Thought I'd throw together a quick build/race thread for my 1967 Valiant I'll be Autocrossing all year, running in the biggest SCCA CAM class in the country, maybe a USCA event, Goodguys, going up against much more high dollar Ford/GM competitors and givîng them Hell...

Yep, I watched Tom race the Valiant back when he first got it back together (running tiny 265/35/18's at the time) and he definitely had one of the top laps compared to most other high budget builds.

Quick background on me, I have always been a car guy, started with an early Fox Mustang in high school, then 70sVettes, then my Uncle introduced me to his 1969 Barracuda Convertible...

I started Autocrossing the Barracuda at Goodguys events in 2012, and even though it was basically stock with a front sway bar added, had a blast. The "leaning tower of Cuda" as Chad the Goodguys announcer called it was a fan favorite, and ran most of its laps full with two or three passengers..

On Sundays at Goodguys, they have a late model class available. I bought a 2013 Mustang GT with the 420HP 5.0, a 6 speed, and Brembo brakes to be my daily driver. I was lucky enough to win 3 straight late model Sundays, and 3 sets of BFG tires. The Mustang was fast, but I didn't enjoy the feel of electronic aids and 3800lbs in the turns. The idea of a stiffer-than-a-convertible Autocrossing A body was born...

So I sold the 2013 GT Mustang, sold the BFG tires I had won with it, and bought this, a $1500 California "Rust Free" slant 6 no option 1967 Valiant...

Rust Free fenders and doors, maybe, but not rust free floors. Though running (barely), it definitely had been sitting and collecting rain water...

It also looked like one of the many previous owners had used freeway guard rails as guidance, every fender and door were crooked, and had been repaired poorly...

My plan to keep costs low were simple, steal the 300HP crate Magnum 360 out of my Barracuda, source an A833, and use a $150 junkyard Ford 8.8 so I could get cheap limited slip and disc brakes as well. Since I had autocrossed a bit with Dan, he wanted to install the Hotchkis TVS...

Nice Saleen Tom, those are FUN cars. I wish I would've started with a Valiant or Dart post car, you really do have the IDEAL Mopar platform to cause the brand X guys serious grief.

Love this, keep it coming!

After removal of 47 years of crud, underhood paint...

Wanted to try a Borgeson box since the Firm Feel stage 3 I had on the Barracuda still had some on-center deadness. Between the factory Z bar setup and the power steering we had a lot of fitment issues, detailed by Dan in another thread, so the Doug's Headers had to go. Eventually I went with the new TTI shorties...

My early goal with the Valiant was to maximize front tire, the High Dollar 69 Camaros I run against were starting to use 315 tires in front, but I'm hoping I could get by with a little less since the Valiant should be lighter. I ordered some $99 18x10 American Muscle Mustang wheels, and got a deal on some 265/35/18 Falken RT-615Ks

Dan got advanced with Factory K Member lightning....

And stiffening....

With the TVS kit so far we used factory 73-76 A body spindles and brakes.