I agree, Mopars were designed to run with Champion plugs, and they do.

I also agree with dennis that you may have stuck rings. Driving the car gently is the best way to try and free them up without doing a complete tear down. 250 miles is not enough. You should begin seeing improvement at this point, but it should keep getting better for thousands of miles if you drive it gently and keep good fluids in the motor. Longer periods of running at varying speeds will show the most change in your engine. Once parts heat up to full temp and work for a while, the carbon really starts to burn out and loosen things up. Driving short distances on the other hand can have the reverse effect. I've got my fingers crossed for you.

You've identified the worst oil problem as the #1 piston, so keep a close eye on it and keep the plug clean so that it will continue to burn out the crud in the #1 rings. Also make sure the #1 spark plug wire is good (even new wires are sometimes bad). The extra oil could be bad valve seals, since you pour the oil into the motor directly on top of the #1 valves, but otherwise, bad valve seals have never fowled spark plugs in any of the 6 motors I've owned. All that extra oil will make it take a long time to break the #1 rings back in, but that's better than breaking in too quickly.

On valves, it would be a very bad thing if the valves where intentionally adjusted, but not to the correct adjustment by your mechanic. I suggest you call and ask him what he did. If he doesn't remember or didn't do the adjustment, then you should take a look at it. Don't accuse him of doing it wrong, just get him talking. Valves which are adjusted too tight can cause engine damage in a very short time.

Valve 'lash' is measured with 'feeler gauges' which are simply thin metal tabs which slip between the rocker arm and the top of the valve. The rookie mistake is to make the valves 100% tight. Instead, a measured amount of loosness is required for proper operation. Any more wastes power, any less can cause the exhaust valves to burn up. Once your factory service manual arrives, you should read all about it, and call your mechanic to be sure he used the proper procedure. You might both learn something.

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1980 Aspen 225 super six

OK...I'll address one person at a time again since that makes things easier.

SSD:
So I don't need to worry about changing the oil immediately, but how long should I go before doing this? Obviously I have to if I'm going to do your amazing mystery flush, but I'm not comfortable with that idea just yet. Slant6Ram recommended once a month for the next 3 months if I drive it every day. I'm not able to drive the car every single day since it's not at my place (although I'm going to try to get it back soon since it seems to be driving OK) but once a month sounds reasonable. The mechanic was using 10W-40--any reason I should use anything else? And any recommendation on the best place to buy oil filters is much appreciated.

About the whole stuck rings problem--you say this is what's causing oil to enter the combustion chamber and burn, thus creating smoke, correct? Based on what's been shown by the spark plugs, is there any reason to believe the stuck ring problem exists in more than just the #1 cylinder? You say "I might just be able to unstick those rings." I assume you mean by continuing to drive the car? Let me know if that's not what you mean. Is the improvement I noticed yesterday in the smoke problem necessarily a sign that the ring(s) are "un-sticking"? I suppose I have to keep looking at the plugs--especially #1--and see if oil keeps showing up.

As for what the mechanic did and didn't do--you aren't the first to say what you said about the bent rods. When I made the chronology of events I was just piecing together the work he did from his invoices, which are a little tough to read. But seriously, he wrote "straightened pushrods" on an invoice. Should I worry? And as for the carb, he never mentioned using a rebuilding kit. As far as I know, he took the thing apart, cleaned it up, and just put it all back together. Unfortunately it's tough to talk to this guy for more than a minute over the phone and therefore tough to drag all the details out of him. He didn't specifially mention or write down replacing the condenser--I've been trying to call and ask him about that. If he didn't, replacing it is a fairly easy job, no?

Thanks for the links. I especially enjoyed the post on cleaning out the top end, although it's not something I can do with the Dart until it runs smoother and with more power. I worry about taking it on the highway right now because, while it does eventually get up to speed just fine, it really slows down uphill and I'd worry about that with cars zipping all around me at 70mph. The fact that my fuel gauge doesn't work makes that a little tricky as well.

