Metallica -Fade to black and I'll take the slant.

Those slant sixes were bombproof - tough, dependable, and they never left you anywhere.

My first car was a 1967 Dodge Dart with a 225 Slant Six. It was not a particularly exciting car unless you were trying to stop unexpectedly, but it never left me anywhere, even when it should have. I made many trips in the Dart between my home in Virginia and Indiana where I went to school. I usually drove at night by myself. (This was before cell phones and other communication devices.) That car droned its way through the mountains on almost empty Interstates without missing a beat. I wish I still had it.

I worked at Chrysler engineering in the 70’s. At that time they converted several slant six’s to diesel’s. These engines ran on the dynamometers 24/7 for weeks with no major problems. Truly a fantastic engine.

I had a 1964 Dodge Dart when I was 19 in 1970. It was a three on the tree with the 170 engine and a 1 barrel carb. Wasn't the fastest car, but it was reliable, sipped gas and never left me walking.

My father had a 1963 Dodge pickup truck with the 225 slant six that he would load so heavily that he had to pump the tires up to 60 or 70 pounds. He was always splitting rims and finally made his own heavy-duty wheels. He traveled the southeast working on microwave towers. He fashioned a special wheel that served as a crane hub that we wrapped a manila rope around. We would place the truck on wood blocks, remove the wheel and tire and mount the hub on the truck to run materials and tools up and down the towers. That slant six engine left our family with 430, 000 miles on it when I sold it to a roofing company. The slant six was probably the best gasoline powered work engine ever made.

We had the 225 slant imported to Australia and put into our home grown Chrysler,s. After the 225, Australia developed its own 245 and 265 hemi 6. The 265 was also developed further for muscle car use (300hp in the e49 Australian charger ) and took on the v8,s in racing

Great piece on the history of an indestructible engine. I knew a farmer that had a slant six in a late 70s 1/2 ton pickup that he would use to pull a horse trailer. It would go anywhere as long as you weren't in a hurry.

One of the best engines ever made !

I rebuilt a 225 for our Highschool auto shop stand mounted display. The engines systems were so simple I could start it up by simply firing the ignition at the right time....without ever using the starter. The skill won me an A+ for the year and a training scholarship from Chrysler Plymouth trouble shooting competition.1978

Final thought. I worked for GoodYear from 1995 through 03, and we had a fleet of E250 cargo vans on the extended w/b. All had the 4.9/300 six with the AOD trans. When Ford switched to MPI fuel injection, that mill was unstoppable. Several of those vans made it to 400k before wearing out. This was in day in day out heavy stop and go local tire deliveries; very little highway miles. We couldn't keep ball joints or brakes on them, but never an issue with the engines. They just wore out.The only other domestic straight 6 that I saw during that time that could come close or match it was the Jeep 4.0 with MPI as we had a contract with CSX railroad that were used for yard security, BUT some of those did have head problems, whereas the Fords never did.

We had several cars with the 225. Great engines. Corrosion killed the bodies long before the engines and transmissions showed any problems. Easy engine to maintain.

The leaning tower of power was almost indestructible and easy to work on. I had one in a 66 dart I acquired from my Great Grandma after she stopped driving at 90 years old. all of the sixes above were hard to kill. I've owned all four and none made terrific go fast, and emissions killed every one of them, but if I had to choose a favorite, the Chrysler slant six and the AMC were IMO absolute stump pullers. Out of the big sixes, Ford 300 hands down all day long.

A friend of mine had a Valiant slant six ....in 1968 ...it was unbeatable... Andrew never forget that car !!!.

The first car we owned in North America was a 1968 Plymouth Valiant with a 170 cubic inch Slant Six and automatic transmission. When we finally gave up on that car, because much of it was falling apart, including the engine mounts, the engine had over 250,000 miles on it, with no major repairs. The car had gone through several transmissions, but the engine was still running fine.

Growing up, my family had a thing for Plymouth Valiants. We had several with the 225 cid that all made it well into the mid-200k miles. The only one that didn't had the smaller engine.

