SLANT 6 a GAS GUZZLER?

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Better mileage with a manual for sure.

If some of you guys can get great mileage with your /6, God bless ya's.
 
I've gotten 22mpg on the highway before, but that was when it was in desperate need of a tuneup.

I've ditched the electric fan idea though, think I'm going to go with a clutch fan. Anyone know what sort of stuff I'll need for the conversion?
 
Drove a 69 Charger with a fairly new rebuilt 440/727/8 & 3/4 with 2.94 gears from VA to the Nationals in Columbus, drag raced, back and forth to the motel and drive home - all told 19MPG. Friend drove my 318/727 71 Challenger and other than no racing, averaged 18MPG for the trip. Yes, V8's can get reasonably decent mileage - and yes,wish I still had the Charger and Chally (but I'll settle for my A Bodies).
 
I was getting decent MPG on the highway with my / when in had a 1bbl. But since I super Sixed it. On the highway over 65MPH, it drinks it very fast. As the speedodmeter goes up, the gas gauge goes down. It has an electronic ignition and all new tune up parts. The carb has been adjusted an timed.
 
daniel_depetro said:
That's unheard of for a 440!
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Honest to God that's what it got. I know the speedometer and odometer were virtually right on, double checked the total mileage (and compared it to what my friend in my Challenger got) and the total amount of gas used and it came to 19MPG - actually just a hair less - 18.9 but close enough to 19. Also only made 2 passes down the track which most likely helped and never did more than 65 out on the road.
 
rumblefish360 said:
I'm sorry fellas, I think that the constant 19 - 20 mpg's out of a V8 with twice the power and torque is well worth the dumping of the slant 6 hands down.
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And THAT, my friend, it was sets slanters apart from you V-8 guys. You have to understand that there are different kinds of "car guys". Many of us slanters are quite content with a measly 100-200 hp. I don't race my Swinger (on the street or the track) and my little slant makes all of the power I need. It's also WAY more fun to drive and work on than a MODERN 150 hp car.

For you guys that need to wring every pony out of your motors and don't mind giving up a few mpgs, then by all means, stick with a V-8. Just try to understand that slanters have different priorities, which DON'T include going as fast as possible for the least amount of money. You have to admit, if everyone had the same size and type of engine, this hobby would be pretty boring.
 
rumblefish360 said:
It took you years to figure out what makes'em tick for better mileage? When I read on, below, I can not for the life of me believe what I read.


The difference in adhusting my 360 in a 4000lbs car was less.
OE parts were reused. twin cats on a new exhaust that followed the pattern of the OE dual exhaust and I added weight to the car with more sound deadener, 2 amps and a sub woffer. OH, a real spare tire over the colapsed donut.

I'm sorry fellas, I think that the constant 19 - 20 mpg's out of a V8 with twice the power and torque is well worth the dumping of the slant 6 hands down. Adding the MSD was also a mileage getter with an extra 2 mpg's on a solid every time any time bassis.

This car also started off as a 10 mpg Hwy. car that did still sport that catastrphy of an ignition, the "Lean Burn" which was tossed in favor of the old Orange box set up that the dealers used to carry in stock because the lean burns were so bad. This ignition swap was standard pratice. So don't bother running some crazy crap up the tree on me for the swap.
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Yes, it took me YEARS and YEARS to figure it out. Tinkering, spending thousands of dollars and countless hours, but I finally figured out how to get slightly better mileage than your 360. I wasted a life away on a piece of crap motor trying to squeeze out a few mpg's. Wow, get off your high horse.

Just because you can't get the mileage out of the slant six doesn't mean you have to bad mouth it as a worthless motor. I wouldn't be able to get the HP you probably could out of a 360. That doesn't mean I think they aren't even worth their weight in dog crap.

Fact is that if you do the right research, you can get 20mpg out of a slant in any A Body and it can be done relatively easily. Some of them will do that right out of the box with points ignition and everything. Others take more work.

Now you and your 360 constantly getting 19-20mpg sounds more like running crazy crap up a tree. Filling up, having the nozzle click off too soon and then coming on here claiming you're consistantly getting 19-20mpg is not going to convince anyone.
 
rumblefish360 said:
You can get the whole deal in a kit. Perma cool for example is one such company. Check out summit racing and click around. Good luck. (Keep the fan shroud.)
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Thanks man. I'll be checking them out, however there is a guy in town who might be giving me one for a really good deal, so I may check into that, if that doesn't pan out.
 
rumblefish360 said:
No matter what I did to any of the 3 slant 6 engines I had, they all guzzled gas like it was a whine-O outta jail from an over the weekend stay let loose into a Octoberfest free beer give away with given a notification that tomorrow thw world will end, so drink up before noon tomorrow!

