Hi - can anyone explain a low mileage original 1961 Valiant with a factory original sliver green metallic 170ci slant six? I've seen two - my own with 38,000 original, documented miles - and another on EBay built in a different plant with a silver green metallic 170ci slant six. I've contacted a lot of Mopar people, including Galen Govier. No one has an explanation. Govier has seen silver green slant sixes and so has Greg Rager, formerly of Mopar Muscle. No one knows why they exist. Help! And thanks... I've seen lots of 1960-62 Valiants and Lancers - most with red slant sixes. This has me baffled.

Engine colour was particularly inconsistent in the '60-'61 timeframe. Most Valiants and Lancers for the North and South American market got red engines, but one plant (don't remember which one) painted up some of the engines in silver/green, and the first 1000 or so 225s exported to Australia for installation in their '61-but-sold-as-a-'62 RV1 Valiants were painted silver. '60-'61 full size cars (Darts and Plymouths) in the North American market got metallic turquoise or silver slant-6s. So, it's not especially surprising that you have such an engine. Care to shoot a photo or two and share with us?

Engine colour got less random but not completely consistent after '61.

Slant-6 colo(u)rs from the factory:

Metallic dark turquoise: Some 1960-'61 Plymouth-Dodge full size cars, North American market

Silver: 225s in 1961 (RV1 sold as "1962") Valiant in the Australian market, some '61 Valiant + Lancer in the US market, some '60-'61 Plymouth-Dodge full size cars in the US market.

Red: 1962-68 all passenger cars, all markets, except as below, plus 170 engines all 1960 and most '61 Valiant/Lancer in the US market (some got silver-greenish)

Turquoise: 1969 passenger cars & trucks in US market; 170 engines in '62-'66 Canadian-built Valiants. 1967-1969 225 w/2bbl carb in Australian market


Blue: 1970-1983 all passenger cars & trucks, North American market

Orange: 1967-19??, w/2bbl carb, South African market

Yellow: 1962-early 1969 truck/bus, North American market (some '61-'62 got red)

Black: 1984-up, all applications, North American and probably other markets.

This list almost certainly omits some versions of the slant-6 sold in some non-North-American markets.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Hi - thanks for your reply. Interesting... I have pictures of my slant six. How do I post them? I'd like to know why Chrysler painted some slant six engines this color. The basic pattern I've seen in the US has been red slant sixes from 1960-68, greenish blue for 1969 only, then blue from 1970-up with a different valve cover and air cleaner. I have seen yellow slant sixes in some Dodge trucks and vans from the 1960s. Thanks!

One more thing - where did they cast and build slant six engines? Were they all North American made? Thanks...

Welcome to the board. You can find instructions for posting pictures here.

Engine paint colour is one of those details they weren't about to stop the production line for. If the spec for engine paint said "red" and whoever had the paint contract could only supply green for whatever reason that week, or showed up at the plant with a tankload of paint that was more orange than it was supposed to be, they weren't going to halt production until red could be had or turn away the tankload because it was a little off spec. And, the inconsistent engine colour in early cars suggests the spec wasn't quite set in stone.

Let's see, where were slants made? Well, off the top of my head, TEP (Trenton Engine Plant), WEP (Windsor Engine Plant, Canada), MR (Mound Road), don't think any engines were made in Los Angeles but I could be wrong...starting in '63 slant-6s were cast and made at Tonsley Park, Australia. They were also made in Gebez, Turkey; Toluca, Mexico, and I am sure I am leaving out some plants.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

There were only 1008 RV-1 Valiants brought into Australia and all were 225's.The first of the SV-1's were brought in till the plant at Tonsley Park in Adelaide was up and running.

Well - I am seeking definitive answers on this engine color issue. There has to be someone who is retired from Chrysler who knows what actually happened. I know my '61 Valiant isn't the only one with a silver green slant six. It could be as simple as Chrysler running out of red paint and using whatever it had at the time. I'd like to know for sure what plants and foundries produced slant sixes. I'd also like to know for sure - a concrete answer on why some slant sixes were painted silver green. When I look at it closely - it's more silver than green. What's more, did this also happen to B block 361, 383 engines??? What about 413 and 426? Are there some odd ducks out there? There has to be people still around who can explain all this who were at Chrysler at the time. I though Galen Govier was supposed to be the Mopar guru. I've heard this for years. I just haven't been able to get a response from him.

