Chrysler /6 carb replacement

[Wilf Sedanet]

My girlfriend got a '64 Dodge Dart 270 Convertible with a 225 /6 and a 904 push button tranny, nice little car but the carb is a bit of a letdown. It stumbles at quarter gas and with prolonged gas. It's a worn down Holley 1920 H1 R6155 and a carb kit did only so much. It now even has this vacuum squeal coming from within after a garage looked it over. 

 

Now I'm thinking of a replacement carb but refurbished carbs are expensive and are also prone to create problems due to wear of passages and the butterfly valve stem cylinder and the like. 

 

So so what are the best alternative bolt ons that are new and high quality? Are there new carbs that work well out of the box and fit on the standard manifold (or maybe the Offy dual barrel)? A friend thought a new carb that fits chevy inline six pickups from the fifties might do the trick. 

 

What I'm looking for is adequate performance (not looking for more than stock but certainly not less) but especially good gas mileage. So a bit of added performance is okay as long as the fuel consumption doesn't go up. 

 

My budget and time are limited since I want to take the car out for a road trip come July, so EFI and the like will be a bit too much. I was hoping to keep costs below about $300 and a bolt-on swap with little effort as possible (so no new distributor and ECU and TBI and such. 

 

Can anyone advice me on what new carburetor works well on a passenger slant six that will give good performance and great gas mileage? 

[Rusty_OToole]

Best answer, buy a rebuilt. If you don't trust parts store rebuilts the Carb King who posts on here regularly can set you up with a real nice unit.

 

If you insist on using the wrong carburetor and won't settle for anything else, about the only one still available new is the Holley Weber that was used on many small cars from the 70s and up. It is a progressive 2 barrel but they make adapters to fit them to your manifold. Linkage, kickdown, fuel lines etc you will need to adapt yourself and of course the stock air filter won't fit.

[Wilf Sedanet]

Thanks for your advice, Rusty. I read a lot about people buying refurbished carbs that end up being expensive but inoperable because of wear on the butterfly shaft for example, that's why I'm always wary of second hand. For my '49 Buick it also took 3 'refurbished' carbs to get one good one from the sun of their parts. Almost all were crooked because of overtensioning. Because I live overseas and shipping costs exploded the last few years it becomes real old real fast (shipping costs are rarely less than the value of the item these days).

 

If the Carb King has good rebuilt carbs I am of course interested. Mopar used different carbs as you know and I personally have always been more of a Carter carb man than Holleys; no fuel bowl leakage dangers and Carters are simpler and maybe more forgiving. The previous owner already ditched the original air filter assembly alas, so I already have this big chrome round UFO on my carb. The vacuum line on the H1 to the stock air filter is capped off and the gas lever box (where the link fits in) on the butterfly side has been awfully welded to an old carb part that is screwed onto the throttle link. Horrible, I know. So I would have to fabricate some new stuff anyway. 

Edited June 16, 2017 by Wilf Sedanet
Pics of throttle link edited in (see edit history)

[Rusty_OToole]

Oh so you live overseas? That means you can't stop at the local Autozone or NAPA store? I did not know that.

 

If you want to contact the Carb King this may help http://forums.aaca.org/profile/81337-carbking/

 

The stock air filter was a simple round black job if I am not mistaken. Someone on this board may have one they will sell cheap. I have one but need it for my 1966 Coronet.

 

 

[hchris]

"Because I live overseas"

 

Where overseas ?

 

[Rusty_OToole]

That looks like the wrong carburetor. Chrysler used Carter carburetors not Holley. Ford used a lot of Holley carbs. So, someone already hodge podged the wrong carb on there. No wonder it doesn't work right.

 

So you need the right carb plus accessories like air filter, possibly linkage, brackets etc. These used to be a very common car in north America and there are still quite a few around. I'm sure someone can find the right parts for you.

[Rusty_OToole]

If you have the right carb on there working correctly and the engine is in good tune it will be practically as good as fuel injection as far as performance and easy starting goes. I have had a few slant six powered cars and trucks, they usually respond to a few new parts and a tuneup and run like new. Suggest you replace the choke mechanism when you replace the carb, they get worn out after 50 years.

