Slant Six Removed in Preparation for V8 Swap

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We just pulled a 225 out of an '87 Dodge D150. The number one rod tried to escape. We are replacing it with another 225 out of an '80 Chrysler Aspen.
 
When I was in high school, I almost bought a 1980 Dodge Mirada with a slant six wanting to swap in a warmed over 360 V8. I was told I had to get a K frame crossmember.
I couldn't find one at a local yard so I didn't buy the car.
 
Tell us about the vehicle, and share some photos of that. Let us see under the valve covers too.
 
Be nice......please
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Originally Posted By: Kira
Too bad the OP essentially posted the same two pictures twice.
 
Back in the early 70's, I had a few relatives with Dodge Darts which all had slant sixes in them. Unique cranking sound those engines made...those were the days. Good luck with your resto OP!
 
Yep - when I met my wife she had a hand me down Dodge - S6 had some get up and go. They have been used in Ag equipment to forklifts too ... classic mill ...
 
Originally Posted By: skyactiv
When I was in high school, I almost bought a 1980 Dodge Mirada with a slant six wanting to swap in a warmed over 360 V8. I was told I had to get a K frame crossmember.
I couldn't find one at a local yard so I didn't buy the car.
that or fab up your own mounts
 
I owned two Slant 6's in my life, and hated both. I heard they were great engines, both of mine sucked. LOL Weak engines was putting it nicely. Obviously opinions varied a lot on them. I've read comments of them being one of the best engines ever made.
 
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
I've read comments of them being one of the best engines ever made.


They were durable.

I always thought they were excessively noisy - like the whole engine was made with a LOT of loose clearances.

You'll find these things in all kinds of agricultural equipment. As primitive as they are, they seem to run FOREVER.
 
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
I owned two Slant 6's in my life, and hated both. I heard they were great engines, both of mine sucked. LOL Weak engines was putting it nicely. Obviously opinions varied a lot on them. I've read comments of them being one of the best engines ever made.
I have only ever driven 2 slant 6 vehicles in my lifetime,and both only for a short while.One was a 1981 B150 shorty Cargo van with manual transmission,and the other a 1984 B150 cargo shorty van with automatic.The automatic van was a serious joke.60mph top speed,and nauseating fumes of rotten egg/catalytic converter.The manual van,which was only for a 1-2 mile drive,was a real peppy rig.It ate at least 2 rear u joints per year I heard,but was a solid soldier.I believe the way the vehicle was optioned made a lot of difference.They were ok with automatics,but it took a lighter car (Dart/Duster/Valiant) to make it work.A 225 in a larger van or pickup required a manual tranny and/or decent rear gearing.As the engine was a pretty long stroke affair,it didn't like to rev though.So you had a conflict there between RPMs and actual performance. The main reason the slant 6 got its durability reputation though,was because of its over-engineering.The engine was designed as a thick block ALUMINUM engine.When Chrysler couldn't reliably,or economically make the Slant 6 in aluminum for mass production,the thick castings stayed but in iron.With 145 gross hp,down to 85 net hp to work with,that overweight/overcast engine was far from stressed.Yes,the rods were,and those should have been forged (race) items,but for the engine's meager existence as an economy,base engine,not considered worth the extra expense. I believe a mild,318 V8 could have met the 225s goals of cost and MPGs,especially with manual overdrive.Had the 318 undergone more research and development in the emissions-riddled 70s....Chrysler could have dropped the 6 altogether and been the only carmaker starting off with only V8s...
 
I've owned 4 different slant 6's (1973 Scamp, 1974 Dart Swinger, 1976 Duster, 1977 Dart?). Usually had one in the stable from 1977-1992. I don't think any of them got past 85K miles before the car's body/suspension fell apart. All of them leaked in the rain. The worse one was my first in 1977 with only 30K miles. It leaked like crazy into the dash and we never could find the source. Eventually the odometer went haywire around 38K miles. The car was totaled in an accident in 1978. I had terrible luck with these cars - they must have attracted bad people, lol. My 1976 Duster was back fitted to unleaded gas with cat removed by the dealer who owned it. I found that out the first time it needed major service...and had to pay for a new exhaust/fuel filler system. Never had a chance to prove the long-lasting potential of the slant 6....lol. The engine bays were spacious and very easy to work on.
 
Originally Posted By: zrxkawboy
Leaning Tower of Power!


Indeed! And unless OP is putting in a potent V8 it's a shame...with the right build you can get a reliable 350-400HP out of the slant six.
 
I had several, actually rebuilt one, even had a 225 in my first company vehicle. Hard to kill, could take a lot of abuse-but the later emission carburetors were the definition of JUNK!! Flooded hot, cold natured & tricky to start at times, honestly they drank gas. Fortunately gas was cheap back then! The 318s I had got better mileage with a lot more power. I've often wondered if Chrysler had port injected the 225 like they did the Jeep/AMC 4.0 if it would have been better on fuel.
 
Love the old Slant 6's! A friend in highschool would bomb around in his old grandmothers 73 D100. It had the old "Three on the tree." Its power was anemic but was fun to drive..... Manual steering, the force to operate the throttle was measured in tons, not pounds. We used to bomb it off road and found that we could swamp the distributor quite easy. You had to magically work the throttle to keep it from dying and it sounded like it was making pop corn under the hood.

Loved that old truck.
 
I would have liked to have seen Chrysler fuel inject these engines and upgrade them to a roller cam with a chain. That may have bought the slant six another couple of decades before being discontinued.
 
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