I had a car with a slant 6 engine about 40 years ago. I knew this old mechanic and he said. "BEST DAMN ENGINE EVER MADE"

Thanks for the shout out!!! AMC 232

A Dart with the 170 and three-on-the-tree was an economical car, but it would start to wheeze at 60 mph. The same car with a 225 and automatic would happily run 75 mph and still get respectable gas mileage. It was not exciting and would not set dragstrip records, but would start every day and run forever with minimal maintenance. I agree, one of the best engines ever made.

My vocational school auto shop in the early 80s gave me lots of experience, and tales to tell about the slant six. #1) i saw one start and run with the distributor completely 180 degrees from where it should have been. God only knows how it ran! #2) one came into the shop making a horrible racket, come to find out, it was only running on 2 or 3 cylinders, but it kept going somehow! They were nearly impossible to kill once all that terrible useless 1970s emissions vacuum line crap was removed, unless, of course, that damnable resistor made of porcelain on the firewall got a crack in it! Hard to fathom such a nearly indestructible engine could be knocked out by such a small piece getting a hairline crack, but it happened. And, I can still hear those lifters clacking along in my mind today!

I had a Dart Swinger in the 70's with a 198 I loved that car, lost it in a divorce and she ran it out of oil twice and it still kept running. Only problem I remember having was the resistor block going.

Nice presentation of a under appreciated engine. I had a 64 valiant with the 170. Was given to me when I was 15 by a neighbor who I helped maintain his property until he moved. Drove it to school for a few months, but it was cancer ridden. The engine was the best part in the car. My high school auto shop teacher had one of those long plane intakes. I was not aware it was for a Carter AFB carb. Kinda reminded me of those long plane 413 intakes that went on the letter cars. Today's "What it's like" is completely unfair since all those motors were really good. Since I'm really a Chevy guy, I got to go with the 235. Chevy made them until 1962, then went to a 230 which were not as good in 63.

With all due respect to the Slant 6, which was an awesome engine, I’d pick the AMC 232. Great episode as always ~ Chuck. P.S. - What an treasure Mark sent you - thank you Mark, from all of us!

The slant had a couple of little know advantages over other American six cylinder motors. For one, they had the same bearings as the 318 V8. No doubt this was done for simplicity and cost saving but it meant they had a very strong bottom end. Then, they had quite a good head design with individual intake and exhaust ports to each cylinder, compared to the cruder heads used by Ford Falcon and Chevy Nova sixes. This meant they were a very strong durable motor with a lot of hop up potential. Legendary stock car mechanic Smokey Yunick said they responded to a few simple hop up tricks, more than any other motor he ever saw. He was referring to the Hyperpak kit sold by Valiant dealers. NASCAR had a short lived compact car racing series in 1960 or 61. The Valiant wiped the floor with the competition in every race so they quickly cancelled the series. Another thing, they were about the last new engine designed with pushrods and solid valve lifters. Another performance advantage but it meant you had to adjust the valves every 20 or 30 thousand miles. If you did this the motor was as silent as a hydraulic lifter motor and stayed that way for the life of the car. But nobody ever adjusted them so they usually sounded like an old diesel. They kept on running though, regardless of lack of maintenance and abuse.

Another key reason for the drastic drop in stated horsepower figures was the 1972 shift in output measurement from Gross Horsepower (the engine is tested without accessories, belts, and other power-sapping attachments) to SAE Net Horsepower (measured when the engine has the accessory belts, transmission, and everything else that is normally attached to the engine). In other words, the SAE Net is the amount of output the driver will actually get when they purchase the car. This resulted in a 30% or greater drop in stated Horsepower just from that change in measurement standard. Combine that with newly mandatory power-choking emissions controls and you’ve got a series steadily declining horsepower figures across all manufacturers after the 1971 model year. They didn’t call it the Malaise Era for nothing…

I'll take a slant 6 simplicity , runs forever & low maintenance

I bought a 73 dart 2 door swinger. I called it lime green in color with a dark green vinyl top in 85 for $200 with 125,000 and hadn't started in 2 years . I got it started with a new battery and poured gas down the carb. I owned it for 10 years. I had to rebuild the whole front end in 88. Other than that, normal maintenance. In 95 I did an oil change and put in an oil additive. 5 miles later I threw a rod at 363,+++. I'd say I got my money's worth. I drove that car everywhere including the mountains. I never questioned it's reliability. Slow yes. I wish I still had it. I liked the body style.

