Stay stock or upgrade to streetrod v8 or 225 slant 6

There is enough room in my truck to put in a monster upgrade. But what is the best for a 1978 Dodge D100 2WD 1/2 ton 3sp automatic with posi rear? A 440 would be nice but are harder to find. A 318 would work if you punched it out a little gaining some HP. But what can be done with a 225 Slant 6 that is stock what upgrades are available? tjfarrand@hotmail.com

Go with a small block. A 440 would be nice, but the good ones are getting harder to find. You can find 440's in motorhomes, but even those would need work to get any kind of horsepower out of them since most of those are low compression. Not to mention you'd have to change transmissions since the bellhousings are different.

I would recommend a 360. They're plentiful, there's a ton of parts, and you can get horsepower out of them easier than you could a 318 or a slant six. Well you could with a 318, but the 360 is a better candidate.

it true "there is no replacement for displacement" 360 are easier,to find thatn 440, but 318 are a lot cheaper. They will take a lot more money to make fun the numbers of a stock 360. The 360 is your best bet.

Well adding some form of forced induction will always bring out more power in an engine. However, with large displacements, you can put down large number far more reliably. The 318, 340, and 360 are all very reliable, with the 318 and 360 being the most common and cheapest to mod for gains.

Don't for get the b motors,400/383 , but if the truck Has a 318 in it allready , stay small block for now , you can always change it later, the 1st setp would be to find a 360 , that way you can use your mounts( i have used the small block mounts on a big block , I don't recomend it but in a pinch it will work ( if the trans mount is bad the motor will shift, if the trans mount is good .....it won't be for long.0
Is this truck A long bed or a short bed? not that it maters .

im prety much in the same boat as matamor.
i have an 84 D100, slant 6, 3spd auto 2wd. im looking to either go bigger, or mod this one.
i recently found a 84 D250. its got a 318 with 4sdp man. im prety sure that i would have to take the motor mounts also, sinve the slant 6's are so different from any thing elts. but would that be it.. or would i need the driveshaft also?

You can fit a big-block in there easy. Bouchillon Performance has a mount kit for cheap, it worked great in my truck. With the low deck (383-400) motors you can even use the stock brake booster, but 440's will need a small diameter one, which they carry also. Headers are available from many companies, then all you'll need is a big-block 727. http://www.bouchillonperformance.com/BPEtruckKit.asp

Old post, just saw that. oops

If you find a real good slant 6 , go for it!!!! A friend of mine years ago had a Duster with a souped up slant 6 that could eat a vette on the strip without much problem!
The funny part is,,, 1 vette owner demanded a tech check, claiming we were running nirto, the tech guys knew us and told vette boy to save his money! Still,, the vette boy demanded the hood opened,,, 7 jaws hit the ground when they saw the Slant 6!
The moral of the story is,,, Dynamite comes in small packages!

Put a Hemi in it! If you have a S6 now, you'll have to change the tranny to put any V8 in it. 360's are good for lots of torque and decent top end power, 340's are the mac-daddy's of smallblocks, and the 318 is reliable with decent power stock and capable of good hp when modded properly.

Big blocks are not too hard too find unless they are original late-60's early-70's HiPo engines. You could find a rebuildable truck 440 from a later model and mill the heads and deck the block to bring the compression up, throw an RV or small street/strip cam in it and have a real fun ride. Plenty of torque, and torque=smoky burnouts and long black strips on the road

there are 4bbl intakes for the 225, as well as headders for them. the 225 will give you good mpg and if you build it right will (sorry to say it) kick some hemi butt

I was at a local show this summer and there was a Studebaker pick up with a fuel injected turbochargered slant 6, now that was unique. Something like that would require a lot of work on your part but would set it apart. I think it all boils down to how much money you want to spend and how much you can do yourself. The slant 6 is probably getting hard to find performance stuff for . The 360 is probably the easiest and cheapest . The 440 would really give it some kick but would be a little harder to come up with a motor and tranny. Chrysler is coming out with a 440 small block from Mopar Performance .$$$$

rusty,

where can i find the 4bbl carb and exhaust manifold and do i have to change the intake manifold 2 thanks for the info

e-mail address dbrennancontracting@comcast.net

here is the intake:
http://store.summitracing.com/egnsea...115+4294840127

HERE IS THE HEADER::
http://store.summitracing.com/egnsea...115+4294923429

the slant six can bee modified to be a rather surprizing engine but parts are getting harder to find for them but are still out there the 318 and 360 are common and easy to find parts for the big blocks are not all that common but can still be found and are a easy way to make quick horse power but if you decide to go with the stock slant go to www.slantsix.org and go through the articles if you have any questions you can ask the in messages

The slant-6 is a good engine, and the novelty of a good performing and great sounding six is fun. Yeah, 360's are cheap and plentiful, and make easy power, but I saw some really fast Aussie and Kiwi hot rods with slant sixes, and the sound was as good as anything you've heard from a well tuned BMW big six. If you can find a good cam, I'd recommend hopping up the slant-6.

Scott

A good cam:


http://store.summitracing.com/egnsea...115+4294887637

I really need to find me a S6 car to start on my EFI/TwinTurbo S6 idea with I may be getting a 66 4dr Dart hit in the left front, w/ a S6 in it. It'd be so cool to go to the strip in that thing and pull the front wheels off the line and smoke a built Mustang.

rusty,

thanks for the info

dbrennan

No problem, I'm stuck inside with a injury so if you need any more info I'll be here

once upon a time there was a 4bbl manifold from jc whitney for a 225/6.