 

Dodge Dart with slant six and automatic should be good for 20 or 22MPG around town,  26 MPG on the hiway. That was typical for mine. Yours will probably be slightly lower, due to different traffic conditions.

 

If you tune the engine don't forget to adjust the valves. They often get neglected because it was about the last American car to still have solid lifters. If they are kept adjusted they will be as silent as hydraulics.

Edited June 16, 2017 by Rusty_OToole (see edit history)

[Aaron65]

Slant sixes came with Holley 1920s and 1945s, Carter BBSs, and even Strombergs (for a couple of years).  My '65 Dart came with a remanufactured 1920 on it, and it was garbage.  I finally found a NOS Holley 1945 on eBay and installed it "as-is" and it works great.  It was even in its original box; I just hosed it off with some carb cleaner and it's been running well for over a year now.  

 

The unfortunate thing is that there are no really great single-barrel options for the slant six, so you just have to take what you can find and make it work.  I would not go with a reman unless I absolutely had to.  With that being said, it took me about four tries to get a carb I liked; the rest were just flat worn out.  

 

If you like Carters, watch out for past mechanics overtightening the carb lid on them; they are very easy to warp and then they leak.  I've tried everything but a Stromberg on mine, and the 1945 was best (but none of them are really all that impressive).  Good luck!

 

 

Edited June 16, 2017 by Aaron65 (see edit history)

[Rusty_OToole]

I've never had a reman carb that didn't work but have not bought one in 25 years. I can't believe you guys are getting 3 or 4 bad ones in a row. A rebuilt carb should be as good as new if it is done right.

 

By the way there is a difference between a properly rebuilt or factory remanufactured carburetor and an old pot somebody cleaned up and put a kit in. I have done the overhauls myself and the carbs worked fine but would not try it on one with worn throttle shafts, or that was otherwise not in good shape.

 

If the carb was in decent shape to start with, you put the right parts in and adjust everything to factory specs it should work like new. Unfortunately people go getting ideas of their own, or go by the instruction sheet that comes with the carb kit which is incomplete and filled with errors. If you get the factory specs (car factory or carb factory) and put it together exactly as original it should work as original.

[Aaron65]

1 hour ago, Rusty_OToole said:

I've never had a reman carb that didn't work but have not bought one in 25 years. I can't believe you guys are getting 3 or 4 bad ones in a row. A rebuilt carb should be as good as new if it is done right.

 

If the carb was in decent shape to start with, you put the right parts in and adjust everything to factory specs it should work like new. Unfortunately people go getting ideas of their own, or go by the instruction sheet that comes with the carb kit which is incomplete and filled with errors. If you get the factory specs (car factory or carb factory) and put it together exactly as original it should work as original.

 

I didn't have that many bad remans in a row; I just had a lot of old carburetors with a lot of problems.  I'm a member of the slantsix.org and forabodiesonly.com forums, and the general consensus on both forums is that remanufactured carburetors for slant sixes are best avoided.  The available carbs were built cheaply, and if you get 50 years of mechanics overtightening things, all mixed up with worn throttle shafts (which they all seem to have by now), it's not as simple as just throwing a kit in it and putting everything back to specs.  The remanufacturers seem to throw them together "close enough" and ship them out the door, which is not "done right," and that's the problem.

 

Finally, Holley 1920s are notorious for clogged metering blocks, and they're nearly impossible to clean for the average hobbyist.   Additionally, the fuel bowl and cover warp and are very hard to seal up, which is why I kind of gave up on them.

Edited June 16, 2017 by Aaron65 (see edit history)

[Wilf Sedanet]

Chris: I'm from The Netherlands. 

 

When I bought the car it was running very bad. It would stall in D or R or with turning the wheel almost full lock (yes it's got power steering) and shake violently at low RPM. I've then bought an overhaul kit for the 1920 and was quite surprised that 1. The H1 1920 comes in thousands of R-types (revisions I guess) and mind is impossible to find 2. The carb kit that I found and came most close did not come with a new idle mixture screw and no main metering jet stuff. 

