Why and how, the Slant Six
 

Vince 23, I have read all the posts about your problems. Did you give up? Are you still considering going to a wedge engine? Please reconsider. I had a 1970 Duster 225 that I put seven years of my time and money into to achieve the ultimate "Can't believe that a six" car. Was well worth the effort. Many rewards. First, see if you can get a copy of Chrysler Corp. Manual # (Listed as Part Number) P349340. Excellent guide written by the legend, Carrol Shelby. I lived and breathed this "Bible" as well as a lot of help from the man that was responsible for putting the Slant Six in Nascar, Lloyd Purcell. If you can obtain and read this manual, it would be well worth your time. It will make YOU the one that knows what they are talking about and give YOU the right to challenge to question what ANY mechanic is telling you. Knowledge is power. If you cannot find this manual, I could possibly print the Slant Six section from it for you. You MUST understand this one rule that ALL my mechanics teachers repeated to me time after time. IF YOU DO NOT HAVE THE TIME TO DO IT RIGHT, WHEN WILL YOU HAVE THE TIME TO DO IT AGAIN? Don't throw good money after bad. Take previous advise. Stop, take a breath, and decide what you want to do. Once you have made that decision, you have a LOT of help here at this website. I have been in touch with some very knowledgeable people on this website, even as a new member. I offer my help, they probably will too. Best wishes. Keep the faith, Brother. There is a reason why it is called the venerable six. Thanx, Glenn.

vince 23, sorry misquoted the manual # it is P4349340. Hope it helps in your quest. Thanx. Glenn.

no i have not given u[p still working on it i just put my slant back into the car and i am trying to get it into time witch is still not happing im having problems but it can be figured out and thanks for the offer ill have to take you up on that manual

vince 23, Still having timing problems? For a Stage one street engine manual suggests 30 degrees TOTAL timing. this means all mechanical advance due to the springs in the distributor, vacuum advance and initial timing of distributor. I do not know about the construction of your engine but all things considered try this. Loosen dist. bolt enough to let you move it but not enough for it to move itself while engine is running. Start and set idle up to about 1000RPM. Let warm up, foot on brake Drop all the way to low gear. Hopefully it stays running so you can continue. If not we have to backtrack. If it stays running, keep your foot on the brake and bring RPM up and listen for "pinging" which means that timing is too far advanced. If you can get to about 1/2 throttle with no pinging put it back in park and advance distributor "a Little" repeat test in gear. Repeat this test and keep advancing till you hear pinging under throttle. When you do hear pinging you have advanced about 2-4 degrees too far. Back timing off till you don't hear pinging at throttle in gear. While you are performing these tests, keep an eye on your temp guage as standing on throttle in gear while standing on brakes will greatly increase trans oil temp.Once you have done above, stop engine, wait 30 seconds and hit key. If engine goes ro-ro-ro before starting timing is still too far advanced. Retard distributor a little at a time till you don't have ro-ro-ro hesitation when engine fires. This will show you where the actual engine timing is. Check at normal idle speed w/ vacuum advance disconnected and plugged. If you can get to this point, I would be willing to bet the timing light will show you somewhere between 7-12 degrees. If not you have a combination of problems with components out of time in the engine or distributor. I know it sounds complicated but it really isn't. Just takes patience and time but it will answer many Questions. Won't cost you anything but gas. Watch your temp guage! You can stop anytime and let it cool before you continue. Most Mopars will hesitate to start if they are real hot. Thanx, Glenn.

That method is what we called power timing back in the late 50's, early 60's. An easy way was to nose the car up against a tree and set the parking brake You could work the throttle from under the hood. I did it once on a '57 Dodge D500 and ended up blowing a head gasket.:gripe:

Oops... I HATE it when that happens, and on another note about the pinging, I did a lean burn delete to a '77 Newport with a 440, and havent really messed with it much other than baby it around.. ( yeah right lol it wants so much for me to buy a truck...) Anyways I gathered the parts from here and there and ended up with an early 70's T-Quad. I rebuilt it BUT have never found which port to plug the vacuum advance into... I know the timing as it is set is a lil to far advanced, (it will ping under med to heavy right foot application) but it does run really great. "It" (the '77) had an accident last night while parked and minding its own business, and now am going to kind of look around for a better looking body style to use as a reciepiant of the drivetrain... But a hint on the vacuum advance placement would be helpful and a "tree test" will be tried...

Ialso remember the "tree test Mehtod" the difference between this method and the one I recommended to vince23 is that IF you are working with an automatic, Especially the 904, when you put it back in Park, get out of the car,readjust the timing, walk back and try it again, your are giving the oil cooler in the radiator at least a minute to bring converter oil temp down which can help to avert a trans melt down or a blown head gasket.Thanx, Glenn.

Some tq's have the advance port in the back, some in the front. It depends on whether you want a ported or non-ported advance. If you want advance at idle, check for a port with vacuum at idle (non-ported) and hook dist to it. If you don't want vacuum advance until throttle is opened, check for a port that has no vacuum at idle, but vacuum when throttle is opened. Your choice, no absolutes on this, depends on what you want for performance.
Some tq's have a double vacuum setup for the choke pull, which also acts to retard opening of the secondaries.You would want to leave that as it is.

okay so i got all of my cylinders to have the exact equal amount of compression (150) and i did the tree test timing now i take it on a test drive it has alot more power than the first run but still feels like its lacking some power. now could this be as i do not have 100% of the vacume lines hooked up and i was also wondering if having a bad universal joint (replacing tomorrow) will cause it to lack power? what else could i be missing ive ajusted the carb as well and it got more power.

never mind i got all of my dusters power and she is finally running great!! taking her on a drive tonight and i will let you all know how that goes. letting the leaning beast out of its cage!

vince23, OUTSTANDING! Good job! Some of the old methods do actually still hold true. Doesn't matter whether your running a holley single or a BBD 2 bbl. When your engine is warm, adjust carb air screws 1/8 turn at a time and listen. Adjust to best idle, (most RPM). Hope she is paying back for all your hard work. Thanx, Glenn.

Really proud of you. You were faced with a million problems, and you stuck it out!

thank you all for all your help and advise now its time for body work got to bring her back to new. ill post a picture soon

Great job!:firedance

chirorod, 440 roadrunner, mr old foart2u, vince23 and whorever else it may concern, I am Proud to be part of the team that that helped this man get his slant six running the way he always believed it could. Nice work team, he might have given up if not for your support and wisdom. My teacher would be proud of all of you. Slant six holds a very special place in my heart and it is obvious to me, it does to you too! Again, congratulations to all of you and thank you for allowing me to help. Thanx, TRULY, Glenn.

Good to see us Old School guys Still around,We do have sound advise.Most other forums would have told to weld in a oxygen sensor and tune with a air/fuel meter or a lap top.We may be cavemen but our methods work.
Makes me feel welcome here.

And you know, they would be right. Here is a oldie, but goodie.

http://www.bob2000.com/carb.htm

I have also been messing with these cars for over 30 years...