Post Your Straight Six Pics!

[CST10]

Here's ol goldilocks lil 6.

[CST10]

My air cleaner assembly is the factory oil bath type. Not many of them around. The offset filter style are hard to find also. The non offset filter type can be found on the for sale section or a local junkyard. I have 2 I found in the Baton Rouge area junkyards over the years. Think I am gunna keep em. Getting harder to find.

Post a wanted ad in the for sale section. I'm sure someone will pop up with one.

[50bomb]

Does anyone know if running a inline 194 in one of these trucks would be good? found a deal on a good rebuilt one out of a 62-63 nova. my truck is a 64 c10 long fleet.

[TJ's Chevy]

Originally Posted by 50bomb

Does anyone know if running a inline 194 in one of these trucks would be good? found a deal on a good rebuilt one out of a 62-63 nova. my truck is a 64 c10 long fleet.

That's an awfully small motor for a heavy truck. Putting out maybe 80 hp running 110 octane. You may be able to wake it up with some boost, but even then a 230 or 250 would walk away from it naturally aspirated.

[RichardJ]

You have to change the oil pan, oil pump and I don't know what else. The sump is on the front. It wouldn't be worth the effort even if they gave it to you.

[50bomb]

Originally Posted by RichardJ

You have to change the oil pan, oil pump and I don't know what else. The sump is on the front. It wouldn't be worth the effort even if they gave it to you.

ok I dont want it now haha.

[VWNate1]

Swapping the oil pan and pickup tube is dead simple, don't pass any good used 230/250/292 engine because of that .

The 194 CIC i6 is simply a gutless/worthless engine and was in 1963 too.....

[TheSeeker]

Here is my current work in progress. I installed the other half of header wrap last night just no new pic. Went out and got a new battery today so should be back on the road. Let it sit to long

[VWNate1]

Hands down the Rochester Monojet is the best bet .

'68 ~ '72 (I think) has very little in the way of controlled bowl vents etc. and is available with manual choke, some of them I have seen converted to manual choke from automatic .

RockAuto.com sells them from some Mid Western place that has amazingly good cores .

Unless you can wobble the throttle shaft noticeably in the idle position, it's hard to imagine it being worn out .

Most "Carburator problems" are in fact, electrical so move slowly and never, EVER let go of your old core part until the job is 1,000 % finished to your satisfaction .

EVER .

As far as HEI dizzies, the GM ones don't look fancy but are stellar in application ~ the one I bought from a clapped out 1977 Nova Coupe was nasty looking and badly worn in the flyweights and springs etc., I used good used weights from a V8 dizzy that had the same #'s stamped in then plus new plastic slides (important, you'll understand as you take it apart) and springs .

[Don Quixote]

Here is my 292 build. It's not too pretty but it is functional.

I'm running Tom Langdon's headers, Offenhauser intake with water heat, Edelbrock 500cfm with manual choke, mid-70s stock HEI dizzy. The engine is bored .040" over and an RV cam installed. I gapped the plugs at .045 but I am considering opening them up to .055.

Problems I had were the Edelbrock 650cfm I pulled from the small block I pulled out was simply too big, hence the 500cfm. The Proform dizzy I picked up turned out to be a wobbly, barely functioning POS. The Edelbrock choke cable was also a turd so I found the stock cable with correct handle from SOKY. I also had an issue with it dying on the road but that turned out to be a bad 5psi oil pressure switch I have for the fuel pumps.

Problems I anticipated but did not have were the manifold mounting. I used the small hold-downs where they would fit and double stacked washers where they would not. I pulled the outside studs out and I used Grade 5 bolts for the install as they expand with the heat better than Grade 8.

I started the initial timing at 8* but I have since advanced it by ear. I may be at 10* or 11* and no pinging. I keep the idle set at about 500rpm and there is no movement or vibration.

The tube off the valve cover goes to an old external oil filter that I gutted and filled with steel wool and activated charcoal and rednecked an evap system together as I run dual tanks and the tank in the rear does not vent through the cap. Now, neither does the in-cab tank and the smell in the cab is all but gone.

Current problems are few, mainly it likes to mark its territory out the back, I think it's the rear main but I haven't really ventured into it.

