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wish list for under the hood
https://slantsix.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=50307		 Page 2 of 3
Author:  SlantSixDan [ Tue Nov 13, 2012 3:24 pm ]
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Quote:
nobody said it's unsafe to drive
A car with 9" drums in perfect condition has marginally adequate brakes. If they're not in perfect condition (and yours aren't), the car's unsafe.
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it's safe
It's not.
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if drums werent safe they would have taken em off the market 40 years ago.
One doesn't follow from the other. Cigarettes are still on the market. So are motorcycles.
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I have already talked to shops and old rodders
Great, guess you know everything there is to know!
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I guess it's easy to assume I'm rushing and planning on just bolt on's
That's what you told us you're doing.
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it's goin to be purty and run good
Never let go of your dreams.
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I guess I'll stick with the hot rod guys
Bye!
Author:  Outkast [ Tue Nov 13, 2012 3:54 pm ]
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Signs still lit for input but it would be nice to hear from somebody who has actually used some the applications I mentioned I would like for MY car, there's nothing wrong with the mods I want, they may not be your flavor and if you dont like my ideas for MY car dont bother commenting with negative crap because..
"If you not part of the solution your part of the &#@% problem"
as my pop's would tell ya
Author:  SlantSixDan [ Tue Nov 13, 2012 4:02 pm ]
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Quote:
Signs still lit for input
One of the signs says OUTKAST. I am not particularly puzzled how you chose that screen name.
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but it would be nice to hear from somebody who has actually used some the applications I mentioned I would like for MY car
Oh, you're putting applications on your car? Oh! I thought you were putting parts on your car — the parts you mentioned, including the imaginary affordable and reliable gear drive system and the headers and the 4bbl carb and such.

But ah, the jig is up, you've caught us redhanded, all secretly banding together to make up negative baloney about your thoughtful, wise vehicle modification ideas. We don't actually know what we're talking about, we're just messing with you to get our jollies.
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there's nothing wrong with the mods I want
See, exactly. You're right and everyone else is wrong.

Sigh. It's over, guys, guess we gotta find a new game to play!

:roll:
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if you dont like my ideas for MY car dont bother commenting
You asked for advice. You got it. Now you're all butthurt because we told you the truth: your ideas are poorly thought out and won't give you the result you want. That reality will not change just because you don't like it—not even when you throw a tiny-fisted temper tantrum demanding that we all heap praise on your dumb ideas.

Please go away, child. There is nothing for you here.
Author:  Reed [ Tue Nov 13, 2012 4:06 pm ]
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As I said, I HAVE used the side pipes you are talking about. I found them to be too loud for an enjoyable driver. I have also driven Darts and Valiants with nine inch, ten inch, and disc brakes up front. The disc brakes are immediately apparent a being superior brakes. This is why so many people are telling you to get rid of the brakes- all of us have driven these cars with 9 inch brakes and it is the universal consensus that the 9 inch drum brakes were marginal, at best, when the vehicle was new and at this late date are hazardous.

As far as all the other modifications you are talking about (headers, gear drive timing set, four barrel carb) we have also done all of those, too. You have had some of the most experienced members of the slant six community offer you FREE advice that they have gained through years of experimentation and trial and error.

The problem is that YOU are part of the "problem" by not being wise enough to listen to the advice of those who have come before you.

The comments only got negative after you attempted to insult us. We all responded with honest suggestions as to what we think would be the best path for you to take to your somewhat unclear goals. You also appear to be operating on some of the misconceptions that permeate the old car hobby, such as "a four barrel is always better and will give you more performance than anything else." You need to spend some time doing your homework before you accuse people who are trying to help you with providing "negative crap."

Like I said earlier, good luck with your project and I hope you don't wind up wrecking it because you don't maintain and upgrade the safety items first. As MY Great Grandpops would tell you, "It ain't cute if it don't work."
Author:  ceej [ Tue Nov 13, 2012 4:14 pm ]
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Double roller timing set. Gear drives aren't very accurate, contrary to what most people seem to think.

If you've got 2k to spend, get yourself some converter. 2000 rpm behind a slant will equate to a 2500 rpm converter on an eight. Roughly.

Gears. Get some shorter ones.

If you've got power steering, convert to manual. Cuts a bunch of weight.

If your going to stick with the 1 bbl, you can still benefit from some additional compression. The slant has borderline tractor compression. Most of them come out under 8:1 static. There are lots of ways to get there. About the only way under your budget constraints is to cut the head.
Take all the measurements first. Nobody here can tell you what to cut to reach a target compression. Too much variation in manufacturing.

Take it up to 110, stomp the stuffing out of your brakes. I'm talking full panic double footed dash biter. They will fade out somewhere before you get under 60. Then you will understand what folks here are telling you. 9" brakes work just OK in earlier cars. They were a lot lighter. Ten inch brakes were an improvement. Disks were like winning the lottery. Whoever is telling you they are adequate has thier head up an orifice.

