Sorry to revisit an old debate but...

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scamperly

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It's getting closer and closer to the time to pull my Scamp's /6 and get the body done and car painted. Do I keep the six which I have a 390cfm holley 4bbl, offenhauser intake, and headers for (although not installed).

Engine has 45k miles on it but is definitely not mint, and I know the power gains will still make the car... not fantastic. Better, but not v8 better, and the gas mileage right now is appalling (16.5L/100km).

What are my options for going to a small v8, considering my car is a 6 cyl, and I won't be able to do most of the work myself. What costs are involved? My exhaust is already rusted to hell so that's not a cost concern (I already have a set of tips and am prepared to pay for an exhaust system).

Car goes for its body work sometime this year, and I know it's going to be a money pit so I want to know if this is an option someone who pulls in an average salary can afford, or if I might as well keep ol' trusty in the car and just spruce it up a bit.
 
scamperly said:
It's getting closer and closer to the time to pull my Scamp's /6 and get the body done and car painted. Do I keep the six which I have a 390cfm holley 4bbl, offenhauser intake, and headers for (although not installed).

Engine has 45k miles on it but is definitely not mint, and I know the power gains will still make the car... not fantastic. Better, but not v8 better, and the gas mileage right now is appalling (16.5L/100km).

What are my options for going to a small v8, considering my car is a 6 cyl, and I won't be able to do most of the work myself. What costs are involved? My exhaust is already rusted to hell so that's not a cost concern (I already have a set of tips and am prepared to pay for an exhaust system).

Car goes for its body work sometime this year, and I know it's going to be a money pit so I want to know if this is an option someone who pulls in an average salary can afford, or if I might as well keep ol' trusty in the car and just spruce it up a bit.
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Keep what you have, install your headers and get it to a specialist who can dyno tune it for you - I am was running a simmilar setup in my 68 barracuda, and was doing 10 - 12l/100km before it died
 
Stick with the /6 you have already !! You've already got the parts for the making of a sweet 6,enjoy the attention that alone brings !!! I DID !! I'm getting real close to the same point you're at,and can't wait ! This will be my 3rd /6, and I've enjoyed each of them a lot !!
 
keep the slant! maybe get some head work done to boost compression , you got some good speed parts already. dont know what you got for gears , but a set of 3:55s will make a nice difference in acceleration.
 
I would say to keep the 6; but then again I do prefer the sixes.
 
Having owned a couple of sixes and super sixes, and enjoying them for what they were, I always regretted not putting the money into a V8 instead. Without going crazy, even a 318 made my A-bods more enjoyable.

Just my opinion, so don't hate on me

Grant
 
OneOfMany said:
Having owned a couple of sixes and super sixes, and enjoying them for what they were, I always regretted not putting the money into a V8 instead. Without going crazy, even a 318 made my A-bods more enjoyable.

Just my opinion, so don't hate on me

Grant
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we dont hate on you, who doesnt love the power and rumble of a v8. if his car was already a v8, then yeah build it. but the way i look at it, when money is an issue, then have fun with what you already got under the hood. i was always the guy that had to have a 340 or 360 in my cars, but i have been learning to love my slant 6 and for some reason , i just think it is a pretty cool engine and getting rare to see a car at a show with one.
 
just remember which ever way you decide to go will cost more money than you planed
 
IMO
The most important factor to improving the "fun" factor of a /6 is the addition of a REAL Camshaft.
4 Bbl Intake, Headers, all for NOT and very minor, if any gains at all, until a Guy changes the CAM ! Then woopee, little buggers come alive !
 
If you're gonna get 16mph, then do it with another 200 hp attached to it=V8.

More importantly...the torque increase with maintained drivability will really stoke you.

You can sell the over priced perf / parts to fund it.
Once you put a cam in that six to really make use of the carb/intake/headers...it wont get that great of milage, my best with a mild cam '268*/.460' w/header/holley 350/2brl intake milled head/b valves mild porting was 19-21 hwy with no one else in the car, no spare tire , max tire pressure. cruising 3-3800rpm frwy
More cam and it would'a been worse.
 
I was pondering the same thing on my 74 Scamp for a next winter project with economy in mind and get a little more power.It has a /6 with header and 4 barrel with the 4 speed OD transmission The manual transmission caused a lot of problems with the / header.I was going to go through the / and work on the exhaust.I happened into a real good deal on a nice and complete 1985 318.Knowing what I needed to convert it to the V8 I advertised on Craigslist for a 73-76 A body rust bucket parts car etc only stipulating it must have been a V8 car. got a reply and purchased a 76 Duster giving me everything needed - K member - torsion bars - wiring - drive shaft plus many other parts even had an 8 1/4.Going to use the stock 318 exhaust manifolds with dual exhaust.I think for my build anyway the 318 will be much better and should be as economical to run or maybe even better than the / especially with the wide gear spacing on the OD transmission the / didn't seam to have enough guts I would have to wind it up before shifting gears.I figure doing the 318 $ wise is about a wash.You have some time to decide and find parts you need to convert to a 318 just look for the best deal possible.I figure I'll have under 1K on the COMPLETE conversion not counting the $ I can sell the /6 stuff for.
 
