After reading about all the work to get a slant to go decently, I was wondering what IS the best bang for the buck? Nitrous, turbo, injection, as a more or less newbie to the slant, it seems to take an awful lot of machine work to get even respectable Compression ratios for a performance build. Unless you are boosting of course... Just seems more trouble than worth, unless thats really what you are wanting to do... Just a wondering question, and definitely not to start a war, my f body goes fairly well with the slant, but IF i decide to hot rod it it will get a v-8. M2C.

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MRO....

Cheap, Fast, Reliable.... Pick 2...

My two cents, and you know what 2 cents is worth. First, what do you consider "decently"? A mild slant would respond to "normal" hop ups very well, done on a budget. Fuel injection is a waste, of money, by itself. With a major hop up or turbo, FI is a good addition. A turbo is something that will work on an otherwise stock engine (in good condition, and a low boost), or a major build at higher boost levels. It can be very reliable on a street driver. It does cost a fair amount of time and money, up front, to do it properly. Nitrous is hard on an engine (100 or less seems to be OK, above 150 seems to break parts) but can be done economicly, up front, but the bottle needs to be filled on a regular basis. So between turbo and nitrous, it is a case of "pay now, or pay later".

Best single "bang for the buck" in my opinion, is mill the head, even with a turbo, you want at least 8.5 CR, unless running major boost. Less then $100 and helps torque, horse power, and economy. No down side at all.

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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

Thanks Charlie, and maybe others will voice their opinions also. And the term decently is a real broad term I know... But you took the idea and answered the question. In todays terms I really dont know what decent means either, with all of the new advertised High Horsepower offerings from every mfgr... Yeah I was thinking a moderate shot of juice, 75-100. Didnt know about the boost levels, but I am guessing 5-7 lbs is the lower levels. So I guess you are right pay now or pay later...

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MRO....

Cheap, Fast, Reliable.... Pick 2...

Your best bang for the buck is just what you said: Put a V8 in it. I'm not trying to be funny or sarcastic. 300 HP on a 360 ci V8 is cheap and easy... 300 HP on a 225 ci /6 is expensive (with the possible exception of Nitrous, but even then you're into refilling bottles all the time).

People build Slants not because they give the best HP to $ ratio, but because they love the motor, love the challenge, or both. Many also enjoy lifting the hood at a car show or cruise night and having something unique to show. V-8s are a dime a dozen at those events... When was the last time you saw a supercharged Slant, or one with a Hurricane manifold, or a hyper-pak?

We're a strange bunch, those of us who eschew the obvious choice (put a V8 in there!) for the struggle of making power with the Slant 6. An strange bunch indeed. And... We like it that way!



- Mac

Your question is pretty open ended. Without performance goals or budgets in mind, it's hard to answer.

It is easy and cheap to get any comp ratio you want with stock pistons/bottom end by simply milling the head and/or block. Degreeing cam and good tuning can be worth a lot.

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

Slanted opinion nailed it for me, Everyone seems to dig my engine at the car show I usually have more people asking me questions about my deal than my dads 440 6 pack road runner
The head cut was the cheapest gain in performance on my NA motor for sure picked up some pep. Plus it ways cooler kicking some car show ass on the way out with two less pistons

Kev

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If you can find the right size turbo in a wrecking yard I feel that's the least expensive way to get a major performance increase. I knocked 2 seconds off my 1/4 mile ET with 4bbl, 2 1/4" exhaust and a ported/milled head, but that was still only a best of 16.8 seconds.

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Joshua

Probably the best reason for sticking with the slant out at the track is the reaction that sometimes occurs when the car performs well and some unwitting sot figures it out after the fact.

My favorite was up at Woodburn a couple years ago during a T&T.

Fopar had just smoked him a Mustang 5.0

It was driven by a kid, poorly, but Richard crossed the line first none-the-less. When he parked the Dart back in the staging lanes, he popped the hood to allow it to cool down, then promptly made a Bee-Line for the restrooms. (You know how old people are.)

Kid in Mustang pulls back into the lanes, sees the Dart with the hood up, and walks around to the front of the car, sees six one barrels poking out of a slant six, and exclaims, "You got to be "fargin pooping" me!" (Cleaned up for the wee lads, lasses, and easily offended.(Get over it!))

Made my day!

CJ

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Part of Tyrde-Browne Racing

Okay I am working on the memory here - Kris- then - Kerry -then Jill - okay still workin'.......

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66 Lil' Red Piggie Valiant (Mater Crusher) - Thanks Zilla!!!!! 72 Demon (Number 1 Son's)

Drugs are bad, MMMM'Kay?

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Official Cookie and Mater Tormentor.

Best bang for the buck would be a LS in a Chevy. But we are not that type of board...

We ARE a strange bunch, to be sure, but then, this is a strange world.

