Too big of cam?
I have a 67 Valiant, 225 aluminum block slant six, Holley single barrel, 904, 83/4. I bought it from an older guy near me that owned it for years and years. He did a lot of work to it but kept it pretty mild although he did install a bigger cam so it idles pretty rough. It runs fine when going down the road but at lights it stumbles and bumbles like it's going to die, but doesn't. I have the end of the box that the cam came in and the specs are on it, they say...
Delta Camshaft Inc, 270, Perf. 264 S Mech. Grind.
Duration Deg (Int 264) (exh 264) ~
Valve lift (Int .440) (Exh .440) ~
Valve Lash (Int .010) (Exh .012)
None of this means much to me but I was wondering if it is too big to run well or is there anything I can add on to make it run smoother, maybe a super six set up? A local carburetor mechanic said it won't help to add a 2 bbl because you can only get so much out of a six cyl (whatever that means).
I love this car and plan on continuing to drive it every day BUT would love to have more 'get up and go', it's not fast at all and rufuses to spin the tires unless it's pouring down rain! I'm a kid and want to show off every once in awhile when one of those Honda jerk offs are next to me revving their engine. I don't have a ton of money and would love to keep the six but need more out of it. Help??
Slants make a GREAT all-around engine for a guy in school with a limited budget. It won't outrun truly "fast" cars, but if properly tuned, it will perform a LOT better than you (and most V-8 guys) expect. I used to be a V-8 guy myself, and every slant car I drove as a kid were DOGS, so I assumed ALL slants sucked. I bought my current slant six Swinger specifically for a V-8 swap. But now that I've learned a few things and how to tweak a slant to make it run the way it can, I LOVE it. All I suggest is to give it a chance. But if you lack the patience and understanding to to get all you can out of a slant, then a V-8 swap is the "easy way" to make more power (at the sacrifice of mileage and uniqueness).
To address your questions, the cam is not "too big". It's similar in size to the cam in MY engine, and it idles fine. You may want to go with a higher stall torque convertor. Too bad you just had your transmission rebuilt - that would've been the easiest time to upgrade it. I have a 2600 stall convertor in my Swinger, and with the valves adjusted, it idles fine (you HAVE adjusted the valves, haven't you? If not, time to learn!).
A mechanic who says a slant six is "too small" to run a 2bbl is, flat out, talking out of his behind. There are probably hundreds (if not thousands) of slants around the world running 2 AND 4 bbls, along with multiple Webers, and fuel injection. The common 2bbl upgrade for the slant is the Super Six, which was a FACTORY OPTION for several years. Too big? Whatever.
The easiest way to get the "off the line" quickness and tire spin you're looking for is to go with a lower differential gear set The gearing has to be balanced with how much highway driving you do, however. If you do a fair amount of driving at or above 50 mph, you probably don't want gearing more than 3.23. If you drive the car mainly BELOW 50, you could go with 3.55s, 3.73s, or even 3.91s out back. These WILL allow you to spin the tires, even with a lowly little stock slant, as long as it's TUNED properly. What I suspect you have is a mismatched combo, and that can be a problem even with V-8's.
You need to sort out exactly what you have. Understanding that will help prepare you to work on ANY engine, be it a slant, a V-8, or a W-16. Come here are visit
www.slantsix.org and ask lots and lots of questions. Good luck!