hi everybody, im new to slanty town and could use some direction...

my wife and I just bought our first mopar, 69 slant six dart, not bad but not good, it has supposedly been a granny car and has alot of cheap, uninformed work done on it. I know my way around motors and i have been a chevy and honda motorcycle person. my wife wanted one of these and from everything i can see they are the most solid motors american engineering has provided. so far i have fixed the totally jacked timing with a new chain/sprocket set and some re-installing of the distributer (my chevy would'nt even start if it was as bad). it still runs a little rough and it has a poorly rebuilt single barrel carb that doesnt fit exactly. i cant tell the brand other than "Elkton" printed on the base. it looks like some choke parts are missing and i had to make a gasket out of a 5-gal bucket lid to seal it on the manifold properly. in orber to make it run smoothly i had to open up a vacuum leak. i think it is running rich. added to this there seems to be an exhaust leak from the butterfly/choke thing in the exhast manifold. what is that thing? do i really need it? i have never seen anything like it and it seems to be non-functioning. i need to cure the exhaust leak asap and solve this carb issue. in the long term i would like to slap a 2-barrel carb on her. right now my wife commutes 45 minutes across Los Angeles to work so i need to plan my work ahead of time and rely on her driving opinion (luckily she is pretty good with a wrench too). Ilove this car and this site has been a world of help.

also, did anyone catch last month's pop-science, there is a great article about a guy in india who grinds notches in the cavity in the heads of motors and claims to get 20% more efficiancy.

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anything worth doing is worth re-doing, again and again and again...........

Would it be possible for you to post some pictures of the carburetor?

Some of your poor running may be the points ignition system. Make sure it has new points and a good condenser and that the points are gapped correctly

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Casually looking for a Clifford hyperpak intake for cheap.

sure, i will have to wait for my wife to get home and i will give it a try, i run a mac so sometimes i have issues. the points and cap and condenser all look new. no idea of brand. do you know what the gap is, i cannot seem to find the spec, thanks.

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anything worth doing is worth re-doing, again and again and again...........

Welcome to the land of slantdom. That funny looking "heat riser" is a device that provides heat to the bottom of the intake manifold to help the carb out in cold weather. As I understand it, the butterfly valve will close off the opening to the intake, once the temperature heats up the spring (assuming that everthing is working properly.) If it seems to be stuck, there is a special lubricant you can get that might free it up. Because mine wasn't working and I live in central Texas and don't have to worry to much about cold weather, I cut the flap out and will tap the holes through the sides for short bolts to seal them off.

Good luck, and keep us posted on progress,
Jerry

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There's a difference between ignorance and stupidity.
Ignorance is not knowing any better.
Stupidity is knowing, yet doing it anyway.

there are some numbers on the side but haven't been able to identify what manufacturer or type of carb it is. [and I haven't been able to figure out how to post pics, so here is a link to the images...]
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/drgreasyp ... .dir=/8b2e

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anything worth doing is worth re-doing, again and again and again...........

It all becomes clear...

You have a Holley 1945 carburetor on your slant. Definitely not the factory original carb. It also looks clean enough that it is probably a remanufactured carb. Reman carbs are notorious for not being set properly at the factory. You also are missing your choke pulloff coil, and this will really affect the way your engine runs. Here is what I recommend:

(1) Buy a rebuild kit for your Holley 1945 carb. This should include the proper base gasket and instructions on how to set your carb properly. On the page of the instructions which come with the kit, adjust the carb to the settings for the application closest to your car (i.e. a 1974 dodge dart or whatever is closest). Make sure you buy a quality rebuild kit (I like Napa Echlin brand)

(2) Either go to a boneyard or go to Napa and buy the choke pulloff coil for your car. Right now your choke is totally inoperable as well as flopping around loose. This will make your car run like crap when cold and run erratically when warm.

These two fixes should make a drastic difference in how your car runs.

Reed

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Casually looking for a Clifford hyperpak intake for cheap.

thank you guys, you have validated what i was finding, i believe it is a reman. carb from what the guy who sold the car to us said and it seems like a not quite mechanically inclined install as the bolts were only about finger tight and it was riddled with vac leaks, and since i am in southern california that exhaust choke butterfly is outta here. i was thinking of doing what you said by removing it and tapping the holes. and it sounds like a day at the scrap yards. know of any L.A. mopar yards?? one of the benifits of the area is many many a junk yard. i have the piece of the choke that bolts to the intake manifold, the thermostat, but some joker straight cut the arm, DOH.
thank you, jerry and reed, so much
we are going down the reliable and efficiant yet still badass route
thats why we got a dart
what a great car, what a great site, and what great people

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anything worth doing is worth re-doing, again and again and again...........

Yes, definately....... certainly not the original Carburetor for a 1969 car. Ummm... oh my..... LOOK closer....What else do you see? ... See the EGR valve? HA! Not the original manifold for a 1969 car either!
Looks like someone changed the manifold or maybe even the whole engine.

Leave the heat riser alone. As long as the counter weight turns freely it is OK. If you remove the thing it will not be able to go to the "cold" position and keep some of the heat away from the intake manifold.

It's probably not a '69 vintage exhaust manifold, either. This car probably had the dreaded cracked exhaust syndrome at one time, and a previous owner used what he could find out of a boneyard.

Roger

Sounds like you are trying to track down an exhaust leak along with the other issues.
Check around the shaft of that heat riser valve, I have seen the bushing(s) come out and cause a leak. Also check the gasket where the exhaust pipe bolts to the manifold, that gasket can be hard to seal if these surfaces are not clean and flat.

Once you get the carb working OK, you may want to check the valve lash adjustment. (.010 intake, .020 exhaust) Proper valve lash settings make a SL6 really happy!
DD

I most definitly have franken car. my first clue is the passanger fender wall and the hood are green on the engine compartment side and its a non-original blue. it is also part swinger part gt in body work. I believe it was originally a swinger so maybe the motor was a doner from the gt. I had a suspicion the exhaust leak was from the heat riser shaft because my wife says she feels it on the highway and i already took care of the exhaust gasket where the downpipe bolts on. (we got it with 1/4" gap in it).
it amazes me the condition this car was in yet it drove home and has been a commuter since. slantastic!

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anything worth doing is worth re-doing, again and again and again...........