I've been thinking of this for a while now. I drive a 69 valiant100 2dr that i saved. My uncles project car that he never got around to which sat for 6 years in a field getting beat up by the weather but suprisingly still ran. Its got a couple things done to it. DD cylinder head, dana 60 + disk conversion (both waiting for wheels) and a 1 7/8'' straight pipe out the bum that sounds pretty intimidating. Anyways the sl6 is the first engine i learned how to work on and its kind of grown on me. I even rejected a won auction for a complete turnkey 318 (i feel horrible for that..well for that person ) over the net. I have a couple options. I could get the supersix/2bbl or the offy/4 bbl and modify these 3x2 headers i have (funny story) and go from there or i could put a v8 (318/360/383(shortblock availible)). probably a 360 just because a 360 is easy to come upon and has considerably more power than my sl6. Maybe its because im tired of integras, civics, accords, celicas, all the other common tuners, and especially skylines smokin' me around town. My budget is around 5,000$ for a respectable looking car, engine/paint/wheels. The interior is already taken care of and re-upholstered because i couldnt drive around with custom plywood and ductape trim. The body is decent and i have all needed tools to do the bodywork and baremetal prime. No rust however it got rearended by an Expidition. Luckily there was a 71 valiant with a donor deck lid from pick-n-pull for 25$. theres 3 fistsize eyesores about an inch deep in the front fenders plus some old wear and tear pebble dents. The paint is good ol' white 3 foot thick lead paint with old age wear tear scratches. Its a great feeling driving a car you dont see too often and when i think of what it could be it makes me want to poop my pants. If i could i would go the sl6 route b/c it makes it that much more uniqe. But then again what is uniqe? is it a custom sl6? or an old A-bod with a 360. Im just wondering what you others think about what you would do with a 5000$ budget and a so-so sl6. I want a daily driver that can put the local tuners in their place but can still keep my gas bill to under 150$ a month. sl6 trial & error or v8 drop.

I have under 5K in my '66. It would put 75% of the tuners around here to shame. The ones it won't get have waaaaayyyyy more than 5K in them.

_________________
Official Cookie and Mater Tormentor.

For $5K, I could build myself a sweet slant six daily driver that would put many tuners to shame.

I wouldn't be a regular on the slant 6 forums if I was temped by the lure of cubic inches = easy power.

I don't recall the V-8 drop being so easy as many people believe, but it's your ride, and if you've got your heart set on a 360, you will have a difficult time enjoying what a 6 has to offer.

I'm very proud of my $1200, 19 second -race only- car. I enjoy making it faster with every turn of my wrench. When people ask why I don't drop in a 440, I don't even try to explain.

_________________
1980 Aspen 225 super six

I know i would like a slant six under the hood only because i love the thing now. but bigger engines are so tempting. its like the devil or something. Ill see where i stand after the new rear end/offy/4bbl/elect ignition/headders/ and disk brakes go in. maybe its just i have tired old parts on my slant.

I have never understood the need to beat up on 1.8l Hondas. I just don't see the point. If you really one to squash them, I guess you should go the 451 bigblock route. That will show them...

Maybe it's because some of these cocky little kids just think their "tuner" is the $#!+, and it's fun to spank them with cars and motors designed to get Grandma to the grocery.

That said, there are some bad-assed little jap cars (but I still hate 'em and wanna squash 'em), but for most, it's just a bunch of bling-bling, an obnoxious muffler and a trash-can tip. I have embarassed several of these at the track with the Super-Duper-Six Duster, right in front of their whole high-school entourage "...oooh, Justin, you're so coool". *feeling of nausea setting in*

D/W

_________________

If it ain't broke, fix it!

I hate tuners also, but in my area they are few and far between. Our biggest annoyance is the flood of Chevrolets with flowmasters. The only "tuner" at my school is a Toyota Camry with a trash can tip on it and a set of cheap spinners. Very goofy looking car that can be easily outran by all of the local "American" cars (including my Duster). Go up around Macon and Warner Robins and there is thousands of tuners up there. Down here we laugh at tuners. In the big cities they abound.

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

Macon and Warner Robins, big cities!?!

I guess everything is relative!

