There’s no better satisfaction than bolting a car together for the last time after months (or sometimes years) of it being in bits, and at last being able to see its final form.

That’s exactly what’s going on in this feel-good episode of Carnage, as it’s all win with Scotty’s VE Valiant ute.

It’s hard to believe that back in winter we planned to throw this thing together in just five weeks and road-trip it from Melbourne to Willowbank Raceway in Queensland for Mopar Sunday.

The combination of several Victorian lockdowns, closed borders, parts shortages, rust and the general problems you always encounter when building a car meant that goal quickly went out the window.

Fast-forward several months and that all seems like a distant memory, as in this video the car finally gets finished, with Scotty bolting all the front panels back on.

He also quickly bled the new brakes, set the timing and gave everything one last check-over before giving the old Val the final a-okay.

There was a minor scare when the bonnet wouldn’t close on the air cleaner that Scotty originally wanted to use, but a spare chrome unit he had lying around allowed the bonnet clearance needed to get the car roadworthy.

With all the hard jobs done, the next mission for the Valiant is a long-awaited appointment with the dyno down at Maxx Performance. Then, it’ll be time to hit the drag strip – so stay tuned!