I am on the road a lot and this engine has 10,000 miles since I installed it this past April. I cruise no more than 3,000rpm but typically 2700-2800rpm which puts me at about 62mph. A Gear Vendors would be really nice. My mileage, regardless of what I am doing, loaded, pulling, empty, shut off, it hovers around 10mpg and no change to that with a 15,000 pound trailer. No change pulling my Indian to Arizona from Tennessee either.

Cold starting I found it to be rather warm blooded and even at 20* I have never used full choke. Once warm, it will start with no more than a blip on the key.

[VWNate1]

Looking good there .

Experiment with the plug gaps in .010" increments, after about .060" you may notice the cap inside lugs beginning to degrade faster .

Those end bolts on the manifold are a very bad idea ~ GM used pins because the manifold expands and contracts so much, using bolts / nuts on the ends causes all those broken manifolds .

[Don Quixote]

I appreciate you! It was a lot of work for 1 guy on leave with a tight window. The whole truck is much like Cajun cooking, a little bit here and a little bit dere.

Thank you for the heads-up. I thought about that but I have also heard it is just about impossible to seal the outside exhaust ports using the cast headers as they are a 2 piece design. This is another reason I use Grade 5 bolts on the manifold and Grade 8 everywhere else, aaaaaaand I chewed up the studs pretty bad pulling them out.

I agree with you on the .010 at a time. I don't think I would go over .055 as I've seen bad things happen to all the electrodes between the plug and the rotor with a bigger gap.

[VWNate1]

#1 :

For those who don't know, 'Rocinante' was Don Quixote's horse when he was Tilting (means attacking with a long spear) at windmills ~ learning the ins and outs of older engines and their proper tuning is often analogous to tilting at windmills .

Anyway, back on point :

I had to open my spark plugs up to .070" on one old 292 (1976 GMC C2500) before the plugs would stop getting oil fouled, after that it "flew" (the test guy's actual amazed word) through the stringent California smog test .

It also ran *perfectly* although it consumed a quart of oil every 300 miles.....

Didn't hardly leak a drop after I finished with it, no visible smoke either . I didn't use Chinese ignition parts for obvious reasons .

If you take some time you'll find dist. caps and rotors with brass contacts, these out last the aluminum ones by far .

Remember : dielectric grease in the wire ends ! . any green on a plug wire end means it's kaput ~ don't waste time trying to clean it .

Each and every plug wire should be checked with a test light, it either passes 12 volts of current or it's bad .

InLine engines often have manifold to head sealing issues, the Dealer training taught us to loosely assemble the two manifolds then offer them up to the cylinder head and start all he bolts, studs and so on, begin tightening the manifold to head bolts from the _center_ then moving outwards, one left, one right and so on ~ the idea is to even draw the manifold assy. the head .

After they're all tight go back and tighten the intake to exhaust pinch bolts .

This should help .

Get rid of those end bolts ! .

I use grade 8 only, I find it too easy to strip or break the grade 5 ones .

I also use mostly old, original hardware I collect off "junk" engines at my local junk yards ~ turned in core engines often have very good stuff on them .

Clean and de rust then re use .

[Don Quixote]

Originally Posted by VWNate1

#1 :

For those who don't know, 'Rocinante' was Don Quixote's horse when he was Tilting (means attacking with a long spear) at windmills ~ learning the ins and outs of older engines and their proper tuning is often analogous to tilting at windmills .

Anyway, back on point :

I had to open my spark plugs up to .070" on one old 292 (1976 GMC C2500) before the plugs would stop getting oil fouled, after that it "flew" (the test guy's actual amazed word) through the stringent California smog test .

It also ran *perfectly* although it consumed a quart of oil every 300 miles.....

Didn't hardly leak a drop after I finished with it, no visible smoke either . I didn't use Chinese ignition parts for obvious reasons .

If you take some time you'll find dist. caps and rotors with brass contacts, these out last the aluminum ones by far .

Remember : dielectric grease in the wire ends ! . any green on a plug wire end means it's kaput ~ don't waste time trying to clean it .

Each and every plug wire should be checked with a test light, it either passes 12 volts of current or it's bad .

InLine engines often have manifold to head sealing issues, the Dealer training taught us to loosely assemble the two manifolds then offer them up to the cylinder head and start all he bolts, studs and so on, begin tightening the manifold to head bolts from the _center_ then moving outwards, one left, one right and so on ~ the idea is to even draw the manifold assy. the head .

After they're all tight go back and tighten the intake to exhaust pinch bolts .

This should help .

