is this a good deal?

-
justin hughes

justin hughes

Miss my car
Joined
Jan 25, 2010
Messages
774
Reaction score
2
Location
Laurens NY
i think this might be a good deal that im going to look at tonight. running slant6 with 4 speed out of an 85 dodge van for $200. i know the trans would have gear ratios for a truck, but is there anything less desireable about a slant 6 from the 1980s? it has over 100k and needs tuneup. im looking to get a motor that i can build for hot rodding. im thinking it must be a super six being in a van, but not sure yet.as far as the 4 speed, i know it would be cool to put in my valiant, but i most likely wont. is the trans very desireable that anyone knows of?
 
Unless you are looking for a challenge or to spend a lot of money to get limited results spend your money on a v8. It wil be cool and alot faster dollar for dollar spent.
 
my last build was a 340, i loved the feeling of mashing the gas pedal, but i have always wanted to take on the challenge of playing with a slant 6. just something about them that has peaked my interest.im not looking to race it, just have a respectable cruiser. i guess i am kind of looking for a new challenge.
 
Well, an 80's engine is low on compresion, so that is the first cave eat that I can point out. I'm not a /6 guy.
 
Personally, I wouldn't touch it for that price. The '85 slant will have a cast crank, hydraulic lifters, and more than likely is a one barrel. The transmission will be an aluminum case 833 OD that has the shifter pad too far rearward to use in an A body without making a shifter mount adapter or swapping in an A body tailshaft and housing. Sorry 'bout that.
 
grumpuscreature said:
Personally, I wouldn't touch it for that price. The '85 slant will have a cast crank, hydraulic lifters, and more than likely is a one barrel. The transmission will be an aluminum case 833 OD that has the shifter pad too far rearward to use in an A body without making a shifter mount adapter or swapping in an A body tailshaft and housing. Sorry 'bout that.
Click to expand...
dont be sorry, this is the kind of info im looking for.
 
I don't know why all of that is a bad tihng. A cast crank is still strong enuff for most hot rodding duties of not just decent, but a serious build up.
Hyd. lifters/cams are fine for street strip duties and even lite race applications.
The 1 bbl. gets tossed as quick as a 2bbl. in favor of a 4bbl. right quick, so what's the difference?

The trans can be resold and the cash rolled over into a automatic.

He's gonna rebuild it for "Hot Rodding" purposes anyway.
 
If a slant is what you are looking for than I guess thats not a bad deal.

I would resell the trans to try and recoup some of the funds.

as was mentioned before the 80's was low compression and detuned so you would be looking at piston/head work... swapping out to a performance intake and 4 barrel carb and a header would be a good idea....a few other odds and ends and I am sure you could have a peppy slant.

I see alot of slant guys mention using turbo's....maybe thats something to look into?

then again, im not a /6 guy.

I picked a hopped up 67 318 bored .30 over with after market intake and carb and some other stuff for $200 including starter,alt,pullys,fan belt and all.....given it was all in need of clean up or rebuilding besides the engine which only had 12,000 miles on it (I rebuilt anyway and put alot more money into it).

I guess it depends on how you look at it ....a v8 can be a challenge aswell you just need to challenge yourself to do something different to this v8 than you did the last I guess.

good luck and do what you feel is right
 
If you want a challenge, why dont you try stuffing a Hemi in there - lol.

As far as the 6 goes, well, I'm not a fan. You will just wind up spending a lot of time and money on something that will give mediocre results and will make your car be worth less in the end.

Now, if you could somehow put two 6's together, side by side, then you may be on to something - lol.
 
jeryst said:
If you want a challenge, why dont you try stuffing a Hemi in there - lol.

As far as the 6 goes, well, I'm not a fan. You will just wind up spending a lot of time and money on something that will give mediocre results and will make your car be worth less in the end.

Now, if you could somehow put two 6's together, side by side, then you may be on to something - lol.
Click to expand...

kinda like a v8 hayabusa engine....

What about this?
http://orlando.craigslist.org/pts/1691387905.html ;) looks fun...
 
jeryst said:
If you want a challenge, why dont you try stuffing a Hemi in there - lol.

As far as the 6 goes, well, I'm not a fan. You will just wind up spending a lot of time and money on something that will give mediocre results and will make your car be worth less in the end.