Ummm...are you paying attention to the answers you've had so far? It kind of sounds like you might not be.

If you'll post your car's VIN and engine ID numbers (stamped on the boss at the top of the block near the frontmost spark plug) -- and maybe show us those pictures -- then a more specific answer might be possible based on what else was produced at the plant that made your engine.
You seem to be asking for a reason why the decision was made to paint certain 1961 Valiant engines silver-green. There is no such concrete reason, because no such decision was taken, as such. It was done because that was the paint that was on hand, either because it was left over from a previous engine project that specced silver-green paint, or because that was what was on sale from the paint company that week. Remember that 1957-1961 was an era of poor corporate management and careless quality control at Chrysler, comparable to the 1976-1982 era.
This is slantsix.org. All those engines you mention have excessive cylinders!
Always.
There are, and if you'll post more complete information about your car, as requested above, then you can probably have a more specific answer you might find more satisfactory.
Yeah, and Pepsi is the Choice of a New Generation. It's an advertising slogan! Govier spends a great deal of money promulgating his "guru" schtick. A thread about the many, many times he's sold incorrect information and made incorrect statements out of ignorance would be a lengthy thread indeed. Even longer would be the thread detailing his participation in the creation of fraudulent cars by selling shoeboxes (= box containing a fender tag, a VIN tag, and various pieces of sheetmetal stamped with the same VIN, used for turning a low-value car into a fraudulent high-value one).
If you wave more cash under his nose, I'm sure he'll cook up something "authoritative" for you.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Hey man, don't turn this thread into a pissing contest

actually the first overseas plant to cast their own slant six engines was argentina starting in late 61. All our 1st. gen valiants had american 170 CI slant sixes, then our 2nd. gen valiants had the argentinian 225. First 170's were red. Hemi red I'd say. Then the first 225's (our very own cast) where green for trucks, light turquoise for cars. Starting in '64, when diffrent 225's where in the game, they started to "color code" the engines. High output 225's where painted again hemi red, while trucks remained green and "normal" units switched to a more blueish turquoise. In '66 the "RG-119 Slant Power" was silver, the "normal slant" was changed to hemi red and the trucks remained green, some larger trucks had it black.

And so on. There's a lot of oddballs here and there... some "RT" 225 where golden Guys at local chrysler even created a thick casting for the 225, called "the 906" (because of the 3 last digits in the casting number) wich weights about 30 kilos (more than 60 pounds) more than a "regular" slant six. Those can be bored .120 with no extra care, have thicker deck, walls, etc. This was called also the "heavy" block, and while they said it was intended for racing and heavy duty applications, word out there is that when they used again the sand die (supposedly worn out by the time this happened), after casting a bunch of new cores and realizing they had run out of cast iron long before they should, they weighted the blocks and dicovered the "heavy duty" 225.

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Juan Ignacio Caino

Please use e-mail button istead of PM'ing. I do log in sometimes but I'll be answering quicker thru e-mail.

Welcome smart67.

I think that you may be looking for the Holy Grail by trying to find an answer as to WHY your Slant is painted the silver green. Any of the suggestions SSDan mentioned, and more, COULD be the answer.
Unless you find one of the guys that were actually working in the paint shop the day the your Slant was sprayed, I don't think that you'll have the definitive answer that you are looking for. And quite honestly, if there was a definitive answer, you would probably find it from one of the guys on this forum.

I tend not to worry about the little inconsistencies that pop up in Slant Six cars. I would just enjoy the fact that you have something a little unique.

My 2 cents.

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Bill

'60 Dodge Dart Pioneer

Vivian

My engine is rust-colored...not mentioned previously. Couldn't resist. Thanks for the info Dan.

