: First the car...
: 73 dodge dart with 3 year in a row top 10 in
: the world stereo system.
: Originally: Slant 6 with 1 bbl holley
: 10" front drum 9" rear drum
: light 3 speed tranny with only one synchro
: 7.25 axle
: Now: 74 on 5.2-5.9 liter radiator
: Super six accesories off volare...2bbl, air
: cleaner with inlet attachment and exhaust
: header.
: I ran cool air ram style from the front of
: the car.
: 100 amp alternator
: 230 full forward synchro tranny
: shortened driveshaft 1"
: 8 1/4 axle with the accompaning 11" drums.
: Have the disc brakes but not installed yet.
:
: I've done tons of other stuff as well but they
: are less important.
: Anywho...The engine has 200,000 and is getting
: tired. At it's peak I was getting 30+mpg
: freeway
: and 18 city. (2.76 gears) I want to rebuild the
: engine but didn't know if I was going to
: just get a rebuild kit or if you guys had
: ideas.
: It see's in city and highway driving with the
: occasional long trip. I'd like to get better
: low
: mid power/torque. I'm not concerned with
: mileage
: being terrific, just livable. And it has to
: drive
: year round in the
: Houston tx area. (no freezes to worry about)
: Occasionally pulls a trailer.
: Mild cam?
: Raise compression?
: Port work on the head?
:
: To give you an idea of the condition of the
: engine: I have one piston with enough
: dropped compression
: to miss at idle. A tiny bit of oil smoke during
: shifts.
: Quiet bearings.
: Only the rear main seal leaks.
: Mileage down to 20mpg.
: Doesn't start right up every time.
: Plugs seem to look like there is a healthy
: burn.
:
: Sorry bout the text, I cut and pasted this from
: another board

: The "low" compression reading could
: be from a "weak" valve, did you
: have a "leak-down" check done??
: SL6 performance is about engine
: "breathing", one suggestion would
: be to spend some time and money on a
: "nice" ported and prepped cylinder
: head, swap that on first to see if it
: "helps or hurts". (sometimes a
: "tight" sealing head just make
: ring sealing on a high milage engine worse)
:
: If you find the rest of the engine needs
: rebuilding, go do a "short block"
: and swap your "trick" head onto
: it. This approch can save you a bunch of
: money if the rest of the "short
: block" is OK or worst case, you are
: "out" one extra head gasket.
: DD

:
: Quick question. If I pull the head this weekend
: and look into the condition of the two
: valves on the weak cylinder what would I
: look for. Would it be possible to do a quick
: 'patch' repair to regain a little
: compression on that cylinder if it is valve
: related and have that patch last a few
: months until I get a long block completed?
: If so what would be involved? Could a new valve
: and some lapping in tide this thing over for
: a few months. (I really hate listening to
: the puh puh puh in my daily driver )
: Otherwise it's a reliable engine.
: Oh, and is it practical to think that a 200k
: engine could be just suffering from a bad
: valve seal? I know you can't give very solid
: answers to these questions without looking
: at the engine torn down yourself but just
: give a rough guess.
: I won't have a new engine to put in for several
: months
:
: Thanks :~)

: I can not tell a lie.....I have
: "patched" a lot of burnt valve(s)
: over the years. Actually got pretty quick at
: it by leaving the manifold and even the carb
: bolted to the head as I removed the entire
: assembly with a "cherry picker".

: ooo, I hadn't thougt about just pulling it with
: the manifolds still attached
:
: Cool idea, thanks
:
: Could I just order a couple of new valves and
: when I have the new gasket and valves I can
: proceed with this possiblity? I have done
: valve work on small engine/bike.
:
: If I find the seat is badly buggered up (which
: I don't think is the case since the plug
: looks good and I think it starts firing
: around 2 to 2.5krpm and sometimes lower) is
: a replacement head my best option and I just
: need to bolt this one back on without doing
: anything?
:
: Another bit of info. When cranking you can hear
: the weak cylinder with the rrr rrr rrr rrr
: reer rrr rrr rrr........ At idle it misses
: reliably. And when you get the rpm up the
: miss goes intermittent and then dissappears
: as you get the engine to a good speed.

: ooo, I hadn't thougt about just pulling it with
: the manifolds still attached
:
: Cool idea, thanks
:
: Could I just order a couple of new valves and
: when I have the new gasket and valves I can
: proceed with this possiblity? I have done
: valve work on small engine/bike.
:
: If I find the seat is badly buggered up (which
: I don't think is the case since the plug
: looks good and I think it starts firing
: around 2 to 2.5krpm and sometimes lower) is
: a replacement head my best option and I just
: need to bolt this one back on without doing
: anything?
:
: Another bit of info. When cranking you can hear
: the weak cylinder with the rrr rrr rrr rrr
: reer rrr rrr rrr........ At idle it misses
: reliably. And when you get the rpm up the
: miss goes intermittent and then dissappears
: as you get the engine to a good speed.