oh damn now i really feel like an idiot! Well that was just a misunderstanding i was reading another post and someone asked doug a question and slantsixdan replied to it. Sorry about that. By the way i never doubted dans advice i had just read more about doug. Thanks for all the great stuff doug. But still, the porting question. Would that give me any gains? And there are a bunch of salvage yards around here that i could get a head core from and do the work on that one while still driving the car. I've read that smoothing the ports can be worth up to 10 extra hp. Thanks for all the advice everybody.

well nevermind on enlarging the ports. He can help me with taking it apart and cleaning and maybe just smoothing the ports and clearing them of any obstructions. Do you think that that would be good? This seems like a one or two day job so it wont be a big deal. Thanks

Just a couple of thoughts about things I learned on my first car:

1. Just drive the car as-is for at least 2 months (3 months is better) before you spend the first dollar on modifications or accesoories. Why? To see if any serious problems pop up and require your money and time to remedy. Plus, it gives you time to gain knowlege and create a plan so you can get it right the first time.

2. Spend your time and money on 1.) learning [shop manuals, etc.] 2.) safety [brakes, steering, suspension, etc.] 3. reliability [cooling system, ignition/electrical system, fuel system] before anything else. In other words, learn and perform the basics first, before you modify anything. How are your modifications going to maximize performance if your basic mechanicals are losing performance? Or worse, what will you do if, say, the brakes fail because you didn't check/didn't know how to check that system? Its hard to modify a car when its wrapped around a tree; it really messes up the handling.

3. If you're going to do major repairs, restoration, or modification, find something else to drive while you work on this one. You can't do a major project on a car while you're using it; believe me, I've tried...it didn't work.

Please don't be discouraged if it sounds like you shouldn't modifiy the car right away and have to suffer with poor performance. If you do the things I suggested, you might be surprised at the performance you can get out of a stone-stock car. A sharply-tuned stock slant runs pretty decent, especially if you advance the distributor a few degrees.

I hope this gives you some insight. If someone had told me this when I got my first car, it would have saved me tons of headaches and heartaches, as well as making my efforts much more successful and a lot more fun.

Congratulations and good luck!

Thanks for the advice buddy, but the thing is, i dont have my liscense yet so i am going to do all the stuff i can to the car before i can drive it everyday so that i can drive it reliably when i do get my liscense.

Dan is your man cannot go wrong with his advise. A good check of everything like compression and tune up specs are inportant. Remember a stock slant six in a body is not going to be fast. I bracket raced two i drove on the street. A 74 Dart Sport 19.91 was the best it ran in the 1/4 and the car i race now it was like 20.05 in the 1/4. Thanks Ron Parker








Hell Hath No Wrath Than A Possum Scorned

Hey Ron what gears are you running. My car has 2.76 gears and I had a buddy time me whle I ran down a backroad (slightly downhill) and the best I got was 19 seconds. Do you think my times would be about the same as yours on level ground in a real quarter mile? My slant is completely stock and is a 74 Duster.

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82 D150-225/727
02 Dakota-3.9/5 speed
87 GMC C7000-8.2 Detroit Diesel/5+2

Nope not unless you can go 12.60 in the 1/4 i doint see that . Thanks Ron Parker











Hell Hath No Wrath Than A Possum Scorned

One thing you can do when you don't have money to spend on the car: Clean. Anywhere. Everywhere. Upholstery, carpet, dash, glass, grille, lights, trunk, engine bay, underside ... Everywhere. Your own elbow grease is pretty cheap. You also get to know your car much better that way.
You'll thank yourself whenever you have to work on something and find that it's not covered with goo.

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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

thanks for that advice. That is actually what i was planning to do. I wanted to clean every thing i could for free to the car, then start to spend money on it. I am actually helping my friend restore a '71 charger w/ a 318. It is a great experience and i am learning a bunch about old cars. That is actually the reason i am getting an older car, instead of some new import or some thing. Thanks, David