I have a slant 6 in a 1963 Dart, #599 from St Louis. There seems to be some weirdness with this engine, among other things on the car.

First off, it has a stamping of T22 7 01 and a Maltese Cross, which I get as 1963 225, but what are the other numbers? The car was scheduled to be built on August 1962, so should this be a 1962 block (S22)?

Secondly, I measured the stroke at around 3.75". For 225 it should be 4.125" and the 170 should be 3.125". The way I measured this is, since the #6 piston is stuck, I measured the depth of one piston that was down and added to that the depth measurement of one piston that was up. This is assuming that the pistons come up flush with the top of the block. I can understand if they don't for reduced compression.


Now, for a little history. The car was in my wife's family since new. The family legend states that her great grandfather 'blew' the original engine and it was replaced under warranty. Now, exactly what 'blew' means is anyone's guess. It could be anything from a rod through the block to busted rings and burned valves. So, if the engine could repair could have ranged from a complete swap-out to a shop rebuild. If the date code of the block shows it to be July 1st, 1962, then I guess it is the original block and it was rebuilt in-house. Otherwise, it looks like a replacement engine. I don't know when the problem occurred, it could have been years after purchase making a 1963 replacement unlikely.

Lastly, is there a date code cast into the cylinder head or manifolds? I am wondering if they are original also.

One more bit of weirdness. I read in other posts that there is no actual date cast into the blocks. But, I saw a Valiant in the scrap yard with a full DAY/MONTH/YEAR cast into the area behind the exhaust pipe. Is this common or some fluke?

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Restoring Wife's Great Grandparent's 1963 Dart.
Built August 30, 1962 in St Louis
First month of production
Serial Number 599
Still is a basket case.

Cann't help much but the malteze cross indicates that the crank came with one or all main or rods under size from the factory.The crank is marked on the center counter weight with the size if all mains are undersize like mine which is 010.Some had like one rod at say 001 and that is supposedly marked on the pad with the cross.Campfire stories say that some of the malteze blocks got used as replacement/warranty motors and the dealer was to transfer original motor # to the pad on block but I'm not to sure on ghost stories.Someone will chime in with better/accurate info I'm sure.

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83 B-150 slant 6,4 speed. 79 B-300 360 pathfinder 4x4. 74 W-300 318 4x4 git-r-done 80 B-100 sl6,4speed

Thanks for the info. That might support the theory of an early engine replacement.

_________________
Restoring Wife's Great Grandparent's 1963 Dart.
Built August 30, 1962 in St Louis
First month of production
Serial Number 599
Still is a basket case.

The pistons do not come to the top of the bore on a 225 SL6.
Based on your info above, you have a 1963 (T) 225 with the 4.125 stroke.
All of these "3 freeze plug" SL6 engines are about the same so I would not be real concerned about "numbers matching".

Are your plans to pull-out the engine and rebuild it yourself?
DD

"7 01" means this engine was assembled on July 1. July would be late in the '63 model year, but a little early for the '62 year to have ended. The warranty-replacement info solves the mystery; warranty-service short block assemblies (and bare blocks, for that matter) came with empty ID pads. The dealer would've stamped the pad. There was probably a protocol for what the dealer was to stamp, though how closely this was followed is a bit of an open question. It seems likely that the dealer stamped the date (July 1) of engine replacement.

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

That was what I was planning. I want to rebuild the whole thing with an eye to gas mileage, not 1/4 mile performance. I would like to use the car for showing/traveling/sightseeing. Maybe a trip down Route 66. I have even toyed with the idea of getting a small vintage travel trailer (900 lbs or less)and seeing the national parks.


I am thinking of upping the compression, maybe bigger valves, better head (1968+?), better exhaust (2.5"?), etc, to get the mpg up to a decent place.
Any other ideas on better mpg? Lighter pistons, lighter rods, better cam?
All while trying to keep it looking stock/original.
Thanks for the good info. I guess that is when the engine went south. I had no idea on when, just that it happened.

_________________
Restoring Wife's Great Grandparent's 1963 Dart.
Built August 30, 1962 in St Louis
First month of production
Serial Number 599
Still is a basket case.