Thoughts on early vs. late Slants.
Cast cranks can withstand 500HP. The crank and reciprocating assembly are also much lighter than their forged crank brethrens.
All I plan on doing with mine if I choose to use it is installing a factory Super-Six set-up, complete with the Carter BBD, dizzy, the stock (or aftermarket) electronic ignition, and the 2-1/2” exhaust (or Dutras if I want to shell out for them). I should be fine, and before I would use it, I’d freshen it up a bit. It sits in a 1981 B250 passenger van. I bought the van as a complete parts van (I have a ’79 Street Van) that had been a non-op for decades, and said to have been parked due to a bad trans. “If it spins, it wins."
On a side note, my research tells me that by 1981, truck variations of the Slant were long gone, which is unfortunate. I have one in my garage that I picked up from a guy that was swapping a 360 into his ’64 Valiant wagon. I saw it run and helped him pull it. Imagine my excitement when I got it home, ran the numbers, and discovered it came out of a ’60-’61 truck! Since my ’61 Pioneer currently has a ’64 engine in it (along with a Holley 1920), I will probably do that swap eventually. Though I have a line on a Slant from a ’61 Seneca, which would be the numbers-matching mill for my car, I think that the truck engine is fine. If it were a V8 car, I would definitely snag a numbers-matching engine, but I really don’t think anyone cares if it’s a Slant, since most folks in the market for my Pioneer 2-door post would most likely V8 the car anyway (if I should decide to sell it, and I most likely will). Conversely, in the Slant world we here live in, having a year-matching truck engine in a FL car is gold, complete with a Carter BBS, which is proper for a 1961 Slant.