I ask of ANY car I consider owning and/or "building," "What can you do for ME???"

That is a fair question to ask of a car, I think, and deserves an answer.

My 1972 Valiant 4-door, 360-Magnum-powered V8 car is supercharged with a Vortech V-1 centrifugal blower, and makes about 525 horsepower on 10 pounds of boost. The engine is stock, except for the cam, headers and intake manifold/carb.

There is no NHRA class for it, so if I want to race it at the strip, I have to bracket race it. I HATE bracket racing. So, about the only action this mid-11-second vehicle sees is the occasional stoplight grand prix, and frankly I guess I must have gained some common sense somewhere along the way, or it's the fact that this old tub will run 0-60 in about 3 seconds, but I don't feel comfortable AT ALL, letting it all hang out on the street, in this car anymore.

So, it sits in the driveway, pouting and giving me the evil-eye, most of the time. Gas mileage is atrocious and the 4.10 gear precludes much highway driving.

What can it do for me? Not much... beyond putting an ear-to-ear grin on my face, when I step on the loud pedal at the strip.

I should have thought it through before I spent my hard-earned cash on this anomaly.

That is car #1. I am partners in another car, a turbo'd slant six, 1964 Valiant 225/904 that (if it runs like it should) will make my V8 car ashamed of itself.

My racing partner, Freddie Nielsen, and I have spent the better part of the last 3 years building a high-boost, slant 6 car that is a carbon copy of Tom Wolfe's car insofar as the powerplant goes, and to a somewhat lesser degree, the boosted slant six in Ryan Peterson's car.

It is an experiment, to be sure, seeing as how neither Freddie nor I have ever owned a "performance" slant six or a turbo of any kind. We're newbies.

Fred is 74; I'm 73, so we don't have forever to get this done.

What I asked of this car was this: "Will you give me the pleasure of outrunning most of the V8 cars that happen to show up in the other lane at a test and tune? " She smiled, coyly, and said, "Yes."

That would be all I could ask. I'm hoping that she's not lying. That will be up to us. If we can't git-r-dun, shame on US!!!

No "serious" racing is anticipated for this car, as we feel that turbocharged cars are not the best choice for brackets, due to several issues, and the bracket races, around this neck of the woods, oft-times, go to 3-4 o'clock in the morning and that just ain't us...

So, we just built it to have some "experimental" fun with. If it runs HALF as good as Ryan's and Tom's cars, we'll be happy.

I said it's a strange world we live in... Here's an example.

Back in the Muscle Car days, any car that would run in the fourteens was considered a pretty fast car. A new 340 Duster, if it was a good one, would run about 14.40 @ 98 mph, bone stock, on street tires. A 383 Roadrunner was good for about 14.60 @ 96+...

I recently read the Motor Trend road test of the 2012 Camry V6 in the December issue. That soccer-mom, front-wheel-drive, grocery getter, that is the butt of countless automotive jokes, clicked off a 14.2 @ 100 mph, in the quarter! The VW Passat (also, a V6) they tested, was a little quicker and faster. All that, and 30 miles per gallon...

Building a normally-aspirated slant 6 in a mid-'60s-early '70s A body that will run quicker than that can be done, of course, but it won't be real cheap, I think.

So, what does that leave to go APPRECIABLY faster? Nitrous and forced induction.

Both require forged piston, heavy-duty rods and good gas, to achieve their goals. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

I think you can build a reliable, 350-horsepower, 3,000-pound, boosted slant 6 that will run 12-flat @ about 112 in the quarter, but it will take some money to do it...

However...

You can have a lot of fun with a normally-aspirated car that makes, say 200 horsepower in a 3,000-pound A-Body. That car should run low 14's at about 93 mph... fast enough to give the Camrys fits...

A 200 HP N/A slant six won't break the bank, I think.

So, it all boils down to, of course, "Speed costs money; how fast do you want to go???"

Setting some goals in terms of quarter-mile speed and e.t.'s (even if the car will never see a drag strip,) will help outline what kind of a "build" you're looking at; One man's "decent" is another man's "slug."

You pays you money and you takes your choice!

Best of luck!!!

Bill, in Conway, Arkansas

Slants today remind me of flathead Fords, in that they certainly aren't the most powerful of efficient engines for the money, but they have a unique character and a loyal following.

Aside from increased compression, I think the best bang for the buck is a gear change.

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vm

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Yep mac's Got it.

I have one of every flavor except for N20 and Boosted... Plans for a boosted slant are in the works.
I have a stock '80 slant - I have a '79 with EFI that will get a turbo someday.. I have a pretty Wild Street combo with a hyperpack - It's boderline drivable in stop and go traffic.. and THe all out racer..

It's fun but If I wanted go go real fast 408 stroker small block with a bunch of W5 parts would be it.


Greg

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http://www.youtube.com/hyperpack