Just sayin' :wink:

CJ
Author:  Rick Covalt [ Tue Nov 13, 2012 4:36 pm ]
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Somehow , even with my smaller than normal brain I knew from the start, that this would likely end up ugly. :( Seen it happen too many times.

Anyway there is a lot of good info here for you. Take the safety stuff to heart. You will never regret using up a chunk of your money for disc brakes and other safety items 1st.

You will find a great deal of difference of opinion on what to do with headers, 4 barrel VS 2 Barrel, cam size......etc.
I personally have run headers on the road for years without any problems. My sons Dart has been on the roads in PA for 10 years and parked outside all year long without issue. Others will swear that that is not true. I have run a Quadrajet and a 600 Edelbrock on an otherwise stock engine too. Not saying that you should, but just saying I have. My sons D100 ran for the last 2 years with a bone stock engine and a 500 Edelbrock. It ran perfectly fine, and was much better than the lean burn 1 barrel it replaced. Yes it would be better suited to a bigger cam and valves ...etc, but it did work just fine. Plus I have always thought that a small 4 barrel would be just as effecient as a 2 barrel if driven correctly.

One more pea brained opinion to throw in the pot! :lol: :lol:
Author:  Outkast [ Tue Nov 13, 2012 4:58 pm ]
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Thanks Rick and Ceej for the last two comments, there are a few others I appreciated as well, good info was provided and thats all I am looking for.
Author:  ceej [ Tue Nov 13, 2012 7:47 pm ]
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I take it your looking for some improved handling with your bushings on the list.

Have you identified the torsion bars that are mounted on the car currently? There are a few options for T-bars that will stiffen up the front end. Do you have a front sway bar? There were some factory installed ones, though I don't know the years that would be best to look for. Probably came on cars with LBP and big brakes as a general rule.
There were a couple good threads on donor cars to pull parts like that off of. Have to do some searching to find that info. I think DusterIdiot had a pretty good recipe for suspension upgrade parts somewhere.
Before putting bigger T-Bars on the car, make sure the cross member and all the anchor points for the suspension are in good shape.

Another nice addition would be subframe connectors. They really stiffen the chassis up. They don't have to be terribly heavy duty. The idea is to lock the geometry between the front and rear, not to weld them together with armor plate. Fairly light box steel will do the trick.

If you go with headers, keep the primary tubes small for a street driven car. There are a bunch of options there, though you have to be careful, truck headers won't fit your car, as well as some of the other offerings not being clearanced for all years and applications.
I'm rather pleased with the examples offered from Aussiespeed. Saw a set on a local racer's Valiant recently. Very nice work.

Later cars, like the Feather Duster got a 2-1/4" Single head pipe that flowed a lot better than the old noodle pipe. (1-7/8") A good exhaust shop can bend you one for a fair price. This allows you to leave the stack intact, and keep your manifold heat. Dutra Duals will also allow you that provision for better atomization. That will help with fuel economy and power.
If you go with duals, keep the head pipes at 2". Getting dual 2-1/4" pipes to fit down, out and under is a major pain! :roll: I did that with Dual Dutra Duals. (No manifold heat provision.) Going that large will negatively impact scavenging. I had to wrap the head pipes to get my engine breathing.

Shorty headers can solve some space issues, but tuned length headers will easily outperform the shorty. Tristan was running a basically stock slant with tuned length headers off a 600 Holley to pretty good effect. He had an 8-3/4 rear so could drop short gears in it for the track, and run his long gears to travel down the freeway. He reported some phenomenal economy on a few trips.

More rambling... I'll shut up now. :lol:

CJ
Author:  kesteb [ Tue Nov 13, 2012 9:31 pm ]
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This 'old fart" will give you some advice, maybe you will benefit from the 30 plus years of experience with these cars.

With the front suspension. Do a complete rebuild using new ball joints and tie rods. If the idler arms and pitman arm are sloppy replace them. Replace the bushings in the upper and lower control arms with MOOG parts. Use poly for the strut rod. The shocks can be any good quality gas shocks. The torsion bars should be at a minimum 340 sized, quit possibly thicker. Install a sway bar and lower the front 2".

Rear suspension should be 5 leaf springs. Replace the bushings with poly, grease them up really good and they won't squeak. Shocks can be any good quality gas shocks. Install a set of 3.21 gears along with a limited slip differential.

Chassis, install sub frame connectors. Tie them into the side rails. They will make a noticeable difference.

Brakes, disk up front and 10" drums out back with the appropriate master cylinder. Nothing else is worth the hassle and expense to fix.

Tires, I strongly suggest 15' rims, the biggest that will fit the car, also the biggest 60 series redial tires that fit the rims. Do not raise the car to make the tires fit. This will make a noticeable difference in handling.

You now have a chassis that will handle any engine that you can install in the car.

