Glad I found this place. I have a 66 Plymouth Belvedere I with a Slant 6. Believe or not, the motor let go. I have no idea how much is was abused before I took ownership. Looking to make a motor swap with another Slant.

My question is:

Are certain year 225's better than others? I've done the HP gross vs net calculations and they seem very similiar across the board. But maybe I'm missing something.

Having a B body I want to make sure I'm getting the best 225 possible.

I have a chance of getting a '76 225 for next to nothing plus I have a '72 198 available as well.

What should I look for?

Thank you all for your input.

If you go through the articles section you will have some head scratching to do with your available choices...

1966 car if original will mate up to the Pre-1968 engine no problem...the crank register changed at that time so the 1968+ engine will need an annular spacer to help keep things jake when bolted up to your automatic tranny.

Next up the cam changed in 1972...so a post 1972 engine would slightly better than the earlier engines...Your 1976 engine would have a head that has hardened seats best used with unleaded...but: the spark plugs will be different...and that year they changed from the forged crank engines to the cast crank engines (not critical but if overhauling you need to know which is which...especially if you intend to keep the rods or crank, etc from your 1966 engine for future uses...).

Round 3: The 198 is a good engine and although lacking the displacement of the 225, has some characteristics that are desired (but may lack the general HP/Torque the basic 225 has)...That being said: you can swap your 1966 crank and rods into this block and come out with a 225 that will install into your car without hassle....also the 198 rods are desired for a special build covered in the 'stroking article'...so if the engine is cheap you might be able to sell the rods to cover other costs if they are in good condition.

Do a little reading and see what works best for you.

-D.Idiot

Duster Idiot -

Thanks a ton for all the info. The current engine is not a '66. In fact I'm not sure what year it is only that it came out of a Dart.

If I went with the '76 will I have a problem matching it up to certain transmissions? How do I identify what trans I currently have? With the hardened seats and today's gas it sounds like a '76 is a good way to go.

Again, thanks for all the info. I want to make sure this is a worth while effort as my Belvedere has been off the road far too long. I want to start enjoying it again.

I don't know if it's just a coincidence or what, but I've had 6 different slant 6's at one point or another in various different cars and three of them blew up. The three that blew were from 76 and two from 75. The other three were from 68 and 70 and they still run great. I personally avoid later model slants.

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68 Barracuda 71 Dart

sounds like a user error to me. These are tough engines!

My vote is for earlier slants, just because the auto industry in general over engineered things, then began messing with a good thing.

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1964 Dart GT