Restoring ’72 Plymouth Valiant was family affair

For years, 19-year-old Shaelyn Hall saw the 1972 Plymouth Valiant lying in a neighbor’s field. Even as a small child, something about the vehicle caught her attention.

“I always liked older cars. I always thought they were cool,” she said. “I always thought the newer ones all look kind of the same.”

So, when the owner of the car, Paul Smith, returned from living in Alaska, Hall jumped at the chance to buy it. Her father, Ron Hall, supported her, seeing an opportunity for a fun family learning project. In January 2014 the Halls, with the help of Smith, moved the car into their garage near Cheney and named it Lola. They paid Smith $300.

That was the start of an old-time automobile restoration project, facilitated by modern technology. And on Friday it will take the Hall family across the country.

“We’d come out here, jeez it felt like every night, doing something on it all winter long,” said Shaelyn’s mother, Lisa Hall.

With nearly all the work done, the Halls are preparing for a cross-country drive to the Carlisle Chrysler Nationals car show in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. They’ll take about 10 days getting to the show, which runs July 10-12. The first stop? Missoula, where Lola was first sold in 1972.

“It’s been really cool to work on it because now I know a lot about engines and cars,” said Shaelyn Hall, who especially worked on the car’s interior. “Since it’s an older car, they don’t have all the electronics in it so I can try working on it myself.”

Getting the car to run was no easy task. While moving and cleaning out the car, they found bullets, knives and a dead chipmunk, Lisa Hall said.

“When it was sitting out there, first of all you couldn’t get close to it because the whole thing was filled with bees,” Lisa Hall said. “And it was rusty, too.”

Over the course of more than a year, the Halls had the stock 225 Slant-6 engine rebuilt by O’Neil’s Custom Engines, had the body worked on by Advanced Truck Repair and had Lola painted by Professional Finishes. They also reupholstered the interior and installed disc brakes.

Because most Valiants have been destroyed, finding parts was a significant challenge.

“Most of that era of cars was crushed,” Ron Hall said. “Everyone saved the muscle cars.”

Often Ron Hall, who worked for years building golf courses as a general contractor, spent hours or even days hunting for the perfect part. He’d confer with local motorheads to get ideas for what the next step should be – and then find and buy the necessary components. They found many parts locally, but they also bought parts from about 10 different states and Australia.

“It’s a marriage of the Internet and local experience,” he said.

Meanwhile, Smith, who’d previously worked for Ron Hall, had a lot of the technical knowledge.

“It became something that kind of brought us together,” Smith said. “Ron took the ball and ran with it. Every time I needed a part he was on the Internet and getting it.”

Although Shaelyn Hall wasn’t present for much of the work because of school, ultimately any major decisions had to be cleared through her, Ron Hall said. Shaelyn Hall, who lives in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, with her grandmother, planned to fly back today to drive with her parents. At the car show, they will display the Valiant and tell their story. Shaelyn Hall will keep the car on the East Coast after that.

As they drive, they will share their story online. In fact, Shaelyn Hall said, they’re placing a QR code decal on the car so that people can follow the cross-country trip.

“It’s kind of a very unique car,” Smith said. “They just don’t make them like this anymore.”