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Share your S/6 "war stories"
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Author:  bigslant6fan [ Thu Feb 05, 2009 2:19 pm ]
Post subject:  Share your S/6 "war stories"
OK I,ll start.My father bought a new 82 d150 dodge pick-up to haul supplies for our large farm.Right from day one,that poor truck led a hard life.My dad would load it up with 1-1 1/2 tons of feed and take off down the road with the rear bumper nearly dragging the ground.In the 370,000 miles he owned the truck,there were very few repairs needed to keep it running.One carb,water pump,oil pump,two rebuilt cylinder heads,and four clutches are all I remember.The short block was never touched.As it approached the 300,000 mile mark,it was burning several quarts of oil every 1,000 miles,so my dad stopped changing it-he added waste oil drained from the tractors! :shock: That engine never did stop running,we had to get rid of it because we got a police repair order for the rusted out cab.Before it went to the scrap yard,I checked the compression in two cylinders,they were below 60 lbs.
Author:  Reed [ Thu Feb 05, 2009 2:58 pm ]
Post subject: 
My best story is about the 76 Volare I used to own. I bought it off of some friends of mine when they complained that it lacked power on the freeway. It ran nice and smooth, it just lacked power. I bought it for a song. Turns out that my friends had given it a tuneup but managed to get the plug wires on the cap in the right order, but installe the cap 180 degrees off so the engine was firing on the exhaust stroke. The car still ran fine, but it ran even better after I fixed the cap.
Author:  64 Convert [ Thu Feb 05, 2009 3:00 pm ]
Post subject: 
Back in the mid-80’s, my son found a 225-powered ’69 Swinger sitting in a pasture. He asked the owner if it still ran, and how much he wanted for it. Yes, it ran, but reverse was gone, and he’d take $200 for. Mileage was just over 200,000 miles and it had been sitting for two years. He said that sometime in the past it had been run dry of oil, and spun a rod bearing. The journal was turned with the crank in the car, and one undersize bearing was installed. Nothing else was done to the engine.

He poured a couple gallons of fresh gas into it, primed the carb and jumped the battery. It cranked a few times…fired up…poured out a bunch of smoke, and then settled into a smooth idle.

We got it home, pulled the transmission, gave it to a friend who ran a transmission shop and asked him to fix it enough to run, because we were going to look for a new engine and transmission to rebuild and swap when we had the time to restore everything. A $100 later, we installed the still-greasy transmission and my son began a daily 60 mile commute with it.

Meanwhile, we found another engine and transmission and rebuilt them both, but decided to wait until the ones in the car gave up before installing them.

Four years later, with the speedometer about ready to go around for the third time, my son sold the car for more than he paid for it. The new engine and transmission were still in the garage…unused and unneeded. The only things we had done to the engine in the car were tuneups, valve adjustments, an alternator, and a waterpump.

A couple of years later, he saw a young woman driving the car in another town. He stopped her and asked how it was running. She said she had done no repairs to the drive train, and it now had logged well over 300,000 miles. She said it burned some oil, but it wasn’t bad enough to fix yet.
Author:  stonethk [ Thu Feb 05, 2009 3:08 pm ]
Post subject: 
How about this...Going out side one morning I notice 1 Denver boot on the left front wheel of my 66 dart.
"This means war!"
So early one morning armed with a wrecking bar I proceeded to pry at a very well thought out spot on the yellow shoe.
Well 30 seconds later (WOOT!) I threw the whole thing in the trunk and drove away, albeit with a slight grinding noise from the front.

Even parking 10 blocks from my house those pesky jerks found it and towed her immediately.
Author:  Reed [ Thu Feb 05, 2009 3:19 pm ]
Post subject: 
Quote:
How about this...Going out side one morning I notice 1 Denver boot on the left front wheel of my 66 dart.
"This means war!"
So early one morning armed with a wrecking bar I proceeded to pry at a very well thought out spot on the yellow shoe.
Well 30 seconds later (WOOT!) I threw the whole thing in the trunk and drove away, albeit with a slight grinding noise from the front.

