Resurrecting A 225 Dodge Slant Six - Engine Power S2, E2

today on engine power the guys tackle Chrysler's most durable and versatile inline six with a twist or should we say a slant legendary for being indestructible today we're going to dissect rebuild and hop up a true American cult engine the bulletproof Chrysler slant-6 why you may ask well it's a popular engine several of you viewers have been asking us to go through its revolutionary inline six design is tilted 30 degrees off-center to allow a lower hood profile a lower center of gravity and more access to engine accessories from 1959 to 2000 Mopar produced over 12 million of these G Series engines in 170 198 and 225 cubic inch displacements first for the compact valiant and then as the base engine in over 25 Dodge and Plymouth cars and trucks from darts to diplomats and Belvedere's to barracudas and thanks to its extreme reliability the slant-6 also saw duty and scores of tractors military trucks forklifts and industrial applications we picked this one up at the local boneyard for a hundred and fifty bucks and while it's not going to perform like a v8 this leaning tower of power is high in the cool Department but I think it has some issues the distinctive unequal length intake runners were mediocre and distributing fuel but still delivered over 30 miles per gallon and a hundred and forty five horses at 4000 rpm and a very torquey 215 foot-pounds at just 2800 the sequence a ton cracks in slant six exhaust manifolds were very common this one fits right in the valve cover has seen better days but it's not going to the scrap pile yet we'll use all the old tins as covers when we give it a paint job next to come off is the cannon oil tan several versions were made depending on what vehicle they went into and the capacity range from five to six quarts the pickup is screwed into the block and that can be removed as well upfront the balancer can be removed using our Matco puller the stamp steel timing cover comes off next since this was a car engine and not a heavy-duty version it has a single Road timing chain we will be replacing everything on the side of the engine the coil the fuel pump the distributor and engine mount Chrysler fitted this engine with an external gear rotor type oil pump its design and location made it easily serviceable even though not many problems arose 225s were equipped with either a standard volume like this one or a high-volume one in heavy duty models the valvetrain features adjustable sheetmetal rocker arms with a 1.5 ratio they're held in place with a shaft which is how they're lubricated the cylinder head is constructed of chrome alloy cast iron removing the head bolts in the reverse order of how they were torqued will keep the head to morphing like a banana let's see what we've got countless years in the salvage yard let this slick 6 soak in plenty of water unfortunately it's taking its toll now we don't even know if this block will be serviceable due to the amount of corrosion at this point a lot of guys would go ahead and scrap this block but we're not giving up plus a little bit of destruction doesn't scare us as long as it moves us on to the next step so the old air chisel is coming out of hiding we need to see if the factory forged crankshaft will come out without removing the rods so first we'll remove all of the rod caps followed by the massive mains now these share the same design and size from Chrysler's Hemi v8 you ready yep oh that's gonna make it way easier on cylinders one and two they came out relatively easy because the valves were closed on those cylinders keeping the water helm hey clean the bore pretty good on the way out nice as we progressed so did the degree of difficulty but it came out with a little vibratory persuasion hmm Wow number four was the most stubborn Pistons moving it's not going down through there it's Rocking our efforts weren't working so we're gonna have to get more aggressive with it and before we completely blast the piston out with a chisel we're gonna put a plate flat on the rod and hit straight down to see if we can jar it loose yeah baby I can't believe that the final two had the most corrosion and buildup on the cylinder well oh we have no idea how many miles then you could have a gazillion miles on it so I'm kind of sick and tired of vibrating let's get this last one out and then we'll talk about it man I I love I love science I love discovery they moved easier than three and four but the rust cloud tells the whole story by knocking the Pistons out of the top it gave us a cleaner and better view to check the condition of these cylinders as far as we can tell they may be salvageable the water pump is mounted with a lateral offset which helped keep the engine as short as possible now they did have a known issue the shaft which here off of the pump oh man that is infant diarrhea the camshaft is standard fare six-cylinder that rides on four cam bearing journals and has the distributor Drive in the middle now it's being upgraded for a peppier grind from Comp Cams the last thing we're going to do is go ahead and wash this block before we send it off to the machine shop that's going to give those guys a head start with a clean piece it's not rebuildable until the machine shop says it is we're back and a week has passed since we sent our slant-6 out to the machine shop but it didn't make it back the machine shop found too many things wrong with it and it was just flat-out unusable so we're going to go ahead and move forward with this one before we start assembling it a few coats of dupli-color ceramic engine enamel and Chrysler red were in order the original crank had a crack in the radius of the rod journal on cylinder number one which is automatic grounds for replacement since our plan is to have a street friendly slant-6 with excellent drivability