1967 Barracuda - Slant Six (orig) or 440 Big Block? Daily Driver, Need MPG

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Or sale the 440 and drop a good running 318 gets pretty much the same mileage and can do hop ups as you can afford them. Start with duals and 4 bbl and mild cam and enjoy power and mileage.
 
273 said:
Or sale the 440 and drop a good running 318 gets pretty much the same mileage and can do hop ups as you can afford them. Start with duals and 4 bbl and mild cam and enjoy power and mileage.
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Sale the 440?

Don't sale it. Don't sell it either.
I've pulled running slant six engines and scrapped them...MANY times. Each time I pull one, I run an ad on craigslist just to see if it will sell. Only one in 5 has sold so far. I got $150 for it and it ran great. I let them take the thing totally complete including belts and hoses. If the guy would have been around when I pulled it, I would have given him the anti-freeze I drained out.
I guess it is just because many people are out of the loop, but I can't wrap my head around paying to rebuild a slant six. I can't understand people that brag about having a "Numbers matching" slant six or 318 car either. I mean, these were the most common engines made so they aren't exactly rare by any stretch.
To do the 440 swap right, you'd need a bigger rear axle, shorter and stouter drive shaft, front disc brakes and a host of other tidbits. You could gear a 440 to get 18 mpg or better if you run a well tuned Thermoquad or Quadrajet carb and a free flowing exhaust. There are many reports of people with 440-6 B bodies getting 18 mpg with a 3.54 Dana. A 3200 lb A body should be able to beat that.
If finances are tight, the quickest way to driving the car again is a slanty from whatever source you pick.
 
Numbers matching slants will be rare if more people do what you do... :/ TBH, I wouldn't mind finding a slant six powered A for a driver. Unfortunately old mopars out here are not common and made worse by being smack dab in the center of some of the least populated part of the lower 48.
 
Yeah, I too think /6 cars will be "rare" someday (they're already "ebay rare" now lol). (joking, though if everyone keeps doing v8 swaps to them, an original /6 car will be a curiosity at future car shows).

Still, couldn't agree more with Kern Dog, why rebuild a slant six? The only reasons to rebuild an engine are either if they're so rare you can't find a good one, or you just want to build one fresh "your way" (performance build). Unless you're doing a /6 performance build, there's just no reason to at all. Waste of money. The only reason my /6 car is getting a rebuilt /6 is because a member here had one and I was able to trade for some other parts I wasn't going to use, so it was a win/win, but it didn't really cost me anything.
 
like they say, buy a good running slant or let someone give ya one!!!!! you'll never get ya $$$ out of the rebuilt slant.unless you put 300,000 mi on it!??? keep the 440 for when you can afford it. or lke they say, pickup a cheap foreign made beater. and save the classic....
advice from the old, wise one!???????????? LOL
 
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