While there is a wide range of automotive niches to explore, there’s something to be said for finding your lane and sticking with it.
Not only does it help you become extremely familiar with what you’re working on, it can pay dividends when it comes to acquiring and building another project car.
My ‘lane’ has turned out to be Aussie-made Chrysler Valiants, particularly those from around 1968 to 1981, all of which started with a Spinnaker White 1979 Chrysler ‘CM’ Regal that I saw with a For Sale sign on a backroad near home when I was 17 for eleven-hundred dollaroos:
At this time in the early 2000s, there were ’70s cars still being daily-driven around Dubbo in reasonable numbers. There were still many local builders getting around in Holden HQ – WB (1971 to 1984) ‘Tonners’ and four-cylinder commuters such as MkII Ford Escorts, Holden Geminis and a wide array of Japanese econoboxes of a similar vintage. Ford Falcons older than around 1980 were already out of daily circulation, curiously. I’ll let you reach your own conclusions about that.
Growing up watching The Blues Brothers so frequently that my brother and I wore out the VHS tape to ribbons along with many other classics such as the first two Mad Max films. As a result, I grew up wanting ’70s iron more than I was interested in late-model stuff except for the odd Japanese performance car, although these were largely out of reach anyway until I had finished my P-Plates.
This Chrysler had a 265ci (4.3L) ‘Hemi’ inline six and a floor-shifted BorgWarner 35 automatic. Being a ‘CM’ model, the engine had Chrysler Australia’s version of Electronic Lean Burn or ‘ELB’, which consisted of a spark control computer mounted on the side of the air cleaner which would alter the timing instead of the traditional weights in a distributor which would increase the spark advance as the RPMs build in a fixed relationship compared to the dynamic adjustments the new computer control could achieve.
The intro here is absolute disco-era perfection!
The ELB system both here and Stateside proved to be a little too complex for some mechanics to understand and materials technology wasn’t quite there either to make the system as trouble-free as the previous Chrysler electronic ignition system nor the tried-and-true points ignition of earlier vehicles.
Available on the 318ci (5.2L) engine in the late stages of the CL range and then standard across all CMs including both remaining Hemi Sixes (4.0 and 4.3L), ELB was such a big deal that CAL put it on the front of their Service Manual:
The result was that a Hemi Six Valiants with the ELB system managed to make quite impressive fuel economy figures that CAL were all to eager to advertise:
Australia’s premier TV car-reviewer of the time, Peter Wherrett, gave the CM Valiant series good marks for improved handling, brakes and the ELB system delivering improved economy compared to the outgoing CL range:
Luckily, the ELB system in this car of my final high school year was working perfectly in this vehicle and gave pretty decent fuel economy, and pretty much everything else was good on the mechanical front. The rest of the vehicle was rather questionable, however.
The armrests and center console had been recovered in some ’70s floral-patterned material which matched some cushions which were strewn across the back seat, accompanied with white shag-pile carpet to really give it some vibe! Sadly I have no photos of this groovy decor.
The rear quarters had been repainted with house paint, and the area on the firewall where the VIN tag is riveted into place was made removable with self-tapping screws. I didn’t know much about cars at the time, but I had read online that Valiants commonly rust out in this area from trapped leaves and so I took the seller at his word that this was why that was done. I found out when I sold the car a few years later that there was a good chance it had been ‘re-birthed’ as the numbers on the inner guard/fender appeared to have been cut out and re-welded too!
In the boot (trunk) there were two spare wheels and tyres mounted on their own rack, along with what was originally an LPG (Liquified Petroleum Gas) fuel tank with a petrol filler-neck welded on and mounted up against the rear seat.
The seller demonstrated how he had installed a small electric fuel pump to allow for fuel to go from this former-LPG tank into the main fuel tank by flicking a switch hidden in the center console and which roughly doubled the fuel capacity of the vehicle to about 150 litres (39 US gallons) !!