I'm definitely keeping the faith (for now at least!). Yesterday's experience, having the car driving all over town, was a big morale booster.

DW:
It is especially confusing to a newbie to hear contradictory opinions on what to do and what products to use. At this point, I have the TransX in the garage, but I'm going to hold off on using it until observe the tranny fluid leak over a longer period of time.

And as for the spark plugs--is the brand I use going to make a huge difference? As long as they're quality, they should be fine, no?

VDART:
I hear ya about not changing too much at once. I'm just trying to keep it simple at the moment for exactly the reasons you mention (and also because I'm not really capable of doing anything really complicated).

Slant6Ram:
So I guess I did the right thing by taking the car out for a long drive yesterday. I think we're all in agreement here-yes?-that driving it is good for what ails the engine, even if it is a little rough. You say I should drive it gently, i.e. don't hi-rev it? It doesn't matter if I floor the pedal--it's so underpowered now that it doesn't make much of a difference in the acceleration. It just takes its sweet time building speed. And when you say "longer periods of running," how long are we saying? My "long" drive of yesterday was probably not much longer than about 30 minutes.

Like I mentioned above, I'm trying to get the mechanic on the phone to ask him about valve seals and all the other details on what he did. This is very difficult to do! Since the car's driving fairly reliably I may just try to bring the car by his shop if I'm going to be doing an extended drive anyway, and see if he can show me some things and answer questions.

OK...I think that does it. I have to work all day today but will probably have all of tomorrow to devote to the Dart. I'll most likely try to get it back to my own garage, which will give it a nice long 20 mile ride with varying speeds (I'll use backroads).

--Phil

Actually, the '60 vehicle in question was shipped from the factory with Autolite AGR42 plugs. The company that made them is long gone; the Autolite name having been through several different corporate owners since. And that numbering system was adopted by Motorcraft, but has been abandoned by Autolite for years.

Chrysler switched their spark plug business to Champion in 1963. That doesn't mean that Mopars were "designed to run with Champion plugs", it just means Champion bid the lowest on Chrysler's spark plug business.

Champion has been through even more corporate owners than Autolite, and the plugs they make today aren't comparable to the plugs they made 10, 20, 30 and 40 years ago. The MBAssholes who run Federal-Mogul have been cheapening all FM's stuff for about 15 years now, including Champion plugs, Fel-Pro gaskets, etc.

The idea that an engine knows what brand of spark plug is installed is...well, laughable. Good plugs are better than bad ones, and whatever brand of plug you install, it needs to be of the correct type and heat range.

Some people have good results with Champion plugs. I'm not among them.

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

Who you gonna believe? SSD's a pretty sharp guy armed with a wealth of knowledge and obviously some experience to go with it, and you can draw your own conclusions about me, although what I'm telling you comes from my own extensive experience. So it's a judgement call on your part, not everything is cut and dry, black and white, especially with old cars... There's often more than one way to skin a cat, you'll just have to learn for yourself what works for you (or doesn't) in some cases.

Any plug of the correct heat range will work, but I have had better luck with Champion over the years, or Mopar plugs when you can find them.

D/W

_________________

If it ain't broke, fix it!

Doing the flush (sounds like a '70s disco dance move) sooner is better than doing it later. You're right to approach the idea with caution, but as I described in the other post, there are safe ways of flushing and dangerous ways. It doesn't sound as if your driving style (short trips, slow speeds) is adequate to allow just frequent oil changes to do the flushing for you, though it certainly won't hurt.
10w40 is a poor choice even for an engine in good condition. That particular grade of oil is relatively more prone to sludge formation than 10w30 or 20w50 or 15w40. Also, though it may seem counterintuitive, a thinner oil is what you need right now, to try and wash away the accumulated crud. Again, go see my flushing procedure.
NAPA Gold number 1515 is a reliable choice. Don't use Fram.
This is very likely at least a major part of the problem.
Yes. Stuck rings are seldom completely localized to just one cylinder. It sounds like number one is simply the most affected.

