my dream car. They quickly tore it down, I took the suspension home and put it together using a spool k-frame and all the Firm Feel and other go fast suspension pieces. Well, they quit on it a few weeks later and would only work on it when I raised heck every couple of months.
Short story is 4.5 years later, $15,500 later, a move from CA to OK, I almost don't even want to spend the diesel money to go pick up the shell of the 69 Valiant and the few associated parts. I'm just sick about it and only picking it up from them so they see I still care. I feel like abandoning the car and putting a bullet in my head.

BTW, I have just been diagnosed with Spinal Stenosis so I know all about the back pain. I'm only 43 and only have manual vehicles and I'm also thinking about automatics. Life sucks, nobody cares, and it only gets worse.

Sounds like we have a bit in common. I retired from the Army after 20 years. The initial VA evaluation after I retired was 20% disabled. Over the years as the degenerative arthritis got worse I’ve been reevaluated a couple of times. The last evaluation was in Oct and the rating went to 50% …….of course their holding the payments and back pay till they do an audit.

My 2 favorite cars are my 57 Plymouth with a 4 speed and a little Dodge Ram 50 I put a Small Block Chevy and 5 speed in a few years ago. Love driving both of them……unfortunately I can’t drive either, especially in town.

As far as automatics go I ended up really liking Mopar’s 46 RH/RE. The OD lets you get way with a lot deeper gear than you can with a non-overdrive unit. I was running one in my 37 Dodge truck with 4.6 gears and it would comfortably cruise at 75 MPH. Unfortunately they are a SB bolt pattern so you would need something like an ultra bell to mate it to a BB. There are also trans tunnel mods required to fit it in an A body (that I’m planning covering in this thread).

I don't want to linger on the Veteran thing but if you get help with your claim through a Veteran Service Organization they can surely help with the process and even appeal the rating. DAV is a big one but they are cumbersome and take time and more of your involvement. I am working with a small group called Dale K. Graham Foundation. An important note is that when you start the claim process with a VSO you have to stick with them. Once the process is final you can switch VSO's if you want to start a new claim or appeal.You just can't switch VSO's in the middle of a claim.

Back to the Valiants, I think yours is a radical. Only way I can see it getting better is doing a straight axle front. These cars are almost almost like an AWB from the factory, just need to straight axle it an jack it up! Have you thought about the 8HP80 or 70? It's in just about every LX and Ram platform from the last decade or so. Very tough and great gearing. I know you're probably so far down the path your'e on to change the transmission plan.

My son and I are going to leave for SD tomorrow or Saturday. I usually drop down from I-40 and go through Payson to PHX to SD. Are you on that route? I would love to see your projects and meet you. The Flagstaff to PHX route is nearly the same so we could go that route as well I just like stopping in Payson to trout fish at Christopher Creek.

John, your correct I'm pretty set on the 46RH as I already have a rebuilt one on hand along with the aftermarket cross member to install it. I'm also familiar with them having used one in the 37 Dodge.

In my mind the boxy style of the 68-69 Valiant 2 door sedans lend themselves very well to a straight axle style Gasser build (there are a couple videos of such builds on You Tube). The problem with me building one is I'd need a box to climb up in to it with my back in it's current shape LOL. Maybe the next owner can built the parts car, at least I saved it from it's planned fate by the previous owner, which was to swap in an LS motor.

By the way I sent you a PM.

The darn weather and my back have pretty much been keeping me out of the shop for the last couple of weeks. Rather than sit around and wait for better weather I started on a couple of small projects that I would normally do much later in the in the process. One of those projects was to figure out the wiring for the MSD 6A and backup Chrysler Electric Control Unit (ECU).

After I build a car the big test is usually to drive it from Arizona to Illinois and back (normally around 4000 miles or so), something I hope to do in the Valiant. About half of the trip is done at night and anybody who has driven through the Southwest knows there are section of the trip where there is nothing for miles and miles but miles and miles. I usually carry a box of “just in case” parts with me, the usual things like belts, hoses, bulbs and fuses ect ect. I also carry things that might be not be on the local parts store shelf that would a show stopper if I couldn’t find a replacement. Sitting in a motel in downtown nowhere for a day or 2 while I wait on something to be shipped in is not fun so I usually also carry a spare complete HEMI distributor, wiper motor and switch, alternator (1 wire 10SI) etc.