 

I cleaned the carb carb thoroughly although I did not had the time for a ultrasonic cleanup this time. It ran somewhat better but the quarter gas dip stayed, albeit a bit less.  

 

Then I've let a garage that only does classic American cars check the car. The inlet and outlet play was spot on, the cylinder pressure cold was 9 for all, but the vacuum advance was out. When taking out the dizzy to replace it the worm wheel disintegrated. He replaced it and put it bac on. He also checked the carb and changed the float level and some minor things (I set the float just lower than factory, he put it back above). Now the car idles like a car should, no shakes and no puffs from the exhaust. But quarter gas is now terrible. It will almost stall and sometimes backfire and when driving away I have to keep on pumping the gas to enrich the mixture. Also on the highway you feel the engine 'sputtering' as if it intermits between no fuel and fuel constantly. There is now also a squeal coming from inside the carb. From behind the wheel it sounds a lot like the sound badly designed computers make from speakers when using an infrared mouse: it's a high pitched squeak and the pitch changes with engine load. When removing the air cleaner one can hear it is coming from below the Venturi somewhere. 

 

I have a suspicion the main jet is worn giving the fuel problem. The new vacuum leak frustrates me and when I refurbished the carb I also made myself guilty of over tightening the fuel bowl because the new thick paper gasket fit snugly but visually it let the bowl stick out. So I erroneously thought it would compress and turned a few times more on the screws, not very tight (I'm not strong: I weigh 65 kilo and am 1.89m tall and cannot even push up once) but the only thing that compressed was the ears bending in a bit. It doesn't leak profusely but if you let it sit for a while it dripped said the mechanic. Mind you, this was after he also opened the fuel bowl to change the float. I have not seen any leaks after I put it back on after I refurbished it. I did notice the slight bend of the ears so I did check and check again under the bonnet before, during and after test driving. 

 

So to recap: it ran horrible. The idle mixture screw was barely screwed in, it was stinky and too rich, the engine oil stank of gas and it would barely run at idle.  After I refurbished the carb it ran a little better, especially the pickup after idle. It still was quite rich or else it would not run at idle or stall. 

 

Now after a visit to the garage the timing is good and the idle sounds normal, it will idle but it idles at 900 in N or it will stall in D or R, the pickup is there from the acceleration pump but right after it (almost) stalls and backfires (sometimes) and there is now a squeal from within the carb. 

 

I've a lot of Mopars over time and got to dislike holleys for their complexity and the lack of my skills and general garage skills to get them running properly (the quarter gas stumble was also in my '71 Satellite with Holley double pumper and 4 different mechanics could not get it to work).

 

I have been silently reading  allpar.com and slant-six.org for the tons of info out there on the /6 (here in Western Europe almost everyone dumps them in favor for BBM's because Mopar so parts end up at the scrap yard - people don't even sell /6's because no one wants them, although someone 600 km from here sells one for $50 but he'll dump it if no one wants it - so not a lot of knowledge and parts). There everyone warns for refurbished carbs because they are expensive presse papiers for the most part if I read all the topics. That's why I'm a bit wary. Aaron his experience is what I had with my Buick and I don't have the time and money to go and try and buy. I'm going on a road trip from June 30 to July 18, 2500 miles, and shipping to The Netherlands takes about 10 to 14 days and usually costs about $100-$200 for an item like a carb (including the taxes we pay and customs clearance). For express (a few days) this is considerably higher so flying in duds is not an option. 

Edited June 17, 2017 by Wilf Sedanet (see edit history)

[Aaron65]

Don't worry about the main jet being worn; they generally don't wear out unless someone strips the threads or damages them in some way. 

 

Have you checked for vacuum leaks at the intake manifold runners (just to rule that out)?  Did you check the number on the main metering jet?  It should be in the 57-58 range.  If it's smaller than that, the jet could be too lean.   

 

None of that will cause you squealing, however, so it's possible that your mechanic used an incorrect carburetor base gasket or something.  There are two base gaskets for slant sixes: one has a little hole in it for a vacuum port and the other does not.  Yours should.  If it doesn't, you won't get any vacuum at (I believe) the vacuum advance.  Have you checked the choke pulloff diaphragm to make sure it holds vacuum?  If not, that could cause a major vacuum leak.  