I should also have mentioned another fix that sometimes works to free up stuck rings: Obtain a large container (quart or gallon) of Kroil, remove the spark plugs from the engine, introduce several ounces of Kroil into each cylinder, and let the engine sit for several days. Crank the engine with the starter—with the spark plugs still removed—to force any remaining Kroil out of the combustion chambers. Reinstall the spark plugs, start the engine and go for as lengthy a drive as possible.
Possibly, yes, or the STP motor snot might just be masking it.
Yep.
You don't need to worry, you just need to replace a few pushrods!
That's certainly halfassed. Go back and do it right.
Very easy, yes.
You have an external leak? That's all? Just fluid leaking on the ground? The one and only correct way to stop the leak is to find and fix it. There is no magical gunk-in-a-can that will solve an external leak. Most of them are fairly easy to fix. Potential causes of external leaks on that '60 trans are many and varied, but most of them are easy to fix. Gear selection is accomplished by cables with a nylon jacket. These cables are originally secured to the underside of the floorpan by a clip, but if they fall out of the clip, they hit the hot exhaust pipe, which melts the nylon jacket and allows a messy trans fluid leak. There are also O-rings and gaskets where the cables enter the trans. There is the pan gasket. There's the round seal where the throttle lever shaft enters the transmission. There's the park housing gasket, and the tailhousing gasket. There's the front seal and the rear seal.

Of all of these, leaks from the front and rear seals are the only two that could potentially be slowed by using Trans-X or any other "transmission seal conditioner". None of the others would be affected. Thing is, the front and rear seals are the least likely of all the ones I've listed to be the source(s) of an external trans fluid leak.
The brand doesn't matter as much as using the appropriate type of spark plug. Brand wars will never cease; I will not even use Champions in my lawnmower any more. Consistently good results from Autolites or NGKs. If you feel for some reason that you must use Champions, the extra-long-nose unit is the RN13LYC.
That's not something that's caused by stuck rings. There's something else the matter, possibly multiple other things the matter with your engine. Of course, if the rings are stuck badly, they can oil down the plugs such that reliable ignition is impossible.
Probably a waste of your time. Better to spend the time simply checking the valves and such yourself.
I donno. Points but no condenser? No carb kit used in repairing the carb? "straightening" pushrods? I don't like this guy.

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

Dan and I agree 100% on this

...but not this:
"correct" can be a very subjective thing, but I would agree that it is the ultimate and best way to solve the problem.
TransX is pretty magical. CD2 works real well on sticky lifters, by the way.
All except the front seal.
I totally disagree with this statement. In my experience, in cars that have sat unused for a while the front seal is the #1 source of leaks, followed by the selector shaft/throttle shaft seals.

D/W

_________________

If it ain't broke, fix it!

Spark plugs? Who cares, get a clean plug in there so it runs and we'll talk about what brand some other time.

I suggest you inspect the valve adjustment ASAP and it doesn't sound like these other guys like the sound of straightened push rods, I've never experienced a bent one yet. These 2 topics could be the leading cause of your lack of power. Get familiar with the

Driving it sounds like good medicine. Just don't get yourself stranded 100 miles from home. 30 minutes is a great start, I doubt that trips shorter than 15 minutes are very useful. I expect you will need to rack up 10 or 20 hours of driving before things really loosen up, but you'll know!

If the oil fowling is very bad only in the #1 cyclinder, then I might try Dan's suggestion with the Kroil, but I've never done it personally. It doesn't sound like it could hurt anything. Make sure you cover the fender with old towls and rags when blowing that stuff out of the motor or it will go everywhere.

I know as a group we are suggesting lot of work. Just wait till you get all the crud blown out of this motor. A freshly tuned slant six can really be a joy to drive. A classic like yours will really turn some heads.

