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  #1  
Old 03-12-2002, 09:12 PM
autorat7 autorat7 is offline
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Question How strong is the /6???

Hi, I currently have a /6 in my 74 duster, and I was just curious, how much abuse can a /6 really take??? I would really like to hear the wild stories that any of you have about your /6.
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  #2  
Old 03-13-2002, 06:01 AM
John Tozer John Tozer is offline
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The ruggedness of the leaning tower of power is legendary. I could tell you many stories of the adventures I had in my first car the unstoppable 66 VC Valiant but one stands out.
I had spent the weekend camping with mates in South Australia on the Murray River at a spot only accessible by corregated dirt road. On our way home to Adelaide in 40 degree celsius heat I was flogging the Val over some very rough tracks and did not notice that a large rock in the gravel had torn a hole in the sump dumping all the oil. Well once we were back on the black top and off the dirt I cruised the Val at 75 mph for about three hours (the temp guage was buggered) until the old beast burst it's water from the radiator. It wasn't till then I realised I'd been driving with no oil since Swan Reach, once I had located an old sump and topped it back up with water and oil the old girl was back in action!
These days I drive a 318 V8 Chrysler, but experience has tought me that the reliability of the slant six is unbeatable and can't wait till I get my hands on another 60's Valiant. Plenty of my mates think that the Hemi sixes are tougher but I still believe that slant motors keep going and going no matter how harsh outback OZ conditions are.

Go far, go Mopar!
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  #3  
Old 03-15-2002, 09:40 PM
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a.jmilligan@pei a.jmilligan@pei is offline
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Thumbs up /6=tough as nails!

One of my first cars was a sl6 75 duster it was a dead headed car till the rear end went and i installed a 12 bolt rear out of a 76 aspen wagon no idea the gear ratio but a friend with an old cop car says i was beside him at 115mph.i would pull circles in a field till the intake manifold would turn orange and the gas would evaporate!just this past year i was about 8 miles from home in my 87 sl6 truck when i blew a heater hose . i decided i wasnt walking any farther than i had to.after 5 miles the steam went away and oil started coming out. i made it home(towing my fishing boat too) ,parked it had supper,and half an hour later ,poured most of a 5 gallon bucket of water in the rad,fixed the hose added 2quarts of oil and drove it 30 miles return to work next day.sounds good as new again,cant even notice the 2 burnt valves it already had!and as they say"the beat goes on".
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  #4  
Old 03-21-2002, 05:28 AM
volare360 volare360 is offline
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well
I have blown one up
threw one of the back rods

of course it had a heating problem-turned out to be the water pump,I ran it a few times till it sounded like a diesel,let it cool,ran some more
the guy I got it off of,said he had that problem,I know him,he probably ran it till it stopped,then as soon as it would start,run it some more
I remember him saying,4 cans of octain booster,half a tank of gas-or something like that

when you want to kill them,they wont-79 aspen 4 door dad gave us kids when we got our licenses-I did have a 318 lined up but it wouldnt blow-changed the oil once-got a 2" sized puddle of oil,with filter dumped

I want to find a K member for an 80 volare(mine is cracked)
I just want to see how much nitrous one will take
and then see what breaks(I will install it correctly so I dont burn pistons)
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  #5  
Old 03-21-2002, 06:31 PM
bendgo bendgo is offline
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My buddy was busy making his '66 valiant 200 225/6 as cool as could be. So naturally when he saw the Idiot oil light go on, he thougt it was an electrical short. Chrysler electronics...can't knock ma mopar too much...anyhoo.
He'd check the oil, every week, full, no change...hmm oh well. Sometimes, he'd add a quart anyway, scared that he was over filling it.
He lived in Berkeley (East SF Bay). He drove for 2-3mos. taking trips to Vacaville, Santa Rosa, Sacramento, to visit his girlfriend, and her volleyball tournaments.
Then one day at 70 mph on 880 south just before the 23rd ave Alameda exit BOOOM!!!! then silence. Smoke and oil billowed from his hood as he coasted into off the freeway into Oakland.
The towing bill was easily over 100 bucks to get it back to his house. Once it was there, he looked under the hood and found TWO enormous holes in the side of his engine block. He threw 2 rods right out the side of his engine and under his car!
Well upon further examination, he discovered that he did not deserve to even own a car, much less a Mopar. He had been checking the Automatic Transmission Fluid instead of the oil.
The moral of the story is, My friend put near about 3000 miles on a slant 6 that never had more than a quart of oil in it at any one time. So when the idiot light went on in my '64 val I flipped out. (mine really was an oil pressure sending unit problem though)
May the Slant 6 Live Forever.
Bendgo
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  #6  
Old 03-21-2002, 10:46 PM
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a.jmilligan@pei a.jmilligan@pei is offline
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Post reply_bendgo!

