hey there, im a 17 year old kid with a 71 valiant, its really fun and its a blast to cruise in. im working this summer, i got some cash-flow. what would be the best to do to the /6 without spending over 800-1000$. changing the compression and all that can pricey, but thats where the snap is hiding. so what can i do? header? intake? up to a 2 brl carb instead of my pinner 1? any help is much appreciated thanks guys. oh, im thinking torque would be better than hp...not sure. thanks.

Hey, welcome to the board. I am a fan of the super six/two barrel. I put one on my truck and my dart. More power and better milage. The car has a holley 350 cfm two barrel. Seems like you always want more, though, now I plan on a four barrel. Where about in B.C. are you? I am in Maple Ridge.

_________________
Excuse me, does this smell like chloroform to you?

The super six setup would be a good place to start. If you could swing the cash, having bigger valves & just a little bowl work with a three angle valve job, plus shaving the head would do a lot for it. YOu could probably do all that if you shop right & have a local machine shop that is not extreeme on the prices. You dont need to go porting & polishing the head, just have it opened up in the bowls to work with the new valves. You can get a set of over size valves on Ebay cheap & they are good. Plus the extra compression from shaving (maybe .060 to .100 thou) the head is going to give you alot of torque, plus better gas milage & will pay for itself in time.


Jess

Interesting to see another Project V on the site!

If you have $1000 and a decent engine to start with, you can build something with some snap.

You will be limited to your stock torque converter, most likely, so best to build a motor that can tolerate that.

Here is what I would do, if I were 17 and had that money, and some time, to spend:

- Remove head, dissassemble completely, take to shop and get cleaned and mill 0.100" off the deck surface (about $100). You read that right, 0.100".

- Get access to a die grinder and air compressor, or buy a rotary tool like a heavy duty dremel tool, and some carbide cutters/burrs (about $100-150). The rounded xmas tree burr is the essential one. Do some smoothing and porting in the valve bowls, and remove at least 50% of the valve guide bosses.

- Get lapping compound and lapping tool and lap valves ($20), of if you can afford it, get the shop to do a valve job ($100-150).

- Replace stock valve springs with 340 V8 valve springs (about $60).

- Get Oregoncams.com to grind you a cam based on a Slant factory core (About $100-120 with shipping). Use these specs: INTAKE - 222deg @ 0.050", 0.450-0.460" lift, EXHAUST - 218deg @ 0.050", same lift, 108 deg LSA.

- Get a degree wheel and dial indicator (borrow?), and degree the cam to 100 deg installed centerline.

- Reuse stock oil pump, possibly put a 1/16" thick washer under the relief spring to increase pressure slightly.

- New gaskets, sealer, and such ($50).

- Spend some time setting up your distributor advance curve. You want about 12 deg at idle, and 28-30 deg at 26-2800 RPM and above. This is free, and there are many posts on this site on how to do it. Easiest first thing is to weld or epoxy up the advance slots about 1/8" and leave the springs alone.

- Do some grinding on the stock exh manifold to make sure exit hole is at least 2.25" diameter, and inlet ports are smooth. Run 2.25" single exhaust out to the back of the car ($200) with a Thrush or Super Turbo muffler.

- Offy 4bbl intake and holley 350 or 500 2bbl carb and 14" air cleaner ($300-400). ONLY do this if you have extra money. Start with the super 6 intake/carb if you already have it.

ALSO, very important is to reduce the weight of the car if you can tolerate removing certain things - back seat, heater box (maybe not in Can), carpet...

Have fun!

Lou

_________________
Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

I am also in BC. I agree with what Dart 270 is telling you except I know that your costs here in BC will be somewhat greater than in the US.

The power is in the head. But so is the money.

I would definitely find a Super 6 and do the exhaust to 2.25....then see if you have enough for headwork. The header and 4 barrel are not real useful without headwork.

A cheap way to get quicker in our part of the world is a gear swap to 3.23 gears.

_________________
Yeah....Im the one who destroyed this rare, vintage automobile.....

well a fellow 17 year old building a slant nice.
Alright well it's all up to you about how you wanna go about getting some snap but i'd say gears first cheap and get seat of your pants fun. I'm in the process of slapping in a 8 3/4 rear end with 4.10s and posi also a 3000rpm edge converter.But in your case i'd say throw a nice set of 3.55's in your stock rear end you won't lose much gas mileage off that and it'll be maybe 300 bucks.It'll give ya the most bang for your buck after that maybe head work.PM me if ya want i'll let ya know what i've done to my duster or what i'm planning later.Oh and save your money all mine goes to the duster

Kevin

_________________

If you want to make the car more fun to drive with-out tearing into the engine, add front and rear anti-sway bars and a set of good shocks.

As a first step with the engine, do a complete tune-up including a valve adjustment and recurve the distributor. Advance the timing until the engine starts to ping, then back-off the timing until the pings stop.

Open-up the exhaust system with a large single pipe and free flowing muffler or go to an aftermarket (headers or Duals) exhaust system.
DD

i dont know when they switched to electronic ignition, but the hei conversion might help a bit and wont be very expensive if you already have an electronic dist, ive got a 67 with a super six and hei, i put on the super six then drove it to a shop to put a 2.25 pipe and glasspack on it, that exhaust opened it up alot, good to see another fellow younger slanter, good luck!

If all you got is a about a grand there is a lot you can do. I would leave the bottom in if you trust it and pull the head.
Bigger valves on ebay (a guy from warren,or) $120
If you have a good die grinder, I spent 50 bucks on an standard abrasive polishing kit and cleaned up the bowls to a mirror finish real easy to do and open the ports to match the exhaust and intake. $50
Go to Napa and get the head shaved .1 and 3 angle valve job and hardened seats $225
I bought the four barrel off of PAW for $250 with a rebuilt holley off a guy for another $200
My exhaust job was about $150.
With stock gears and a 4-speed I can beat down my uncle's cummins with 16's. This is what I did with my engine, last piece is I had a two barrel, I wasn't impressed with it but it would be cheaper. I did this last year when I was 18

I agree with Doctor Dodge: Leave the engine assembled for now. There's a great deal you can (and should) do to make the car snappier and more fun to drive before you tear into the engine.

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

Just my 2 cents worth here. The previously mentioned super six intake and exhaust can be had from a wrecking yard at minimal cost. That's going to be a good start.
Before you go much beyond that, think about brakes and sway bars. You want that car to handle and stop well, before you make it go really fast.

_________________
66 Valiant, 225.
84 Van, 225.
71 Maxi-Van, 318
60 Valiant wagon, 225
87 Maxi-Van, 318 4spd