Ah yeah, been there and done that. A friend of mine that I work with told me about that after I had busted a handful of bolts off. I thought they were just too rusty.

And yeah I agree with Cuda on the cinderblock thing, the guys from my work warned me about them collapsing. I have my car on a patch of asphalt but my jackstands sunk through it so I had to place thick wood planks under them. I bought my stands from harbor freight for cheap by the way.

A word of advice from my 'live and learn' file, becareful using one of those jacks with wheels on dirt. They are meant for use on a hard flat surface. On dirt they sink which stops it from rolling which pushes the car. -Dan

Maybe the radiator isn't in that bad of shape. Also the guy might be one of the honest old school guys that charges a fair price for a job. You can always get a 2nd estimate.

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Thanks Mike

Made a deal with my mom, she's going to pay to get the radiator fixed up next Friday if the bracket comes by then.

Once I get the car running, I'd like to get it set up to do decent gas mileage. Any ways to go about doing that?

Do a search as there is a lot of information about that already on here. The search button is your friend LOL

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Thanks Mike

If you don't know how well the car's been maintained, some basic first things are: air filter, fuel filter, oil change, chassis lube, transmission oil/filter. I think someone mentioned valve adjustment. Enjoy the journey and the destination.

What's nice about the slant six is that the best mileage is to be had basically by making it stock. Stock, but well maintained. As I think of it, there's only two places to look for more mileage basically - ignition and the carb. At some point down the road, you'll chunk up $100-200 for the electronic ignition and that will pretty much be that as far as mileage is concerned. At another point, you'll rebuild or replace the carb and that will be that.

I would expect around 18 city and low 20s highway. Funny - that's more than comparable to a modern midsized car, with stellar cost of ownership by comparison.

Kip-On-Truckin'

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1965 Valiant wagon Turbo slant (work in progress)
2000 Chevy 155" cargo van - The Abductor
1970 Newport convertible
1996 Buick Roadmaster Wagon
1966 CruiseAire motor home
1990 Toyota 1 ton box truck TURBO slant (scraped)

Actually you can gain some power and mileage, by milling the head to get about 9:1 compression. However that requires more money and labor. Along with a compression increase, a mild cam can also help both, but you need to balance the compression, cam, gear ratio, and type of driving.

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Charrlie_S
65 Valiant 100 2dr post 170 turbo
66 Valiant Signet 170 nitrous
64 Valiant Signet
64 Valiant 4dr 170
64 Valiant 4dr 225

Think I figured out where the later engine (and mishmash of parts came from): On the left of the rear bumper is "Darlington Technical College".

Also found a road flare from 1963 wedged under one of the supports.

NEVER, I REPEAT NEVER USE MASONRY BLOCKS TO SUPPORT A LOAD WHILE YOU ARE UNDER IT!!!!!!!!!!! masonry was designed to be set in mortar so the load would be evenly distributed. if you just shove them under the car and slap a board on top, you are courting disaster. if there is a small bump on the ground, a rock or any other point load the block could shatter, and if you are under that car, it can crush you to death, or trap you, unable to breath. I was lucky someone came out looking for me!

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Dave

1977 d-200 crew cab ex-army pickup wants it's /6 back
1962 Valiant 2 door, 170, three on the tree
1972 d-100 parts truck
80 volare wagon now a parts car

yea also never use jack stands on wet ground my duster almost killed me that way (and bent my jack stand!)

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1973 plymouth duster 225 slant six .30 over, erson 270 cam, 9.5 to 1 compression, big valves, headers, and a holley 4 bbl
http://cardomain.com/ride/3135091

hey that thing got a hemi? naw its just a slant six

I guess I shouldn't talk about the time I swapped a rear axle in a Dart supporting the rear end with two bumper jacks...

You get the "dangerous repair award" Congratulations... err... perhaps not

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72 dart acquired 12/08 /6,holley2b, mopar perf intake, mopar perf header, cam, built motor,904 finally re-installed, 8.75....still needs sorting out.
99 dakota 318 5 speed reg cab picked up 9/09; Trans finally fixed! woohoo!

Yeah, it literally fell off the bumper jack as I tightened down the last lug nut. I had to scoot out of the way to avoid being crushed.

congrats you are alive

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1973 plymouth duster 225 slant six .30 over, erson 270 cam, 9.5 to 1 compression, big valves, headers, and a holley 4 bbl
http://cardomain.com/ride/3135091

hey that thing got a hemi? naw its just a slant six