D/W

_________________

If it ain't broke, fix it!

My hometown has a population of barely 200 people and has no police force at all. So Warner Robins and Macon seem huge to me. We street race every Friday night without fear of being arrested or getting in trouble.


If you come through Rhine, don't blink, you might miss it!

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

I think I've been thru there, but I blinked and missed it.

D/W

_________________

If it ain't broke, fix it!

I think I've been thru there, but I blinked and missed it.

D/W[/quote]

You probably have you can't miss it. It's between a rock and a hard place

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

heres what i like about driving my hoopdee.the thing that modivates me to slam the pedal in an old beat up plymouth. im minding my own business just driving home after school/work and one of there pulls next to me with fancy aftermarket mufflers (to all of you, theres more to getting more power with exhaust other than a muffler. i.e. headers,porting,mandrel bent pipe,and much research):

GM flowmaster lowerd w/ rims trucks. silvrado, cheyene, 1500, u know what im talking about.

blinged out civics/crx's/integras/celicas/imprezas/eclipse/3 series bmw's/

any 4 door sedan lowered with rims, a wing, subwoofers, 1 1/2'' pipe with a 4'' muffler, and various "speed stickers" i.e. audio image\eibach\toyo\japanese letters\ "something"motorsports\Type R\powered by "something"\ short throw

also what is it with carbon "fibre"???! does that crosshatch really make that much of a difference? shift knobs, mirror housings, deck lids, hoods, roof scoops?? carbon fiber exhaust tips lol. carbon fibre engine blocks lollol

i can cope with the occasional Fox Body mustang, el camino, non-v6 camaros\firebirds because IMO they are respectable, well, more respectable cars than the ones above.

so if anyone ever wonders why that urge to rev your engine happens....jsut a little insight. peace

whut skool yoo goe to, spconner?
really? hmmmm, I thought alls you had to do was bolt on a trash can tip and a buzzy muffler - shows what I know about carz...


It's what they call carbon fiber in England.
Mostly it's just carbon fiber simulated stickers you are refering to, I believe.
ok, agreed
Think? Yo, peace out dawg.

D/W

_________________

If it ain't broke, fix it!

Well, a cold, logical cost-benefit analysis would say to do a V8 swap. I've heard tales of 300 and even 400 horsepower smallblock buildups that could fit your budget. The speed parts for V8's are typically both cheaper and tend to add more power per mod. And most of the mods listed as things you have to do with a V8 swap (disc brakes, stronger axle, etc) are also needed if you get an equal amount of power out of a slant six. For a slant to get the same 350 or so horsepower that a V8 can easily make, you're going to either need a nitrous bottle or go to the trouble of fabricating a custom turbo kit.

With that said, though, I decided to build a turbo slant six anyway. Right now it isn't running - I never got the carb to work right and have decided to install a Megasquirt fuel injection setup on it. But when on the occasions where I did take it to car shows, it was fascinating to see how some people just overlooked it as a greasy old motor, while those in the know usually did double-takes. You're more likely to see Hemi powered muscle cars at most car shows than slant sixes with forced induction.

_________________
"Mad Scientist" Matt Cramer
'66 Dart - turbocharged 225
My blog - Mad Scientist Matt's Lair

Some of the tuners don't know how to drive that well. Save some money for some good suspension parts, too.

Every so often, I get tailgated on the freeway by a tuner. But then they suddenly slow way down when I hit the 25 MPH hairpin exit at 50.

My Dart isn't as fast as a lot of tuned Civics (yet), but it outhandles many of them:

Falken "ZE502" - 225/60 14s
KYB Shocks
Addco 1 1/4 front sway bar (and urethane bushings)
Mopar Performance Rear Leaf Springs with urethane bushings
All new Moog ball-joints, etc..

The trick is bracing my leg against the door so I don't slide around too much on the bench seat!

_________________
1963 Dodge Dart, motor by Doug Dutra, Offenhauser two carb intake, Pertronix, Clifford 6x2, Flowmaster 40's, Erson RV15/295 RDP, head work. Addco anti-sway bar, urethane suspension bushings, KYB's, racing leafs, SSBC discs. Need ZDDP? Get STP.