 

Your 1920 looks like it's a later emissions carburetor (from the 1970s), just in case you were trying to determine that.

Edited June 17, 2017 by Aaron65 (see edit history)

[Rusty_OToole]

I guess the answer is to get a good rebuilt from someone who knows what they are doing and doesn't sell junk.

 

This is the business of Carb King who posts here regularly. If it was my car I would contact him and put on whatever he recommends.

 

http://www.thecarburetorshop.com/

 

This may cost you 200 or 300 Euros but I don't see any way around it. Just put it back the way the factory made it. Don't waste time or money fooling around.

 

The alternative would be to go back to your slant six boards and see if they have any suggestions.

 

If you get the engine running right you should have a lot of fun with that car. It seems to me it is about ideal for European driving conditions, in overall size, performance and fuel economy. I can't think of any American car of the sixties that would be better.

Edited June 17, 2017 by Rusty_OToole (see edit history)

[carbking]

A couple of things:

 

The Stromberg type W used by Chrysler on the 6's was used only on the 170, not the 225.

 

Here is a link which lists the various Dodge carbs: http://www.thecarburetorshop.com/Kdodge.htm

 

Have you check the ignition system? Running rich at idle sounds more like defective ignition. Weak voltage will cause a rich condition.

 

Jon.

[Wilf Sedanet]

The engine doesn't run rich anymore since the new vacuum advance was placed. What it now does is backfire if I drive away (if I step on the gas you feel the car taking off on the acceleration pump and right after the revs drop and it will stall or backfire unless I pump the gas). To drive the car I now have to constantly feather or pump the pedal to prevent it from running lean. On the highway at cruising speed it feels as if it has to battle violent wind gusts (one can feel the engine intermittently stutter whilst revving high). The squeal from inside the carb also changes pitch when I drive slowly and the 904 shifts down even though I have the throttle body at the same opening. 

 

I'll take a look at your link now. 

 

[edit]I have looked at the list, thanks. I just sent you an email. [/edit]

Edited June 18, 2017 by Wilf Sedanet (see edit history)

[carbking]

Wilfred - just answered your email. To others reading, I do not have a 225 carb to help Wilfred, maybe someone else does.

 

Wilfred - the squeal and the lean running could be a vacuum leak. Check all of your vacuum hoses. Do you have power brakes? If so, check the booster. If nothing turns up, carefully remove the carburetor. Now check the mounting gasket on the manifold for leaks. If none remove it, and place it on the bottom of the carburetor and check for leaks.

 

Is the backfire through the carb or out the tailpipe? If through the carb, run a compression test to see if you have a leaking intake valve. Also, try to separate the spark plug wires to prevent any possibility of a cross-fire. Remove the distributor cap and examine for a carbon track indicating a crack.

 

Jon.

[maok]

Seeing as you are just down the road from the UK, why not go this way....

[Wilf Sedanet]

Jon, although you could not help me out with a carb your knowledgeable advice brought me much further. I know now what to look for, thanks!

 

Regarding the vacuum leak: I have no power brakes but I will check the foot gasket and hoses. The backfire is through the carb, it's sounds a bit like a one way pressure valve being decoupled from a pressurized hose, but then dampened. Or the sound of one giant popcorn made in a pan with closed lid. Especially with the chrome lid on top of the engine that sound is quite similar. These backfires are here after I brought the car to a classic US car specialist that checked the compression (all were a neat 9) and the lash of inlet and outlet. I told him it should be done with engine hot & idling and from what I've heard he checked and adjusted it with hot engine, only turned off at the moment of check to keep his shop clean. The valves aren't heard and it idles much more smooth. But that has also to do with the vacuum advance that was replaced along with a new worm wheel because the original was disintegrated. So the distributor has been pulled out and put back later. 

 

The choke vacuum is functional by the way (I bench tested that when I overhauled the carb). 