_________________
1980 Aspen 225 super six

CD2 oil detergent ("frees rings, lifters"), yes. CD2 is a range of products (they make a motor snot "stops oil burning").
The front seal isn't hard to fix. "Some disassembly required", yes, but once you remove either the trans or the engine, replacing the front seal isn't hard.
OK, perhaps I've just been lucky with cars that've been sitting over the years. I haven't had problems with the Torqueflite front seal. It's pretty well designed.

That said, even if the original poster's front seal is the source of the leak, adding Doctor Mo-Jo's Miracle Transmission Rejuvenator with Flex Fluoride and Provitamin E is, you'll excuse me Dennis, a really dumb idea. Grossly accelerated wear to all of the seals in the transmission, in exchange for a maybe/maybe-not temporary reduction in the leak? Bad trade.

Original poster: There is no magic in a can. You have to be careful, because lots of companies want you to believe that there is. It's easy to get confused, because there are useful automotive chemicals that come in bottles and cans. Most of them are cleaners of one sort or another. Most of those fall into two categories: The kind that works, and the kind that doesn't. A few of them can damage your car, but most of them can't.

Then, as we've discussed, there are those chemicals aimed at dragging a last few tortured miles out of a worn-out engine/transmission/whatever. Stop-leak preparations, oil thickeners and so forth. These can be useful, but only for dragging a last few tortured miles out of a worn-out machine.

Almost everything else falls into the category of chemicals aimed at dragging dollars out of your wallet. "Engine restorer" compounds, oil "treatments", engine "treatments", transmission "treatments", any kind of "conditioner", etc. The claims made for these are usually rather lofty, and tend to be along the lines of making old machinery like new again, or saving you large amounts of gasoline, or giving your engine lots of extra power. The best of these do nothing. The worst of them—and that's a lot of them—do actual, real damage.

Unless your car is on its last legs, any repair worth doing is worth doing properly. That means: Use the Trans-X as a doorstop.

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

You assert this very stridently, but my experience tells me otherwise. I even got 240,000 miles out of one 904 that started leaking at the front seal at about 180,000 mi by using TransX, and the only reason I even rebuilt it then was to beef it and modify it for when I hopped up the six for the strip in my Duster!

I would rather have metal working on the soft seals (supposedly) than hard, perhaps even crystalized seals working into the metal sealing surfaces. In any case, as I stated previously, I have had very good luck with a few chemical additives, and Dan, you jumping up and down about it isn't going to change my experience or my passing it along. You make very good arguments, but they are just that - arguments.

Newbies, just be advised that no two people agree on everything. This doesn't mean Dan's opinions, ideas or arguments are dumb, just wrong!

D/W

_________________

If it ain't broke, fix it!

...again define "hard". Dan, if you don't think removing the engine or transmission to fix a seal is "hard", then how about "a pain in the ass"?

D/W

_________________

If it ain't broke, fix it!

Of course not. That's not my intent. It's just very important, especially with newbies, to explain that you're relating personal opinion/experience only.
Well...no, not really. (that's just an argument!) They are statements of fact. Chemical "X" applied to seal material "Y" will cause result "Z". Throw salt in your soup, and it's going to taste saltier. Apply alcohol to leather, and it's going to dry out and get brittle. Pour acetone on a bucket of styrofoam packing peanuts, and they'll melt into a puddle of grey goo. Pour oil on paper, and it's going to become translucent. That kind of thing. How long it takes for result "Z" to adversely affect you is a matter of luck, chance and phase of the moon.

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

Dennis, Dan,

Luv ya both, man, but time to take a break, drink a beer, and chill. Both points were well represented. Trans-X is not worth the hardworking electrons on the internet right now.

Greg

...as are you.

D/W

_________________

If it ain't broke, fix it!

Yes it is - it's MAGICK!!!!

D/W

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If it ain't broke, fix it!

STP-Stop Those Pistons!

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