HARD & FAST
TRANSFORMING A VG HARDTOP INTO A CORNER-CARVING, BIG-BLOCKED SHOWPIECE!
An exquisitely engineered, stunningly finished big-block pro tourer for the Mopar faithful
IT TOOK a couple of years longer than he’d planned, but Jason Behan’s full-house pro touring VG Valiant hardtop is finally done. Back in the July 2016 issue of SM, when we featured it in bare metal, we said it would probably need another 12 months of work before MINTVAL was finished. But good things come to those who wait, and this is most definitely a good thing. While we’ve featured a number killer Mopars in reccent years, few have been taken remotely as far as this one in terms of custom metal fabrication and modification. According to Jason: “Every bit of sheet metal on the car except for the roof was changed.”
It’s had a lot of nips and tucks to make everything tighter, smoother and much more modern-looking, but it still retains its identity as a VG hardtop. Starting at the front, the bumper has been deleted and functional brake ducting vents were added. A custom grille was made from laser-cut alloy, and the rectangular headlights have made way for round projector lights from Dapper Lighting. The smoothing continues to the window openings, where the front and rear screens have been flush-fitted, flowing down to the rear bumper that has been narrowed and tucked in nice and tight to the body. Finishing off the clean look are exhaust tips that exit through the bumper.
There’s just as much work done underneath the car as on top, with a custom chassis fabricated by BMV Engineering tied into new floorpans – to keep the car’s original monocoque construction – allowing it to sit on the deck over coil-over suspension but still achieve full travel. As you’d expect, the torsionbar front end and leaf-spring rear are long gone and replaced with a tubular IFS up front and triangulated four-bar out the back.
“The thing drives like a Skyline,” says Jason. “With the power steering and all the sound deadening, it’s as quiet and easy to drive as my brand new Ranger. With the windows up and the air-con on, it’s so good.
“Chris at BMV designed the whole car to work with the engine – engine
IT’S HAD A LOT OF NIPS AND TUCKS TO MAKE EVERYTHING TIGHTER, SMOOTHER AND MUCH MORE MODERN-LOOKING
relocation, 3.5-inch exhaust, fuel lines, wiring, full console all worked out at the start of the build.” That’s the secret to success – having a plan and sticking to it!
When we last saw the VG in mid-2016 it was all but complete bar the paint and trim. And, while it seemed like the car was in the home stretch, getting it to the painters took a bit longer than planned, partly because there was a bit more work to do, but mainly because Jason had his heart set on a particular painter.
“After the bare-metal photoshoot I took the car back home, so trying to get it back to BMV to finish it off took a bit of time,” Jason says. “I took the car to Peter Wells – who is Chris from BMV’S uncle – to do all the paint and panel. He painted Angela Dow’s HER350 Torana [SM, Aug ’09] and he does a lot of carbonfibre drag car stuff because he lives about five minutes from Willowbank. So to get into him took a while because drag cars are crashing every weekend and he’s so busy!”
With all of the effort put into the bodywork and underside of the car, you might expect some kind of crazy, in-yer-face paintjob, but that was never the intention of the build.
“I wanted the car to speak for itself and be timeless,” says Jason, but he also wanted to be able to use the car as much as possible. “I tried to hold off driving it until Chris came to photograph it, but I’ve done about 1000km in it since then. I had PDR TECH Automotive ceramic-coat everything – the engine bay, boot, glass, leather, a heat-proof coating on the brakes. I used to think it was a bit of a wank factor, but it’s staying clean underneath.”
THE THING DRIVES LIKE A SKYLINE. WITH THE POWER STEERING AND ALL THE SOUND DEADENING, IT’S AS QUIET AND EASY TO DRIVE AS MY BRAND NEW RANGER
THE MACHINED PIECES AREN’T SOMETHING PULLED OFF THE SHELF, EITHER – THEY’RE CUSTOM-DESIGNED BY CRAIG AT BMV AND THEN MACHINED BY JOE AT MACRO MACHINING IN YANDINA
While the colour combination is your basic black-and-white, there is still plenty of variation in the finishes and textures to keep it interesting. Satin black is used extensively on the engine bay sheet metal, while the engine itself is detailed in gloss black. The all-black interior is broken up by using several different textures and surface finishes, with satin-black metal combining with black leather and suede. Throw in a smattering of machined aluminium surfaces and it all comes together nicely.
The machined pieces aren’t something pulled off the shelf, either – they’re custom-designed by Craig at BMV and then machined by Joe at Macro Machining in Yandina. The gauge cluster, shifter surround and speaker grilles showcase the clever work and they all feature an elongated hexagonal shape, which is reminiscent of the factory gauge cluster’s shape. It’s a motif that is used throughout the car and also features on the custom grille and the pattern in the seats and door trims.
With a dad who worked at a Chrysler plant, the love for Valiants goes way back to Jason’s childhood. “I grew up with a dream to restore an old Valiant and always liked the shape of the VF/VG. I thought it had the potential to look good with the correct ride height laid out on coil-overs,” he says.
With a Meguiar’s Superstars invitation for Motorex 2020 awarded at the Queensland Hot Rod & Street Machine Spectacular already in the bag, Jason and the team at BMV have obviously done enough to impress the judges. The next step will be a crack at the Top 60 hall at Street Machine Summernats 33. And you never know, with a bunch of miles on the car already and all of the bugs ironed out, it could be a contender for Grand Champ!