They all suck and have never personaly met anyone with one worth it's weight in dog crap.

Best I ever have gotten is 16 on the Hwy.

No before anybody starts bashing me and telling me I don't know what I'm doing, I've been at this game 20+ years so you all can sit on a hot outta the fire poker before I beileve a one of you.

No way no how are these dino aged engines getting great mileage unless there in a time capsule fresh.

I'll get 22 MPG's outta my 318 and have nailed 20 mpg's from my 4bbl 360 in a 3660 lbs Dodge Magnum.
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You can get 22 out of a 318 but not out of the slant. Does not matter if you have been doing this for over 20 years,if you cant get a six into the 20's mpg,you need some schooling.

70 Dart 4 door slant six 1 bbl. stock exhaust and points ignition. Driving to and from california to vegas avg. 26 mpg in june with the a/c on. Never got under 19 in town. Oh ya, 2.76 gears. Add electronic ignition and a 2 in. exhaust system and I was up to 28 hwy and got 20-22 around town. This was when I was 16 and did not know as much about cars. But I still knew how to do a proper tune up,and get into the 20's with my slant.
 
my experiences with a slant wa the 64 valiant 3 on the tree i had got as good as 26 mpg and had some get up to it, and my 68 coronet slant six 3 on the tree also got decent mileage. but any of my post 1970 slants got horrible mpg and had no power at all. i know the cars had to be a little heavier but damn that had to do something to the sland from 70-up to kill them.

my preference though is i would rather stick a 318 in the car and tune it and get more power and damn close to the came mileage.. hell i've gotten a good at 17 mpg with my dart and a stock 360 that is running a way too big of carb on it and a 2.94 gear. one of these days i'll put the right carb on it and maybe i'll gain some mpg with it... hell maybe i'll even hook up the vac. advance..:)


but liek already stated. different strokes for different folks..
 
OK folks. This thread got out of hand, so I cleaned it up. I just thought it was best to pull all the argument posts. I hope everyone understands, I didnt want to pull the whole thread, just the posts that were inciting further argument.

Now, everyone please take a deep breath.



.
 
Due to the out of control nature of the thread, I'd like to publicly say SORRY to Madmax for overstepping boundries and flyin off the handle posting classless insluts and
banning you for a week.

Guys - I got a bit out of control and overreacted. For that I apologize. Sometimes my temper gets the better of me.
 
rumblefish360 said:
Due to the out of control nature of the thread, I'd like to publicly say SORRY to Madmax for overstepping boundries and flyin off the handle posting classless insluts and
banning you for a week.

Guys - I got a bit out of control and overreacted. For that I apologize. Sometimes my temper gets the better of me.
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Sometimes we all get carried away by our emotions. Thanks for stepping up & being a real Mopar Man.
BTW, What's an inslut. (This should be good):-D LOL
 
rumblefish360 said:
Due to the out of control nature of the thread, I'd like to publicly say SORRY to Madmax for overstepping boundries and flyin off the handle posting classless insluts and
banning you for a week.

Guys - I got a bit out of control and overreacted. For that I apologize. Sometimes my temper gets the better of me.
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Nice....takes a big man.

Now.....to the topic at hand....I'm new to slants, but I'm very easily squeezing 22mpg out of my 69 225 in my 76 Valiant. I'm thinking that as I tweek it more, I'll get 25+.

For those who don't "get" the slant thing....here's my situation....maybe it'll shed some light on the issue:

I like the v8s as much as the next guy and am in the last stages of swapping a mildly worked over 302 in my 54 Ford, but I recently needed a commuter car and didn't want to go into debt to get one, so I found a 76 Valiant with an absolutely flawless body and interior for a few hundred bucks.

Someone had gotten the engine too hot about 25 years ago and it sat in a garage with a locked up engine that whole time. I trailered it home, pulled the old slant, and dropped in another one that I picked up for almost nothing....and whamo...I'm on the road in a great little car for under $500.

I've taken it to a few swap meets and the first thing guys always ask me is "does that thing have a slant in it?"

It's just a different engine....yeah it got its quirks, but it's a ton of fun, easy to work on, and the parts are cheap as hell.

