Why the /6

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Snake said:
I just got to ask why the /6 over a much better and more powerfull sbv8 or bbv8 why do you keep that low power unit?:wack:
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As has been said throughout this thread, the response by others make having a /6 a lot of fun. Have been to a # of small (burger place) shows... some cars having blowers thru the hoods, some with big block engines with everything chromed. I really enjoy the response (appreciation) when people see that all we have is a /6 225 under the hood!

I was originally going to drop in a 360 V8... until seeing the repeated positive responses for the stock /6.
 
65CucaCuda said:
As has been said throughout this thread, the response by others make having a /6 a lot of fun. Have been to a # of small (burger place) shows... some cars having blowers thru the hoods, some with big block engines with everything chromed. I really enjoy the response (appreciation) when people see that all we have is a /6 225 under the hood!

I was originally going to drop in a 360 V8... until seeing the repeated positive responses for the stock /6.
Click to expand...

Well, for all of my long-winded, serious-sounding, boring diatribes on forced induction and how it relates to slant sixes, the bottom line with ALL this stuff is, "is it FUN???"

The slant six is a novelty, or has become one, on the rodders's circuit, and is a welcome change from the thousands of small- block and big-block cars that populate the car shows of today. There are hundreds of different-appearing ways to dress a slant six up for a show, and none of them look anything like a V-8! The Weber 2-bbl, side-draft induction systems are eye-candy for lots of us, and the few Roots-style blower conversions !hat I've seen at shows are just jaw-dropping!

A single 4-bbl/header-equipped, /6 might not be the quickest way through the quarter-mile, but if well-put-together and cleanly built, the chances of it winning a trophy at a show, might just hinge on its rarity and originality.

Like I said; it's all about having fun!!!

Our particular car is built with that in mind, although it tends to look like we are deadly serious about going fast, and nothing else.That's just not the case.

If we were that intent on creating time slips with really impressive numbers on them, we would have done a lot of things differently. What we did was to make a bald-faced copy of a successful car and its engine, hoping we could coax some sort of semblance of similar times out of our "copy-cat" effort. So far, I can't report that we have had much luck in repeating the times turned in by the car we have attempted to build a clone of, but we have been so frustratingly S-L-O-W in getting it to the strip, I will admit, that it has taken a lot of fun out of it. A variety of problems has kept us from the strip with this bucket of bolts until now, but it would appear that our time is coming for some test-n-tune, shortly, where we can actually see what we have wrought!

NOW, (maybe,) we will have some fun!!!! :blob:

Talk is cheap.... we'll see!!!:cheers:
 

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Bill Dedman said:
Well, for all of my long-winded, serious-sounding, boring diatribes on forced induction and how it relates to slant sixes, the bottom line with ALL this stuff is, "is it FUN???

A single 4-bbl/header-equipped, /6 might not be the quickest way through the quarter-mile, but if well-put-together and cleanly built, the chances of it winning a trophy at a show, might just hinge on its rarity and originality.

Like I said; it's all about having fun!!!

:cheers:
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Not at a Show yet but Victorious at the track in 2013, Oh yea it was a great day taking out 3 other bigger C.I. cars for the #1 spot on Georges Rays Drag strip for George Rays Birthday race :cheers: It will be a while before I get a trophy at a car show :D
 

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ok, time for my reply to this thread after reading ALL the pages so far.

The thread shifted a bit south and when from "why?" to "silly little slant six people" to "we can rock, see I told you mom!"

I own a 6.7 Cummins Diesel truck rocket ship 4 door 4wd 3500 single rear wheel Cost $60k
I own a 1972 Dodge Demon 340 4 speed that is rare and fast and very clean. worth approx. $20,000
I also own a 1966 Barracuda with a /6 and used Cragar s/s and the paint is shot but the interior is awesome and I have a very clean install of a good stereo and speakers. I put approx. 3,000miles on the Barracuda last year. The Demon got approx. 100miles last year and the truck was new in July and I am at 35k.

