I have a 70 Challenger convertible 225 6 with a 3 speed stick which I bought "new" for my wife.

The car has been sitting for a few years, I turn it over every six months, if I remember to do so.

I would like to restore it (still have the original "space maker" spare) since the car has never been cut up or modified.

I would rather keep the car as a 6 rather than stuff a crate motor and whole new underpinnings.

What can I do to keep the car "rather stock" but a "little faster" (to gain some respect)? And how much (dollar wise ) am I looking at to accomplish this.

Can anyone recommend someone in the Seattle area to do the work (my wife doesn't want a disassembled car in our garage).

I assume you want the car to be quicker, not faster. Quick is your 0-60 time, while fast is top speed.

If you do want quicker, a gearing change is frequently the biggest bang for the buck. First thing is to find out what your rear gear ratio is? If it's a 2.76, these are gears for highway economy, and not for quickness.

I suspect you will have plenty of fun keeping street tires warm with a 3.55 gear ratio. If you collect the parts yourself and find someone to install them, you should be able to keep it under $400, or find an already built rear of similar gear ratio to have installed. 3.21 or 3.91 would work also, but I think 3.55 is the sweet spot. Someone who owns a manual shift car might feel a little different.

The car will have a LOT more pep a street lights, and you should be able to spin the tires a little to amuse the kiddies.

Now, I expect you'll get lots of suggestions about upgrading to electronic ignition, bigger carbs, cams, super six, etc, these are all very nice to have . but I really think you'll get the big bang with the gears and everything else will just make it a little better as you go.

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1980 Aspen 225 super six

...it's not worth the trouble. What you need to do is sell the car to me for say, 100 bucks.

D/W

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If it ain't broke, fix it!

hey, I heard about a reliable place down in Renton. I cannot remember the name although, sorry, but i heard its one of the more reliable places in king county i think.

Simply, get a V8 and a Air Grabber Hood, I never heard about a Challenger with a slant under hood, every Challenger here got a V8 in.

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Mopar Muscle is well defend by Slant Six!

Valiant Duster 1971

Then you need to get out more, there were quite a few E-body Challengers and Barracuda's made with slant sixes...sadly most are now V-8 cars...




Anyhow...
Is the car a 3spd auto or 3 spd manual?

3spd manual cars came mostly with a 3.23 rear gearing which is already 'peppy'... you might wish to consider a change of rear gear ratio (3.55 or 3.91) and replacing your bellhousing and transmission with one from a 1975-1987 Dodge Truck with the A-833 Overdrive unit (this will retain your cruise mileage and allow for use of the 'fun' rear ratios)...this should almost bolt right in with a few parts you'll need to find.

If you aren't completely worried about 'originality' under the hood, a few upgrades that would be nice are bigger exhaust pipe, going to the super six or an offy 4 barrel with a small 4-barrel carb...electronic ignition, etc...

If you are going 'full bore' and going to overhaul the engine also, let us know 'the budget' ...we have lots of suggestions....



keep us informed, not many slant six E-bodies left...

-D.Idiot

Nooooo! Not the V8!

My friend has a `70 Challenger with slant. All the time he gets that sh*t too "what the h*ll, you don even have engine in it. Why don`t you put a big block in?" But slant Challenger is so cool This engine has super six, ~9,2:1 CR, little port job and custom headers with dual pipes. Rear still has the 2.76 ratio. It runs good with automatic, but it would be much quicker with 3.23.

Wow, another slant 6 Challenger convertible in the Seattle area! I met a lady with a B5 blue w/white stripe/top/interior a few years ago at the Mopar show at Bellvue CC. It was also a 3spd car. Got talked about alot more than the V8 E bodys! Got any pics of your car?

Well, here In Mexico if you got a Challenger or Cuda with a Slant in, they ask "Why?", not enought money to keep the V8?, If that, then sell me your big V8!!. That´s people here say. I by now, I had seen my first Slant Six Challenger and by Internet!!!

Right now I´m looking to put a 360 in my Duster, but is a little hard to find that engine.

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Mopar Muscle is well defend by Slant Six!