Visualisations of my future, should I have retained that trunk-mounted I.E.D!
Needless to say, when it came to get the vehicle inspected for New South Wales registration, I had this boot-mounted bomb defused and removed. I may have been a naive schoolboy, but even I had my limits back then!
As dodgy as this car I came to call the ‘Alleged Regal’ [Ed note: In the US of A the Regal was a Buick, but in Austrlia it was a Chrysler. Just like how in America we call a bear a bear and they call it a Forest Wombat – MH] was due to the shifty work done around the areas that held the VIN and the potential fiery deathtrap in the rear, it set me up to meet all kinds of people in the Aussie Chrysler and vintage car community in my local area and across the country, thanks to forums and attending car shows interstate.
Through this car I made contacts and managed to purchase the car that I intend to keep forever: my 1974 Valiant Charger:
https://www.instagram.com/p/C73_KV9y0i2/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
I eventually sold the Alleged Regal to purchase the triple Weber 45mm DCOE carburetors that now hang off the side of the modified 265 Hemi-Six in the Charger. Even for a vehicle of questionable origin, this car remains one of the most comfortable that I have owned and it made long-distance driving very easy.
You may recall my article from late last year, debating if it was worth doing something with the 1963 Dodge Phoenix I had picked up for about the going rate for a decent Chrysler V8 and working transmission.
As a former charity-rally car, it had no doubt seen thousands and thousands of miles of Outback tracks. There was evidence of poorly-repaired sections and poorly-conceived modifications on top of slap-dash maintenance:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C1DA6N8hAUX/
The body was, in local vernacular, ‘munted’:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C7SfwVsJBRp/
With my goal of a comfy, V8-powered long-distance cruiser as my next project, this vehicle only met one of the three aforementioned criteria in it having a nice and smooth-sounding 318ci (5.2L) V8:
Early this year, I finally went and picked up a worthwhile candidate to achieve what I am after to meet my goal:
This 1979 Chrysler ‘CM’ Regal SE was at Lawrence’s property, who you may remember as the bloke we got the ‘chook shed’ engine from during the building of Project Cactus:
Hiding in one of his many sheds, this car had not seen the road since 2004. It used to be his wife’s daily driver, the combination of poor fuel economy and the air-conditioning breaking down caused this big Chrysler to be parked up.
Over the years, with Lawrence racking up over one million kilometres on his Chrysler station wagon when he was working as a builder, the suspension from the Regal SE was taken to keep his vehicle on the road and earning the family a living. Along the way, the engine and transmission were also sold off to a friend in need of a drive train and some bits and bobs such as the dash pad, grille and some other trim were taken for Lawrence or his son David’s vehicles.
Missing the front and rear axles, Lawrence secured the body to a home-built trailer and used his tractor to back this contraption onto my trailer. Cash paid, my mate Ben and I then took the Regal SE to a local car wash to remove 20+ year’s worth of shed dirt and mud-wasp nests.
Originally sold brand-new in Sydney, this Regal SE had a 5.2-litre (318ci) V8 with a floor-shifted Torqueflite 904 three-speed automatic and just about all the big features for the ’70s as standard, including, a leather interior, vinyl roof, air conditioning, power steering, and even power windows, which was an extremely uncommon option to be taken up in Australia in the late 1970s.
The SE trim level itself was quite rare; according to Gavin Farmer’s Great Ideas in Motion II, just 585 examples of this trim were made in the CM model range from 1979 to 1981.
Intending to take over in the higher-end luxury market from the Chrysler by Chrysler which had been withdrawn with the ‘CK’ series in 1976 (although reportedly production continued on the CK sedans into 1978 per Gavin Farmer’s research), the SE trim level was introduced in the ‘CL’ Chrysler range which debuted in November 1976 and was the last face lift of the Australianised Chrysler Valiant range which was essentially the 1968 US A-Body wearing bigger clothes to fit between it and the larger US B-body in size.
