Hi everyone. I am new to the /6 lifestyle and need some help. I have just bought a 74 dodge dart custom 4door all original. I would like to do some performance upgrades but don't no where to start. I am an okay mechanic but don't know much about this engine, looking for any suggestions. Thanks in advance, Cory

Welcome on the board. The first thing to do is get the books described in this thread. Once you've got those on the way, the very first thing you can do to improve your car's performance, drivability and economy is to bypass the OSAC valve. Find the vacuum hose running from the distributor. Follow it up and you'll see it connects to a widget on the outside of the air cleaner housing. From the widget, there's another hose leading to the carburetor. What you want to do is connect the distributor directly to the carburetor, bypassing the widget.

Next comes a good, careful tune-up. Tune-up parts and technique suggestions in this thread — is your Dart a '74, or a '75? It makes a difference to the spark plugs you'll need. You'll also want to follow the valve adjustment procedure and maybe do the Fuel line mod. After that, you may want to upgrade the ignition. From there (increasing in cost/complexity) comes a 2bbl carb and intake swap. And don't forget there are upgrades to be made to the suspension (better shock absorbers such as KYBs or Edelbrocks), the brakes (discs, if you haven't already got them), the headlamps (modern quartz-halogen ones instead of sealed beams)...you can put limitless amounts of money and effort into the car!

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

I started with the super six setup. It is a factory 2 barrel intake and carb (carter bbd), with the matching transmission kick down parts and a 2 1/4 exhaust. Now my daily driver gets up and moves. Make sure the motor is first in good shape, tune up, valve adjustment, and use the SEARCH function on this board. People shave the head .10 and bring up compression,recurve distributors, 4 barrel intakes, headers, etc... it all depends on your "goals" and budget, but slants respond well to performance tweaks...Welcome and enjoy!

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63 valiant v200 Wagon 9.5, Schneider cam, E.I. 22 mpg all day

Sorry about the confusion My car is a 75. I have already relaced the spark plugs, plug wires, cap and rotor, coil, air filter and fuel filter. I am interested in the 2brl install. what all is needed to do so?

The car was my grandmothers, she had the car since new and has garage kept since new. The motor has 80,000 miles and i have all service records since purchase date.

Go to the first page of this site under articles and read the Super Six write up.

http://www.slantsix.org/articles/supersix/article.htm

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Aggressive Ted

http://cid-32f1e50ddb40a03c.photos.live ... %20Swinger


74 Swinger, 9.5 comp 254/.435 lift cam, 904, ram air, electric fans, 2.5" HP2 & FM70 ex, 1920 Holley#56jet, 2.76 8 3/4 Sure-Grip, 26" tires, 25+MPG

Same here, only I inherited mine in 1993 with 25K miles.
Take care of it like a family heirloom.

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1975 Duster 225, same thing in a van.
Also a bunch of Neons.

My '64 was the last car my grandfather bought. Is there a pattern here?

Maybe grandparents with good taste?

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"When you find a big kettle of crazy, it's best not to stir it." - Pointy-haired Boss

1964 Valiant V200, 225/Pushbutton 904
BBD, CAI, HEI, LBP, AC, AM/FM/USB, EIEIO

My 64 was my grandparents car too.......

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Ed
64 Valiant 225 / 904 / 42:1 manual steering / 9" drum brakes

Here's a thread I started with tales of my grandparents' and parents' Darts. I didn't get either of 'em.

I found my '62 Lancer for my father in 1990 with 20,450 original miles from the son of the only owner. We had almost 10 years of fun with it before he died and left it to me.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Heck, at 80,000 a slant's not even broken-in yet!

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vm

I love my new car, it looks and drives great. I was wondering how changing the cam effects your car. Is there any other simple changes you can make to boost power. please remember im new to this simple yet complex car

Besides the key items SL6Dan pointed out, going to a 2 1/4" exhaust system and free flowing muffler give you alot of extra spunk at cruise and for passing. They used 2 1/4" on trucks and vans to get a little extra passing power and on the 76/77 Volare's with the Super Six two barrel pkg. I had a new one in 77 and it had allot of power. I could tow my 19.5' Reinell boat fully loaded just fine.
On trips over the pass I could get 28 mpg with three of us plus camping gear.

Suggetions:
1. Get rid of as much pollution control as you legally can
2. 2 1/4" exhaust
3. Super Six set up
4. Distributor recurve
5. upgrade the ignition
6. increase compression
7. taller lift cam
8. cold air intake
9. electric fan
10. better tires, I run P215/60's in front and P235/60's in back, it is much better at stopping with 7" wide rims, less tire flex or distortion. 205's on all 4 work well on 7" rims.

The cam will perk it up but not if you don't do some head/manifold porting to go with it and increasing the compression.

The distributor recurve is really a good performance upgrade. All the SL6 distributors I have seen are built to get you buy. Allot of performance can be had by some fine tuning of the stock distributor. Each one I looked into the springs were loose, spring posts not in there optimum position, plates sticky with old or too thick of grease. Using SL6 Dan's recommendation for the upgrade rotor and cap really help.

Getting rid of the stock fan or clutch fan is a nice performance gain.

My 74 Dart is very, very spunky for a one barrel setup and gets good mileage even though I have aggressive driving habits.

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Aggressive Ted

http://cid-32f1e50ddb40a03c.photos.live ... %20Swinger


74 Swinger, 9.5 comp 254/.435 lift cam, 904, ram air, electric fans, 2.5" HP2 & FM70 ex, 1920 Holley#56jet, 2.76 8 3/4 Sure-Grip, 26" tires, 25+MPG

thanks for the tips. i'm planing on taking the car in for exhaust next week at a local shop. Also a tire and rim package is in the "works" literally because i work at a tire shop. What all pollution control devices can be bypassed or removed and how can it be done in simple terms.

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75 dart custom, 225, >10.5-1, hurricane, 500holley, erson cam, 904, 8.8 ford 3.55 or 3.91 aussielocked, 17" steelies, and much more.

Put simply, I eventually pulled everything except the PCV and vacuum lines for the hot air snorkel in the morning.

Re-run your distributor vacuum line right from the carb to the distributor, by passing the valve on the air cleaner. I took it off and covered the hole in the aircleaner with silver aluminum dryer vent tape to seal it off.

If your carb has a fuel vent line leave it.

I pulled the EGR and bought the MOPAR plate and gasket to cover the hole. It is a dealer item and cost about $8.00 with gasket.

The timer and all lines electrical and vacuum I unplugged and removed.

Now the engine is basically back to about a 67 to 69 set up.
Basic and stable and easy to work on and tune.

I can send a picture or two if you send me your email.

_________________
Aggressive Ted

http://cid-32f1e50ddb40a03c.photos.live ... %20Swinger


74 Swinger, 9.5 comp 254/.435 lift cam, 904, ram air, electric fans, 2.5" HP2 & FM70 ex, 1920 Holley#56jet, 2.76 8 3/4 Sure-Grip, 26" tires, 25+MPG