Hey guys!

New to the forums and new to the turbo barra motor, but thought I would introduce myself and let everyome know what im working on.

I have taken on a 69' 2 door VF Valiant project and have slowly been chipping away at it, mainly just the bodywork lately as it needs alot of love and has been sitting for 10yrs plus. I don't have a range of skills when it comes to this stuff but I am planning on doing as much of it as I possibly can myself in the garage.

My first (and most important!) decision was engine choice, being only a young bloke myself I really am not into V8's as is currently sitting in it (don't hate them...it lives in a garage with 8 other v8's so im just being different). Legally allowed up to a 4.2 litre boosted engine so straight up I had 3 thoughts, 3L inline 6 turbo 2jz, 2.5L inline 6 turbo 1jz, or 4L inline 6 turbo barra, eventually I bit the bullet and bought the BA xr6t engine and btr 4 speed auto box with intercooler, all wiring, pedal assembly, dump pipe etc (only thing missing is the turbo as the seller had previously sold that).

So that is sorted, other plans include upgrading diff and drum brakes to a ford 9" with big wilwoods front and rear, upgrade front suspension to rack and pinion style, repair all bodywork and paint myself in acrylic sublime green with black features, performance wise im thinking just from researching...bigger intercooler, bigger injectors, fuel pump, gt3582r (one size up from standard turbo I believe?), more boost, possibly cams and valve springs, will get ECU reflashed and standalone wiring harness made up to simplify things.

Should be one of a kind and a pretty quick street car by the end of it I hope! Would love to hear any feedback or thoughts on the build guys. Will post some progress photos along the way for anyone interested.

Cheers guys, Al.

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Hi,sounds like an absolute awesome project-will be watching for sure,look forward to updates-cheers Johnny.

Interesting, I have a 72 Rambler Hornet, just bought it, completed but the motor and gearbox was out and beyond repair, so looked around for a power train, plenty of V8 conversions done, my son is doing an LS1 into his Hornet, but I wanted to stay with a six ( I think it will be easier when it comes to rego )and the 4.0l falcon seemed the best swap as the original was a 4.2l, a BA XR6 came up at a great price so I grabbed it, stripping it this weekend, its a manual so I will be converting the Hornet to that so will be different there as AMC never sold a manual Hornet in Australia, I am going to use all of the wiring loom, and as much as I can from the falcon, instruments, heater-A/C, power windows and locks, I have done this before, built a VN commodore into a 80 Toyoace, with all the wiring used it started first time and ran without problems, good luck and have fun with yours.

don't forget ta throw us a link to ya garage when ya start both sound great so keep us all in the link

Sounds great Agi! Did you go the turbo donk or just N/A for now? Should be fun man, fairly similar conversion just you are about 2 years ahead of me haha! I got some paint supplies today so I can start teaching myself to paint the panels etc. Have been slowly pulling the old motor out and doing body work as I go.

Not too sure about the 2 years, I have just put in plans to the council to extend my garage so I have room to work on it, atm its stored at my sons place, the XR6 is atmo, I wasn't going to look until I was ready but it was a complete car with a defect sticker for tyres then a light knock in the front at a bargain price, I should be able to get back my money selling the stuff I don't want so I end up with the bits I want for free.
The Hornet is reasonably good, been in storage for 12 odd years, paint stuffed, bit of surface rust mainly, only real rust under the bottom corners of the rear screen.
I will be telling a mate at work about your VF, he picked up one in S.A. a couple of months ago, was stripped and some body work done, mainly panel changes, came with a rebuilt 318 and auto, he is haunting ebay and Gumtree looking for all the bits he needs to get started on his rebuild, he keeps telling me that the only way is V8
I really like the 2 door Valiant, Dad had a VG Pacer hardtop, White with black interior, I can still remember going to see him about 30 years ago and he told me he had GIVEN it a 17 year old down the street as he no longer had a use for it.

Gave it away?!?! Haha that is insane. And yeah it would have been a hell of alot easier to keep the 318 in mine and bomb it up but I was just chasing something abit different. Had to replace the drivers side rear 1/4 and lower door sill but otherwise not too much rust.

Will you be painting it yourself? I have no experience painting cars but going to teach myself (seriously can't justify spending 10+ grand on a paint job when I can take my time and do it for $1000 or under. Got all my paint and body supplies yesterday with a lvlp gun so not as much cfm/psi needed to spray). I paid $2500 for my ba xr6t motor, 4 speed btr auto box, , intercooler and all wiring, dump pipe etc (everything is there minus the turbocharger itself, which is a good enough reason to chuck something moderately large on it!)

Here is a sales brochure for the valiant coupe, $2,898 brand new haha.

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Yes, I think I will paint myself too, the car is white now and I think I will stay with that, I intend it to be a regular driver so, like you, I can't justify the cost of an expensive paint job, once I get it to the stage where it is regoed and I can be driving it I will see how I feel then, I quite like the striping on this Rambler, was called The Machine, uses the AMC colours of White, Blue and Red

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Very nice man, I don't think I have ever seen one in person to be honest. Any ideas what they weigh in at? The Val is around 1400kgs which is pretty impressive for an old tank of a car, I guess the lack of airbags and big comfy electric seats shaves a few hundred kgs off the modern cars.

If its anything like the Valiant, then an NA xr6 motor will still haul some a$$, I am kind of scared everytime I drive my mates xr6t and then hop in dads V8 vg coupe haha! Poor old valiant will have a rude re-introduction back onto the road.

This is not mine, but the same car, 4 door sedan in white, weight about 1250 kg

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Any progress pics Al?

I'd love to hear an update and see some pics Al.

Last edited by TheodoreRev on Thu Nov 14, 2024 8:43 pm, edited 3 times in total.

so what happened to Val?.