With quad headlights as standard and a revised ‘chunkier’ rear end on the sedans, the CL and CM models looked visually larger than the prior Valiants at a time when buyers were flocking to mid-sized Japanese competition outside of Chrysler Australia Ltd and also from within, in the form of the Chrysler Sigma (an adapted Mitsubishi Galant) mid-size car in the wake of rising fuel costs.
The SE’s main competition at the time was the Holden Statesman Caprice and the Aussie Ford LTD as the top-of-the-tree for an Australian-built luxury car, at pricing that sought to undercut imported rivals from the likes of Mercedes-Benz (which still posted good sales figures despite high import tariffs) whilst providing a good profit margin for the Big Three.
To give some perspective, per Wheels Magazine for February 1979 your everyday six-cylinder Big Three large sedan could be had for around $6,500 Aussie Dollars ($36,521 in today’s AUD or $24,283 USD), whilst the luxury variants above were starting at $11,000 ($61,805 today’s AUD / $41,094 USD) and the aforementioned Mercedes-Benz was around $26,000 for the cheapest model, the W123-platform 240D ($146,084 today’s AUD / $97,131 USD) !
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C7fWzyiyjwW/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
Re-creation of average Aussie’s reaction upon walking into a Mercedes-Benz dealership, circa 1979 (NSFW audio)
Sadly, with the ‘fuselage’ styling being markedly dated by the latter half of the 70s and the ‘CL’ and ‘CM’ model range looking even bulkier than the previous Aussie Valiants as well as the exit of all previous body styles except for sedans and station wagons, sales were a dismal 16,005 units across the ‘CM’ series from late 1978 through until 1981 when the ‘Last Barstard’ (sic) rolled off the Tonsley Park production line with said phrase in the boot written in body sealer.
The writing was on the wall for the big Holdens, too. Already being usurped in sales by this point by the mid-size Commodore internally and with the updated ‘XD’ series Ford Falcon and the Japanese competition already gaining ground externally the big family sedan was gone by 1980 and not replaced. Declining sales and the late-70s fuel crisis tipped GM-H’s hand.
The ‘WB’ series of full-size Holdens released in 1980 only included the Ute, Panel Van and luxury Statesman models. Everyday family-car sedans and wagons had been ceded to the Commodore and coupes were gone from both Holden and Ford by ‘79 with each manufacturer bringing out special editions of said coupes to try and shift the remaining few hundred body shells among waning interest in tough economic times.
Returning to my recent purchase, whilst there are some interior pieces missing, the original leather seats are in fantastic shape and should clean up very well.
Much like ’70s luxobarges in the States, prices are still quite affordable, and because everyone is more interested in the sportier models you can pick up items that are unique to the SE at bargain prices in spite of their rarity.
One example is the unique dashpads, which are actually upholstered instead of vacuum molded and should be rare to encounter with such low production numbers it’s actually a buyer’s market. There were three of these pads at the latest Chryslers on the Murray, and as I was likely the only person at the show of over 4,000 people actually interested in one, I walked away with an example in great condition for about $250 Dollaroos:
A few weeks ago, everyone’s favorite ag mechanic, Gordo (the main auto-electrician on Project Cactus), came around and helped me remove the engine and gearbox from the ‘63 Phoenix:
With all the haphazard rallying modifications, this took more work that I had anticipated, but the big yellow bush chook eventually gave up the goods.
I stripped a few more useful items from the car, such as the sweet gauges and the next day a Phoenix enthusiast from down in Victoria showed up to haul off the carcass:
Big Yella may never see a rally again, but it is going on to keep several of its brethren going and I got a small rebate on my drivetrain purchase so overall a win for everybody involved.
I tested the compression on the 318 V8 prior to removal from the big Dodge, and the results weren’t totally surprising:
With an average of 89 psi across all eight cylinders, there’s definitely some worn rings and possibly some sad valves. The CM Chrysler Service Manual allows for a minimum compression of 100 psi, so we’re not far off that!