a forged crank will be overkill for the application so a cast crank like this one will be plenty strong enough for the RPM and power we're gonna make matching rods were also needed for that cast crank that's due to the big and being narrower now on the forged crank it was a lot wider but they do share the same center-to-center lengths the early model block had three freeze plugs on the side of it this one is a later version and has five dimensionally there are no differences the ingredients for this build are all affordable bolt on parts you can buy through Summit Racing names like Comp Cams Edelbrock pioneer Hooker and often Houser will help us make more power even though it's fresh from the machine shop it's always proper engine building practice to check your tolerances since it's not a high-tech racing engine these measurements will be a little more forgiving first we're gonna check the main bearings our replacement crank cleaned up at ten thousandths undersized on the mains I'll use a two to three Mike to lock in the exact size of the journal now the number one main can be filled with a bearing and torqued into place I'll set the dial bore gauge up using the mic and check the torque mains to measure the clearance I'll repeat this for the other three mains as well don't ever assume chains will always be right om stuff also has a larger window of acceptable clearances for bearings unlike a true race engine all the rod journals get measured next and the same procedure is used to check oil clearance for the rod bearings I'll torque the rods in a special vise and then use the dial bore gauge to check all their clearances if you've never done this before here's some interesting info you should know the factory bearing clearances for a slant six on both the main and rod bearings ranges from two ten thousandths to twenty to ten thousands that's a mm range which is huge by machining standards hours are coming in almost dead in the middle which is right what we want the rear main seal I'm putting in is something special available from fast-fish Auto Parts Hemi specialist Jeff Gunther created this seal to fix the age-old problem of the leaky rear main seal on big-block Mopars since this slanty shares the same main journal size as a Hemi it's a fantastic upgrade follow the instructions to a tee and you'll have no issues finally it's time to lay the crank in royal purple max tough Lube is put on the bearings and 80-plus pounds worth of iron is set in its place the seal gets a dab of RTV and as rotated so the parting line is inside the block going from the inside out the main bolts are torqued to 70 foot-pounds to finish up the crank install we need to prep the rear main seal retainer a little bit of Loctite on the bolts threads and some silicone on the side seals it's ready to go in after easing it into place we can lock it down by torquing it to 30 foot-pounds last but certainly not least is the cranks end plate now the factory range is from 2 to 7 thousandths this one checks in at a comfortable 5 thousandths we're back at it and our leaning tower of power is ready for more parts now it's time to prep the piston and rod assemblies first make sure the dots on the Rings are facing the top of the piston second the ring gaps need to be clocked so they do not align now if those rings do a line you can get excessive blow by which causes crankcase pressure and makes the engine smoke out of the breather now that's also gonna make you second-guess your assembly procedure here's some quick tech the rings rotate on the piston as the engine runs at an average rate of six rpm that's caused by the crosshatch angle on the cylinder now a piston ring is unique in that it is a reciprocating seal so it must move freely independent of the piston to operate properly these are stock replacement cast Pistons from sealed power that are 440 thousands over bore now the ring pack is also from sealed power and as a stock configuration almost all om Pistons have a notch in the top which faces the front of the engine the reason being the risk pin boss is offset in the piston here's why they do this offsetting the risk pin towards the major thrust side of the engine keeps the piston from making noise on cold startup factories have always done this so the consumer doesn't hear a slight clicking sound of the piston skirt in low ambient temps the rods are riding on King non-coated bearings and will be torqued to 40 foot pounds using extreme pressure Lube now it's time for the solid flat tappet bump stick from Comp Cams it's a single pattern with 220 degrees of duration at 50 thousands lifts and has four hundred forty thousand valve lift on the intake and exhaust the lobe separation angle is a hundred and ten degrees order from Summit Racing a stock replacement timing set will make the connection between the camshaft and the crank now the 7/16 bolt is torqued to 35 foot pounds it's an easy installation just line up the timing marks and move on we'll apply Loctite hi-tech gasket sealant on the fill Pro gasket to help prevent leaks and allow it to stick to the block and stay in place followed by the oil which lubricates the chain now the cover can go on and this secured with ARP fasteners to keep the crank snout and the inside of the balancer from galling when it is pressed on a good practice is to apply loctite anti-seize to the surfaces it'll also make it easier to remove when the time comes now this balancers from Pioneer and is an upgrade compared to the factory piece sealing up the bottom end is a fail Pro multi-piece oil pan gasket will spray the cork with more high tech gasket sealant and drop them on the pan rail silicone needs to be applied where the gasket brake lines are to prevent leaks now the front end seal can be laid in position it has locators that secure it to the timing cover the rear