Alizium Auto Blogs: My Super Six Conversion or How I Spent My Summer

So my dad calls me up and says, “Hey-there’s a slant six on Craigslist with a 2bbl for $50. Do you want it?”

If this had been a movie, there would have been ominous music playing as I mulled over my decision. You the viewer would have known that something bad was about to happen, but I wouldn’t. You might have yelled at the screen saying, “Don’t do it!” or “It’s a trap!” But because it’s a movie, I’d make the stupid choice and seal my doom.

Continue reading after the jump!

First off, a little history. From 1977 to 1980, Dodge offered the Slant Six with a “Super Six” induction system. It basically consisted of a 2bbl carburetor (instead of the standard 1bbl) and an enlarged exhaust system. It gave a little extra punch at a time when emissions had severely weakened the slant six.

My slant six was a stock 1bbl 225, 1966 vintage. So I thought to myself, “This will be a fun little weekend project for a bit more power.” Ignoring the frightening music and little voices in my head saying, “It’s a trap!” I told my dad I’d do it.

Legend has it that 20 super six manifolds were forged by the Dark Lord Sauron in the heart of Mount Doom. One manifold was given power to rule them all. My manifold was not The One.

The first thing I set out to do was get everything cleaned up and ready. I wire brushed the manifolds and painted the intake a pretty red.

I then set out to rebuild the carb. This was the first Carter style carb I’ve rebuilt. It turned out so pretty!

After I had everything ready to go, I picked the weekend I was going to make the switch. With a smile, I started removing the nuts that hold the manifolds onto the head. My smile faltered a bit when the last nut came off like butter. Or, should I say, the stud broke off like butter? I removed the manifolds to see the damage. It was as good as I could have imagined-the stud was broken off down inside the threaded hole. Rad!

A friend loaned me a screw extractor set and I attacked what was left of the stud. The first step was to drill the center of the stud out to give the extractor something to bite on. Once I finished drilling the stud, I discovered that it goes into a water jacket. My engine took a leak all over the place.

I plugged the hole with the extractor and got ready to turn it out. I reassured myself that this would be a short process and the job would be done soon. I applied a bit of torque to the extractor and I heard it crack off inside the stud. My eyes turned blood red and my voice turned into a low, guttural growl. (As an aside, the reason breaking off an extractor is so bad is that it’s made of hardened steel. This makes it nearly impossible to drill out.) I called down fire upon the stud and told it that no one knew who its father was. Surprisingly, none of this helped.

I made the decision to drill it out and helicoil the hole. I spent the next week drilling. Drill bits were no match for this metal. I dulled two bits on it before I decided to play dirty and use a carbide-tipped masonry bit. It finally gave up and punched through. I then used the correct tap-sized bit for the helicoil to finish it up.

I was a little concerned that I hadn’t got the new hole drilled straight. (Masonry bits aren’t made for precision.) But after everything was in, it looked pretty straight.

What I couldn’t see here was that the stud shifted horizontally. I opened up the holes in the exhaust manifold to compensate.

Here’s everything bolted up. Looks like it should run like a champ, right?

The car started up and ran great. That is, until it got to temperature. Coolant started shooting out of that last stud. I’d forgotten to seal the helicoil! I took it apart again, sealed the helicoil and put it back together. I started it and this time there was no leak. The engine, however, didn’t want to idle. It would only run with the timing really far advanced and at high idle. Thus my adventure into vacuum leaks started.

While the engine was running, I sprayed carb cleaner onto the manifold where it met the head. The engine idled up! I’d found my leak.

I pulled the manifolds off yet again, removed the gasket, then did a dry fit to the head. I used a feeler gauge and found multiple places where a leak could occur. The manifolds needed to be surfaced flat. The machine shop wanted $50-$70 to do this, but I’m cheap and had a better idea. I spent the next week sanding.

After I was satisfied with the surfacing, I bolted everything up with a special gasket. I wanted to be sure this thing would not leak-ever. After some research on Slantsix.org, I found the Remflex graphite gasket. It’s made to crush and, according to the literature, seal up to 1/16″ gaps. It’s a bit spendy, but I was impressed with it.

I started the car once again. I sprayed carb cleaner where the gasket was-and there were no leaks. I breathed a sigh of relief. But the car still wasn’t running well. It was acting just the same as it was when there were vacuum leaks. It was running lean, but why?

That night, I had a vision of a man in a white racing suit. He was wearing a white racing helmet that obscured his face and called himself “Dr. Burro“.

“Check the EGR block-off plate,” he said.

“I sealed it with plenty of silicone,” I replied.

“But you didn’t use a gasket,” he countered.

“Okay, I’ll check it,” I said. Then muttered under my breath, “Weirdo. What kind of name is Dr. Burro?”

I pulled the EGR block-off plate the next day and could clearly see where the exhaust was flowing into the intake. See the carbon trail?

I ordered a gasket for this and installed it. Surely this was the last thing wrong with the engine. But it still wouldn’t run right. I went inside the house to find that my wife had given birth to our second child.

“When did that happen?” I asked pointing to the newborn.

“Last week! I had her in the bathtub because you were in the garage working on that stupid car!” she replied.

I noticed that my oldest daughter was practicing her best pirate speak-swearing like a sailor. “How the @#$% are you Daddy? I’m just @#$%#@% great!” she said. There’s something disturbing about a two year old that talks that way.

I looked at my wife again and she said, “She can hear you through the garage door. You taught her that!”

This project was really taking its toll on my family. In defeat, I finally called an expert. I described everything to him and he had pity on me. He ran me through some tests, then asked me to see if the throttle shaft on the carb was worn. I grabbed it and shook it.

“I can hear it clanking around in there. Is that bad?” I asked.

“Yeah…that’s really bad,” he said.

I bought a rebuilt carb from him and installed it. The car started. It ran well, but it could have been a mirage. I set the idle. I set the timing. I adjusted the idle mixture and was pulling 18″ of vacuum at idle. I stared at the engine dumbfounded. It was running smoothly. I waited for something to happen, but it just purred.

So, how did it do compared to the old induction? I’m impressed. My engine has never run this smoothly, got mileage this good or had this much power. It’s not V8 power, but it’s not too shabby. I highly recommend doing it if you have the old single barrel. Of course, you may want to avoid some of the fun that I had.

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