 

Maok: although I must admit that looks really good it isn't really suited on our Dart. Driving faster than 55 / 60 mph isn't much fun with the top off and it is more of a cruiser anyway. And what I've heard is that tuning multiple carbs is an art itself. It definitely looks like a piece of art though!

[Wilf Sedanet]

By the way: I was already daydreaming beyond my budget and time schedule: I'd love to have a custom made intake and exhaust manifold with a too small turbo (spooling up for max power at low revs for added mileage) and only a throttle body, injectors in the intake manifold at the engine and a computer like an MSD 6-AL to dial in the timing to make it a silky smooth and economical engine. One must have something to dream about. But my real dream car, my '49 Buick, is having a driveline surgery so together with the coming Power Big Meet road trip my cash flow is restricted for going all out on this car. 

 

Here's a picture of both cars:

Edited June 19, 2017 by Wilf Sedanet (see edit history)

[Wilf Sedanet]

One last thing that springs to mind: I saw this shop called carburetor-parts.com sells a brand new "Daytona Univeral 1904" with adapter brackets for '61-'66 dodges. It's based on the Holley with the same number. It has no auto choke but that's no biggy since it's a summer cruiser. My gut feeling though says: avoid. Most after market stuff these days is made in China with inferior materials and tolerances. Anybody here that has used these kind of repop carbs?

[maok]

Yeah I was just showing off with the triple SU's Wilf not being serious.

But you could go for a two barrel manifold (readily available) and place a simple but very suitable Holley 350. Or a weber 32/36 or similar.

[Aaron65]

This is one (somewhat older) thread about parts store remanufactured carbs from slant six.org.

 

http://www.slantsix.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=17937

 

The guy named "Slant Six Dan" is EXTREMELY knowledgeable about all things slant six; he's a really bright guy with a long-time love for these cars, so take his advice seriously when you see it.  I've never heard or read about anyone using the Daytona carb.  It might be worth a call to ask them what it's all about since you don't have much time to play around with getting a carb that works.  One thing I noticed in the thread I linked: many of the people who posted have been through several carbs before they found one that worked well for them.  It seems like a common theme among people who like these engines.

[carbking]

The Holleys tend to leak.

 

The Carter BBS used an aluminum throttle body. When aluminum oxidizes, it forms aluminum oxide (duh) which is a REALLY good abrasive.  This abrasive tends to then wear both the throttle shaft and the throttle body. A quality rebuilder will install throttle body bushings, AND a new throttle shaft at the first rebuild. After this is done, the BBS is a decent carburetor (never as good as the Carter YF which apparently was too expensive for Chrysler to use)! But, the installation of bushings and a new throttle shaft will triple the cost of the rebuild, and many enthusiasts look at the bottom line only.

 

Jon.

[Wilf Sedanet]

Currently almost all carbs I can find (on eBay) are (badly or 20 yrs ago) 'rebuilt' and range between $144 and $399 and I know every one of them would require a new rebuild and then I have to hope that they still work. These are the BBS and 1920. Some friends say that a 1bbl carb off of chevy 6's could work.

 

The pressure's on for me since I want to drive it to Sweden June 30th, a trip of 2000 miles. So now I'm even thinking: what would be quicker and cheaper: buy and try dozens of carbs or go the EFI route? 

[Aaron65]

Here are a couple of seemingly good options for you.  Buy a rebuild kit just in case you need a part along your way (or just go through them and check everything just in case).  The first one is new and the second one is a Holley remanufactured one.  I'd probably go with the NOS, even though the shipping is stupidly expensive.  They both seem to equal about the same price.  There aren't any guarantees in old carbs, but NOS means nobody's messed with it!

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NOS-HOLLEY-CARBURETOR-H11945-HI1945-R8593-C7311-225-198-Dodge-Chrysler-1974-87-/232354066254?hash=item361961af4e:g:YiUAAOSwKOJYIHLC&vxp=mtr

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/HOLLEY-1945-CARBURETOR-Reman-by-HOLLEY-64-3118-/332244806666?hash=item4d5b556c0a:g:yzkAAOSwPh5ZLcbh&vxp=mtr

[joe_padavano]

I can sympathize with the OP's experience in the poor quality of commercially rebuilt carbs.  I always rebuild my own, but one of my cars came with a "fresh" rebuild when I bought it.  Just had to tear into it this past weekend.  What a P.O.S.  Mismatched parts, stripped threads, etc, etc.  I had to dig into my box-o'-parts-carbs to fix the carnage.

