I have a 1964 Plymouth Belvedere with a .225 Slant 6. The engine is not the original but a rebuild instead. The previous owner could not tell me the year of the engine. I have heard that different .225 years take certain carburetors. Currently I have a single barrel Holley in there and I have a suspicion that it is not quite the right one because neither I nor any other mechanics can get her adjusted just right. Does anyone know how I can determine the year of my engine?

These may help you identify what you have:
http://www.slantsix.org/articles/parts-matrix/jpg.htm
http://www.slantsix.org/articles/dutra- ... blocks.htm
The year of the engine itself - the long block - won't make a lot of difference in being able to tune it. There are a few different cams, several intake manifold/carb combinations, and then there are the emissions controls and such to deal with on some engines, but on a '64 you should be able to keep it simple.

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"When you find a big kettle of crazy, it's best not to stir it." - Pointy-haired Boss

1964 Valiant V200, 225/Pushbutton 904
BBD, CAI, HEI, LBP, AC, AM/FM/USB, EIEIO

By the way, I have a '64 Valiant, with what appears to be the original Carter BBS one-barrel. Simple carb. I don't know anything about the Holleys.
What, specifically, is the problem with tuning your car?

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"When you find a big kettle of crazy, it's best not to stir it." - Pointy-haired Boss

1964 Valiant V200, 225/Pushbutton 904
BBD, CAI, HEI, LBP, AC, AM/FM/USB, EIEIO

With sucha heavy car, I would put in a 71-77 cam (more torque). I've heard that the Carter BBS is the best one barrel for the slant.If it is a 70's motor it probably has a crappy Holley 1945 smog carb on it.

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82 D150-225/727
02 Dakota-3.9/5 speed
87 GMC C7000-8.2 Detroit Diesel/5+2

You're not gonna believe this jeb, but for now, I'm gonna have to side with the cheesy old 1920 Holley as the best 1-bbl pick. Two attempts with two different BBS's (one an NOS unit) have met with abject failure, and I puuled every trick known to man (or is that Dan )out of my hat. Yes, I like the overall layout of the BBS over the cheesy bowl-screwed-to-side, flimsy-rubber-diaphragm-everything Holley, but the BBS just want's to be way lean during the warm-up cycle. I might recommend it with a manual choke.

So my experience has been (from best to worst)

BBD (2-barrel) works like a charm every time.
Holley 1920 (one barrel)
BBS (one barrel)
Holley 1945 (one barrel, throw this one in the trash)

D/W

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If it ain't broke, fix it!

That cam is actually '71-'80, and is the stock cam that's sold for all '60-'80 slant-6s through all engine parts suppliers. The MP 244 is better (same duration, greater lift).
That's the one I've had the most consistently good results with.

Strange indeed -- I've never had one that couldn't be made to behave correctly during warmup. Then again, I've also never messed with the '70-'72 "open stove" choke setup, either. I did find that source for electronic choke conversion kits and sent them an inquiry this afternoon, and will keep you up to date.

I suspect if you have a '60-'69 or '73-up exhaust manifold with matching choke thermostat, you'd have no trouble at all. The '70-'72 setup was a stopgap to meet warmup emissions before they figured out how to do electric-assist chokes in '73.

That's possible, Dan, and I'm anxious to try an electric choke. I tried everything to slow down the opening rate, basically filled the whole "tub" with insulation, ran an extra gasket between it at the thermostat housing to slow heat transfer, but three to five minutes after startup, it fell flat on it's face pulling off, no matter what. Setting the choke tighter overall helped, but then it would close at too high an ambient temp, and flood the engine upon starting, thereby causing me to have to open the hood and jam the choke flap open, always embarassing considering Kermit normally starts and runs like a swiss watch. Overall, I was able to make the situation better, but not fix it. Changed pump shooter (slight improvement with larger shoter), lost the third mystery ball (no effect) and put the idle orifice tube from the earlier (richer) carb in (no effect on warm up prob, but made carb idle like $#!+ - too rich).

The thing is, when the Holley is a bit lean on warmup (say on an unexpectedly cold day during the months when I keep the heat riser wired shut - yes, I know you don't approve ) it's just a mild little flatspot, if you massage the pedal a bit and shoot it a little extra gas, it pulls off fine. The Carter, however falls completely flat on it's face, no backfire thru carb, but just on the verge of that, I'm sure. No pedal massaging helps, so it's a real pain in the ass to drive during the warmup stage. Like I said, a manual cable would solve the problem, and I believe the closed style manifold would be better for the BBS as you say. Odd thing is, I've had to change the exhaust manifold, but I've been adamant to keep the open style on because the choke setup on it has worked so well with the Holley, and didn't want to alter that.

D/W

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If it ain't broke, fix it!