Don’t forget the old AMC OHV 7 main bearing inline six that was used by Nash at least a decade before the slant 6 and continued in the Chrysler made Jeep long after the slant 6.

I liked the slant six, had it several Dodge Darts including a rare 64 GT covertible with the very rare factory 4 speed. I think that was the only year that the Dart offered the four speed (with the slant six) until the 70's when it was a three speed with the overdrive 4th gear. Sadly, i was broke and young at the time i got it (1971?) and it was a pile of rust from the Chicago area. After 2 years of attempting to deal with the rust issues, worn out bucket seat upholstery, and an engine that started to have blowby, i sold it to a guy that wanted the trans, pedal assembly, steering column and driveshaft to covert his Dart six to a four speed trans and give it the look of a factory installed unit. But, as much as i like the slant six and wished it had the overseas displacement and head of the Australian units, i'm personally impressed that the AMC "new generation" six was as good as it was. Considering the budget AMC had, its a remarkable achievement for a small company and Chrysler saw its potential by adding fi and changing the head design.

The slant sixes were as tough as a box of rocks! They would go 200,000 miles back in a time when most engines would be worn out long before 100K. The downfalls were poor fuel economy and they were hard to pass smog inspections. Yes, the tighter emission standards killed everyone but the slant sixes seemed to struggle the most. On those engines, all of those sixes were good engines. The 235 Chevy would be on a par with the slant sixes. The 232 AMC engines were great too. I would put the Ford six in last place but they were rugged too. The old 230 flathead sixes were as rugged as hell and a rebuild was easy to do! They would go and go and for many years after they were popular in industrial applications such as forklifts, tractors and stationary power plants. Good job with your presentation!

My 1980 dodge b200 had this motor in the doghouse... And what a dog it was... only van I ever saw with a 3 on the floor. The thing couldn't do 85.

This was a wonderful overview, Jay. Thank you.

One of the best engines ever designed , if Chrysler had continued to improve the engine instead of ending it , it would today , be an engine on par with anything Toyota has ever made , I loved that engine ,

🇦🇺we only had the 225 in super singal barrel carb then the 160 HP slant an then the VF Pacer slant at 175 HP seen slants here pulling 13 .2 quarter miles in Australia 🇦🇺 with triple Webers . 👍🏻👍🏻

What an amazingly information-packed episode, Jay. The best in a while.

Good video. Glad you mentioned the Hyperpack. I've had or driven all of these engines. I like the slant 6, but also the AMC 6, which soldiered on for a long time despite AMC's limited financial resources.

I was a mechanic in 1972 at a Chrysler, Plymouth and Dodge dealership and I can tell you the aluminum engine was a pain. If they overheated for any reason, they were junk. Usually we would find a cast iron one at a salvage yard and replace them. The iron slant sixes were amazingly tough. I got to drive a Hyper-Pak once and it was amazing! When you hit the throttle it just kept pulling! I got to visit with the owner and he drag raced with it and did pretty well.

Mopar fan and EX auto mechanic from back in the day. One of the best engines I've ever owned. We used to say slant-6 won't get you they're fast but it will get you they're and back without any issues.

Chryslers Leaning Tower of Power was virtually indestructible!