 

To the OP's problem, given the difficulty in finding a suitable single barrel carb, you MIGHT want to consider an aftermarket intake and very small 4bbl.  I realize this is not the least expensive route, but probably the easiest.  The E-brock 500 CFM carb is about right (I've had one on my 215 cu in Olds V8 for the last seven years with no problems).  Offy sells this intake for the 225.

 

[carbking]

Both of the carburetors above are calibrated from smog engines, and are not compatible with the non-smog 1964 engine.

 

Jon.

[Wilf Sedanet]

That's what I thought since the brackets are different and it has lots more (vacuum and electrical) bells & whistles. 

[Aaron65]

18 minutes ago, carbking said:

Both of the carburetors above are calibrated from smog engines, and are not compatible with the non-smog 1964 engine.

 

Jon.

 

I'm running a NOS late-'70s 1945 on my '65 Dart right now, and it runs a lot better than any of the other carbs I've tried.  Granted, my engine is a 225 from a '74 Charger, but someone had disabled the EGR system before I bought the engine, and my car doesn't have a carbon canister or anything.  I checked the AFR with my wideband, and it cruises at around 15:1 and runs maybe 13.7:1 under power (which is a little lean).  As far as driveability is concerned, it runs really well, with no hesitations.  

 

I did convert the Dart to an orange box electronic ignition with the distributor from the '74 engine, but that shouldn't make much of a difference over a points ignition.  Just putting an option out there that I've used successfully.  YMMV, as always.  Cars are fickle sometimes.

 

Another thing you may want to check: the later carbs are set up for cable throttle linkages.  Someone converted mine at some point in the past, but if yours doesn't use a cable, that could be a problem.  

Edited June 19, 2017 by Aaron65 (see edit history)

[Wilf Sedanet]

Yes, that's what I noticed. A previous owner already made a shabby screw-on bracket to overcome exactly this. It looks terrible and the bracket is held in place only with one bolt, if it fails the carb will fall open in the WOT position. On the plus side: this makes another carb easier to install. 

[Wilf Sedanet]

By the way: the original carb on eBay would arrive here between July 6th and July 14th when I am long gone in Sweden.  So I guess my time frame has already closed unless they are willing to send me the package as priority which will add a lot of costs. With normal, slow shipment the original one ($99) will cost me $65 on shipping, then PayPal or my CC will add a few dollars for the currency exchange, then our customs charges $14,50 for calculating VAT: the complete amount of value of the item and the shipment plus currency difference (around $167) will be taxed (by 21%) which gives a total price of $216,50 and around three weeks waiting.

 

That's why a gamble on buying a carb hurts a little every time (and one should be crazy to drive US cars as a hobby here haha - I will not get started about fuel prices, don't worry).

 

It hasn't always been this expensive though. It hurts even more because a few years ago 1 Euro bought us $1,50 (now it's around 1:1) and USP(S), DHL et cetera didn't charge these insane prices, and customs did not check every darn parcel. 

Edited June 20, 2017 by Wilf Sedanet (see edit history)

[Rusty_OToole]

That's what you get for buying one of those fancy foreign cars, where you gonna get parts for them (joke) this is what you hear in North America if you buy a European car, or at least you did 30 or 40 years ago.

 

By the way I looked for a carb for you. One popular web site showed them @ $185 for a rebuilt but {out of stock}. And that is a site known for cheap prices. So, you are not doing too badly.

[Wilf Sedanet]

Just to let you guys all in the know: We've driven the Dart all the way to Sweden. On the Power Big Meet (one of the biggest car shows of the world with about 20.000 US cars attending) there was this guy who sold refurbished carbs. He had a Carter BBS and a warranty: If it doesn't work, bring it back and you get your money back.