"Who cares? Right? I do. I love to go fast and always want to win on the street, the strip or in business. The Demon is a full street car and never has seen the track but I love my Barracuda with the /6 and the worn Cragars because it runs well, never an issue and any where I go it gets noticed. If at a show, I stand out with the /6 ; every one has a story. The Demon, just blends in between the "my mom owned one of those" to "a kid in high school stories"

With the Demon, everyone wants to race you... not good for my personality or my pocket book / license. Again I hate to loose! As of yesterday I just installed new front torsion bars on the front and super stock springs in the rear direct from Mopar for the Barracuda. I am awaiting the new steering box from Firm Feel hopefully this week. All new shocks and it is just plain fun to drive. I've gotten to a financial point in my life now that the fuel cost don't bother me at all (paying $4.55 a gal for diesel in CT). The Demon never breaks down so that is not it at all. The /6 is history... good or bad. Just owning a piece of history is very cool to me. If people want to put me down go ahead, most of the time they are just jealous because they drive a mini van and own nothing other people want to look at. If they want to race, I will go home and grab the Demon and they back off.

On many boards there is a "ladder of power" as I see it. The later 70's cars with /6 are at the bottom and the Hemi V-8 and 6 pack cars fully loaded are at the top with everything in between). If you own a /6 your seem to feel small. My attitude is with out the 7 billion /6 made there would be no 426 Hemi Daytona cars. Just like the new Hemi's would not even exist with out the 4 cylinder engines in the K-cars back in the early 80's. Thank you Lee Iacocca. Lucky for us we have a choice, mine is building my Barracuda to swap out the /6 (OMG!) for a V-6 and overdrive from a new Charger. Why? Why not. But until then the /6 will keep running away, giving me a simple break from the week's troubles. Also, Yahoo! to the turbo /6's that stuff is just really cool I give credit to all of those out there who step outside the box and the main stream and run their own life. Rock on!
 
like the man said "FUN" is what our hobby is about!! right!???? what floats out boat varies from guy to guy, variety is the spice of life!? etc/ i agree with Syleng!, the slant gets lots of admiration at the cruise or show, and i know i admire the man that can set it up with forced air! side draft carbs and all that eye candy! i think Syleng! is pretty typical of the middle class mopar car, he loves his cummins ( i love mine even though i bought it new in '95! and its what? 19 yrs old!??) he loves his 340 A, but he has found FUN and $$$ is not always related!!!!!! just like rare and $$$$ is nor always related!!???? slant = FUN!!!!!
 
I still can't believe that there are over 100 hits for the "red headed step-child". The times they are a changin'...........
 
Darter6 said:
I still can't believe that there are over 100 hits for the "red headed step-child". The times they are a changin'...........
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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'!!! :)
 
Darter6 said:
I still can't believe that there are over 100 hits for the "red headed step-child". The times they are a changin'...........
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What a quote on St. Paddy's day huh?

The saying "red headed step child" is a comment made for things that are "one off "
or "so far to the south and different" it stands out in a crowd (Hmmm maybe the man is right?). Like to quote one of the newer songs, "I was an all white boy living in a colored neighborhood"

Maybe /6's are all some people can have or afford. Lord knows I can afford a lot more than a /6 and I do. I am very thankful for the gifts I've earned and worked for. The world has been very good to me and my family.

I try not to understand the fact a /6 is not everyone's cup of tea. I understand not every one likes early a-bodies or later ones. That's ok also. If everyone only liked big block darts... there would be none left. Lord knows the bigger badged and higher optioned cars command a premium, and premium is not just the monetary cost it is a cost of that they rarely get driven. Yes, some people still drive their Hemi convertible Satellites, but unless you are on a closed course I have no idea how you can enjoy them knowing they are worth that much and with one distracted driver, it's toast! Even with proper insurance you cant get it back.