hey bendgo!,your story rings true . many a /6 has met its demise the same way!. an average /6 can go for insane amounts of miles and hours/days/weeks(you get the picture) with a minimal amount of oil. if that guy had been driving on flat roads he probably would have made it alot further.i dearly love my /6s and will have 1 for backup for a long while to come,but i am becoming attached to what may be the sucessor to the /6. i have a 88 3.0L minivan,it had 189,000kms on it a year ago last june i put 37,000 kms on it till last feb. then replaced head gaskets and oil change(.99 cent/litre oil) ,since then i put 41,000kms on it ,and get this 1.5 litres oil(no changes,oil hardly discolored),half litre anti-freeze. only repairs in that time-used brake booster and 1 dead spark plug!. this van gets 23mpg in winter,28mpg or better summer lots of torque,the kicker is i bought it and an 89 dynasty for 550.00 add 350.00for head gaskets=900.00 minus 200.00 i sold the dynasty for and voila! almost 80,000 kms for less than 750.00 and still going strong! p.s as i always say " few things in life are on the level _____ ,driving a slant 6 puts things in perspective!
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  #7  
Old 03-22-2002, 04:50 PM
drcole drcole is offline
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My /6 had a rod knock when i bought it. After over-revving it one day i heard this noise( bink) it was dead along with a small puddle of oil. The rod knock had been there for quite a while.
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  #8  
Old 03-28-2002, 04:46 PM
custom880 custom880 is offline
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I had a 198 /six in my Dart with 203,000 miles on it when I got it. I drove the crap out of it for two years and put another 35,000 on it with regular oil changes. I gave the car to my sister who dove it for another year and put 15,000 more miles on it. She sold it to her brother in law who usd it as a Gypsy taxi cab in New York city for 2 more years and put 50,000 more miles on it. He gave the car to his mother in law who drove it the first day to the train station in New York city and the motor fell through the frame, still running. The car literally rotted out from under the engine. The trans in the same car was only fixed three times. That comes out to over 300,000 miles on one motor (never rebuilt) and 100,000 miles on each trans. The car was 22 years old when it finally died.
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  #9  
Old 03-29-2002, 12:24 AM
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Doctor Dodge Doctor Dodge is offline
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Interesting, I once had a 198 which out-lived 3 cars, it came out of a 70 Duster which hit a phone pole, went into a 63 Dart which was scrapped (rusted-out) 4 years later, then into a 68 Dart which was sold and never seen again . . .

Anyway, Slants are tough.
Here is a story I pulled-up from a "Have you ever blown-up a SL6" thread, down on page 4 - enjoy:
DD

I have own a bunch of " well used " SL6 cars over the years, always had good luck with running the wheels off of them and never getting left "stranded".

Had a 66 Dart I ran for a few years, we would take it anywhere. Long trips were no problem, you would just drive it with the gas "floored"...a lot, especially up the long interstate grades, floor it before you hit the hill, keep it floored and it would carry the hill pretty good.

Once on one of those big long hills, 300 miles away from home, driving floored for miles, it happened....rrRRatttaallll....BANG!

A bunch of smoke out the back, oil light came-on and we pulled over to find a big hole in the block, behind the starter at #6. The "stump" of #6 con rod was visable through the hole but the whole "big-end" of the rod was gone.

Funny thing about it, that blown-up SL6 would still start-up and run on 5 but with the oil light on from all the pressure leaving through the exposed #6 crank pin oil hole!