Even parking 10 blocks from my house those pesky jerks found it and towed her immediately.
this might help...
Author:  stonethk [ Thu Feb 05, 2009 3:59 pm ]
Post subject: 
Quote:

this might help...
Hah! your technique is good......but my double-secret technique is much gooder Hah! Hah! Hiiiiiyyya!
Author:  Joshie225 [ Thu Feb 05, 2009 4:18 pm ]
Post subject: 
Stone,

Why was your car booted?

The only slant that I really killed was the one in my road racing '66 Dart. I had switched to a rebuilt stock oil pump to reduce the loading on the oil pump and cam gears. I was also running Chevron SAE 30 oil rather than synthetic. The car had enough lateral grip that the oil would slosh away from the pickup even though I had baffled the pan and kicked out the right side of the sump for more capacity. With the small stock pump, the hot SAE 30 oil and the cornering forces I was loosing oil pressure in turns and not getting it back right away. I ignored the light too long and spun the #4 or #5 rod bearing which broke the rod, piston and block. It still ran, but shook like heck.

Image

Another case of outright slant abuse happened when my '74 D100 blew it's radiator. I wasn't but a couple miles from home so I kept going. After most of the steam was gone the engine would ping at very small throttle openings, but it made it home fine. I replaced the radiator, filled the coolant and never thought twice about it.
Author:  Aggressive Ted [ Thu Feb 05, 2009 5:50 pm ]
Post subject: 
When I first got my 74 Dart Swinger a rice Jockey cut in front of a truck I was following from 3 lines to my right slammed on the brakes in front of the truck. Well, all I saw was the drive line on the truck as he stood it on it's nose. Needless to say I slid as well and when the truck cam back down he took out my hood grill, radiator and one fender. Well parts were everywhere and all the water nearly gone.
So I drove it home 45 miles with no water and put in new radiator two days later. Then drove it another 225,000 miles until......

Some of you may have read that in 2006 on my way to work after an oil change at our local Valvoline Lube shop the oil filter collapsed and would not bypass. Half way to work traveling at 60 mph I hear a squeek, squeek, looked down at the oil gauge and zero oil pressure....... I drove another 15 miles through Bellevue to a Schuck's Auto Parts and bought a PH8 and screwed it on, bingo 45 pounds oil pressure. So I drove it home 60 miles...... then rebuilt it out of pitty at 355,000 miles.
Thank goodness for synthetic oil.....it helped keep it from seizing up. We went ahead and turned the crank down .010 resized and shot peened the rods and balanced everything.

In the footer below is my rebuild per Doc's (Doctor Dodge) prescription. Thank God for the good Doctor in my time of need.

I got rid of the skinny squirrely stock tires and rims and went with 7" wide rims and put on a set of P225 60R 14 BF Goodrich T/A radials and added 10" brakes on all for corners. Now I can stand it on it's nose and it stays nice and straight when needed in rush hour traffic! :D :D :D
Author:  turboram [ Fri Feb 06, 2009 5:40 am ]
Post subject: 
I heard of a truck a local farmer had that he wasn't using,so I went over and asked about it . He explained to me that it would barely run and had many problems,He also explained that you just couldn't kill that slant six ,even though his boys tried many times. so for the large sum of $50 I bought is and took it home.on inspection I found they were running tractor drain oil ,the supposed tune up I was told about had a spark plug with no gap and 3 wires wrong,and the accel pump arm was unhooked.with all that fixed I drove it for a month and sold it for $700.It ran like new. I even took it over to the farmer and he told me it ran better than ever for the 7 years he owned it . Did I mention this truck had almost 300,000 mi on it,
my truck I currently have has shorn off the oil pump teeth 3 times and was driven 2 miles the first time and 1 the second and 6 the third and I am still running the same motor at 23 psi of boost :shock: .
and once I hauled a load of scrap in with the same truck when I crossed
the scales my total weight was 18,000# with a 1/2 ton :twisted:
my dad had a 76 slant 1ton dump and he never killed it despite the almost daily 7ton loads and pulling so much you couldn't get over 35,sometimes both together. once crossing the elevator scales at 80,000# with 2 400 bu wagons and the truck loaded with 250bu of corn .
after snapping the frame in half ( years before)and repairing it he drove it 10 more years and sold it to a landscaper who still drove it up until 2 years ago, or maybe it still runs thats the last I saw it!!!
Author:  Reed [ Fri Feb 06, 2009 8:11 am ]
Post subject: 
Here's a couple more.