end seal goes on the oil pan and is secured the same way and the pan drops on and is secured with more AR PS with the engine upright we can bring the number one piston to true TDC and install a timing pointer which needs a little modification to align so we'll cover up the original mark and since this feltzer will always be on this engine using a rotary file a new notch will be made on it now remarket with a white paint pen and TDC is set now the pre lubed solid flat tappet lifters can be dropped into their bores they were supplied with the cam kit from Comp Cams a clean deck surface on the block and heads promotes a good valve seal between them and the head gasket a fell pearl printer seal composite is our choice for this slant-6 our valves are reground and will get installed with all new hardware now due to our aftermarket camshaft matching valve springs are necessary in the head these came with the cam kit and are designed to work with our increased lift and duration well slick the valve stems up with royal purple assembly Lube before sliding them into the guides now the new seal can go on and right behind it is the spring and retainer making this job easy is our Goodson pneumatic spring compressor with the locks installed this assembly is wrapped up there's no need for high-dollar fasteners to retain the cylinder head on this engine free lube stock ones will do the job just fine I like the look of the black head on the red block that's nice they get torqued in three steps from the center out to 70 foot-pounds the push rods are a solid design that do not direct to the rocker arms the upper valve train is oiled from this one rocker shaft stand that pressurizes the rocker shaft with oil and that splash lubricates the frictional surfaces with the rocker shaft torque we can lash the valves now since the engine is cold the rule of thumb is for thousands tighter than a hot lash since this is an iron block and iron head combination the final is eight thousands on the intake ten thousands on the exhaust perfect a specter stamped steel chrome valve cover is the crowning jewel to this leaning tower of not a lot of power we're back and have just enough time to finish dressing this 2:25 slant-6 up with all of its accessories letting the engine exhale as a Super Comp header with an inch and 5/8 primaries from hooker now it's a two-piece design with dual two and a half inch collectors on the induction side and often Hauser single plain aluminum intake manifold that accepts a four-barrel carburetor they must be installed together and hold it so having two sets of hands is a big plus I'm going to push this header in as far as you can get it now a little modification was needed to the intake itself so it tightened evenly with the header flange now the mounting pads have to be narrowed since they are thicker and shared the same fastener the header came with semi-circle retainers and we're lucky they did because they're hard to find otherwise supplying the go-juice is an Edelbrock 500 CFM four-barrel with manual choke and mechanical secondaries for cooling a Cardone aluminum water pump now we can mount the heart of the engine in this case it's a Melling standard volume pump a factory distributor like this uses a set of points but we like a little more modern technology so it's getting upgraded to this igniter to electronic ignition from patron --ax but none of that summit happened until you see this engine next time that's because we found a home for it in a classic Chrysler that deserves a nostalgia engine just like this one now when the car gets here we're going to throw it on the chassis dyno and see just how much power it's bone stock 225 will put down at the rear tire then we'll work our magic and see what this slightly modified 225 will do and we're expecting somewhere in the 25 to 30% increased range Acura and Honda VTEC owners will be excited to know that they can upgrade their ride with this trick super tune-up kit from accel the ignition specialist has put together these components that will not only make your engine perform better but look great while doing it it comes with a high output coil Thunder sports spiral core wires and unique cap and rotor assembly that comes in several different translucent colors as well as this clear one so if you want to stand out from the crowd in both looks and performance you can pick up one of these kits at your local performance parts house for around a hundred bucks Matco tools has another hot new item making its rounds out on the trucks it's a dual laser infrared thermometer that can read from 26 below all the way up to a thousand and 22 degrees Fahrenheit the digital display is easy to read and it has a twelve to one distance to spot ratio now it comes in a molded plastic case to keep it safe with instructions and a set of batteries now you can pick yours up from your local distributor for right under a hundred and twenty-five bucks Edelbrock continues to lead the way in innovation for the good old small-block Chevy with their new e CNC 185 cylinder head it features a fully cnc'd 64 CC combustion chamber filled with stainless 2o 20 and one 600 valves the exhaust port is 75 CC and the intake port comes in at 185 CCS they come fully assembled with hydraulic roller valve springs and 3/8 rocker studs with guide plates they fit 1986 and older intake manifolds and Edelbrock says they'll make as much as 30 horse more than a standard set of their performer rpm heads the price right at 980 bucks apiece well that's it for us we'll see you next time

Channel: PowerNation

Views: 1,289,733

Rating: 4.7203517 out of 5

Keywords: Automotive;, Cars;, Vehicles;, How-To;, Auto, News;, Howto;, How, To;, DIY;, Car, Tips, dodge, engine, slant six

Id: Ok77bbi_WAw

Length: 18min 42sec (1122 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 31 2019