Compare the 1960's Straight Sixes

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cadfaeltex

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A while back I posted a thought about getting a '66 Mustang and trying to maximize the HP out of the old 200 straight six. In investigating that, mentions of the mopar slant six got me thinking.

Can anyone compare the strengths and weakness of the Chevy, Ford, Mopar and even AMC straight sixes.

Bonus question: which makers used the same straight sixes in their pickups?
 
Originally Posted By: cadfaeltex

Bonus question: which makers used the same straight sixes in their pickups?
Dodge used the 225 in everything from Darts to 1 ton trucks.

GM used the 250 in trucks and cars.

Ford had all sorts of inline sixes. 144,170,200,240,250 and 300 come to mind. The 170 was used in Bronco's and small cars such as Comets and Falcons.

300 was trucks and vans only.

AMC used the 232 in cars , Jeeps and IHC used the same 232 in Scouts. The 258 was used in AMC cars and trucks.
 
I know Chevy had a 292 based on the 250 six. I had a 250 Chevy in a 68 Impala, and never saw another 68 Impala that had anything but a V-8. It must have been ordered from the factory that way.

I have heard many legends on the slant six. I did a super cheap rebuild on a 225 slant six one time and it ran like a clock. I have heard that they are all pretty durable engines.

I think Dodge, Ford, and GM all interchanged the sixes in the cars and trucks.
 
Originally Posted By: oilboy123

I think Dodge, Ford, and GM all interchanged the sixes in the cars and trucks.


I thought ford used the 240/300 in the trucks and the 170/200/250 in the small car lines. Not sure how different the two blocks are. I know there's a pretty good amount of performance upgrades for the 200 but not sure about the 300.
 
Originally Posted By: cadfaeltex
Originally Posted By: oilboy123

I think Dodge, Ford, and GM all interchanged the sixes in the cars and trucks.


I thought ford used the 240/300 in the trucks and the 170/200/250 in the small car lines. Not sure how different the two blocks are. I know there's a pretty good amount of performance upgrades for the 200 but not sure about the 300.

The large 6 family 223/300 etc was used in cars and trucks through the 50's into the 60's. F100's, Custom 300's, Edsels, Fairlanes, etc.
 
AMC offered 195.6 cu in flathead until 1965. They were value leaders. No reverse lights, no side mirrors....very spartan cars.

I can't recall any flathead Chevrolet sixes. The 1929 stovebolt 6 was valve in head.

To the best of my knowledge, the Ford 170/200/250 is a completely different line of engines than the 240/300.
The Ford 200 and it's radiator was lighter than an air-cooled Corvair's flat 6.

The Chrysler slant 6 used a forged steel crankshaft. It was designed to be cast in aluminum also and as a result, is very robust in cast iron form. It had good cooling and lubrication systems. The Slant 6 was probably the best of the 6 cylinders from that era, but it did not adapt well to new emissions laws and it did not help that Chrysler ceased to use a forged steel crank around '76.
 
Originally Posted By: 67lemans
Pontiac had an overhead cam 6 used in the Lemans sprint. Down under Mopar had a hemi 6.


Yeah, GM-H (Holden) were experimenting with OHC versions of the Holden "Red" motor in the 70s.

As to pickups, the ute was invented in Oz, and ford had various versions of sedans and utes with the same engines...all the way up to now.

Holden had the 48/215, which was available in sedan and ute with the 132 c.i. "grey" motor

All through the 60's, 70's, and through to now, Holden have had a ute varient with the current sedan engine...didn't do the L67 'though.

The Chrysler hemi 265 was great back in the early 70s...marketted with the hemi 6 pack (triple webers), and 224 kW in the early 70s from 265 c.i.
 
I was never a fan of the 245 and 265 Hemi - I never did any more than basic maintenance to the slant 6 back in the day,but the Hemi 6 was prone to problems. The head set came with a recommendation to use Hylomar,not a good look for a genuine part. They suffered from camshaft end float,and so ignition timing was all over the place....and of course the customer complained about how they ran,but fixing the cause was out of the question. When we used to convert them to CNG and LPG I found they pulled almost no cold crank vacuum - pretty hard to get them to start on gas when there was no suck to pull it in. Sure the Charger with triple webers was pretty grunty,but didn't fix any of the basic problems.

Best performance 6 cyl I've seen was the 300 Ford in a dirt track saloon - with an almost stock engine it had more grunt than anything else on the track.
 
Originally Posted By: 67lemans
Pontiac had an overhead cam 6 used in the Lemans sprint. Down under Mopar had a hemi 6.


Nice of someone to mention this motor. It came with a huge 4 barrel on it and ran very well with a bit of tuning!
 
Originally Posted By: cadfaeltex
I know there's a pretty good amount of performance upgrades for the 200 but not sure about the 300.


There are a few. My Ford 300 now has a small four barrel, RV cam, and actual Motorcraft dual exhaust manifolds.
 
AMC made the best I-6's in the 1960's and 1970's. They used a high-nickel content iron in the block material that led to less bore wear.

I don't know what the fuss is about slant-6's - my step-father had one in a 1975 Duster that locked up and scattered into a million pieces on the highway. A neighbour of ours in an apartment building we lived in had one in a Aspen, and it never ran right.
 
Originally Posted By: Silk

Best performance 6 cyl I've seen was the 300 Ford in a dirt track saloon - with an almost stock engine it had more grunt than anything else on the track.


I've seen one in a rod that ran bottom 11's. Not sure what was done to it.
 
Originally Posted By: addyguy
AMC made the best I-6's in the 1960's and 1970's. They used a high-nickel content iron in the block material that led to less bore wear.

I don't know what the fuss is about slant-6's - my step-father had one in a 1975 Duster that locked up and scattered into a million pieces on the highway. A neighbour of ours in an apartment building we lived in had one in a Aspen, and it never ran right.

I'm thinking the detuning and emissions stuff had a bit to do with that. My '71 Dart Swinger had over 215k on it when I sold it and the car was still capable of speeds over 100mph.
 
Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
I've seen one in a rod that ran bottom 11's. Not sure what was done to it.


Probably had 500 lb valve springs.
wink.gif
 
Originally Posted By: Garak
Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
I've seen one in a rod that ran bottom 11's. Not sure what was done to it.


Probably had 500 lb valve springs.
wink.gif



Oh for sure, LOL!
grin.gif
 
Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
Yeah, I had an old valiant in high school.

When a teenager can't kill it, that's pretty good durability.



And dont forget the slant Six in the movie "Duel"
grin.gif
 
The first car I ever bought was a Plymouth Duster with the slant 6 and three-on-the tree. Couldn't kill the engine, but the early Plymouth electronic ignition modules were only good for about 12 months--kept one in the car so I could swap it out on the side of the road.
 
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