Any Slant 6 owners here on FCBO?

[Edison]

After driving my Newport almost daily for a few weeks now, I've realized I would like to get another classic Mopar in a few years once I've "accomplished" the things I want to do with the Newport. However, the goal then will be a daily driver (March to late November) so a big block V8 would be impractical, but I think a Slant 6 would be perfect. I know they are nearly indestructible and have tons of performance options and potential. However, the one thing I couldn't find in all my research on them was stead MPG figures. I guess MPG could vary greatly based on cam, carb, intake (stock vs. aftermarket), headers, exhaust paths etc.

Anyone here rocking a car with a Slant 6 in it that could give me some advice? I'm thinking something like a 65 Coronet sedan.

 

[C Body Bob]

May I recomend if you want a slant 6 car you would be best to look into an early A body. Maybe even a convertable. The early A's are pretty light. Several different styles to pick from. And they made enough so parts are a bit eaiser to find than on many of the C body cars. They are neat little cars to drive & fix up. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Big_John]

I've had a bunch of the /6 cars, including two B-bodies. 63 and 64 Dodge 330's. Both were automatics.

They are better in an A-body, the cars are really built for the /6. Power is good etc. I had no issue in the B-bodies though... just had to remember that there wasn't a lot of extra power to get on the highway.

 

[Edison]

A body it will be fellas! Knowledge is power!

Big_john - how was gas mileage on your /6's? You know if there is a big difference in mileage between the 170 and 225? I can find a lot of decent articles on power, racing, performance etc but not much on MPG. I know most the time I wouldn't give two craps about mileage on my C body as I'm gonna drive it when weather permits either way, but if I were to daily a classic I'd have to make sure she was a bit less thirsty than the C-body and big block ;)

 

[Big_John]

Gas was cheap then.... I never kept track.

 

[Badvert65]

I have a 79 Volare Wagon with 2.91 rear gears, 15 inch rims, slant six, auto, two barrel carb. I got 30 mpg highway without trying hard. Not a quick car but it could haul stuff cheaply.

 

[C Body Bob]

I'm no /6 expert, but I d know they made an aluminum block in 61? In both 198 & 225 size. They way you can tell is there will be no freeze plugs in the block. Can you imagin the kind of fun you could have with that with the local parts store know it all.

Also there used to be a Mobil Gas economy run. /6's did well in this for years. Yea I know they where "worked" cars from the factory. Still good reading.

And in the mid 70's through early 80's Chrysler offerded the 4 speed overdrive trannys. Lots of em in dusters, Volares & D150's

If its mileage you want you should be able to get 24-30 depending on the how you want it.

 

[Bryan]

I never saw a huge difference in fuel mileage between a 225 and a 318, but there is a BIG difference in power. In fact, most 225 equipped C Bodies have dents all over the back bumper, cause they cant even get out of their own way.:icon_smile:
If you decide you really want a C body as a Daily Driver, I would recommend a 318 instead of a 225.

 

[Big_John]

I owned a Dart Lite for about 5 minutes. Aluminum hood and trunk. NPG overdrive 4 speed and a two barrel carb.

I bought it and a friend went with me to drive it home. He took the Dart and we got less than a mile before he pulled me over. He told me he wanted the car....

That was over 20 years ago and he still has the car.

 

[Edison]

I'm no /6 expert, but I d know they made an aluminum block in 61? In both 198 & 225 size. They way you can tell is there will be no freeze plugs in the block. Can you imagin the kind of fun you could have with that with the local parts store know it all.

Also there used to be a Mobil Gas economy run. /6's did well in this for years. Yea I know they where "worked" cars from the factory. Still good reading.

And in the mid 70's through early 80's Chrysler offerded the 4 speed overdrive trannys. Lots of em in dusters, Volares & D150's

If its mileage you want you should be able to get 24-30 depending on the how you want it.

Yeah I was reading that they were capable of 30 highway MPG. But realistically I'm not expecting to get the same mileage as my current 1.5L four banger gets me, but would be "hopeful" to get 15 city/20 highway out of a stock /6.

C Body Bob - from what I was reading, that many of the aluminum block cars ended up having dealers put iron blocks in the cars as people for various reasons just didn't click with the aluminum blocks at the time.

 

[mcmlvii]

You can get an idea of fuel mileage from sites like Fuelly.com. That particular site doesn't have many /6 car listings but here are the few I found, showing average MPG (many were Canadian too, so I don't know how the site handles conversion, if any is necessary):
1965 Valiant convert 16.0 mpg (63 fill-ups)
1965 Valiant 23.0 mpg (25 fill-ups)
1965 Valiant wagon 7.6 mpg (5 fill-ups)
1969 Valiant 13.9 mpg (3 fill-ups)
1975 Dart 17.8 mpg (43 fill-ups)
1975 Dart 21.3 mpg (17 fill-ups)

 

[sleepar]

I had a slant 6 in a 80 d100 truck with an a833 and it went faster in 3rd than 4th gear... it was tough and had locked up several times but ran like a top the odometer rolled over so many times we lost track of it and it had a lot of hours idling then years doing farm duty.... the truck rotted away from around the engine... I rebuilt the truck with a 360 after buying it from a family member for a dollar on paper... if you don't care about power and like to have something super reliable the slant is for you... a slant six Newport wagon matching # would be the rarest of the rare combo to have and although it would be drastically under powered it would be the neatest thing to have all done up at a car show because nobody else would have one and it would draw a crowd of mopar enthusiasts just out of the novelty of it....

 

[53ryder]

I have a 1964 Plymouth Valiant sitting a few feet away from me, in the garage, as I type this post. It has a 225cid slant six with electronic ignition, the previous owner added. Automatic tranny. Very simple car. Manual steering and manual brakes, so you must work a bit more but lots of fun!


Glenn

 

[Edison]

You can get an idea of fuel mileage from sites like Fuelly.com. That particular site doesn't have many /6 car listings but here are the few I found, showing average MPG (many were Canadian too, so I don't know how the site handles conversion, if any is necessary):
1965 Valiant convert 16.0 mpg (63 fill-ups)
1965 Valiant 23.0 mpg (25 fill-ups)
1965 Valiant wagon 7.6 mpg (5 fill-ups)
1969 Valiant 13.9 mpg (3 fill-ups)
1975 Dart 17.8 mpg (43 fill-ups)
1975 Dart 21.3 mpg (17 fill-ups)

Thanks! 15-20 mpg would be acceptable for my needs.