Can You Help A Girl Out?

Bea,

As mentioned, you have the aluminum bock, which was only made the first few years of the Slant Six (61-63). They are a love/hate thing. See

www.slantsix.org/articles/dutra-blocks/alm-block-sl6.htm

Passionate owners and a special club. They got together and had the special head gaskets custom made. You can't use a regular head gasket. Many aluminum engines had problems w/ corrosion, head gasket leaks, and over-heating, which could be your problem. Indeed, the white smoke that came out of your heater core might have been combustion gas leaking by. The main reason was that owners didn't use the special Chrysler coolant for aluminum. Most coolants today are fine with aluminum.

If that is your problem, and you can't fix it (mill block, etc) and must replace the engine, you can get a regular iron Slant Six almost free. Many people take them out to put in a V-8 and advertise "come get it".

BTW, while on the other side of the country now, I graduated from USF and my mom grew up in Tampa.