So we cut off a piece leather belt and "hose-clamped" it over the crank pin oil feed hole. We pushed the "remains" of the #6 piston / rod up as high as possible into the cylinder and covered the big hole in the side of the block with 12 pack cardboard, backed-up with a few rags stuffed between that and the starter. We added the one quart of oil we had on hand, started the Slant up and went on our way!

Had to stop at the next town for more oil but the beast continued to run, on 5 cylinders, badly out of balance but the oil light stayed off and she got us home. So yes, I have "blow-up" a Slant, and drove it home afterwards!
DD
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  #10  
Old 04-06-2002, 12:26 PM
CrAlt CrAlt is offline
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My dads 1980 cordoba had 250K miles on it. My mom drove it most of its life before my dad started to so it NEVER got oil changes on time. And we never new you had to adjust the valves so it sounded like a 20 typewriters on speed. I was 16 then so when i got it I used to beat the shit out of it like any good 16 y/o. Donuts, off roading, pushing the speedo in to the ground etc...
Anyways my dad used to drive it from SW CT to NY 5 days a week. On day it started to have a hella miss and started to push some blue smoke out the back..ok We couldnt see anything wrong so he drove it for the rest of the week. Once to Long island. Then we left it at our local tech...He pulls it apart and we see it tossed a rod! No knock, no oil light, no nothing. Just a miss.
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  #11  
Old 06-10-2002, 04:00 PM
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moparmnky73 moparmnky73 is offline
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Cool

We ran a slant 6 for 50 miles untill the motor seized then when we finally got back to the shop we pulled the pan replaced it and and turned the motor back half a turn primed the oil pump and started it back up that was three years ago and I am still driving my 30 year old 200,00 plus miles 225.
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  #12  
Old 06-12-2002, 03:02 AM
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moparmnky73 moparmnky73 is offline
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Cool One More Quick Little Story.....

Last night me and a buddy were out driving my 1973 Dodge 1/2 ton Custom 100 with a 225 slant 6 and original three-on-the-tree
and we came to the light next to a 2001 Chevy pick up Automatic.
I think that the guy driving it was crying when I left him at 5 cars back then shifted to 3rd. That is with one cylinder running pretty weak.


MOPAR.........If I Have To Explain You Wont Understand!!

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  #13  
Old 08-26-2002, 11:53 PM
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Doctor Dodge Doctor Dodge is offline
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Default It is hard to kill a Slant Six...

Bump to the top, any other good "never say die" SL6 stories??
DD
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  #14  
Old 09-14-2002, 12:47 AM
meepmeep426 meepmeep426 is offline
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My dad gave me his 78 volare 4 dr with the super six option(2 barrel carb and hydraulic lifters) back in 88, and then it had 100,000 miles showing.I drove that car all over, running between carolina and Va.beach, over 100 miles almost every day.I even pulled a small 10 ft. camper with it.I finally got tired of looking at it, and the x wife, and got rid of them both.I put 168,000 miles on it myself by 1995.Thats 268,000 miles...same timing chain,starter,head, carb, and 3 alternators!No internal work ever done.Tranny fluid was never changed either. I sure miss that car, cause I see it every week with that same kid driving it ,that I sold it too!
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  #15  
Old 01-04-2003, 07:04 PM
qmar qmar is offline
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Default ...Is there anything Tougher?

Well lets jsut say mine sat in a garage for 18 years.....after being driven for 50000KM and when we went in to get her going....we stuck a battery and fired it up.....no problem.....didn't even stallor burn oil.....it then ran for 4 years.....with nothing but plugs and oil changes...and a valve cover gasket....i'd say that is fairly impressive....i pulled the motor now and am putting in a 318...but the /6 was a incredible motor....
(pst...if you want a good /6 six block + head....Email me)
q_mar@yahoo.com
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  #16  
Old 01-04-2003, 07:36 PM
sixt5cuda sixt5cuda is offline
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Default /6 that kept going and going

A co-worker had a '73 Scamp, /6 auto, 65,000 original miles. He drove it from Olympia to Bellevue (60 miles or so) with the oil light on, having never changed the oil. It was making some bad noises when he got it home. The next day, it refused to turn over in any form.