My message above states my opinion about the engines and I am glad some see it my way, because there are still more "Red headed step children" out there than you may think. I see the makings of a good Mopar horror flick....
 
HA 101 hits!! ya gotta remember Mopar folks tend to be RABID about their hobby!! LOL yes, many off us seek the simplier times and life!?? i do.
i figure maybe we can own some slants and v 8 cars at the same time and not be disloyal to any group!!????????? LOL
 
heck my reply is I have it, so why not use it. it was the second or 3rd /6 that I got. my first one was a 66 dart convertible too!
Plus I have a go fast car if I want to "go fast" 70 challenger 44 6 pack. But it likes too many gas stations and is missing a particular piece of equipment for what I want to do now. I want to drive it a lot with the top down and air blowing over me. the challengers got a top that I can't remove. the dart /6 does, plus I can fix it up without the purist going through the roof every time I do something new on it like cup holders power converters built in the console. so I get dependability for long drives, a nice older classic,A CONVERTIBLE (big part for me) and maybe if I do it right better gas mileage than the 440

my first one was from Miami fL. ALSO weird since my newport had just been t boned visiting my mom in lakeland florida. I was much younger. a LOT dumber and lucky as heck in 1973 I bought a 66 dodge dart(cheap) from a guy visiting my mom for some design work she had to do for him. So I rode to his house with him lugging my tool kit I always carried to get the car running again. I don't remember when this thing was run last by the previous owner. but it got 17+ MPH and 2 quarts of oil for that 5 hour trip to my moms home. coming up gator alley from Miami. of course that was sitting on a padded milk crate(not my best idea it turns out. bought a lawn chair at a yard sale on the way home since I could hardly stand up after an hour or so of sitting on the milk crate.) the seat skins came with the car but were not attached to any seats and no top on it plus 8 or so large garbage bags worth of leaves pulled from it from sitting under a tree for 5 years(man that was fun believe it or not) I streamed leaves the whole way home and STILL pulled out 4 big contractor bags of leaves. I put the top on and used some seats from the junk yard,sealed up the oil leaks (valve cover gasket and drool tubes) changed the oil,replaced the belts and hoses, replaced the gas tank and rubber lines to get me home to Michigan. I drove that car for 4 years till I sold it and never did anything else to it except oil changes,brake shoes, shocks and tires.


The weirdest part is that THIS /6 convertible dart that I am now restoring was in the SAME general area! the same similar shape AND came with the replacement seat skins and top. Leaf's were free of charge too! but it did have seats bolted to the umm what you would once have called floorboards. I ended up driving it the last 15-20 miles home too since the trailer had a bearing seize up but not on a milk crate thank goodness , that would have killed my back now a days!:D
 
Just to let ya all know my first 3 carssssssssssss had the slant 62, Valiant,69 Dart,66 Belva-dare and i was only 14 when i got hook on mopars.
 
Great story,Love to hear them, we all got them. My first slant was a 66 Valiant 170 3 on the tree that I paid $16 bucks for .......................
 
They make good ballast in the back of a pickemup in the snow.....
 
I am with Jake and Elwood on this one. "Do what you feel and keep both feet on the wheel." I love the /. I think the super fast hugely powered V-8s are cool too but I don't drive fast. My wife mocks me for driving like a granny. I like them all but not all of them are for me. And I like hearing the stories behind them. A personal favorite of mine is I had a 71 Duster I paid $100 for and my friend after a bunch of research bought a used accord and raved about how reliable and low cost it was to own. His alternator went out the same week mine did. He had to spend $250 on a mechanic and it took two days to get the part. I laughed at him and said I spent $30 and did it myself in 30 minutes in the dark with the wrong tools.
 