So I bought the carb, swapped it on the meeting grounds and it works perfectly. It doesn't have a functioning choke at the moment since we haven't got the Carter thermostat pulloff but the engine gets hot quite soon so no worries there.

 

The carburetor is an older type so it only has vacuum for the timing retardation, so I had to hack the setup for a functioning PCV valve setup.

 

The car now idle's much better (although after driving a few hundred miles at 70 MPH it will stumble a bit again when driving stoplight traffic right after), there is no bogging at quarter gas and it has much more oompfh now.

 

On the pictures you can see the PCV hack (a more permanent solution would be finding a stock filter housing or making a plug but for now it works), the side of the carb and a picture after cleaning the engine bay and making a spacer for the fuel line.

 

As a bonus I added a movie of the Power Big Meet cruise and a picture of our '64 Dart to give it some context. We drove behind an old Dart

 

IMG_7491.MOV

Edited July 14, 2017 by Wilf Sedanet (see edit history)

[Rusty_OToole]

I'm glad you got a decent carb at last. I will only add, that if you could get all the original air filter, choke spring, etc functioning as original you will think you are driving a car with fuel injection. I am NOT kidding. I went to the trouble of 'restoring' the carb, etc on a 1970 Dodge /6 pickup some years back. And was absolutely astonished at how nice it started and ran. And I have had a dozen slant six cars and trucks. All of them were old, with dodgy carbs that I thought were working ok. Little did I know.

[Wilf Sedanet]

Thanks, and that sounds good! There's still a lot to do. As the previous carburetor was a hack I had to change all linkages. I set up the kick down by the book: when the lever on the tranny is fully forward I could put a 3/16" pen in the holes. That part was correctly set up. So far so good. I then tuned the hot engine with choke fully open (which it is anyway) to 500 rpm (which is low but with this carb it will still run). I then adjusted the linkage between the tranny and throttle linkage. It shifts only a little later than it did before but even when I give it lots of gas from a standstill it shifted to 3 before 20 MPH and kick down is not functioning. 

 

I do do like the fact that this car already drove us over 2000 miles through Europe and keeps getting better all the time. My girlfriend bought some original dash parts that was missing and we both are tuning it and cleaning it up bit by bit. So much fun these little cars are. Well, little… in Europe this is considered a big car

Edited July 15, 2017 by Wilf Sedanet (see edit history)

[Bloo]

1 hour ago, Wilf Sedanet said:

I then adjusted the linkage between the tranny and throttle linkage. It shifts only a little later than it did before but even when I give it lots of gas from a standstill it shifted to 3 before 20 MPH and kick down is not functioning. 

 

Thats not right. If it is adjusted by the book, perhaps some linkage parts are wrong.

 

Generally speaking, the transmission linkage should bottom out at wide open throttle. The early shifting and lack of kickdown suggest that the transmission linkage is not getting pushed enough. It can harm the transmission. Tighten it up!

[Wilf Sedanet]

So if I reverse adjust it; push the kick down shifter all the way back and throttle full open and then adjust the linkage between them, that would be the correct setting?

Edited July 15, 2017 by Wilf Sedanet (see edit history)

[Bloo]

That is how I would do it. Make it push the linkage all the way at full throttle. It shouldn't bottom out and put a bunch of tension on the linkage, but should go basically all the way. Kick down happens somewhere near the end of travel.

 

The further the linkage pushes back, the later and harder the shifts, and the more oil pressure on the clutches.

[Wilf Sedanet]

Thanks for the explanation! I'll try that.

[Rusty_OToole]

If you want to drive a vintage American car in Europe a slant six would be ideal. Reasonable power and speed, decent gas mileage, not hard to work on and reliable if well kept. Would be interested in your impressions of the car, compared to European cars of the same age. If you do a tuneup don't forget to adjust the valves, this is often overlooked because almost all American cars have hydraulic lifters, the slant six did not get them until 1982.

 

One thing I always recommend is installing a new set of premium shock absorbers and getting an alignment. Bilstein Koni or your favorite brand. They should be available locally, and not expensive. The original shocks are only good for 20,000 or 25,000 miles. They may not be leaking, they may seem to be working but you will notice a big difference with new shocks.