There’s a little bit of smoke coming out of the right-hand cylinder bank near cylinders 4 & 6, indicating there might be some worn valve guides.
Based on these two symptoms, I’m leaning toward giving this engine a teardown. I may get lucky and only need to roll in some new bearings and hone the cylinders. Based on what I have seen of the bores on my inspection camera I didn’t see anything too concerning and there was good oil pressure.
As an engine heavily impacted by the strict for the time ADR 27A regulations, power was significantly cut in these late-70s V8s to meet emissions standards by dropping compression down to 8:1 as well as reducing the performance via a rather meek camshaft profile. This was similar to the emissions-compliance engine changes made in the US to this engine, with the exception of catalytic converters which weren’t mandated here until 1986.
The result of these changes meant the 318 V8 went from 230 gross horsepower (169kw) to a paltry 143 net horsepower (106kw) by 1978 as rated by CAL/Mitsubishi in their Service Manual. Even the basic 4.0-litre Hemi six in the same car made more power at a rated 153 hp (114kw), although it was of course reportedly producing less torque at 208 ft-lbs (282 Nm) versus the 5.2’s 246 ft-lb (334 Nm). A lazy towing-motor the old ‘LA’ V8 had indeed become by now, if it had ever really been anything but in Australia where we only ever equipped them with two-barrel carburetors and automatics except for a scant few years toward the end of production when a four-speed manual option was finally made available in the ‘CL’ and ‘CM’ ranges.
Whilst I’m in there with the engine stripped down, for the $350-odd Aussie dollars (~$230 USD) for new pistons I can replace the stock units and hopefully get a little more compression and power out of this bent-eight.
The heads will need some reconditioning work, with replacement pistons selected I can then work out if it is worthwhile having the heads shaved down a little to improve compression further, without needing exclusively high-octane performance fuel like my Charger does with a measured 10.5:1 compression. We’re not looking to run on 1940s fuel, let’s get this compression ratio into the nines at least!
Being that the Phoenix’s 727 Torqueflite auto has a manual valve body and a B&M ratchet shifter, there’s every chance the engine has a mild performance camshaft but I will verify this after the tear-down and either have the cam re-ground or seek out a mild replacement to cure some more disco-era sluggishness and potentially claim some extra fuel efficiency and driveability.
If I can source an A518 automatic with overdrive for not too much money, I will either set the 727 aside for a more performance-oriented project (Project V8 Cactus, anyone?…) or sell/trade it.
My uncle’s 1977 Holden ‘HX’ Caprice runs an original 308ci (5.0L) Holden V8 and a Turbo 700 automatic with a lockup torque convertor as well as a 2.6:1 final drive ratio and on a recent visit he achieved around 22 US mpg (10.5L/100km or 27 UK mpg) which I would love to try and get close to with this Regal SE so that it can take over regular roadtrip duties from my 2006 WRX.
I have found a 4-barrel factory intake from a 360ci (5.9L) Chrysler V8 on Facebook Marketplace for a couple pineapples. I plan to run a Carter Thermoquad 4-barrel carburetor to try and retain some good cruising economy on the small twin primary throttle blades and having the big-bore secondaries for overtaking opportunities. With the heads already needing work, they can be ported to match this intake which on the 360ci intake is significantly bigger than the tiny 318 ports.
The body of this Regal SE overall is in great condition, just a few shopping-cart or carparking dents down the sides and a bit of a bingle to the bootlid and rear corner aren’t hard fixes, and the only significant rust is on the left-hand rear quarter panel which is a common rust area for anything from the time period:
The vinyl roof concerned me, it was common at the time for manufacturers to apply the vinyl covering over a roof that had only seen primer and without the greater protection of finished paint. As the window rubbers shrink with age, the vinyl glue may also loosen and a potential water trap can develop between the vinyl and the metal roof underneath.
