Hello, my name is Dwayne and I recently purchased a 1961 Plymouth Savoy sedan for my daughter. The car is powered by it's original 225 Slant Six (runs like a top BTW) and though I owned several 1964-1971 slant six Darts, Valiants and Sattelites I've never owned a 225 this early production - specifically we believe the car was built in December 1960.

The tail of the starter on this one looks very different than what I remember and it also bears a heavy green metal tag fastened to the starter case reading "Chrysler Corporation".

Are there any major differences between our early slant an the later ones?

Are the exhaust manifolds essentially interchangeable throughout the production life of the engine?

THANKS!!!

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nothing is better than happiness in life but a ham sandwich is better than nothing.

Welcome on the board.

The '60-'61 cars use a direct-drive starter made by Prestolite ("Auto Lite"), rather than the '62-up Chrysler-built gear-reduction starter, which is not interchangeable. There are other rather minor differences, too. The exhaust manifolds are functionally interchangeable from the beginning in '60 to the end in '87.

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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, thank you, Sir! I know that's either a Lancer or a Valiant (and I know it's not a Plymouth Valiant ) in your sig and I'm not sure which but it sure is sharp!

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nothing is better than happiness in life but a ham sandwich is better than nothing.

That's my '62 Lancer. More pics here and here .

While you're looking at ways of improving the '61, you might want to do the fuel line mod , perhaps put in one of the Electric choke kits , and you'll definitely want to buy the factory service manual .

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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, thanks again! The last owners of my daughter's car installed a brand new Holley on it and it starts and runs very well though it is a bit cold-natured so the electric choke might be in it's future. I will certainly be installing an electric fuel pump in the future - I'm a firm believer in those !

In your first album you mentioned that lockstripping is unavailable for your Lancer. I have ran into that same scenario with this '61 Savoy. My glass guy says the stuff no longer exists.

We are hoping the original gasket is pliable enough for re-use and so far it seems good but we're not too worried about looks (it's just a black strip on this one).

Love your Lancer !!!!

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nothing is better than happiness in life but a ham sandwich is better than nothing.

I finally sourced the lockstrip out of Australia and the new stuff looks great. You can see it in the second album I linked to. Don't think it's the same for your '61 big car, though. Electric fuel pumps? I surely don't believe in them for slant-6 carbureted applications. They seem to cause more problems and hassles than they solve, the stock mechanical pumps work well, and electric pumps can be very dangerous on carbureted cars (piece of dirt in the carb needle/seat...valve stays open...pump keeps running...pumps entire contents of fuel tank into/onto engine. Also dangerous in the event of a crash with engine stall and driver unconsciousness. There are safety switches you can install that solve the second problem but not the first.

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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, you made me think with the electric fuel pump/wreck comment - I had never thought about that......hmmm.She's a great driver but if she were rear-ended or worse....ouch!....... I will leave her stock pump on the 225. Thanks for all the advice and you can bet we'll be bugging you for more !

I thought ya'll might want to see pics of the '61s mostly original engine bay.

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nothing is better than happiness in life but a ham sandwich is better than nothing.

Cool car! For safety's sake, you may want to install a new fused voltage regulator (NAPA Echlin VR-1001 or Standard-Bluestreak VR-128) and add some protection to the car's main electrical circuit, per this thread. Seatbelts are also a very good thing to think about upgrading; see the Wesco units described here.

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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,

On those pics of your car, what size are the BF Goodrich TA Radials. Nice documentation of your car.

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Aggressive Ted

http://cid-32f1e50ddb40a03c.photos.live ... %20Swinger


74 Swinger, 9.5 comp 254/.435 lift cam, 904, ram air, electric fans, 2.5" HP2 & FM70 ex, 1920 Holley#56jet, 2.76 8 3/4 Sure-Grip, 26" tires, 25+MPG

P205/70R14, they are.

Thanks!

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

Nice Savoy Dwayne. Another difference between early and later slants is the cam shaft. The '71-up have a more aggressive profile (they where the 225 marine engine cam). Might help with that heavy car! One other thing to think about since your daughter is driving it: A dual master cylinder. May take away the originality of the car, but its a big improvment for safety.

very nice ride-- cool to see you have younger generation driving old school stuff!!!!

my 13 year old is talking about my valiant --so I'm trying to steer him & his friends that way!!!
I held a tire changing class & some back road driving already-- so it might work. Lawrence

I'll second what Eric W said: The brakes are a very good place to think about spending money and effort on upgrades. There are lots of ways to have better brakes on that '61. A dual master cylinder is very definitely worth putting near the top of your upgrades list. The Scarebird people offer a front disc brake conversion kit for '57-'61 cars like yours, that uses easily-available mass-market discs, calipers and components.

(Of course, being me, I'd also suggest upgrading the lights if she drives at night )

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