Valiant Effort Racing

With my recent acquisition, I hope to offer some entertainment and also document my progress for a possible run at making this into a Challenge car. Paid $1600 which was probably too much, but you must understand that it is orange and I have a weakness for orange cars that are as old or older than I am.

Main goals right off the bat are to see what is needed to get it road legal. This list is long, so let's get to some pics of the first full day of ownership.

Here she is on the dolly homeward bound

Got all the neighbor kids curious when we pulled up with this on the trailer and unloaded around the corner from the house. No room in the driveway for turning around with the dolly on the back so we just used the side street as the unloading zone.

Dixie's always willing to lend a helping hand when a project is underway.

What you are currently admiring is the top half of a 1966 Valiant, with a pickup bed grafted in, on a early 80s (best guess) Chevy S10 chassis.
Let's take an inventory of the special bonus items that came with this purchase.

Here we have a random assortment of Autolite spark plugs. Not sure if they fit the 305 motor, but there's definitely not enough of them. We also have an oil filter which may or may not fit, some bolts that might go to stuff, and an exhaust hanger. And a fair number of self tapping sheet metal screws, which appear to hold most of the front end together.

Found a plate from the PPO (previous previous owner, or is that Previous Owner, once removed?) Looks like the last time this beast was on the road was 2010, although he kept renewing the plate for a few years after without applying the sticker, so not sure if it saw any track time during these years.

Such loow miles!!

These things don't grow on trees, but this one's been sitting for a while so it did have some stuff growing in and on it. Fun fact, hollowed out pecan shells make an excellent hiding place for spiders. LOL After a thorough cleaning, fumigation and yet more cleaning, I was finally willing to sit in it by the end of today. The car now has an odor that incorporates insect repellent, febreeze and musty old car.

Then it was time to weather proof her, as the rain was rolling in. Til next time, Cheers.

Very cool. Congrats.

Those bucket seats look very familiar but I'm having trouble placing them.
Honda Prelude? Toyota fX16?

Oh, wait,..early DSM!

This is awesome!

That thing is AWESOME. I'm so happy that someone on here ended up with it.

VERY excite!

Oh my! That is all kinds of awesome!

Following for sure

A Valiant pickup in day-glo orange? That sounds pretty good.

How clean is the conversion?

Dumb, mostly irrelevant question, but is it titled as a Valiant or an S10?

Lol knew someone here would have to have this. Anxiously waiting on the developments.

Im subbing for the long haul. As a mopar guy that has spent considerable time with s10s, sbcs, and redneck hack jobs, ill volunteer to come up and help if you ever need it.

I can tell you, this has the attention of every technician at the Jaguar dealership in Fort Worth...

I love the conceptual evolution of this thing:

"Hey, I have this S-10 pickup...

I bet this would look great if it was orange..."

Cue ECM:

"That guy is a Berkleying genius."

All of GRM:

"No, no...You are the freakin' genius! You stole that thing!"

Oh man. You bought this? Excellent. I'm excited to see what this becomes!

Following this one closely. Very cool that you picked this up!

And can I get first in line when you inevitably sell it in a couple years?

Now that I'm on a computer and can see the pictures better, what's that that Dixie is munchin on?

I must've missed whatever previous threads existing about this car, err truck, err Valamino.

I like it.

Great score!

Any backstory on this, is there any history or pics on it's former life/ lives on the current build to date?

T.J. wrote: I must've missed whatever previous threads existing about this car, err truck, err Valamino. I like it.

My vote is "ValUte"

wae wrote:

T.J. wrote: I must've missed whatever previous threads existing about this car, err truck, err Valamino. I like it.

My vote is "ValUte"

El Plymino.

Just popping in to give what info I have, I will try to post more after I get off work. Thanks for all of the encouragement and support guys!

No idea on the seats, I didn't think they looked right for an S10 so no idea where they came from originally.
The conversion is pretty messy. I will be learning how to weld soon no doubt.
It is titled as a Valiant.
Thanks for the offer to help Dusterbd13, I may very well take you up on that!
I am pleased to hear of the interest from the Jag dealership in Ft. Worth, stay tuned!
I would like to be buried in this thing, so no dibs!!!
Dixie is munchin' on her chuckit flying squirrel
Unfortunately not many details on the previous owners. They gentleman that I bought it from had only owned it for a few months. He is turning 73 this month and doesn't have the resources to do what he wanted with all of his projects. The dude who used to drag race this thing passed away and the fellow I bought it from had picked it up at the estate sale. I have considered doing some research on the VIN to see what may pop up but not holding my breath that there will be much info.
"Valamino", I like it!

That is by far the best thing I have seen in orange is years.

Best part, you will never see another one.

  How do you put a price on awesome anyhow....

Just let me know, EastCoastMojo. Im down. Hell, i enjoy travel and meeting new people, so whats better than that?

EastCoastMojo wrote:

Don't you hate when people tailgate you

Wait, this is S10 based?? I missed that part. If it was done neatly, that seems like an improvement over the A-body platform with torsion bars instead of the much more aftermarket supported S-10.

Curious where you go with this.

I LIKE my torsion bars....

However the s10 was more capable for less money and work.