Part 2: Building the Slant Six

Unless you're going to the moon, the stock oil pump works great. Justchamfer the oil-filter return passage and any other accessible junctionsto remove sharp edges and promote oil flow. High-volume pumps tend tooverload the small drive gear, leading to total oil-pressure loss. We'vebeen there and it's not pretty. Now we only use blueprinted stock pumpsin sub-5,500 rpm applications like this. For extra peace of mind, Dutraoffers a special heat-treated pump drive gear at www.slantsix.org.

Since we milled the head, we slid a .040-thick flat washer between thealternator bracket and head to prevent strain and possible bracketcracking.

Clifford two-piece headers fit our '62 Valiant test car without hassles.They feature 11/2-inch primary tubes, 21/2-inch collector outlets, andcorrect 1/2-inch flanges for compatibility with factory or aftermarketintake manifolds. Some other headers use thinner flanges that requirefussy shims to prevent gasket leaks. Jet Hot sterling coating keeps themlooking new inside and out.

A sight to warm the heart of any Mopar fan, the once scarce Slant SixHyper-Pak intakes are back in production thanks to a collaborationbetween Doug Dutra and Clifford Performance. Here, Larry Clifforddisplays some fresh castings.

The outrageous appearance of the cast-aluminum Hyper-Pak intake is whatoriginally rekindled our interest in the Slant Six. Pop the hood at acar show and even die-hard Chevy guys flip out. Though original '60Hyper-Pak kits included manifold support bracing, we just bolt 'em tothe head's numerous 5/16 studs and go. The whole unit weighs 30 poundswith the carburetor.

Instead of the scarce and troublesome rod and bellcrank Hyper-Pakaccelerator linkage, take a 2.2 K-car throttle-cable bracket (stamped426880), shorten it, and weld on a tab as shown. This bolts to the backof the plenum and accepts a throttle cable pirated from any Chryslerminivan.

The 500 cfm Edelbrock Performer carburetor works perfectly right out ofthe box on our displacement- challenged six-banger. Aside from a nearlyimperceptible dip when floored from 60 mph, it doesn't stumble orhesitate, even though it's nearly 2 feet from the engine. True to theSlant motor's legacy of efficiency, we're seeing regular 15.1-mpg fueleconomy numbers when we keep our foot out of it. For simplicity, weremoved the choke blade and still get easy start-up on 45-degree wintermornings in California. Just tickle the throttle to keep it lit, andwithin a mile it's running smooth. We hear Hyper-Paks suffer from thecarb icing in cold, humid weather, but we haven't noticed it yet.

We dig the Hemi-like aluminum spark-plug tubes and rubber booties usedon pre-'75 Slant Sixes, but we want a better ignition cable than stock.So we slipped an abbreviated section of insulator over our 8-mm AccelSuper Stock wires. Then we worked the circular tube seals over theinsulators.

Doug Dutra is one of the leaders in the Slant Six performance-development field. We thank him for his help with this story. You canlog onto www.slantsix.org to chat with Doug and other Slant Six owners.