66fs said:
Nah, that's what Chevy blocks are for. There are millions of 350's and 400's that don't run, why use a running /6? One on each side...
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:thumrigh:=D>=D>=D>
 
don't forget the joke about the use of big blocks (any brand) as fishin boat anchors!!?????? in MO some use the slant for jet ski anchors!? LOL
 
barbee6043 said:
don't forget the joke about the use of big blocks (any brand) as fishin boat anchors!!?????? in MO some use the slant for jet ski anchors!? LOL
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That is probably the same genius that pulled out the /6 out of his" inherited from granny," Dart/Duster, and installed a 360, thinking he was doing the smart thing...

He should have dug a little deeper... lol!

Getting a 360 into the 10's can be an expensive proposition.

Bringing a turbocharged /6 up to that same performance level might well be cheaper... and it saves all those engine-swap expenses...

Just sayin'...:violent1:
 
Bill Dedman said:
Well, for all of my long-winded, serious-sounding, boring diatribes on forced induction and how it relates to slant sixes, the bottom line with ALL this stuff is, "is it FUN???"

The slant six is a novelty, or has become one, on the rodders's circuit, and is a welcome change from the thousands of small- block and big-block cars that populate the car shows of today. There are hundreds of different-appearing ways to dress a slant six up for a show, and none of them look anything like a V-8! The Weber 2-bbl, side-draft induction systems are eye-candy for lots of us, and the few Roots-style blower conversions !hat I've seen at shows are just jaw-dropping!

A single 4-bbl/header-equipped, /6 might not be the quickest way through the quarter-mile, but if well-put-together and cleanly built, the chances of it winning a trophy at a show, might just hinge on its rarity and originality.

Like I said; it's all about having fun!!!

Our particular car is built with that in mind, although it tends to look like we are deadly serious about going fast, and nothing else.That's just not the case.

If we were that intent on creating time slips with really impressive numbers on them, we would have done a lot of things differently. What we did was to make a bald-faced copy of a successful car and its engine, hoping we could coax some sort of semblance of similar times out of our "copy-cat" effort. So far, I can't report that we have had much luck in repeating the times turned in by the car we have attempted to build a clone of, but we have been so frustratingly S-L-O-W in getting it to the strip, I will admit, that it has taken a lot of fun out of it. A variety of problems has kept us from the strip with this bucket of bolts until now, but it would appear that our time is coming for some test-n-tune, shortly, where we can actually see what we have wrought!

NOW, (maybe,) we will have some fun!!!! :blob:

Talk is cheap.... we'll see!!!:cheers:
Click to expand...

You hit the nail on the head - "Is it Fun??"! For some people driving their cars a quarter mile at a time as fast as they can is their source of enjoyment. For others, taking their /6 for a cruise around town, for a drive on the open highway for a few hours or just filling up at the gas station and getting the honks, nods and thumbs up is theirs. Personally, I fall into the latter category. But more power to the quarter-milers (no pun intended!) should that be their choice.

"Is it Fun?" That's the question.
 
I like the oddball engines and I have oddball engines other than in my race car which. I followed the kiss acronym
Keep
It
Simple
Stupid

I like the /6 engines and if I had the money to buy another dart I'd put one in it

Posted via Topify using iPhone/iPad
 
Bill Dedman said:
That is probably the same genius that pulled out the /6 out of his" inherited from granny," Dart/Duster, and installed a 360, thinking he was doing the smart thing...

He should have dug a little deeper... lol!

Getting a 360 into the 10's can be an expensive proposition.

Bringing a turbocharged /6 up to that same performance level might well be cheaper... and it saves all those engine-swap expenses...

Just sayin'...:violent1:
Click to expand...

I'm with you Bill on everything except using a turbo car in "bracket racing" It will be inconsistant compared to a normally asperated car. Or can turbos be consistant now a days?

I see lots of diesel trucks drag racing in an all diesel drag race and they are very fast but take forever to spool up at the line, therefore cut terrible reactions.

Any suggestions? Would love to turbo a slant except for that reason...
 
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