Good history video. You’re correct, Chrysler was an engineering focused company. If I remember correctly, Chrysler Imperial ads in the 50’s called them the “engineer’s car”. And as you mentioned the 50’s were a high mark in Chrysler’s market share and profitability. The Slant 6’s were a solid choice for durability and economy. Just remember the later year horsepower ratings were SAE net rather than the previous Gross. On paper it was a shocking difference, but in some cases only slightly less power output. Engines are still rated as SAE Net, but thanks to improved designs, variable valve timing, fuel injection, etc current 6 cylinder engines produce more power and higher efficiency

The slant six was a great motor we had an industrial slant six in our 1960s Case combined.

One of the most indestructible engines ever made.

The 2 that I had, '77 Volare & 74 Duster(s) outlasted both vehicle body, frames, etc. Never let me down In H.S. and many years beyond. Great engines - easy to work on too!

1980 Chrysler Le Baron with a 225 six, auto, was my first car. This engine has a special place in my heart ❤

I drove slant sixes for about 25 years; one of the most reliable engines ever made. Period.

I got a 225 slant 6 in my Plymouth Volare. I love that engine.

I owned a 1970 Plymouth Duster with a slant 6 engine that wouldn't die. Good car; great engine.

The 225 was a great super smooth running engine that never let me down.

232 AMC a solid dependable engine My grandfather had a Plymouth station wagon probably a 59. It had the slant six in it. It did a good job of moving that station wagon down the road. It wasn't a speed demon but that engine had lots of torque and it could pull you up a mountain grade easily with power to spare. It was a very nice car. I remember riding in it as a young boy. I remember looking at it with my dad when my grandfather bought it new and to me the engine looks funny cuz it looked like it was leaning over. One of the great automotive engines. No doubt about it.

Well done great collection of knowledge 👍👏👏 AMC 232 was a great motor and reliable 😉.. Enjoy your adventures 🤠✌️

high school ride in 1984? 1975 Valiant Custom 225 Slant six. (SAE 95 HP net) It could not get out of its own way. Single barrel Holley, had a bad habit of stalling or losing power on left turns - had to do with bowl float. A Thrush Turbo helped uncork the thing immensely. (had a nice inline-six snarl) My dad - many years later - called that car "best form of birth control". It is kind of cool to see that these have made a minor resurgence in the old car world. Very cool to see what the Aussie's do with these engines - big cams, Webers, long tube headers, high compression pistons, superchargers, the works. The car I had is long gone (A904 gave up), but the engine is probably sitting somewhere in a Gleaner combine or hay mower, still plugging along.

I had a new 1960 Valiant with the 170 ci slant 6. Always reliable even when I abused it driving long stretches at its top speed of 80 mph. Always got at least 25 mpg, sometimes 30. Had lots of fun with that little car.

the slant 6 was a very remarkable engine !!!! i hope to run across 1 at a sale or auction so that I could install it in a later model pickup . these engines just ran forever without any issues , I drove yale fork lift trucks with these engines and they were brutes for an industrial engine !!! I understand that there were many variations of these engines used in industrial applications . I have an old lift truck with one of these engines in it .

A good follow on topic would be the Aussie inline “hemi” 6s in 215, 245 & 265ci. In E49 spec, it had more power and torque than contemporary V8s up to 302/308ci from their competitors.

Had 64 Dart with the slant in 1965. Was involved in an accident where I was hit on the right front, at night. After dealing with the situation I drove it the 10 miles home, although running poorly. The next day as I surveyed the damage I discovered the dizzy cap was broke nearly in half. The engine ran with only 4 contacts in the cap & open to the air! The broken piece was hanging by the plug wires. Couldn't kill that engine.

From South Africa. Those engines were bloody marvellous. My dad had a Valiant which one of my brothers managed to seize. He waited for it to cool, started it, and it ran better than ever! (with a bit of piston slap). That car had no brakes though..

Still have a 225ci with a torqueflite 904 behind it. Did it first100,000 miles in 2002 and till going strong.

The 198 was available in the Feather Duster and the Dart Lite in 75 and 76. These were the economy versions and had aluminum hoods, trunk lids and bumper supports.They only came with a manual 3-speed.

