Why the /6
I still can't believe that there are over 100 hits for the "red headed step-child". The times they are a changin'...........
They are, indeed!
I was an NHRA tech at our local drag strip for several years, back in the fifties and sixties (no typo) and moved away to another city and started doing the same thing.( I think I made all of $10.00 a day!)
Point being, I have been at this high performance/drag strip, business for a
l-o-n-g time (since 1955.)
Maybe I am just a REALLY slow learner, but until Ryan Peterson (owner/builder/driver of that 127mph '66 turbo Valiant, in the video)) and Tom Wolfe (owner/builder/driver of that 120mph '70 Dart, in a different you tube video) posted those videos of their alarmingly-fast runs, I had NO IDEA that a slant 6 had the potential for that kind of neck-snapping acceleration.
It got my attention, a guy who had 59 years-worth of V-8 go-fast experience!
My partner and I (ages 76 and 75,) decided that we wanted a last-gasp effort that was different from the lifetime of V-8's we'd both had....
This forced-induction, 225 /6 was perfect; relatively affordable, reasonably fast (if we did it right,) unusual, and a project that had readily-available help and information from two guys who had already done it, successfully. Tom Wolfe (FABO member "Shaker 223" spent many hours on the phone with me, and sent me numerous informational emails and pictures, saving us hours and much money! Thanks, Tom!!!
The fact is, turbo slant sixes, are gaing in popularity by leaps and bounds, and this makes getting parts and information about doing it, a lot more easily obtained!
When the word gets out, sufficiently, that these things have 12-second capability in a normal-weight A-Body, on pump gas at only slightly over 12 pounds of boost, I think a LOT of people who are thinking of replacing the leaning tower of power in granny's Duster will be thinking twice about that.
That's just my own opinion, based on the 180- degree turnaround, based on my own experience.:glasses7:
Yeah, the (elapsed?)times, they ARE a-changin'!!! :)