For a good, reliable engine, I would do the following. Install a 2v manifold with a good Autolite 2100 carburetor. A electronic ignition, there are several options, use the one you are comfortable with. Recurve the distributor, I would suggest 16* BTDC with 30* total all in by 2500 rpm. The exhaust can be improved but installing a 2 1/2" pipe from the stock manifold to the rear bumper. Use what ever muffler you are comfortable with.

Install a larger radiator, a heavy duty one from an air conditioned A-body will be better they the stock one. Install a shift kit into the automatic, trans-go seems to be a good one.

With all this done, you will have i nice reliable car that is considerably better then your current ride. The chassis described above is what is under my '65 Dart, the engine is what is in my wife's '73 Duster.
Author:  Smokin Jays [ Tue Nov 13, 2012 10:06 pm ]
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WOW.... I am very surprised in all the VERY informative info on a single thread, for a guy who almost burned his bridge. Listen to all the advice because you can't find anyone more knowledgable on slants than on this site. Thanks for all the FREE info again!!!![/b]
Author:  SlantSixDan [ Tue Nov 13, 2012 11:03 pm ]
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"Almost"? Speak fer yerself! :shock:

User "Outkast" is <IGNORED>
Author:  Mike_64_Valiant [ Tue Nov 13, 2012 11:52 pm ]
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Outkast we are all on this fourum because we love our old mopars and these amazing leaning towers of power. There is a ton of wisdom and knowledge on this board from some really old farts to some of the young guns. Remember any local speed shop will be happy to talk to you about your car and help you out or should I say help you take out you wallet and empty it. That is what they are there for. Not looking out for your best intrest. On the other hand the guys and gals on this board have no intrest in your pocket book. We want to see these cars stay on the road but also safe at the same time. The current legislation wants to get rid of our old cars saying they are unsafe and bad for the enviroment. So we don't need to prove them right.

When I first got my valiant I was 16 and daily drove it bone stock plain jane. Had 9in drums all around. Had a couple close calls but never any thing serious. I am now 27 still have the car and a father to 2 boys, there is no way I will ever let my sons in the car with those ill equipted brakes. Your life is in your hands but so are our future generation. Things are diffrent these days back when new 9in brakes worked ok but remember seat belts where not required back then also. Today the roads are far more congested and too fast paced. Its now manditory for cars to have good brakes, seat belts and even airbags. Its your car and your choice.

I understand loud exhaust and the look of the side pipes that's all a personal choice thing. I had the stupid loud truck back in the day. I also never had many problems withe headers but my sugestion for a mostly stock engine would be dutra duals keep the stock back half for your carb heat and then plumb it down to the side pipes if you want. Also if you want alittle more pep in the engine go with a super six 2bbl, hei ignition and a distributor recurve and a good tune up. Make sure your suspension is in good shape. If you want poly go ahead you won't hear how bad they squeak over the side pipes. I have poly bushings in my trucks and they ride fine and don't hear the sqeakes because modern cars have better sound deadening but as soon as the windows go down I hear it. Our older cars don't keep out the noise so well. Also get a good set of tires. Make sure what ever your bakes push to the ground the tires are there to keep up. Sway bars and torsion bars are also good improvemnets but $2k really isn't all that much and will be gone in a heart beat. I have over $3500 in my car in the last year and still not done yet. Do your homework where it counts, the old farts on this board who know this stuff. And keep your mods slow one step at a time and see how it effects things don't just throw your hard earned cash away. Keep your vision for the car and keep on slanting.
Author:  Outkast [ Wed Nov 14, 2012 9:13 am ]
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Now this thread is cookin and chucked full of very usefull info for anyone looking to update their old slant, I understand I pissed off a couple people but go to page one and see who threw the first punch (Dan) with his nincompoop comment, wich I took as code for "do these things to your car and you an F-ing idiot" I would never question his vast knowledge of the slant and have used much of his advice to good result but his people skills are a little more than lacking,so I threw the fuddy duddy and old fart comment out there wich apperently are highly offensive words round these parts so be carefull all and dont throw blows if you cant take a punch. But back on subject thanks to all who came up with good usefull info on the topic and keep it comin if you have more to add, and yes I am looking into disc conversions and have a question, Are the non power disc brake kits just ok or somthing that does get the job done effectively? I know power would be better of caurse but thought I'd ask if anyone is running non power disc and satisfied with it.
Author:  Danarchy [ Wed Nov 14, 2012 9:58 am ]
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Outkast- It is Your Car.Do what you want.

-still a Fuddy Duddy! :lol:
Author:  Outkast [ Wed Nov 14, 2012 10:38 am ]
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Danarchy, in one of your other comments you mentioned better lighting. A friend of mine an engineer and LED lighting specialist is working on putting together a LED back lighting system for my whole dash if it works out good I'll talk to him about producing more, the color selection would be endless and the draw would be realy low with LED's.
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