Slant 6 turbo build

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Hammer

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So I've come to the conclusion that rebuilding my busted 5.7L hemi and resto-modding into my 71 demon is out of my price range. So I'm back at my worn out, ole' six banger. I decided to get the /6 rebuilt but also upgrade it. I found a turbo from a mazda 4 cylinder that will do nicely for this build. I'm kinda thinkin that forged pistons are almost NOT an option. I could run boost without em and just set it conservatively; but why do that(except price). So basically the plan is to get the engine rebuilt with the stock rods and crank but upgrade the pistons. Then get a custom grind cam shaft made(or buy an aftermarket; depends on prices), and get my exhaust manifold modifeid for the turbo. Will be running a intercooler, but haven't decided on one yet. As far as head work; not too much. Probably upgrade the valves but idk. I'm using just a iron 2bbl intake I already have acquired with a demon 2bbl 350 cfm w/electric choke. And yes, I know about the oil/coolant lines I need. But that's later on. So anyway...I'll be dropping the engine off this week and would like to get this info out to you all to get feedback. A few questions off the top of my head for you slant 6 hotrodders; what's a realistic hp goal for this build? Is over 300hp unrealistic? I plan on running 93 octane and having the pistons ground out to lower compression. So I'm shooting for 10+ psi of boost. And also, any good questions I should ask my machinist before I start buying parts? Just hot me back ya'll!! I want to know what you all think bout this beast.
 
Compression is probably lower than need be for boost as it is. If you do anything, I would spend some time calculating the ratio and then figure out what to do to get it up to 8:1 or so.

Put some quality exhaust valves in the head, too. Along with some 340 valve springs.

Shaker223 put over 20 psi into a basically stock slant (upgraded valve springs is all) and made some serious power.
 
DionR said:
Compression is probably lower than need be for boost as it is. If you do anything, I would spend some time calculating the ratio and then figure out what to do to get it up to 8:1 or so.

Put some quality exhaust valves in the head, too. Along with some 340 valve springs.

Shaker223 put over 20 psi into a basically stock slant (upgraded valve springs is all) and made some serious power.
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Well the thing is, there, is that the wiseco forged pistons that I found(if anyone has found different ones, please share. These cost $487) are supposed to be 10.1ish on up. But if my machinist can find better suiting slugs, its on. Pulling the engine tomorrow and take the trip the next day. The other question is to the turbo size I have picked out. Someone during a build said a turbo, similar to my find, was restrictive. If I'm putting forged pistons, I'd like to put a turbo that compliments them. But also, I ONLY have a 2bbl. So any input on that ya'll.
 
Been a long time since I looked into turboing a slant, so I don't remember much about where to get pistons or such. I know that someone on the slant6.org website was doing custom pistons, but I don't remember what the CR was. I found some off the shelf pistons for some 4 cylinder (VW?), but I think they required a different rod to make them work. I know that the 2.2/2.5 pistons work with the 7" rods, but I think that was more for the high compression setups.

I think Shaker ran stock cast pistons, and did fine. They are really thick, so they seemed to hold up ok. I wouldn't let the motor detonate much, though. I also am certain that you can get a custom piston to whatever CR you want, just costs money. Doesn't seem like it was much more than what you were listing, though.

In regards to the turbo, you need allot more info before anyone can help you with sizing it. You need to find some compressor maps and then plot some numbers on it to see where it would work. Without that, it's like guessing ET's without knowing what motor is in the car.

FWIW, the GM Grand National turbo seemed to work really well for Shaker. You might got to slant6.org and search on his screen name and take a look at his setup. There is another guy running about as fast, with a 170, on there too.

The biggest issue I see with a 2 bbl is getting it rich enough under boost, but not too rich under vacuum. With a 4 bbl, you can run the motor lean and make it drivable on the primaries, and then under boost dump fuel through the secondaries and keep it rich. Run lean under boost and it wont matter if the pistons are forged, the blow torch in the combustion chamber will make short work of the pistons.

I did toy with the idea once of running a 2 bbl NOx plate, but only running fuel through it. Us a pressure switch to open the solenoids and richen it up that way. Didn't do more than speculate on it though.

I think a turbo slant is about the best thing you could build. If I hadn't gotten my old 360 4 speed Duster back, I would still be working towards a turbo slant Valiant, but that car is just too far gone and the Duster is so close.
 
Hammer said:
Well the thing is, there, is that the wiseco forged pistons that I found(if anyone has found different ones, please share. These cost $487) are supposed to be 10.1ish on up. But if my machinist can find better suiting slugs, its on. Pulling the engine tomorrow and take the trip the next day. The other question is to the turbo size I have picked out. Someone during a build said a turbo, similar to my find, was restrictive. If I'm putting forged pistons, I'd like to put a turbo that compliments them. But also, I ONLY have a 2bbl. So any input on that ya'll.
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Hammer, my wife is from Spokane. About 4 or 5 years ago, we were visiting her family and one night, I spotted a '64 Valiant hardtop (white) that had a custom interior, and sounded great. It was a street car, and had had the rear seat removed and replaced by an upholstered panel where the rear seatback was, originally, and a big, blue Mopar "M" (you know; the one with the curved legs) about two feet tall, was displayed in the middle of that area. Looked SO cool....

I just wondered if you know that car? '64 Valiants are my favorites, and that was a good one...

