Hello everyone!

I searched and went back several pages and didn't see a topic about rebuilding a relatively stock SL6. What is the best parts source? What is best for mild upgrades while it's apart? Headers and cost effectiveness for higher mpg?
This will be a daily driver type of car, 68 Dart vert auto or 67 Cuda fastback 4sp o/d.

Thanks!

Dave

Rebuilding an engine isn't too expensive, if you do all the assembly...

You can get a rebuild kit from Northern Auto Parts or Performance Automotive Warehouse with 'options' for about $400 or so...

Machining can run another $5-800 depending on what is done (headwork/valves/seats, upping the compression)...

Popping for an aftermarket camshaft is also a couple extra $$$ depending on which you choose...

Because I do my own assembly a 225 is about $1200 parts+ machining...

Depending on your area, headers may not get you MPG if the weather is cold a lot, your carb/intake may not warm up.

-d.idiot

Biggest/best single improvement, for power, and economy, is to get the head milled, to bring the compression to an "honest" 9.0-9.5 to 1.

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Charrlie_S
65 Valiant 100 2dr post 170 turbo
66 Valiant Signet 170 nitrous
64 Valiant Signet
64 Valiant 4dr 170
64 Valiant 4dr 225

Milled how much? I heard .005 is a good amount? And what about putting in a somewhat lumpier camshaft? Will that do much without any more machine work? Am I gonna have to put in an electronic/high flow fuel pump? I'm planning on taking my engine apart soon and rebuilding/machining/repainting the whole thing, including a supersix setup or a 4bbl if i have to, so any advice would be very helpful. I'm not looking for a monster, just some improvement so i don't have to fight traffic getting on the freeway. :0)

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Road Devils CC Nomads
1964 4-door Valiant

Did you read through this thread?
http://www.slantsix.org/forum/viewtopic ... ine+matrix
DD

I did not, but I also don't see where my questions were answered. Unless I'm missing something, which is entirely possible. Basically, what I'm asking is, if I want to keep stock internals except the cam, and milling the head, is that possible and how much should i mill the head? Or should I just go ahead and find another cheap block and tranny from a later car and work with that? Mine's the original 1964 engine and it has probably never seen a rebuild in the 44 years it's been around. Those I don't think are answered where I've looked. Thanks for the link, though. It is pretty helpful for later on.

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Road Devils CC Nomads
1964 4-door Valiant

You need to cc the head first, and measure where your pistons sit in the bores. From there, you compute how much to take off to achieve your desired compression.
In most cases, .005" isn't going to do anything other than clean the surface.

The magic number tends to be around .100" Off, but you have to know where your starting from! There are wide variations from engine to engine.

CJ

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Part of Tyrde-Browne Racing

That is a good way to do it.
Building a different engine "on the side" keeps your car running while you do the rebuild work. This gives you the extra time needed to do the measurements and planning needed to get a good working combination assembled.

Once you have a replacement engine ready to go, it is an easier job to swap the engine and to get the car running again.
DD

MPGFanatic and I had real good results, with a totally street rebuild, in a 64 Valiant 3 on the tree. Bored and honed with a block plate, .060 stock sealed power pistons. Cut the deck to get the factory spec deck hight (170 engine, .005 deck). Cut the head to get the proper cc's to achieve 9.5 to 1 compression ( you need to measure, to determine the amount to mill) Used the MP 244 cam and kit, stock manifolds (intake and exhaust) Holley 1920 carb. Low restriction muffler, with a 2 1/4 pipe. Car can run the 1/4 in low 17's with a real sloppy shifter (I don't remember the rear gear). Car gets 27-28 mpg. 2 years and around 12,000 miles, and counting. The carb and timing has been tweeked with the use of a MPG computer and a O2 sensor.
PS: remember to degree the cam. This one needed a 6 degree bushing.

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Charrlie_S
65 Valiant 100 2dr post 170 turbo
66 Valiant Signet 170 nitrous
64 Valiant Signet
64 Valiant 4dr 170
64 Valiant 4dr 225

I may do that just to change to a later engine and floorshift tranny (i don't like the pushbuttons) but as it is I'm gonna have to pull the engine and leave it out for at least a few days while everything gets painted anyway. She's not my daily driver anymore, so I figured while i had it out, I'd do all the machining and rebuilding. The only thing I'm really concentrating on is being ready for the Lonestar Roundup and that's almost a year away, so I guess I have plenty of time to figure this stuff out. :0) Thanks for all the responses. You guys are really helpful.

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Road Devils CC Nomads
1964 4-door Valiant

DannyB64 >Great thread.....

Charrlie_S >That's the info I'm looking for!! Any chance of getting a detailed buildup on that? Looking for parts used how much of a head chop, etc.

MPGFanatic c> feel free to add something to it!!

Doc > Thanks for the link!!

Thanks!

Dave

FNG: Sorry to hijack your thread, but if you checked it as often as I do you might get some replies faster. And hey, people like me.

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Road Devils CC Nomads
1964 4-door Valiant

Price vs performance... All in all how crazy do you want to get and how much work YOU can do. I did my entire slant six from start to finsh on a 1000 budget. I assembled everything, and got a discount from my uncle's gary's shop cause he uses them so often. The big thing that helped that the engine was a "fresher" rebuild, so I didn't need to bore it or buy pistons. The price once again depends on how wild you want to get, if you adhere to what most guys have done on the matrix builds you can stay well within reason as it would cost for a completely stock assemebled long block from some engine rebuilder, but have 190hp to boot.

That's pretty much the details (previous post). It was basically doing things to improve the effiency of the engine. The cylinders needed to be bored, and I had a set of .060 pistons in stock, that I got of e-bay for $20.00, almost any "normal" over size would work. Slant Cecil "rented" me his block plate, this allowed honing to get a better ring seal. Used "moly" rings. Crank was checked and polished. Then a couple of piston/rod assemblies were installed to check the deck hight. Block then went back to the machine shop to be decked ( each engine needs to be checked and the numbers will/might be different). Since we had decieded on installing a mild cam, and were going to be tweeking the distributer, we opted for an "honest" 9.5 to 1 compression ratio (you might want to consider a little less (9.0-9.2) with a stock cam). It is necessary to cc the head to determine how much to mill to achieve the ratio desired.

One thing I would like to try on a slant built for milage, would be to do a valve job, with the valves angle at 30 degrees, instead of 45 degrees. I don't know if it would really work, but I would think it would help low lift/low speed air flow. I did it on a 360 motor years ago, and it seemed to help to MPG.

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Charrlie_S
65 Valiant 100 2dr post 170 turbo
66 Valiant Signet 170 nitrous
64 Valiant Signet
64 Valiant 4dr 170
64 Valiant 4dr 225