free 68 valiant

no, i'm not giving it away... someone gave me one. but i'm glad i've got your attention, as you may be able to help me. as stated earliar, a friend of mine has offered to give me his 68 valiant 100 for free. in the past i owned a 68 satalite and as a result have come to love plymouths of that era. i understand that the slant six is one of the most durable engine designs mopar produced. aside from rudimentary knowledge i don't know a whole lot about cars but i do know that this particular valiant has rust in the gas tank and as a result has contaminated or ruined everything down line. pumps, filters, engine, the works. now, correct me if i'm wrong but, assuming i plan on having a skilled mechanic do the work rather than bungling it up myself, wouldn't it be almost as cheap and more cost effective in the long run to install a new or rebuilt slant six in there rather than having the old beater pulled out and rebuilt itself? that is to say, what do you think would likely cost more... labor? or a new engine? how much would a new engine cost? where can i get a price quoat? order one? is it realistic to think that i may have a smooth running ride for around $2000. or am i dreaming? the body is still in great shape except for a rusted floorboard. the car is mine if i want to take it and deal with it. what do you think? i look forward to hearing from anyone who wishes to share their expertise with a rookie mopar enthusiast. i can be contacted at >crateworks@aol.com<
thank you for your time.
-scobey.

It would all depend on what you want to do with the car. If you want to keep the car as original as possible. I if the engine is bad because of the rusted gas tank you might also think about replacing the tank and all your fuel lines from front to rear. If there are in-line filters your engine should be alright unless it is locked-up. I have never messed with a dodge six cylinder so I don't know what it cost to rebuild one.

my 1971 dart had a hole in the tank. in addition to this the unibody construction was in bad shape. eventually i had the car towed away as it was rusted to far underneath, but you had to look under the car to see it as the body was good. also i too am unfamiliar with 6 cyl availability. probably better to rebuild at the local machine shop. haul the parts to the shop in your truck. also a v-8 will not bolt onto a 6-cyl k- frame so your stuck with the slant six which is a darn good engine. good luck bruce

You can put any big or small block where that slant 6 used to be.Schumacher Creative Services has motor mount kits to install these engines on a slant 6 K member.Look in MOPAR ACTION magazine for the address.

I have oval raced the slant six and they are ez and cheap to do most anything to. Sounds like you want to keep the car original? If you do, slant sixes are so cheap that you may be able to get a runner off the junkyard for next to nothing. As far as rebuilding goes, kits are in the 400.00 range. At least the ones I've seen. You may want to check out manciniracing.com and e-mail them about a rebuild kit. They are cheap for V-8 kits. Good luck.

By all means, take the car. Before you go into big rebuild, replace the fuel tank and carb, clean out fuel lines (you'll have to do this anyway) and try to start. won't hurt anything and you could be pleasantly surprised (I have been on several occasions)
by the way, if you want to upgrade the engine,I highly recomend the schumacher mounts mentioned in an earlier response to your question. I used them to replace my blown(a rarity) /6 with a 71 360. everything bolted up like factory,in a 68 dart(same body as valiant)