I tapped around everywhere on the vinyl and the metal underneath sounds solid, there may be some minor rust around the rear window but it appears dirt has mainly entered under the vinyl as I can’t feel much in the way of roughness to the Dutchman panel from inside the boot. I will take the vinyl off soon and strip the roof bare ahead of fully-protecting the metal underneath and I would like to re-apply a new vinyl top later on because it gives a good contrast for what is a rather large car by Aussie standards and is befitting of a late-70s luxury cruiser.
Fingers crossed for no bad surprises!
To update the car somewhat and potentially gain some extra efficiency, I am considering installing an electric power steering pump and an electric air conditioning compressor. The original pumps are renowned for being over-boosted and completely removing any hint of road-feel. I know they can be shimmed down, but I have heard great things about the Holden Astra pump in this application and it does have a great balance between assistance and road feeling in my uncle’s Perentti.
With the factory air conditioning setup mostly missing, an electric setup means one less set of bracketry and pulleys, with the added bonus that I might be able to put the compressor into the boot and it would make rigging up rear-seat A/C much simpler. My uncle, an auto-elec from when this car was new, is investigating this setup for his Caprice, so I eagerly await his findings.
The car was repainted at some time in its history to a solid Red, the original Caramel Metallic still showing in places such as where the factory door mirror was mounted and where some paint has started to flake off in the engine bay:
As with the engine work, I’m a little undecided as to how far I will go with the bodywork on this vehicle. Most of the red paint is holding up quite well, which is tempting me to just sand back and throw a coat of non-sanding sealer over the top and then lay down some fresh paint and only properly strip back the areas in need, such as the nose cone and engine bay.
I would like to go back to the original Caramel Metallic as I think it looks great with the Parchment interior and roof, but a nice solid Red with some gold pinstriping like this car once had also can look quite striking.
What say you, Autopians? Are you Team Caramello Koala, or Team Cherry Ripe? Let me know in the comments!
Photos by author unless noted.
That caramel gold flake deserves to be re-revealed. It is such a definitive Valiant colour.
My old man had a green SE wagon in 1976 (the digital clock and the seats are a clear memory to this day) which we took to Uluru via the Oodnadatta Track that same year. The lovely green paint, leather interior and the power windows were never the same again.
For whatever reason, Dad replaced the Valiant with a Citroen CX…
Thanks, I’m hoping to do some spray-outs to really nail down how the Caramel is going to look.
I don’t imagine the Track was any better than it is now! One way to age a vehicle by several years in one go!
I know a bloke with multiple Citroens CX, maybe he has your dad’s old car. No way there was that many out here back in the day!
I’d go the Cherry Ripe. And I’m a big fan of Road Rebel wheels. You hardly ever see a set anywhere, but they are my favourite 5 spoke wheel design.
And some trivia – the Challenger in Running on Empty didn’t crash and explode – it just looked like it did. To save the cost of blowing up a Challenger, they used a late Valiant sedan rolling shell with the B pillars hacksawed out to make it look like a coupe, gave it a quick paintjob to match and simply parked it against the barrier and blew it up, then edited it in. If you go frame-by-frame through the DVD you can spot where a moving Challenger suddenly becomes a parked Valiant, then detonates.
And in even deeper trivia, the Dodge Daytona imported way back in 1973 by Kevin Monk that featured in Street Machine magazine appeared in the background of various scenes in the movie, and when it was sold back to the USA in 2001 I sent a copy of the DVD to the guy who shipped the car back to the US – he used to be on one of the Chrysler forums and sold collectible Australian cars in the US, and had a Torana and Valiant ute himself.
Always enjoy your insightful comments, Mr Morgan!
If a local tyre shop didn’t damage these wheels, they would likely still be on my Charger. I had heard that the original owner of the wheel company was now in wheel repair, I just haven’t gotten around to it, plus the 15in wheels on the Charger now make the speedo read dead-on so there hasn’t been incentive to change back.
