Hello All, great site, here. I have a couple of questions. Here is the background info.
I have a 71 198 sl6 with 62k. I bought it at 58k with a pretty bad shake/miss at idle. I tryed adjusting the valves, it helped a little. Rebuilt the carb and tune up and Mopar Performance elctronic ignition conversion; with no improvement. I did a compression check and found #1 to have low compression, 60psi or so at an idle. I pulled the head and found a burnt exhaust valve in #1. I obtained a known good used head from a 74 225 (newwer style head)

Are there are concerns/problems running this head on my 71 198?

Is there a different (other then 71 stock plug) spark plug and gap I should run with electronic igintion and this newwer head?

BTW the thermostat I removed from the 198 head appears to be original(pentastar logo on it) it still worked flawlessly back and forth to NC from NJ (23mpg during the trip)

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Jake G. - 1971 Duster 198 Slant Six
White w/ Black Vinyl Top & Tan/Brown Delux Int.
62K original miles. Auto, PS, PDB, electronic ign.
14" Craiger s/s, 340 Rear Springs, KYB Shocks, Front sway bar, Dual Chrome sport mirrors.

Jake,

The '74 head will work no problem. If it is the aluminum plug-tube type like your '71 head, then the plugs are the same as you've been using. There's a small chance it's a later style head ('75-up) with no plug tubes, in which case you'll have to order plugs for a '75. Plug gap is the same.

You may also need the rear most rocker bolt that went with the later head as it may be necked down in order to allow oil flow on that style head. I'm not perfectly sure about this.

Happy Slanting,

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

Lou,
Thanks for the reply. I bolted the head up last night. The head is the newer style, no plug tubes. I used the rockers and shaft from the replacement head with the push rods from the 198. Everthing seemed to go smoothly and the vavles adjusted up ok. I did not finish up the job yet, maybe tonight.

I will go get some new plugs and a thermostat today at lunch (stuck working this weekend)

How would a 2bbl manifold and carb respond in my little 198? I have access to a B van that I am almost sure has the 2bbl set up on it.

Jake

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Jake G. - 1971 Duster 198 Slant Six
White w/ Black Vinyl Top & Tan/Brown Delux Int.
62K original miles. Auto, PS, PDB, electronic ign.
14" Craiger s/s, 340 Rear Springs, KYB Shocks, Front sway bar, Dual Chrome sport mirrors.

The Supersix set-up workd fine on a 198, the key to these conversions to to have all the correct linkage and find a goof working carb.
(sorry, I ment good working carb. but the d & f keys are to close together on this keyboarf )
Sounds like you have this swap well in hand, let us know how it runs.
DD

A "goof working carb" Doug! Now there's a good reason to do a fuel injection conversion.

I plan on doing one myself this summer on my friend's 225. I plan on piecing together a multi-port batch fired setup using parts from GM 3.8L V6 engines. This way I can go even better than the silly throttle body injection that Clifford sells (which, to give credit to Clifford, is still good ).

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'74 Duster w/ HEI ignition, beat to snot suspension, A904, 8.25" 3.55 SG rear, still being tuned up and gets 17 MPG

Know how they always build a better idiot? That's me

Jake,

Glad things worked out. Hope it fires right up for ya. Definitely give the 2bbl/manifold a try. Make sure to check for excessively worn throttle shaft before you buy a BBD - they commonly wear out on those carbs causing a vacuum leak and poor idle.

Cheers,

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

Well the good news is, she is up and running agian. Very smooth idle. good acceleration(no dead spots). I painted the head and intake manifold, looks good.

The bad news is two fold. First I put a hole in my radiator while I was putting it back together. I was trying to remove one of the clips that accept the bolt for the fan shrowd and punchtured the radiator

And problem #2 is that i noticed my exhaust manifold had a crack in it. It was not previously noticable. But now I have a very pronouced exhaust leak.. I am not sure if it is coming from this crack or the seal between the manifolds.

What is my best option for the radiator? Does someone have a spare they would like to sell? Can someone recommend where I can obtain a resonabily priced new one? How about a recore? My sister inlaws family runs a radiator repair shop. They quoted me $170. This seemed a little high, because I was quoted $214 for a new one with liftetime.

As for the exhaust manifold. Can this crack be repaired? What other years / models will interchange with mine? Or will I be changing over to the 2bbl set up by force!

Jake

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Jake G. - 1971 Duster 198 Slant Six
White w/ Black Vinyl Top & Tan/Brown Delux Int.
62K original miles. Auto, PS, PDB, electronic ign.
14" Craiger s/s, 340 Rear Springs, KYB Shocks, Front sway bar, Dual Chrome sport mirrors.

Good work on the install

One thing you may want to do on the radiator as a temporory solution is to carefully pinch shut the punctured tube.
The long term fix is to have the radiator rebuilt.

As for the exhaust manifold, best to find a good replacement, welding them is not a good option.
DD

Jake, check the 'Parts For Sale' section and under 'Free Stuff' Dennis has a '70-'72 radiator. I beleive the price is right.

Cecil

Well the exhaust leak was from the manifolds. The replacement bolts I used where just a hair too long and they were bottoming out on the lower portion of the exhaust manifold prior to sealing the the intake to the exhaust.

Too bad on the free radiator, but I sent mine out to be recored already! Figures!

Now all I have left to do is the final adjustment on the vavles, once I get the radiator back.

All the freshly painted engine parts look so nice I wish I had pulled the engine and painted the whole thing! But one thing would had led to another and then I would have ended up ripping the whole car apart and restoring it. Which is not in the plan!

Jake

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Jake G. - 1971 Duster 198 Slant Six
White w/ Black Vinyl Top & Tan/Brown Delux Int.
62K original miles. Auto, PS, PDB, electronic ign.
14" Craiger s/s, 340 Rear Springs, KYB Shocks, Front sway bar, Dual Chrome sport mirrors.

Do you rember the temp of that thermostat. I have 160 in my truck, but I don't think that this is the best. Have you tried using that thermostat in another vehicle? Can they be rebuilt? Can I do it myself? Or should they get calibrated at the dealer? I'm looking for NOS parts becuase I don't rust pepboys.

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1967 D100 /225

Some of us catch on slow, and some of us don't.

Depending on application and operating climate, either a 180° or a 195° thermostat is optimal. 180° in most cases. Your 160° is costing you gas mileage, engine wear and heater performance.

"Rebuilding" thermostats...? Having them "calibrated"...? You're kidding, right? A thermostat is a $10 item at any parts store. If they don't work right, or aren't the correct rating, you toss 'em out and replace 'em.

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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 don't Rust 'em either! I bet you can get a goof working carb there, though!

Sorry couldn't resist.

Like Dan said, there's no adjustment or calibration of t-stats. You don't need an "nos" or even a gennie MoPar t-stat, either. Just go to any good quality parts house (NAPA, CarQuest, etc) that the local garages use, and they'll hook ya up.

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Brian (Valianator)

'65 Valiant V100 170/T-flite
'82 D150 225/4-speed
'65 Dart 225 4 door
'68 Dart 225 4-door with Valiant front clip (future project)