Chance to pick up a 225 slant locally...questions

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DodgeLad

DodgeLad

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Hi
A guy has a 1981 225 slant he says has a blown head gasket. He wants a $100. He found coolant in two cylinders. I worry about a cracked head or block. Are the slants prone to any cracking?

It will be replacing a 1980. Any concerns here? I want to get a little more power so I'm thinking a cam and bumping the compression. The current motor is 1bbl and leaking bad from the rear main seal and oil pan gasket. Also, the valvetrain is excessively noisy I guess.

What would you do in this situation? It would be nice to be able to keep driving my 1980 truck while I leisurely rebuilt a stronger motor.
 
For a 100 bucks it's worth the review when in your garage for a tear down. Water in pistons prob from gasket leaking but I'd ask and hope the seller is honest on ? Did it over heat then start leaking or did it just start smoking.
 
DodgeLad said:
Hi

What would you do in this situation? It would be nice to be able to keep driving my 1980 truck while I leisurely rebuilt a stronger motor.
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That's what I would do.

I'll bet you could buy it for less than a hundred.

Don't know if 1981 engines continued to use the thin steel head gasket, but my 1964 did. It's my impression that an old engine with a steel gasket needs good block and head mating surfaces and over time could fail. Plus, mine was rusted out in the vicinity of #1 hole.

What's your budget? It's easy to get carried away but you might be able to get it running well with just a head surfacing and a new head gasket. Modern composite head gaskets are more forgiving than steel.

I rebuilt mine 100%, milled the head .080, hardened seats, etc., and sent the cam to Oregon for a hotter grind. Stock lift was only .375.
Good for another 50 years at least.
 
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I don't want to spend too much more than 2k.
I was thinking of going .060 over and doing exactly what you did except I shouldn't need the hardened seats. I want to get the max cubic inches. I'll have a spare block just in case, plus I'm getting old and I don't need to worry too far into the future. The guy was going to pull the head but hasn't got back to me. I may just go buy it and take the hundred buck risk.
 
Scrap is around 4 bucks per hundred pounds here. Do the math and offer accordingly.
 
I sold my complete running slant 6, 904, exhaust, driveshaft, etc for $100. Had it listed for ~6 months while in the car running. Ended up pulling it and had it for 2 more months before it sold. It ran and drove great, had a recent tuneup, trans flush, etc. I bet you could find a good deal on a known good one if you look.
 
There are slant sixes for sale any where from free to$1000 used. The biggest problem is finding a good inexpensive one, in your area, when you need it. Seems like the good inexpensive ones are always far from the person that needs one. I just picked up two complete truck slants, one a solid lifter engine, and one a hydraulic engine. Both were supposed to be running engines when removed. They were 200 miles from me but the price (free) made it worth the trip.
 
Charrlie_S said:
There are slant sixes for sale any where from free to$1000 used. The biggest problem is finding a good inexpensive one, in your area, when you need it. Seems like the good inexpensive ones are always far from the person that needs one. I just picked up two complete truck slants, one a solid lifter engine, and one a hydraulic engine. Both were supposed to be running engines when removed. They were 200 miles from me but the price (free) made it worth the trip.
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I waited a couple years before I saw one for sale locally. It's still 100 miles round trip. There was a guy in Arizona with a Super Six and all the trimmings, but ~600 miles round trip.
 
I gave one away and drove it 45 miles to hand it off. Its still running in his car, makes me feel good. I dont recall ever hearing or seeing a cracked slant head...?
 
pishta said:
I gave one away and drove it 45 miles to hand it off. Its still running in his car, makes me feel good. I dont recall ever hearing or seeing a cracked slant head...?
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lol...rub it in
If it makes you feel good, then it's invaluable.
 
Us slant guys and add that to us being A body guys and girls, are a conservative bunch!!!! Good thing as our slant A bodies are not usually worth a million $$$$$!!
Free to $150 for a running complete slant, seems the norm for me,.. I did give $500 for a completely rebuilt one back in 2004. When I need a good one, they are never anywhere close or the seller thinks he will get more!
Seems like the 'good" ones I have had, some PO had rebuilt it at some point in time!!!
 
$100 is fine.

I never seen a head crack in a slant, I have seen a block crack from not having Antifreeze (Winter). The owner still drove the car home with the block weeping and parked it.

As far as building a more powerful engine, do not invest a lot. After playing with slants for a couple years my best advice

Clean, gasket, ring
Mill the head .100 (yes you read that right)
Oregon Cam Grinders - copy the hyperpak original specs

Be careful of the 80's slants, I believe they went to hydraulic lifters and cast cranks. I'm not entirely sure if they kept the adjustable rockers, but these need to be lashed frequently.

The other best money is an HEI upgrade and a good 4 barrel. This all should put you at your 2k budget if you do the work.
 
Boedighw said:
$100 is fine.

I never seen a head crack in a slant, I have seen a block crack from not having Antifreeze (Winter). The owner still drove the car home with the block weeping and parked it.

As far as building a more powerful engine, do not invest a lot. After playing with slants for a couple years my best advice

Clean, gasket, ring
Mill the head .100 (yes you read that right)
Oregon Cam Grinders - copy the hyperpak original specs

Be careful of the 80's slants, I believe they went to hydraulic lifters and cast cranks. I'm not entirely sure if they kept the adjustable rockers, but these need to be lashed frequently.

The other best money is an HEI upgrade and a good 4 barrel. This all should put you at your 2k budget if you do the work.
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Thanks, I have Trailbeast's HEI upgrade and it works great!
The motor has hydraulic lifters that are set it and forget it (I hope lol), so I got to get the right cam. Comp Cams has a full cam package available with all the accessories.
 
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