I deliberately added the ROE scene to see if anyone spotted the Valiant as I remember pausing the DVD copy I borrowed off a mate years ago and analysing the crashed and wrecked cars in that movie.
The ‘XY GT-HO’ also transforms into an automatic XW when it’s rolled out in the bush, and the Monaro and Kingswoods that have crashes change models too, I suppose because they were the only spare cars they found on the film’s budget to use for smashing up!
I vaguely remember the Daytona was at CotM at least ten years ago, alongside a Superbird?
I have had a few Valiants in the past including a couple of Regals, they were a VC and a CL. My brother and I drove the VC from Brisbane to Sydney and back in the mid 70’s, it was such a comfortable cruiser as the seats were so thick. With the steering so light it felt like we were in a limo, they are good for road trips.
Absolutely, with a good front end setup and alignment they’ll just waft along at highway speed!
As a staunch supporter of butterscotch/mustard/baby poo yellow, I’d love to see this thing with its original color.
Although I know all to well how much of a pain in the ass body work and paint is so I won’t fault you for chosing the path of least resistance.
Thanks, Manuel! Other than the front nose cone, the rest of the old paint seems quite good and I keep thinking if I can get away with sealing it off and chucking the new paint on over the top.
People might freak at that, but that’s how I did my bonnet on the Charger when I was 19. A coat of non-sanding sealer and then black basecoat followed by clearcoat right over the top. It held up well, and the clear is only now starting to peel after the bonnet has sat in a paddock for about 12 years!
Well, it doesn’t sound like the “right” way (meaning “purist” here) but again, the right way cost me a bunch of money and took 2 years, so unless it’s your forever car like my Datsun is to me, it’s not worth it.
If your method gave you good results, and that fits what you intend to do with the car, go for it my friend! I am no body worker, I’ve only done the grunt work on my car (so much sanding…), so your opinion seems better informed than mine.
This was a great read…always so interesting to hear about what’s going on w/ these projects down under and the history behind them.
I prefer the Cherry Ripe color
(those commercials were the “cherry on top”)
“Project V8 Cactus anyone?”
Sounds great to me…need to get David out there again since he’s gone Hollywood; that way he can get some more rust in his blood ha ha
Project Cactus produced some of the best Autopian articles so far
Thank you!
There’s definitely some unsolved mysteries around Project Cactus, the hacked-out tunnel and V8 K-frame it came with to us are some hints of a wild life for sure…
I wonder how David would go with filling his luggage again for a trip over, this time with V8 speed parts haha!
Make sure David takes his significant other this time and actually sees some sights. Besides the inside of your shed housing rare Aussie metal, that is! After he gets some culture he can go about filling his fingernails with grease tearing into that 318.
As it relates to the color you should paint this project, definitely Team Caramello Koala.
But as a nostalgic childhood confectionery memory, Cherry Ripe all day every day and twice on Sundays.
Also, I read the top shot as “barely legal” and was like wtf? It is late here and I am tired though. But well played, Pete V.
Thank you!
As I was typing the words Cherry Ripe in the draft the memory of having them as a kid now and then came flooding back. It is definitely the superior choccy in my mind too!
I’ve always thought the front end of this generation of Valiant/Regal had really strong Datsun 810 vibes, with a bit of ‘73 Newport.
Absolutely, the old 200B used to be everywhere here and they do look like a scaled-down cousin! Even if it’s probably not true, I like to think the LX-platform Chrysler 300 was a tribute to the CL/CM Valiants!
Always great reading a post from Laurence and being reminded of growing up in the 70s and 80s, especially when Cold Chisel sing gets a mention. Caramello is my vote, looking forward to seeing more of the Regal
Thank you! It won’t be a quick project with the amount of things that will need a total rebuild/modification, but I will keep Autopians updated when I hit some milestones on the restoration.