Great engine! I still have my 1980 Dodge D-150- 8 foot bed with 225 slant six and manual transmission. My dad bought new in 1980 and I still have it with less than 100,000 miles. Still have original alternator on her. We have Red Oak boards we custom made too. Thanks for sharing your video.

I am a Ford guy. All my cars except one have been Ford products. Having said that, given the choices of in line six cylinder engines, I would choose the Chrysler slant 6. My sister had a 71 Barracuda with a slant 6. She bought the car brand new, drove it to work and shopping, and never changed the oil. This was back in the days when gas stations were full service and the station attendants pump the gas, checked the fluid levels, put air in the tires and cleaned the glass all while the tank was filling up. So my sister would just get Gas and a quart of oil when it was down a quart. When I discovered this was happening, I started maintaining the car and changed the oil often and early for a while until the condition of the oil on the dipstick started to appear more normal. After that, I give it regular oil and filter changes every three thousand miles. That engine stood up to my sister's abuse and performed great throughout the life of the car. My dad eventually took over ownership of the vehicle and had it for years. That slant six was as good an engine as my 1968 Ford 289 V8, which was my favorite engine until I bought my 2000 Cougar with a Duratec 2.5 liter V6. The only non Ford car I owned was a 91 Plymouth Sundance America with a 4 cylinder slant block engine in it.

Chrysler Australia developed a 245 and 265 from the ground up with aid from American engineers, competed against 351's and only failed from not homologating a 4 speed early enough

VW air cooled flat 4 was a longer run right? Something like 36 to 86 or beyond.

I will always remember the slant 6 as a wonderful engine. Many Australians swore by it, cdertainly compared to the ancient straight six GMH motors offered in either the Grey or the other Red models. which needed a lot of new parts and fettling to get any performance from them. The slant 6 was ready right out of the box.

Awesome videos I learn a lot just by watching them. Thanks for a great job.

2:10 Engine that had a longer life span. Well, the Small Block Chevrolet v-8 comes to mind. 1955 - 2003. Technically still in production through GM Performance. Of course the VW flat 4 that powered the Beetle from 1936 - 2006. Hey, let's not forget the old AMC inline 6. Started out as the 199 in 1964 in the Rambler. Same engine became the 232 and the 258. The 258 was used in Jeeps up to around 1986 and then AMC revamped it just before Chrysler bought jeep and they made it the 4.0L. Chrysler corp continued on with the 4.0L to 2006. Not a bad run 64-06. (putting a 258 crank in a 4.0L block is a popular mod - also, putting 4.0 head on old 258 is common) Honorable mention should go to the Ford 300 (4.9L) that was in production from 1965 to 1996.

*Mark* is Thee Man!

My daily driver (and literally the only car I have on the road at the moment) Is a 1962 Dodge lancer GT with a 225 slant 6, I installed a late 70s super six manifold with a Carter BBD 2 barrel from a 318 V8. Car is driven 60+ miles daily in all conditions and never let's me down!

No question: 225 Slant Six! I had a 1975 Plymouth Scamp with that engine and the torque was amazing as was the durability of that engine. When I was in high school I had guys that swore by Chevy and Ford tell me, "If you get rid of the car keep the engine." They knew the legend of the Slant Six.

In Australian Valiants 1968 and 1969 there was a optional variant of the slant six, known as the 160HP. A 225 cu inch with two barrel carb. And in 1969 a special version in the Valiant Pacer made something like 170 horse power

Ford Barra motor straight six in Australia dates back to 1960 ended production in 2016.

When my daughter started college, I bought a valiant slant 6 and drove it myself for a few months did a few adjustments and gave it to her to drive at school. She wasn't to excited about the car but I slept better knowing that a break down on the road was the least of my worries

I remember having a 1972 Duster gold with the slant 6 when i was 16 yrs old great engine

Thanks for this. It would be nice to see the models that used each of the slant sixes.

All 4 of those inline 6 engines are quite good. It is hard to chose a preference. That being said I have personally owned AMC 4.0 inline 6s since the late 90s and absolutely love that mill.