Hi - I do appreciate your feedback. I've been a Mopar guy all of my life. Grew up in Plymouth, Dodge, and Chrysler - including a '61 Valiant (with a red slant six... ). I write for two sister magazines of Mopar Muscle - Mustang Monthly and Mustang & Fords. So I am a well publicised Ford guy. I love Fords. I also love Mopar. I have heavily researched Fords for 30 years. Haven't spent as much time on Mopar. Ford guys have this research thing down to a science. With some Fords, such as the Mustang, we have been lucky - with a lot of factory documentation found through the years. A lot of it hasn't been found too. Lots of unanswered questions out there that will probably never be answered. As old retired Ford types die off (just like Chrysler types), answers go to the grave. And the ever popular, "What? That's been 45 years ago!!! How would I remember that?!"

Because I've been around Mopar for 50 years, I remember a lot of this stuff when it was new. I've been in love with slant sixes since I was a kid. The best six ever... All that said - I am going through a learning curve on 1960-62 Valiants. I'd like to know what US plants built them. I've confirmed Los Angeles, Dodge Main, and Newark, DE built 1960-62 Valiants. I'd like to know if any other plants built them besides these three. When Barbara and I took delivery of this 38,000 mile '61 Valiant two months ago, the silver green slant six led me to believe it was a replacement engine. And that's what I believed until I saw a '61 Valiant on EBay with an identical engine in silver green. Hence my questions in this forum. I will post images shortly as soon as I figure out how to.

Thanks for being helpful.

Jim - Palmdale, CA

Fortunately, there's a great deal of Chrysler's documentation in various places, and still some plant engineers who do remember that sort of thing. I'm curious to know which plant built your '61, do you know? If not, and it is a US-built car, Chrysler will send you a copy of the vehicle's build sheet if you send $45 and the car's VIN to:

DaimlerChrysler
Corporate Historical Collection
One Chrysler Drive
CIMS 488-00-00
Auburn Hills, MI 48326
Attn: Historical Information

You'll receive by return mail a photocopy of your car's build record, showing when and where it was built, with what equipment, etc. They can't provide build records for Canadian-built cars, nor cars built after '68, and the build record won't have info on the engine paint colour. But it'll get you a lot closer by revealing the car's actual build date and plant.
The 4th digit of the VIN will tell you the build plant:

1: "Plymouth Plant, Detroit" (Lynch Rd)
2: "Dodge Assembly Plant, Detroit" (Hamtramck)
5: "Los Angeles Plant, California"
6: "Newark Plant, Delaware"
9: "Windsor Plant, Ontario"

Windsor at the time built them for Canadian and Commonwealth export markets.

Regards...

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

I almost forgot - I don't know Galen at all, just heard about him. It was suggested that I contact him. Galen sounds like one well known guy in the Mustang world who is considered a guru - but right about half the time. He will take your money too for the same kind of things you mentioned. Anytime someone's website identifies themselves as "the authority" all of my alarm bells go off. Wise people don't have to tell anyone they're wise.

Anyway - I thank all of you for your thoughts. This is fascinating to me. I like learning about slant sixes Chrysler did in other parts of the world - such as Argentina and Australia. It is such a terrific engine and I cannot tell you why. I like the way it sounds - unique - different from other sixes. My '61 Valiant has never had a valve adjustment - so valve chatter is exactly as I remember from my Mom's black '61 Valiant long ago. Her's chattered up a storm. My dad traded it in back in 1971. My first car was my mother's hairdresser's '60 Valiant. I just had to have one. When the 904 Torqueflite died in it, my father made me junk it.

At 45, I had midlife crisis and just had to have a Valiant. Bought a low mileage '60 Valiant with stick. Then, a red '61 push-button with the infamous silver green slant six. Just thought I would share my past with you folks. I am passionate about these cars and their engines.

Now to get those images posted...

Zactly!
Eek! I wonder if it might be worth trading a bit of nostalgia for better performance and economy and longer engine life...(i.e., go ahead and do the adjustment)?

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.