Now, if you could somehow put two 6's together, side by side, then you may be on to something - lol.
Click to expand...
you mean i can actually make my 4 door 76 valiant worth less than the 500. i paid for it?
 
OK Justin....
The Tranny WILL work in a abody... Just the Shifter will not.
The O/D 3/4 Speeds have multiple Shifter Mount Pads on them.
$200.00 for the set up is JUST at the edge for a GOOD running (and I mean I drive it around the block 1st) used '85 Slant Six with Bell Housing, Clutch set up, and Tranny to me.
Now IF it has the Super Six Intake and Carb...
That steps up the deal quite abit as people (Crazy I think) on ebay will pay $200.00 just for the Intake!
This set up was for mileage way more than any kind of performance.
The pluses to an '85 is that you already have the Hardened Valve Seats for uleaded gas and NO Spark Pug Drool Tubes.
My opinion only.
As everybody that knows me knows; I am a cruiser not a racer anymore so I love my Slant Sixes!

Hope this helped somewhat.
Later,
Bruce B.
 
I have a built-up 340 and a slant six. The 340 has always seemed fast enough already, whereas the slant has been fun to play with and try to get to go faster. After planing the head, porting and radius work, the engine has really perked up. I have an overdrive, and am gearing the differential down a little for quickness. It depends what you're looking for, but I think you'd enjoy messing around with the 6. I had an extra cylinder head in case I screwed the original one up, but didn't need it. Also, the 6 is in a ragtop, so I didn't want to drive too insanely in the first place. It's been a good learning experience.
 
well, i went to look at it last night. unfortuneatly its only a 1bbl, it does run , but only while pouring gas down the carb. the clutch is fried, but that dont matter to me. i made an offer of 150. and he accepted after a minute or so. he is pulling the motor and trans, not me. he will also load it for me since hes got a front end loader. as of right now , i think my plans will be to sell the 4 speed and recoupe a little bit of my money. after thinking about the swap from an automatic, i think i should keep what i got and use the money towards other things on the car. besides , time is not on my side with 3 kids and 1 due in september.
 
AHHH let me guess....%$&#@%&& oh yea the way it was calculated DUHHHH.
Frank
Kinda like octane ratings remember that???
Frank:sign10:
 
well went to pick it up and just ended up with motor and no tranny, tranny was cracked with a loader during removal. i ended up paying 125. for a complete running greasy motor with a/c compressor and wiring harness. im happy with it. thanks for all the input!
 
i was going to offer you my slant six setup as i started reading this but i see you bought it. complete running 74 225 and 904, odometer reads around 70,000, i swapped on a complete 78 supersix setup, opened up the outlet of the exhaust manifold, full 2.5" cutome made single exhaust with super turbo and glasspack resonator, brand new radiator.
 
whatever you do, dont listen to the v8 guys. they will steer you in the wrong direction. with alot of slant builds you will get better results with a 2 brl. vs. the 4 brl, and as for compression, they are all low. i would have gone with an older 225, without the hydraulic valvetrain. i dont know much about the later engines, but depending on what you want, you are going to want to spend youre time with the head. larger valves and raising the compression. the good thing about slants is all the heads will work, well at least with the older engines. im not sure about yours. but i do know there isnt any year head thats better than another. they all need the same work. but if you put the money and the time into it, you will end up with a fun little motor that is different and gets a lot of attention. you can get a lot of good info over at www.slantsix.org
 
yeah i dont really know why guys would come into the slant six section of the site and tell a guy he should just go with a v8? i think the slants are pretty cool and i already have abig block 69 dart. i like mine in my duster, i like sound with the exhaust i built, its got ok power. not bad. i was considering turning it up a notch above the super six, i wanted to do a buick turbo fr a while, but then i just started planning on porting, decking and a valve job to the head, a small cam. figured that should wake it up. i have a pretty good collection of parts to more than make sense to go in a different direction. now id like to find a home for my slant.
 
my plans so far are for mostly top end work such as head shaved , bigger valves, ported or just cleaned up (gotta look into that still.) i have a super six setup which should be enough for me, erson cam ,dutra duals, clutch fan,windage tray, and possibly boring the block ,but only if i have too. of course i will rering and install new bearings with new timing chain. not sure about getting a set of keith black pistons or not though.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top