Thanks. I clicked on this because my Grandma had a Chrysler Valiant in the 1960s and I remember my dad working on the engine. Re long produced engines. Off the top.of my head, the FIAT Tyoe 100.engine started in 1955 in the 600 and was still in production in 2008. That's 53 years.

This was one of the all-time great engines. Too bad they didn't make a longer version that allowed larger bores for more cubes without having to resort to a 5 inch stroke. Just think how nice a 265 or 300 cube version of the Slant Six would have been

🥝✔️ I 😍 Loved it. I grew up around GM, Chrysler and Ford's, so I chose the four great Post War Ford iron in line six engines....A: 4.375 inch bore spacing I block 215, 223, 262 ( 51-64) , B: The 4.08 inch bore spacing 144-170-187-188-200-221-250 Small Six (59- 96, OHC 3.2/3.9/4.0 from 1988-2016) , C: the 4.48" bore spacing 240 and 300 cube big six (65-97). And D: the 3.78 inch bore spacing Zephyr 138-155 cube six (51-66). There is no 233 six for passenger cars. Aside from the XK Twin Cam Jaguar six, (1948-1992) I don't think there is a more long lasting in line six than the Mopar Slant!

The Chyrsler production transfer lines had huge scope to change bore pitch, so the Slant six shares the broad architecture of the 25 inch flat head six, with cam on the passenger side, same peak stroke on the 225, and the rest was original. The distributor drive is B Chrysler big block, the timing chain A block, but on the flat head, the distributor pased through the block to the other side of the block. The slant six has the distributor on the same side as the cam, not passing through the block. if you pull the head off a flathead hand match it with the 225, they are very similar, but not the same. Its essentially a clean sheet, but not quite.

In the early 90s I bought a 78 Dodge truck from a friend with the 225 Slant Six. Manual everything, three on the tree that had been converted to a floor shifter and power bench seats out of a Buick! There was much play in the steering box you could rotate the wheel a quarter turn in either direction before it would think about turning.

Great video that brought back a lot of memories to me.

I've had good luck with all these engines but I'll have to stay with Mopar .

Not a option, but I’ll pick the Ford 240/300 inline 6. Very little to go wrong since the cam shaft was driven by a gear which was being run by the main crankshaft. Could easily run for 300,000 to 500,000+ miles before a overhaul.

I learned to drive on a 72 Dodge Dart with the 225 with automatic. No power steering, 4 wheel unassisted drum brakes, and a foot pump for the windscreen washers. The 225 did not endear itself to me. Power of a 4 cylinder, thirst like a large V8. That was replaced, in 1980, by a 75 Dart Swinger that was truly beautiful. The 1bbl 225 was even slower and more thirsty. Needless to say, my experience with a slant 6 taught me to run, not walk, if I learned a car I wanted was a six. That 75 was replaced by an 81 Volvo 245 with the carbureted 2.1 litre putting out a solid 105. It outperformed the 225 in every measurable way. Volvo 240

Of the choices presented, the 232 Rambler six with its seven main bearings is a great choice. One might also consider the Buick V6s at 225 cubes, available in the A-body Special and Skylark models from 1964 through 1967, and in '64-'65 Olds F85 models. Rough as a pit-bull puppy, but the 155 horsepower wasn't bad. Also think about the Pontiac OHC six.

It's difficult to compare power and torque levels when you cross over the time period when ratings changed from gross horsepower to net horsepower. There is some data from 1971 models that shows both gross and net ratings for the same engine, so you can see how much power loss was due to the change in rating method. There were also reductions in power due to "Emissions", but the reduction in advertised power due to the change in the rating method didn't reduce performance.

What I enjoyed most about my 1966 Valiant was the ability to cook a meal on the flat manifold while driving.

Had a Plymouth Valiant in 1968, it was from early 60's. Ran good all the time. A real basic car. Would buy one now. L.O.L.