My first slant six car ever was a 78 Volare wagon I bought from the parents of guy I knew in high school. The car had been sitting outside for over two years without being started or moved. An oil change, battery change, and a couple gallons of fresh gas in the trunk and the motor stated right up after about 30 second of cranking.

Yesterday I went and looked at a project car for my brother. It is slant six powered, but I am not saying what it is yet. The car had sat outside again for about two years and hadn't been started since April of 08. A new attery, some WD-40 down the carb, cranking for about a minute, and it started right up! Went to high idle, then went down to curb idle. It even drove and stopped pretty well.
Author:  Reed [ Fri Feb 06, 2009 8:11 am ]
Post subject: 
Here's a couple more.

My first slant six car ever was a 78 Volare wagon I bought from the parents of guy I knew in high school. The car had been sitting outside for over two years without being started or moved. An oil change, battery change, and a couple gallons of fresh gas in the trunk and the motor stated right up after about 30 second of cranking.

Yesterday I went and looked at a project car for my brother. It is slant six powered, but I am not saying what it is yet. The car had sat outside again for about two years and hadn't been started since April of 08. A new attery, some WD-40 down the carb, cranking for about a minute, and it started right up! Went to high idle, then went down to curb idle. It even drove and stopped pretty well.
Author:  bbbbbb9 [ Fri Feb 06, 2009 8:31 am ]
Post subject: 
Mine's more about a car than just the engine.

1964 Valient slant with a 904. I was working construction and one day after work we couldn't get out of the jobsite the route we usually took. Had to travel a mile plus through the site no pavement just dirt. Well the material (that's dirt for you non-road builders out there) was what we nicknamed "talc". When wet it was like grease and dry it was like talcum powder.

Well none of the Box culverts were built yet (basically a bridge) so we had to drive around these areas and here the turns were sharp and literally a feet deep in "talc". I come up to the first one and see a 4x4 toyota truck stuck (lift kit too).

I press the "1" button and give it about 3/4 throttle and make it through. Had about 6 more to go and at every one at least 2-3 trucks (Full size PUs) are stuck.

Made it all the way through hearing "glub glub" from the buried exhaust pipe.

True Freakin Story folks
Author:  bbbbbb9 [ Fri Feb 06, 2009 8:37 am ]
Post subject: 
Water pump went out on that engine on windy 2 lane desert highway with no place to pull off for miles. Blue smoke, white smoke, no smoke but load knockin.

Finally can pull over. get rescued.

Go back out the next day with a water pump and a bunch of water.

Jump that sucker and she's not wanting to even turn over. Starts to slowly turn. Loosens up and then VROOOM, fires.

I got back to town and changed the oil and tuned it up and the only problem was it burned a bit more oil.

This is why we love this engine
Author:  bigslant6fan [ Fri Feb 06, 2009 9:37 am ]
Post subject:  war stories
Keep them coming folks! :D This will have to be a sticky!
Author:  dge467 [ Fri Feb 06, 2009 5:28 pm ]
Post subject:  share your s/6 war story
I had a 66 Dart GT with about 210.000 mi on it. Went to visit my cousins in Springfield MA, about 100 miles away. It was a hot and humid August day with temps in the lower 90's. On the return trip I notice the temp gauge was going past the 3/4 mark on the gauge. With about 40 miles to go the temp gauge was about buried. I decided to go for it. I figured if I stopped it might not restart. When I got off the highway, at the bottom of the exit ramp there is a stop sign. When I stopped the oil light was flickering and the engine was making a cluncking noise. I made it the 4 final miles home, I drove the car up my ramps, and shut the car off, let it cool for a little bit and changed the oil and filter. To my surprise when I started the car the engine was quiet and the oil light was off! Ended up being a plugged up radiator. The car ran fine after radiator was replaced. Not to long after that my friend sold me a s/6 out of a 64 plymouth with about 50,000 mi on it. After swapping oil pans I put it in the Dart. I did not realize how worn out the old motor was after driving the car with the " new " engine!!!!
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