Valiant Duster 1971

your most likely better off with a 340. If i remember correctly, they arnt onnly smaller, but the 340's are more reliable and have more power.

Except, they are only smaller on the inside...

Sorry, no 340 here in Mexico, only 360 or the very rare 380

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Mopar Muscle is well defend by Slant Six!

Valiant Duster 1971

Thats cool. Id upgrade the the intake to an offy,slap a 390 holley on it
with a header or header(s) and pop some 3.55's in it and have some fun!
electronic ignition is great too...


As far as 340 and 360's are concerned , the 360's are the answer.
Why you ask?? Most people that are selling 340 blocks think they are
made of gold and ask way to much for them and on top of that they
are getting harder to find. A 360 nets you 20 more cubic inches and
are commonly available in most mid to late 70's vehicles and can
had reasonably too. They build excellent power with few mods.
But if you just feel that you gotta have a 340 spend the extra $$$..
The 340's are legendary engines, dont get me wrong but Id would
rather have more power for less cash...

If something is sure is that I can get a 340 from a US car I will get it, but is more easy to get the 360, and more ´cause a friend got a 76 Duster with a 360 in and meaby we can swap engines.

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Mopar Muscle is well defend by Slant Six!

Valiant Duster 1971

About a year or so ago, in MCG there was someone in a similar situation who wrote in to Galen to ask what he should do with his 70 slant six E-body. Galen's recommendation was to leave it as close to stock as possible since it was probably rarer to be in that condition than almost any other e-body even though more of them (slant six cars) were produced numbers wise than hemi cars...there just aren't enough of these cars around that haven't been transplanted with v-8's and one in stock condition number matching has got to be rare.

I am/was in a similar situation myself, as I have a 72 challenger with a 225 and a 3 speed manual. When I first purchased the car my intention was to upgrade and make it a daily driver slant six 4 speed OD car. Then when I thought I had the original drive train I was considering going the restoration route, I have since found out that the car no longer has its original drive train (motor is different and has an 8 3/4 rear now). Because I don't have all the original numbers matching parts, I have decided I am going to do an efi and maybe a turbo on the motor...when time, money and all fall into alignment..still upgrading to a four speed tranny to make it a comfortable/ more enjoyable daily driver.

Now for you here is what I am gonna recommend, if you have the original motor, tranny and rear end, etc. I would say you have two options. First would be do everything you can to fine tune the original setup and leave it in place, rebuild the carb if necessary but do everything you can to keep it stock and original as possible. I only recommend this because you have something that is rare...maybe not in terms of production numbers but if that car is a "survivor" a 70 e-body slant six 3 speed car, in this day and age there are fewer than there are 70 e-body hemi 4 speed convertible clone cars.

the second option is more of an expansion of option one, pull the original drive train and pack it away...then find another six and make a fun motor out of it, on the second motor you can do any of the mods that are applicable two barrel super six, four barrel offy/clifford, dutra duals, 4 speed od, higher rear end gear...basically everything to make it a little faster.

As for the money issue, I am sure you can find another slant six relatively cheaply (<$100.00, if you were closer I would haul my spare block and head to you for free just for keeping the e-body slanted), the super six setup you can find cheaply as well on this board (avoid e-bay ..super six prices are way overpriced on ebay in my opinion). the other upgrades, a 4speed od shouldnt be much more than $150. The offy/clifford 4 barrel setups are hard to price new they can be a bit pricey you can sometimes find them used a lot cheaper.
I am not in the WA state area so I can't recommend anyone to do the work but there are some people that area on this board...another place to look is the .com site or moparts.


I just wouldnt do it to the original drivetrain, who knows with the current classic car market, but all kinds of weird drivetrain combos exist, there maybe someone out there willing to shell out the big bucks. Personally, I would love to see a numbers matching concourse resto or survivor slant six e-body at a national show.

Now, I have to say if you do take anyone's else's advice I recommend this, Dennis is almost right but I think he confused who you should sell this car to...I would be a far better candidate than Dennis..nothing against the man but I would even give you $102.26 for the car...I'm not gonna low ball you at $100.00.

Brian