BMW has the bangle butt.
The Regal has the bingle butt. 🙂
Haha, at least one of these can be fixed by some panelbeating!
This is a fantastic article and I hope we get more from you, Laurence! I’m voting caramello koala, though the red wouldn’t be bad either.
Thank you! I’ve been undecided because a mate has a red CM Regal that looks awesome with a good polish and I know a good pinstriper but they do also look period-perfect in Caramel!
Well, this won’t help your decision at all, but if you know a good pinstriper that makes a big difference – quality custom pinstriping makes a world of difference on 60s and 70s vehicles. Keep us posted on what you decide!
MAN this is a good article. Keep up the good work Laurence. This sort of stuff is a huge reason why I come to this site.
Thank you!
Stuff like this is what got me reading DT back in the day, leading to Project Cactus, then leading to here.
Just like the absolute champion, Mr Walter-Gossin I am beyond stoked to be able to tell some tales here!
Caramel is more in keeping with the ’70s luxury vibe.
Signed, Saddle Bronze Metallic.
Thanks! I hear you, something about those tones and a vinyl roof plus acres of sheetmetal and I start hearing 70s soundtracks in my head…
My Scout was originally painted a color called Gold Poly, which is a sort of dull gold flake. The PO painted it a shade of blurple with a crappy HVLP gun after seven beers. Having seen a truck with the actual color in person, I’m sticking with the blurple until a giant bag of money falls from the sky. I say stick with the red.
Haha, I think your Scout’s previous owner must have family here or travelled widely based on that painting technique!
Is Dollaroos short for Dollary-Doos? I’ve only heard the latter.
We have Kangaroos on our $1 coin!
I take it Pineapples are fifties. TIL so much about Aussie currency
oh, btw: concerning the paint job: I’m a sucker for original
It’s nice to see Little Orphan Annie got work in her adult years. That LTD with the Chrysler Cordoba front end is mind bending. Great article!
Thanks! I have more mind-bending, lesser-known Aussie car history to put out on here down the track!
Think I’d go Caramello Koala, though red will get you through the project sooner.
One question: Do Dollaroos have their own built-in wallet?
Well, you see as marsupials they breed rapidly but just as quickly depart the paddock in tough conditions!
I would definitely like to hear more about this electric AC compressor. This is news to me!
The IronKnuckles lads (Callum and Henry, also massive Project Cactus helpers) have been working on some hotrods that are going to use them and clued me onto these devices.
One includes a 60s Holden with a V8 swap that takes up the whole engine bay, so the plan is to have the electric compressor and an evaporator in the boot and pipe the A/C through the raised transmission tunnel to the passengers.
Is this a system designed for cars, maybe as a retrofit, or is this adapting a home or appliance unit?
It is a vehicle-designed system. Not sure if it’s something being used on EVs/modern stuff or something designed from scratch.
This is the type of stuff I love to read on here. These and DT’s in-depth resurrections of derelict Jeeps.
I’m team Caramel Metallic. I’m a sucker for OEM paints, and I think it would stand out.
Cheers, I am hoping we get some more wrenching stuff coming on line soon too!
Man I love Laurence.
Yeah, he’s so awesome! I couldn’t help but comment that you should get back down there since you’ve gone Hollywood ha ha…also since he asked “Project V8 Cactus anyone?”
Obviously, you already have a million things on your plate especially getting that awesome ZJ project going (cat car!)
Aw man, I love you Dave! *sniff* Is someone cutting onions in here, or are my allergies acting up again?
I thank you for the article Australian David Tracy (I kid I kid) but I am team red as it is my favorite color. But you sir do what your heart desires. Though that caramel metallic almost reminds me of the gold 78 trans am and I love that color.
Haha, thanks! Man, a gold Trans Am would be so damn cool! I think I need to do some spray-outs on some old panels to really see how the Caramel wants to pop