I like running a MSD 6A on these old HEMIs (which I have convert to Chrysler Electronic Ignition), it really helps with cold starts and drivability as the engine warms up. To me the 6A boxes are a bit pricey just to have one sitting in a box in the trunk “in case”, their also PIA to change out along the side of the road at 3AM. The compromise I came up with on my 57 Plymouth was to mount and wire both the MSD box and a Chrysler Electronic Ignition Module to separate plugs that can be connected to the cars wiring harness. If the 6A box goes out it’s a simple matter to unplug it from the wiring harness and plug in the Chrysler module. I’d usually run the car on the Chrysler module once in a while just to make sure there are no issues if I ever needed to use it.

I built the 57 Plymouth almost 20 years ago and used a 6AL box. I’m using a new 6A box on the Valiant and there is a bit of difference in the wiring between the 2 so I basically had to redo my wiring diagram. Of course the wiring on the Chrysler ECU hasn’t changed in decades, although I have noticed there have been changes in the color coding of the wiring harness that plugs into ECU depending on where you get the harness from. You might also notice that there are some circuits on my diagrams that don’t show a color code. That’s because I haven’t built the wiring harness yet and the color(s) I use will depend on what wire I have on hand (I’ll pencil in the color on my copy of the diagram once I get it all wired into the car).

These are the wiring diagrams for the 6A box and Chrysler ECU I started with.

wiring MSD CHRY org by M Patterson, on Flickr

And these are the diagrams that show the 6A and Chrysler ECU wired to the 8 pin plugs I used. I actually only needed a 7 pin plug but 8 pin plugs seem to be a bit easier to find.

wiring MSD CHRY 8 by M Patterson, on Flickr

Finally the wiring harness plug that connects either the 6A or Chrysler ECU to the cars harness.

Wiring Harness by M Patterson, on Flickr

If someone decides to use this as a guide for building a backup ECU system keep in mind IT IS ONLY A GUIDE. There are differences in the wiring between the 6A box I’m using and other MSD boxes depending on the model and probably age. As I noted there are also differences in the wiring color coding on the Chrysler ECU plugs depending on where you source them from. From my experience the wiring/plug that goes into the distributor have always been orange and black wires, but you never know what’s out there in the aftermarket if you use a replacement pickup assembly. Basically it’s up to you to verify the wiring for your specific car/components.

Anyway for me it’s worth the extra effort to go I through if for nothing else than just for the peace of mind when I driving far away from home and shop. It was also a good mind exercise on a cold rainy day LOL.

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It’s finally warmed up a bit in the last couple of weeks and my backs doing a bit better now so my grandson’s been coming over to give me a hand on the car. We spent yesterday clearance the transmission tunnel for the overdrive unit on the red car (we’ll have to duplicate this on the green car but wanted to see what we we’re in for and needed it done to get everything in straight so I can finish building the motor mounts).

OD 1 by M Patterson, on Flickr


By this afternoon we pretty much had it figured out and the transmission is resting on the USTC 46RH crossmember.

OD 2 by M Patterson, on Flickr

We have a bit more trimming to do and I’ll need to weld some flat-stock in to gain the strength back before we call it good. We were able to adjust the engine bit more. We’re not quite there yet but we’re close to getting the engine and transmission to the sweet spot they will live at.


A while back I had looked at the dash/gauge cluster in the Green car. It might have been OK when the car was mostly on the strip, but left a bit to be desired for something that gets driven on the street on a regular basis. The factory cluster behind the tach actually looks pretty nice, it even looks like they installed new gauges in it…..unfortunately nothing appears to be hooked up.

68 Cluster 1 by M Patterson, on Flickr

Oh well that’s what I built a parts car for. I didn’t mind using this for a basis to an aftermarket gauge cluster. And I could pretty much just work at the bench when my back bothered me.

68 Cluster 2 by M Patterson, on Flickr

I already had the speedometer, tach and 1 ½” gauge trio. I could not find a 1 ½” fuel gauge however and finally settled on a 2” gauge. Although not exactly the placement I would have liked had I found a 1 ½” fuel gauge this is what I came up with.


68 cluster 3 by M Patterson, on Flickr


I’m using the original locations for the headlights, wipers and hazard flashers (plus added a new switch for the fuel pumps) so I needed a portion of the original back plate.

68 dash 4 by M Patterson, on Flickr

I’ve still got a little to do/re-do on it but overall I’m pretty happy with it.

z GC by M Patterson, on Flickr