Here in the Denver metro area , the late 1990’s was a MoPar racer that campagined a 68 Charger R/T Very successfully. During one of our Rocky-Mountain Performance MoPar meets He brought out a 69 Valiant turbocharged 225 Slant Six, he had converted himself from an old GM unit. Needless to say he won the burn-out contest and kicked some serious, you know what. Bob was quit a character, worked hard and raced hard, Enjoyed root beer floats. I haven’t seen or heard from him in years, I’ll have to look him up.
Thanks to all you guys responding on this headache, I am going to take the head off tonight and see just what is going on. Hopefully it will be obvious and reasonably easy to deal with. As for the engine swap idea that would be my last resort mostly cause i like originality and I’m cheap 
and for me to find the correct V-8 engine on the east coast would probably be near impossible. The push button issue is not a thing for my savoy since she is a three on the tree, really what made me buy this car in the first place. She is a real plain jane base model and that is what appeals to me…Simplicity.
Thanks
Mark Hoyt
Reading Penna.
Mark, well put… With Carilse coming up in July, a 318 poly motor could be found I bet there just in case you want to pick one up for grins and later. You can keep the 3 speed manual too!
John Q.
Thanks John, good point. Now i will have to start to educate my self on what to look for and what to spend. I am close to carlisle.
Thanks,
Mark Hoyt
Reading Penna.
long and behold, problem…solv…figured out, took off the head yesterday and ran the engine, as shes going i noticed valves stuck open and with a little time and WD i think they all work correctly now. I am going to check it again tonight to be sure 24hrs has not made a difference and if all the valves are still working then i will button her back up and go for ignition.Side note when i took off the head number two cylinder was full of stink bugs, little Bas…s get in everything.
Thanks
Mark Hoyt
Reading Penna.
Oh-h, I get it! . Years ago, the engine was shut off. Thru the ensuing years as it hibernated, the valvetrain got all gummed up.
You went to start it by cranking over the engine, and all the valves got pushed open okay, but they were too gummed up to spring back closed.. Interesting!
HOUSTON WE HAVE IGNITION…Hooray, still one valve sticking but with a light tap on the head it stops sticking. I’ll just keep running her til she frees up.She sounds good and starts right up.However i did learn that i forgot one of the old main rules of starting on old engine… don’t put in brand new anti freeze til you flush out all the old gook. 2 gals down the pipes, oh well lesson learned. Can some one please refresh my memory on the best way to set up the carb. I only see one screw at the base and i think that is the air / fuel mixing screw but i have long forgotten the procedure.Also will i need to add lead additive to the gas?
Thanks
Mark Hoyt
Reading Penna.
Mark, The quick and easy carb. idle mixture setting was when warmed up, turn the idle mixture screw right untill it stumbles and then left to stumble and split the difference. Check your timing with the vacuum advance dissconnected and plugged. and do the idle mixture screw again, then reconnect the vacuum advance.
There is enough left over tetra-ethel-lead to last for a while. If you are going to work her really hard some additive may help. My older L heads all had hardened exhaust valve seats. I have no idea if the 59 models have these seats for the exhaust. someone in the forum should know.
Thanks RICKYMOPAR…further update ,I changed the trans gear oil last night and the rear oil . The rear oil literally came out like molasses so i left it to drain overnight with the axle tilted to one side to get out as much of that goo as possible. Can’t wait to run it down the driveway.
Thanks
Mark Hoyt
Reading Penna.
There is a company that builds superchargers for your slanty shanty also… I’d rather have it Turbo charged myself.
http://kustombitz.mobile034.com/p/1080317/chrysler-valiant-slant-6-blower-kit---sl6-terra-charger-supercharger-radial-4-barrel-flange.html
Mark, while you had the axle apart did you put in new axle tube seals? Cheap insurance as long as the axle was being drained.
John Q.
Hi John, No unfotunately i didn’t think i needed to do that, are they behind the rear brake assembly? I did inspect those seals and they appeared to be sealing ok.Does anyone know of a source for a vacuum advance for the flat head 6 and a replacement clutch pressure plate and throughout bearing.
Thanks
Mark Hoyt
Reading Penna.
Mark - My first choices would be www.napa.com and www.rockauto.com. Then ebay.
Dick.
Yes, the seals are just inboard of the tube behind the brake shield. Take a look at my posting on my rest and you can see where the inner seals are located. Just would have been easy to do if you had the half axles out as a preventive service. Hopefully this link will go to page 6 of my travels.. contacted SF owner in MN.
John Q.
Thanks John for the info, and Thanks Dick, I did check those sources and only saw a throughout bearing at rock auto.
Thx
Mark Hoyt
Reading Penna.
I do not wish to offend anyone when I say they are called throw-out bearings, and they are used throughout the world.
(signed, Mr. Grammar)
I don’t know Roger, I have bearings throughout my whole car.
Dick.
Good Morning Gents,
Seems that is another facet of growing old, forgetting how to spell , thanks for reminding me. Any way I now have a new dilemma, the trans will not go into second gear and when it goes into third it grinds a bit. The trans does seem a bit noisy also. Can anyone tell me what other years/vehicles in chrysler has this same tranny. I already know the 56/57 will not work as i went to one that i saw in the yard and it is a different 3 speed.When i first got this car before i got it running i was able to put it only in second and third while just sitting behind the wheel without the engine running, not sure what changed. Yes i did change the gear oil and no obvious metal chips. I did look at the manual and it shows an access panel so I may open that up and have a look see.
Thanks
Mark Hoyt
Reading Penna.
Disconnect the linkage rods, and see if you can put the transmission through all gears manually. Sometimes if the linkage gets worn, it will give you shifting troubles. If you still have problems getting the trans into second, it is internal.
—John
Hi John, I already did this and i agree it must be internal, the shift rods and the little rubber doughnuts on them are like new. Do you know what tranny should be in this Savoy, A-230 ?? Do you think it is possible the syncro is stuck. Odd thing is before i got it to run i could only get it to go into second and third gears
Thanks
Mark Hoyt
Reading Penna.