Ever see it?
 
Hammer
Some pitfalls in your plans. If you use the Wiseco pistons off the shelf you will need to get the K1 rods. Added expense and 7.005 inch rod. This makes your engine a 10:1 engine. The pistons wont fit a 6.7 inch rod (factory rod).
What you want to do is MEASURE how far your piston is in the hole and do your calculations. Then call Your favorite Piston maker and order custom Forged pistons. This will be cheaper than the Wiseco/K1 combo. And you end up with the CR You want. Also go to slantsix.org and look at the "oiling mods" in the Article section.
Frank
 
Well the engine has been pulled and taken to the machine shop. My machinist told me that custom pistons will be around $800 and take a month or so to make. I'm on a lil bit of a time constraint so I'm thinking of going with either the stock pistons(and running lower boost) or trying to run the 2.0, 2.2, or 2.4 pistons(and if I did that, what rods would work with those). If I run stock pistons, I'll just put the money into the cylinder head. My machinist also mentioned he was thinking about custom valves. There are some slant six valves on eBay, but I don't know much about them. So with stock pistons I would be looking at runnin' 10psi to start. Thinkin I'll end up needing the 500cfm carb though.
 
Hammer said:
Well the engine has been pulled and taken to the machine shop. My machinist told me that custom pistons will be around $800 and take a month or so to make. I'm on a lil bit of a time constraint so I'm thinking of going with either the stock pistons(and running lower boost) or trying to run the 2.0, 2.2, or 2.4 pistons(and if I did that, what rods would work with those). If I run stock pistons, I'll just put the money into the cylinder head. My machinist also mentioned he was thinking about custom valves. There are some slant six valves on eBay, but I don't know much about them. So with stock pistons I would be looking at runnin' 10psi to start. Thinkin I'll end up needing the 500cfm carb though.
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View Photos By: Bill Dedman




Quote:
Originally Posted by Hammer
Well the thing is, there, is that the wiseco forged pistons that I found(if anyone has found different ones, please share. These cost $487) are supposed to be 10.1ish on up. But if my machinist can find better suiting slugs, its on. Pulling the engine tomorrow and take the trip the next day. The other question is to the turbo size I have picked out. Someone during a build said a turbo, similar to my find, was restrictive. If I'm putting forged pistons, I'd like to put a turbo that compliments them. But also, I ONLY have a 2bbl. So any input on that ya'll.

Hammer, my wife is from Spokane. About 4 or 5 years ago, we were visiting her family and one night, I spotted a '64 Valiant hardtop (white) that had a custom interior, and sounded great. It was a street car, and had had the rear seat removed and replaced by an upholstered panel where the rear seatback was, originally, and a big, blue Mopar "M" (you know; the one with the curved legs) about two feet tall, was displayed in the middle of that area. Looked SO cool....

I just wondered if you know that car? '64 Valiants are my favorites, and that was a good one...

Ever see it?
 
Bill Dedman said:
Hammer, my wife is from Spokane. About 4 or 5 years ago, we were visiting her family and one night, I spotted a '64 Valiant hardtop (white) that had a custom interior, and sounded great. It was a street car, and had had the rear seat removed and replaced by an upholstered panel where the rear seatback was, originally, and a big, blue Mopar "M" (you know; the one with the curved legs) about two feet tall, was displayed in the middle of that area. Looked SO cool....

I just wondered if you know that car? '64 Valiants are my favorites, and that was a good one...

Ever see it?
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Bill, are you maybe asking me this? Hammer isn't from Spokane, but I am.

I can't say that I've ever seen the car. Sorry.

What area of town?
 
DionR said:
Bill, are you maybe asking me this? Hammer isn't from Spokane, but I am.

I can't say that I've ever seen the car. Sorry.

What area of town?
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Soory for the mis-identification. The car was downtown, I followed him about 3 miles before he pulled over. It was VERY nice, and sounded like a 340...:happy10:
 
Bill Dedman said:
Soory for the mis-identification. The car was downtown, I followed him about 3 miles before he pulled over. It was VERY nice, and sounded like a 340...:happy10:
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Don't remember ever seeing it. Wonder if he was from out of town or something.

Only white Valiant I remember was one on the north side. It was a V8 car, but I don't remember it being nice or anything. Never stop to look at it (it was just park on the street in front of a house) so I can't say for sure it had any of the interior mods you mentioned.

Hey, look me up if you visit your wife's family again. :thumblef:
 
DionR said:
Hey, look me up if you visit your wife's family again. :thumblef:
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Thanks for the nice invite!

Unfortunately, about a year ago, my wife suffered a debilitating stroke that left her right side totally paralyzed.... and Diabetes (Type II) has robbed her of her sight, so she ain't goin' anywhere... and, neither am I.

Ask around; that '64 Valiant seemed to be "local."
 
Bill Dedman said:
Unfortunately, about a year ago, my wife suffered a debilitating stroke that left her right side totally paralyzed.... and Diabetes (Type II) has robbed her of her sight, so she ain't goin' anywhere... and, neither am I.
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Wow, I'm sorry to hear that.
 
DionR said:
Wow, I'm sorry to hear that.
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Thanks. Spokane is a neat place. I went to the drags there a couple of times when Orville Moe was still "in power."

Never got to see Wes Libby's car run, though.... it's awesome....:cheers:
 
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