Читать книгу Chrysler Slant Six Engines - Doug Dutra - Страница 8

FOREWORD BY STEVE MAGNANTE

Even though it has been nearly 40 years, I can still hear it if I concentrate: the childhood sound-memory of my neighbor Jake’s Dodge A100 window van starting on cold winter mornings in rural Massachusetts. Though Jake’s driveway was more than a quarter mile from my bedroom window, the frigid air readily carried the unique chirping sound of its Chrysler starter motor, then the guttural buzz as the van’s 225 Slant Six coughed to life. Though built in 1967 and barely 10 years old at the time, the van’s two-tone blue and white body was badly rusted from constant exposure to New England road salt. The muffler was even rustier, riddled with holes and burst at the seam. Exhaust noise was amplified—not dulled.

From my pillow, I could immediately tell if it was Jake or his girlfriend, Martha, at the wheel. If it was Jake, the engine settled into a steady high idle after only a few tries. Then I could hear the deft applications of throttle as he backed it out onto the street, put the TorqueFlite into Drive, and slowly rumbled past my window on his way to work. Jake was an old hand at driving Slant Sixes in the winter. He understood the art of tickling the carburetor with a light foot to prevent stalling.

On the other hand, if Martha was at the wheel, as soon as the engine lit off she’d hold the gas pedal down, way down. She figured it was all the quicker to get hot air from the heater on a single-digit winter morning. What she didn’t understand was the molasses-thick motor oil and the dead-cold engine probably weren’t happy running at 3,500 rpm mere moments after initial start-up. But she got away with it again and again. In fact, that old A100 van served Jake and Martha for many years before rust separated the steering box from the frame. Sure enough, it was replaced by another one, a windowless brown A108 stretch-wheelbase model also powered by a 225 Slant Six.

When my friends and I got to be of driving age around 1980, we had at our disposal a vast array of Slant Six–powered hand-me-down cars to choose from. I lost track of the many push-button Darts, four-door Signets, crusty Dusters, and big-glass Barracudas we went through. Though most were rusty and suffering from that chronic Mopar malady, the rotted torsion bar crossmember, a few were very well preserved and should have been saved. I remember my pal Bruce’s light green 1968 Barracuda fastback. Completely rust free, it would be a valuable car today if he hadn’t plowed it into a tree in 1984.

Then there was Jimmy’s 1970 Challenger, born a C-code 225 machine. He bought it off the back lot of a local Dodge dealer for $400, a bunch of money at a time when an average beater cost only $20 to $150. Again, it was only a decade old, but the thick layer of black undercoating applied to the entire underhood area by the seller should have alerted us to its rusty nature. But it was a factory FJ5 Sublime Green car (with a watery respray), and he was dazzled and drove it away. I still remember the shotgun blast effect when the driver-side torsion bar anchor released its stored energy one night. The front suspension immediately settled onto the jounce rubbers. The passenger-side torsion bar mount let go soon after, and Jimmy never repaired the rusted torsion bar sockets. Instead, he drove it for another year, its nonexistent front suspension bashing and crashing over the bumpy roads in our small town. Amazingly, not a single police officer stopped Jimmy to explore why the Challenger’s nose sat so low to the ground.

Steve Magnante is a well-known automotive journalist and television personality with an interest in and appreciation for the unusual. Steve has always enjoyed Chrysler products and has a fondness for the Slant Six, especially the aluminum-block version. Steve and Doug have collaborated over the years on a number of Slant Six engine build articles that have appeared in Hot Rod, Car Craft, Mopar Muscle, and other online publications.

Looking back, we were ignorant, and those poor old Mopars truly suffered at our young hands. I guess the only saving grace is how rusty most of them were. The junkyard was one stop away for most of them. And sadly, I remember over and over how their Slant Six hearts still ran when they finally entered the scrap yard. Rust (and goonish kids like us)—not poor engineering—was their downfall.

Today, I am older and (I like to think) wiser. I now recognize that Chrysler engineers, including Willem Weertman, Robert Rarey, Tom Hoover, Paul Ackerman, and many others, worked a miracle of sorts with the Slant Six. Their best efforts to devise a tough, flexible, and economical powerplant were at the core of its ability to absorb our youthful abuse (and my neighbor Martha’s brutal 3,500-rpm wintertime warm-ups).

In this book, I am pleased to know that lifelong Slant Six innovator, journalist, enthusiast, and builder Doug Dutra has shared his deep knowledge of the “leaning tower of power.” His work ensures that present and future generations can truly understand just how special this engine family is and that it is worthy of continued praise, study, and development.

I first saw Doug’s name and writing in back issues of Slant 6 News, the official quarterly magazine of the Slant 6 Club of America that was founded in 1980. I’m somewhat ashamed to admit that Doug and fellow Slant 6 Club members Jack Poehler, Ed Yost, Bob Stepp, and others were hip to the need to preserve these unique engines and cars at the very time I and my friends were driving them into the dirt.

Steve is shown “exercising” his Slant Six Hyper-Pak-powered 1962 Valiant. This car was used to showcase and test a number of Slant Six engines over the years, and the car ran mid-13-second quarter-mile passes with some combinations. This car found its way onto eBay and ended up going to Australia. Steve’s current Slant Six is a 1963 Dodge Dart that he continues to develop and restore.

As penance, and because it’s a darned good engine, I have since done all I can to cheerlead the Slant Six in car magazines such as Hot Rod, Car Craft, Mopar Muscle, and Hemmings Classic Car. At the start of my Slant Six writing around the year 1998, I sought Doug’s advice and assistance, and he has never failed to come through with whatever I’ve needed. In particular, during a Slant Six story being completed for Mopar Muscle magazine, Doug took a long weekend away from his busy work and family life to drive more than 300 miles from his home in Sunnyvale, California, to Los Angeles to help me out.

Beyond that, Doug puts his money where his mouth is. Recognizing the fact somebody needed to reproduce the legendary Hyper-Pak ram-tuned intake manifold, Doug made it happen—on his own dime. He also devised a two-piece cast-iron exhaust manifold (Dutra Duals) that forever solved the problems with cracked factory exhaust manifolds and tube steel headers. Word has it Doug may be conjuring an aluminum cylinder head for the Slant Six. All I know is that if anyone can make it happen, Dutra’s the man.

Dear reader, enjoy every page of this book as much as Doug enjoyed writing it.