So...that's my two bits.
 
Cigarettes and whiskey and classless insluts, they'll drive you crazy, they'll drive you insane. I solved the /6 vs V8 by having one of each. I use the /6 beater as a testing ground and then apply it to the V8 Cali car. The slant is more fun to work on, and I don't worry about messing up the engine, because you can get another one cheap.
 
Glad to see things work out! Also, I'm going to take mine out on the highway soon, see how it does. I'm getting 18mpg (UK) in the city easily, let's see how she does on the highway!
 
I have a 69 Barracuda convertible with a slant 6 and the following setup:

Compression is ~9.0:1 (I'd have to go look at my data book for exact)
TRW stock replacement cam (Again, data book for year application p/n)
OD 4 speed, aluminum case
2-1/4 exhaust - entire headpipe to muffler
Reproduction 340 A body muffler (a bit noisy)
Holley Economaster 1920 carburetor
Stock Aluminum 1 bbl intake
7-1/4 rear with 2.76 ratio and rebuilt, plate type sure grip
215/60-15 tires on stock steel 15 X 6.5 wheels; 4.5" bolt pattern
Chrysler Electronic ignition
Distributor recurved to provide 30 BTC max mechanical with 10 deg initial
Standard Ignition p/n VC 208 vacuum advance canister (lots of vac adv.; 24 max)
SPAL electric fans (necessary due to aftermarket A/C)


I just took a trip to Oregon from L.A. and got a best mileage of 29.4 mpg on highway 5.

Speedometer is dead on based on matches to radar speed warning signs, at speeds between 25 and 65 mph, at 6 different locations around L.A. and Santa Monica. Odometer not tested.

Driving along the coast on windy paved and dirt roads, and constantly varying speeds between 25 and 55 mph, I got a worst of 23.4 mpg. And that was with the top down.

Combined around town going to work each day, I average between 23 and 24 mpg. I haven't yet gotten below 23 since the last distributor recurve step. As a side note, I started with an NOS 1976 slant 6 distributor and only got about 18 mpg using it out of the box with the stock advance springs and vacuum canister.

All pieces are important, but the two keys are probably the distributor recurve and the OD 4 speed. I had a 68 fastback Barracuda, 318 w/360 heads, Thermoquad, and cam in between stock 318 and stock 340. Standard 4 speed, car got 19 mpg highway best. With only a change to an OD 4, mileage went to 25 mpg highway.

Hope this helps you.

Bob

RightSideS.jpg
 
67 Dart GT Vert. 225 30 over, Clifford headers, & intake, over sized valves 9.5:1 CR, Holley 390, orange box, some un known hot cam, 2600 stall converter, A904. 8 ¾ / 3.55:1 sure grip, and R70/14 tires; 18 to 19 mpg highway (3000 lbs+/-), ~180 hp? Never dyno’ed.

82 Lebaron Mark Cross Convertible 2.6 L 4 cyl., auto, stock everything; 21 MPG highway (3000 lbs+/-), 92 hp.

76 Cordoba, 400 cid., 4V, lean burn, 727 three speed; 19-20 mpg highway (4100lbs+/-), 200 hp.

07 300C AWD stock everything; 23 mpg highway, 4250 lbs., 345 hp.

Dose any of this make sense?

I’m sure if I were to detune, install a torque cam, and taller gears in the Dart, it would bounce to 25 mpg.

Tarted up K Car @21 mpg, its 2.2L, 4 speed cheapo Plymouth cousin would give 32 mpg… No hope for that 2.6 engine…None! This is probably why it is most commonly found, these days, in fork lifts.

Mid 70’s big block giving 19 mpg, not bad. But, with a 1.45:1 rear end, a kid on a 10 speed bike would beat that thing across an intersection every time.

Hemi powered tank with S Class running gear, priceless. That baby will pass a pulp truck on a hill all day long in a snow storm. A few grand more in this thing, and it could fly.

What difference dose it all make? None!

Hey, my wife has a 225 cid Dodge Nitro, that thing gets 18-19 mpg @ 4200 lbs. I bang my head on the door frame every time I get in, I hate the gutless- cramped thing.

I can tell you, not one of these vehicles was purchased for fuel economy. If that was what I wanted, I would be posting on the “Little Itty-Bitty Diesel Euro-Trash / Kitchen Appliance” forum, and not here… Oops!, I think that is where the Fiat crowd hangs.LOL
 
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