Some Mopar Questions, Early 80s

[Meddle]

Snippets taken from the AMC thread:

The old slant six is still regarded by many mechanics as the best engine ever used in a passenger car. The bodies were sub-par, but the drive train was on top.

Throw in the 318 as well; extremely dependable bread 'n butter V-8.

Don't ask why [[maybe just the reruns of "In The Heat of The Night" even though I know that was probably an 88 or 89), but I'm looking for a Dodge Diplomat or Plymouth Gran Fury from 80, 81 or early 82. I had a 77 and 78 mid-sized Fury and a 79 full sized Newport. All ran well, few mechanical problems. They died by collision or rust.

I've been digging around the web and I've found a few, but I can't remember much about the Slant 6 or the 318. Is either one preferable over the other if two cars are otherwise equal? How bad are they on fuel? Less than 15MPG? Is it reasonable to find one under 80K miles, or are those ads questionable? How were the transmissions? What about availability of parts and trim components for a restoration?

How can I determine the actual build date [[month & year)? Will the VIN tell me that?

[douglasm]

I may be wrong, but weren't the 170 and 225 ci slant 6 engines introduced along with the Valiant. I believe the 170 was punched out to about 195 in 1980 or so. The guys at www.slantsix.org have a ton of information on the little engine that could.

[MoparDan]

http://www.allpar.com/model/dodge-diplomat.html
This may give you some of the information you're looking for.
An MPG chart for the 225-318-360 is provided for 1988 model yr.
It also discusses suspension, drivetrain & quality.

[Meddle]

I'll dig through those sites later tonight when I get a chance.

I know DPD had a boatload of those cars, but they all have to have been scrapped out by now or crushed. No way they'd still have anything worthwhile.

[BagAJellyDonuts]

Be sure to carry a spare ballast resistor.

And don't dress up like Dennis Weaver. Some trucker may start chasing you.

[MoparDan]

Be sure to carry a spare ballast resistor.

And don't dress up like Dennis Weaver. Some trucker may start chasing you.

Yep, I replaced a ballast resistor[[or two or three) on my Chargers.
In reference to "Duel"; Dennis skipped on getting a radiator hose replaced & it got him into a mess of trouble.

[douglasm]

OK, the more I read the more I get confused. When was the 318 introduced, and did the slant six replace the L-head 6, or was there an engine in between?

[CountrySquire]

In high school I had two friends with '74 A bodies equipped with the slant 6, one a Duster the other a Dart. Both engines developed rod knock and seized. They did not like reving to high.

Here is a good VIN decoding site:

http://www.roadrunnersite.com/vin/vin1974.php

[Jman]

318 -1957

slant 6 - 1960

[56packman]

Bill Weertman [[the head of Chrysler's engine design department during the development of the 1964-71 Hemi, and many others) has written the last word in books on Chrysler power plants

http://books.sae.org/book-r-365

You may find it at the Skillman branch, it's pricey, but priceless if you value this information.
You can contact Chrysler for vin # look-up service for that year, they have mircofilm records of cars and trucks 1930-1967, and then later years, I think they have 1988. The crucial years of the [[highly valuable) muscle cars microfilm has been lost for years, gone. An individual has made a name for himself "suthenticating" those muscle cars, all he has to go on are factory part supersession letters that might state "all 1968 Dodge Charger models After vin# XXXXXXXXXX, use part # YYYYYYYY in place of part #ZZZZZZZZZ, and he has extrapolated the "information" from there.
Those are both excellent engines, mated to one of the very best automatic transmissions ever made, put into one of the most substandard bodies and electrical systems made this side of England. Parts are readily available for the engines and trans, trim parts and correct interior materials will be the big challenge.
You are looking for an M body, actually, they are pretty good, probably one of the best Chrysler made. Around here you either see them in cherry shape or absolute beater, but still going.

[Meddle]

Now that I ,look at it, I think I've seen that Allpar page before. Mileage isn't great, but not terrible either.

I remember having to replace the ballast resistors on the Furies, but I don't remember what the symptoms were.

Seems like there was a similar failure item on the Chevies that killed the A/C.

[East Detroit]

I think the main symptom for ballast resistor is that the engine would crank, knock a bit and spew black soot out the exhaust.

[MoparDan]

318 -1957

slant 6 - 1960

The LA 318 was introduced in 1967.
http://www.allpar.com/mopar/318.html

Slant 6 info
http://www.allpar.com/slant6.html

In regards to the 318, I have one in my '73 Charger & the '74 I had. I beefed up the '74 with a slightly "hotter" cam, 4bbl dual-plane intake, Thermoquad carb & dual exhaust with headers; I'd ballpark the HP in the 200+ range which, for the late 70s-mid 80s, was fairly respectable. In any case, the engine took a lot of abuse as I'd do burnouts & push top end speed[[about 115mph) on a regular basis. The 318 wasn't intended to be a performance engine but you could mod it some without blowing it to bits.
If you want to get exotic, stroke the 318 to 390.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/318-D...Q5fCarQ5fParts

[Jman]

"When was the 318 introduced".

I was just answering the question. I had a 318 [[not LA) in my 1957 Plymouth and my first new car was a 1960 Valiant.

[56packman]

"When was the 318 introduced".

I was just answering the question. I had a 318 [[not LA) in my 1957 Plymouth and my first new car was a 1960 Valiant.

The only thing the engine in your '57 Plymouth and the later LA engine had in common were the displacement and Chrysler built them.
The LA engine was a world apart from the polyhead 318 of '57.

[Jman]

The only thing the engine in your '57 Plymouth and the later LA engine had in common were the displacement and Chrysler built them.
The LA engine was a world apart from the polyhead 318 of '57.

You are absolutely correct. I have owned many, many Mopars and I was answering a simple question by douglasm which was "when was the 318 introduced". Nowhere in the 5 words of the question do I see LA or Poly.

My answer remains, 1957.

[MoparDan]

"When was the 318 introduced".

I was just answering the question. I had a 318 [[not LA) in my 1957 Plymouth and my first new car was a 1960 Valiant.

Jman, no offense or "one upmanship" intended. I should have pointed out that the Diplomat would've employed the LA version, hence that one being introduced in 1967.

[Jman]

MoparDan, no offense taken. Even if you would have pointed out that the Dip had an LA, it wouldn't have changed the original question that I answered. We all know the info that has been posted here as we are car guys with an interest in Mopars. I'll bow out as I feel no further need to defend my original answer.

[reddog289]

I had a 77 Aspen with the slant six. It was my first car. When my Mom would drive us to school in that car we would get scared crossing Ford Rd as it would always seem to stall out after running about 15 minutes, which was the time it would take to get to that point of our trip.
I belive that year there was a big problem with the Carter carbs used on that model. After the carb was replaced, It ran pretty well, But like most Mopars then the body rotted out.

[jiminnm]

My first car was a 1963 Plymouth with the 145 hp slant 6 engine and push button automatic trans [[torqueflite?). It was somewhat used when I bought it and very well used when I sold it, but the engine still hummed.