He gave up, my brother and I towed it away for $50. We took the head off, it was full of sludge, had several burnt valves. A neighbor gave us a 70 Valiant with a body that was 90% rust. We took it's head, put it on the Scamp, it started right up.

We sold it to a friend for $500, so he could give it to his daughter in California. He got tired of waiting for her to come get the car, so one Friday, he decided to drive it south himself. From Tacoma to Longview, 100+ miles, he took it easy, doing about 50 mph in the slow lane the whole time. He finally got behind a truck doing 40, and decided he had to pass. He got the car up to about 65 mph, when there was a loud BANG. He pulled off the road, to discover a 4 inch by 4 inch hole had been opened up in the block. When you take a /6 to 65mph in second gear, it might just throw a rod... He didn't notice once in 100 miles, that he was not in drive...

Yeah, we put in another motor, and the daughter finally had her chance to abuse it for 2 years. I'm sure when the smashed up car was towed away, the engine would still run.
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  #17  
Old 01-07-2003, 02:53 PM
68polara 68polara is offline
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tuff motor i drove one in a73 scamp 4 10 years changed 1 brl carb 1 time one night i was driving a little tipsy i dont know what made me do it i was doing 60 mph and i slammed it into park i heard a boom put it in drive kept on driving it with no problems most people dont believe it but it is true
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  #18  
Old 01-09-2003, 03:42 PM
wallyghs wallyghs is offline
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I've been trying to blow up my slant for 2 months now.. won't do it. 670 cfm 4 barrel holley on an offy intake, no other mods. All emissions crap removed. It stays pegged all the time, sub 90 psi cranking pressure on all but 1 cylinder, more burnt valves than my phord 6, all in a pretty heavy car. It'll go 45mph in 1st before it starts missing, starts rattling pretty bad around 50, then I start feeling bad and shift it. 70 is no prob in second gear and the stock ignition takes it to 6500 every time... it complains but just won't blow. BTW-this is a 148k motor that has sat for 7 years, then one day just suddenly driven, low on oil of course. It has absolutely no power and now won't pull at all in 3rd (though if I really wind it out in second it will pull when shifted). Won't knock or anything, runs waaay rich thanks to the big carb. So yeah.. they're without a doubt the toughest motor I've ever seen.
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  #19  
Old 01-11-2003, 12:33 PM
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1fastski 1fastski is offline
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the mighty /6 the tuffest little motor to kill and the only mopar i ever did kill 2 in the same car and 1 in my 68 van . the van motor thining back was prob just a wet dist, i was 16 didnt know much and drove though a mud puddle and poof it stalled lol .got out of school went to get it and poof it was gone lol i still have the title .i miss that van . the car was a demen forget the yr now ,but i got it for nutten when i was 17 drove it for a bit ,loaned it to my brother in the snow and he blew the motor , i put in a new motor out of a truck ,poof it blew in the first week . i gave the car away .i wish i had all the mopars i gave away or sold cheep as a kid .i would be very rich now :-(
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  #20  
Old 01-28-2003, 04:23 AM
moparman318 moparman318 is offline
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I have never owned a \6 but plan on it one day. Anyways my grandpa bought a new \6 dodge half ton pickup back in the day. Course it was a farm truck and you could tell by the fact that every body panel on it was not even good for scrap. Listening to the story of that thing make me a believer in the \6.

My dad, grandpa and great uncle were up in the hills hunting. Someone bagged an elk about 1/4 mile up a nice steep sage and rock infested hill. Ole grampa took alook at the hill and decided he was going to drive the truck up there to get it. 1st gear and 4 low all the way up. Wraped to the nuts mind you. Damn thing was probably runnin about 9 grand the way he liked to put the gas pedal to the floor. \6 didn't even let out a wimper of pain. It loved it. It loved his abuse. the sang around the family is that he never owned a truck that wouldn't climb a telephone pole. From some of the stories I hear he pretty much tried it every time the hubs got thrown in and the tires in the dirt. My uncle ,big mister sheby fan and all, even praises that truck. Gotta love the \6!!!
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