Slant six is the way to go manual steering gives a much better road feel fot the clutch, the feel does not depend on the media ( hydraulic, linkages, cable ) but of the cynematics of the clutch disengaging mechanism

The Mopar v6 was on no ones bucket list because the Ford inline 6 was so good no one could even make a Diesel to be more utilitarian than a Ford inline 6 The ones that have actually owned the Ford 300 inline 6 helped place this engine at #4 greatest motors ever built. because of its legendary durability and impressive torque output.

I had a 1960 Plymouth Valiant. Three on the floor. It went 225,000 miles before the body rusted out. The engine still ran great.

I had a 66 plymouth Valiant with the 170cu in and 3 spd column shift manual. Good on gas, reliable, ran forever, but had a light rear end, so it got stuck easily in winter.

Our family has always had Plymouth Valiants with the 225 slant six, and they have never let us down. They have plenty of torque, decent gas mileage, and will go forever. I currently have a 47 chevy fleetline with a 54 235 inline six, and I can tell you the 225 is much torquier, revs up faster, and just an all around better engine. The 235 in the 50's was at the end of its life, being around in the 216 since about the 30's I believe, so the slant six was much newer technology. I love them both though.

I had a 73 Valiant and an 80 Dodge Diplomat coupe with the 225. Both ran 300k, although the 73 definitely had more power. I worked at Argonne National Lab in Lemont IL in vehicle maintenance from 2005-09 and they used 225s to drive water pumps for flooding and sewage. Governed at about 3000 rpm max, these engines had TONS of running hrs on them and dated back to 1964! Except for valve and side cover gaskets, they had never been apart.

I have had several 225s and a 170. I still have an original HyperPak cam (actually a Melling RPD-3). There were other changes to these over the years; 1973 they went to electronic ignition (an easy retrofit); I was the guy that always pulled the distributor out to change points. In 1975 they eliminated the spark plug tubes and the 3/4” reach plugs with new short reach taper seat 💺 plugs. No more spark plug tubes or strange plug wires. In 1978 they changed the distributor mounting so you could turn it more than a few degrees and they went from a 1/4-20 distributor bolt to a 5/16-18. Also in 1978 they went to hydraulic valve lifters. Any of you who ever PROPERLY adjusted /6 valves (.010 intake / .020 exhaust, engine hot and running) would appreciate this. I also had the pleasure of working with a 225 in a Yale lift truck (you might call it a hi-lo or something similar). Propane powered, pretty neat! On your last question I would be hard pressed to decide between the Mopar /6 and the AMC 232 / 258. That was an extremely reliable engine too, 7 main bearings, the engines usually outlasted the cars they were installed in. But my all time favorite 6 cylinder engines are the Ford 240 / 300 and the GMC 305 V6. Those were both pretty much bulletproof. The /6 was really REALLY good and I love it but I don’t think it can beat that Ford or GMC.

My first car was a 1965 Plymouth Valiant with the 225 ci. Slant 6. Bullet proof engine. Car ran like a top only needing normal servicing no breakdowns and when I sold it in 1985 it still had no rust.

If chrysler had put fuel injection on the slant 6 i believe it would have performed well..but i prefer the 96 ford 300 cid over all of them..

AWESOME motor! Had a 1983 Dodge D150 w/ the 225 Slant\6 and had to sell it as was moving to the Lower48 from Alaska. Miss the simplicity of that engine designed by Willem Weertman (same guy that did the Elephant 426 HEMI). Not the power of today's vehicles, but how many multi-valve G.D.I. vehicles with VVT and whatnot will survive as long as a Slant\6 without being rebuilt? : hardly any in 25 years from now as they'll rot in junkyards in 2048 as a Slant\6 drives by their automotive corpses.

My daily driver the last 13 years, is an 82 d 150 super /6. Starts in all weather, never been apart, and still managing 20 mpg.

Slant Six. I have a 225 in a 1976 Dodge Dart Sport “Spirit of 76” with a stock 904 transmission and 7 1/4 rear end. I bracket race it every weekend, and i have to have it running in the staging lanes just to get it warm.

even I had a fifty year anniversary dodge should have kept those two