I LOVE the angry hornet sound of a hot /6!! Id turbo it personally and keep the comp low for better fuel consumtion. In this day gas mileage is king,but you can have your cake and eat it too with a turbo. Bill Deadman has a GRREAT thread rolling on turbo slant builds.Also the /6 is VERY budget minded and you can still get parts no problem.

But seeing how you want a small block I'd get a teen or 360,as there are still plenty around. A magnum engine will definitely get you a roller cam,as will some of the late model (85-91) 318 la motors. Look to Summit for your hop up parts,they have very reasonable prices for headers,exhaust etc etc.
 
So it seems, because I don't have a garage nor the money to just pay someone to do it (my knowledge is also still quite basic, even if I had the tools) I'm going to keep the slant. Since it needs to be pulled apart anyway I'm going to get a cam, mill the head, probably need to change valves too, get the carburetor, clutch fan, and other things on it, and have fun with it.

Will I need a bigger rad?
 
My own tale.. Maybe it helps...
I have a '65 Barracuda that I got in a trade. It's got a 170 that's in rough shape now, but runs good. I have no clue if it's original although I seriously doubt it. The car's pretty, but not IMO "really nice". I just finished swapping in another 7 1/4 that has 3.23s in it (had 2.7? in it). I simply don;t have the time or money to do the V8 in it right now. I bought all the V8 stuff, including the engine and trans from a '65. But I need to take the suspension apart to do it, so that means redoing the original worn out suspension. It means pulling the steering column and lifting the carpet for the install, and the new gas pedal, plus modifying the wiring, new exh, etc etc. I would love a V8 in it. But as of right now, I'm shopping ofr a 225 Super Six that runs nice. I do have an afternoon to give in terms of time, and it's goign to cost a few hundred tops for the engine and service parts I might need. I'll be going to the longer stroke, getting a bunch of torque and a little more hp for minimal investment. I havent decided if I'll do bolt ons yet or not as I don;t have an engine, but we'll see what I have for cash after.
It's all up to you. I love driving this car even with an enemic, clattering, sometimes wheezy 170. SO a little cash and a little time I'm sure the 225 will be as fun or more.
 
First off, at your young age, you dont need a garage lol..

If you are keeping the slant, just be aware that doing it up is not really any cheaper than any other motor. If its running fine as is, and you're on a budget, maybe just clean it up, throw on the stuff you got and run it for a summer or two.

If you need a picker to pull it, give me a buzz and you can grab mine

Grant
 
Spend some time over on the slant6forum if you haven't already. Lots have made the swap from /6 to 318 and that works out fine for most. But there are ways to help that old slant a little. There is a nice "how to" on grafting an '80s GM throtle body fuel injection system on to the slant 6, or running two 2bbl carbs or even one guy runing two 4bbls. Supercharged or turbos. Someone was running the turbos from Omni O24's on his.
 
OneOfMany said:
First off, at your young age, you dont need a garage lol..

If you are keeping the slant, just be aware that doing it up is not really any cheaper than any other motor. If its running fine as is, and you're on a budget, maybe just clean it up, throw on the stuff you got and run it for a summer or two.

If you need a picker to pull it, give me a buzz and you can grab mine

Grant
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Thanks man! It's not running fine, in fact it's been barely running for years now. I just can't bring myself to put on any of the replacement parts til the body is fixed, and in the meantime it's just deteriorating. I think I may just park it again and bust out the Fiat until I've finally got everything in place (money included) to start the restoration.
 
needsaresto said:
I LOVE the angry hornet sound of a hot /6!! Id turbo it personally and keep the comp low for better fuel consumtion. In this day gas mileage is king,but you can have your cake and eat it too with a turbo. Bill Deadman has a GRREAT thread rolling on turbo slant builds.Also the /6 is VERY budget minded and you can still get parts no problem.

But seeing how you want a small block I'd get a teen or 360,as there are still plenty around. A magnum engine will definitely get you a roller cam,as will some of the late model (85-91) 318 la motors. Look to Summit for your hop up parts,they have very reasonable prices for headers,exhaust etc etc.
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need we say more!?!?

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ABKFcGty38"]YouTube - Walk Around Day.MOV[/ame]
 
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