are there torque specs to follow for the thermostat bolts?
while i'm at it,besides tracking down a manual , is there a decent all around good service book for working on a slant 6 engine. mine is specificallya 1975 .225 that i have in a 64 belvedere. thanks.

I do believe that there are torque specs for the thermostat housing, but unfortunately I'm at work and I don't have my manual in front of me. I think it's 30 lbs. I'll try to remember to check it tonight and re-post.

The service manual should be all you need. If you have cd-rom and printing equipment, you can order a cd-rom manual online for 50-some dollars and print out pages as needed. It's a great resource.

Of course, the other great resources are slantsix.org and slantsix.com. Before I do anything, I search these sites for relevant info and almost always get tips that save me time, money, aggrevation...

Steve

I know there are some folks..... ahem! Dan.... that will encourage you to obtain the Factory Service Manuals. And rightfully so. They are the ultimate bible for your specific car. However, before I knew there was such a thing, and before I became enlightened by joining this site (and others), I bought a .... ready for this .... HAYNES REPAIR MANUAL. It did enable my son Aaron and me to do a complete engine rebuild, drum-to-disc conversion, Super Six upgrade, etc. Worth the money, to me.

I also bought a CD from Detroit Iron.

Jerry

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There's a difference between ignorance and stupidity.
Ignorance is not knowing any better.
Stupidity is knowing, yet doing it anyway.

haynes manuals are the tool of the devil.

that dopey thing tried to tell me I needed to pull the radio out of my neon to change the blower motor.

........sorry..........I'll leave this post now.........

From 1965 Factory Manual

Thermostat Housing Bolts 30 ftlb

Doubt it changed much over the years............

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Ed
64 Valiant 225 / 904 / 42:1 manual steering / 9" drum brakes

The Hayes and Chilton manuals are condensed versions of the factory manual. There's nothing wrong with them, it's just that they are not as complete as the factory book. If there is some bad info in them, it's the same bad info that is in the fact man. While it's best to have the fact man, the smaller Haynes and Chilton books are handy enought to keep in the your trunks tool (you have one don't you?) or glove box for emergency repair reference.
I have an extra Chilton #6326, '68-'76 Valiant/Duster. If someone can use it, $20 shipped. Chilton also published #6324, '68-'76 Dart/Demon but it's the same as #6326 except for some pics and copy.

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Slant Cecil