Get rid of those end bolts ! .

I use grade 8 only, I find it too easy to strip or break the grade 5 ones .

I also use mostly old, original hardware I collect off "junk" engines at my local junk yards ~ turned in core engines often have very good stuff on them .

Clean and de rust then re use .

I wondered if someone would figure out the correlation between my truck's name and my screen name. It's quite the story of my life and this old horse has been through most of it with me.

What I may do is put in some studs on the ends and just not put the nuts on. Definitely some good advice. Now for the ignition, I have never heard of anything with a .070 gap, that's impressive. Outside of the obvious, what are the pros and cons of a large gap? My poor truck sees all of the extremes from highway speeds for days at a time to pulling some CDL qualifying loads.

[Dwyert4]

My brothers 65 stepside with a 250.

[VWNate1]

I love the plug wires ! .

? why no vacuum advance to the dizzy ? .

[Dwyert4]

I wish I could answer that for ya. I do know that when I took the pics, he wasn't finished yet. I can tell you that it is very fast and he could've bought another truck for the money he put in just the motor.

[VWNate1]

Cool .

[Dwyert4]

He threw everything at it except turbo. If I remember correctly, he said it's upward of 350-375hp. But primarily just hangs out in his warehouse.

[VWNate1]

Sadly, that's the end result of most Hot Rods ~ they're no fun to actually drive so they get left sitting after they're finished and fully dialed in .

Me, I build fairly low compression engines that are well balanced and tune them sharply, then I can not only drive to the store daily but I also can keep up with many others in the twisty bits where I most prefer to drive .

Obviously, my rigs get left behind on the straight but that's boring, going fast in a straight line anyway, right ? .

[Dwyert4]

Bad part is, we live in Florida, so he could drive it year round. He has the suspension set up properly with adjustable coilovers on all 4 corners and the truck will respond in all conditions. For the amount of $ he has in It I'd be driving it everywhere and all the time. I'm working on a 70 c10 long bed and would never consider not being able to take it every time I leave the house. Granted, i don't have the money invested that he does yet. I give him he'll about it all the time.

['68OrangeSunshine]

What Nate says may be true for stock cast iron exhaust manifolds, but threaded studs [3/8''-16 -- 3/8'' -24] with a nut and a support are necessary for steel tube headers. Otherwise they leak bad. I use a hardened steel rocker ball for a spacer. Works for me.

Cervantes was a Spanish Marine. He was captured by Barbary Pirates and held as a POW [slave] for 5 years until his folks and The Church paid his ransom. He started writing after he got back to Spain.

[VWNate1]

Whoops ! you're correct, tube headers often (not always) work better with fasteners on the ends .

It's still critical to tighten the whole mess from the center outwards, not any other way .

When the GM HEI was new they spec'd .065" on the spark plugs, we thought it was crazy but they started and ran so easily in the sub zero temps Down East....


The changed that after a few years but running .045" minimum is wise .

The only downside I've ever experienced is accelerated wear on the caps, rotors and wires......

The plugs proper wear a bit faster but no biggie .

I hope everyone here knows to never use platinum tipped spark plugs in older engines ! .

They run colder and cause fouling problems quite often .

I think that 1968 292 looks great ~ those who work and drive these old rigs daily (more common than most realize) know how sturdy they are and if you keep up on the routine HOT OIL & FILTER CHANGES the thinwall bores don't wear out much .

All through the 1960's and 1970's there were millions of GM products with thinwall (1963>) i6 engines that blew smoke and drank oil, this was caused by owner failure to properly maintain them .

The previous generations of GM i6 engines could be overhauled with massive (up to .016") taper in the cylinder yet run fine and not smoke .

@Dwyert : who knows ? maybe one day he'll tire of it and sell to you for an affordable price .

[IRQVET]

Originally Posted by VWNate1

I hope everyone here knows to never use platinum tipped spark plugs in older engines ! .

They run colder and cause fouling problems quite often .

No I did not know that, but you could write a book with everything I don't know. If only we could travel back in time back to when I was 18. Then and only then did I feel like I knew everything.



Thanks for the tip.

[Don Quixote]

Originally Posted by IRQVET

No I did not know that, but you could write a book with everything I don't know. If only we could travel back in time back to when I was 18. Then and only then did I feel like I knew everything.



Thanks for the tip.

I didn't either, good to know. I just regapped mine to .055. It ran well for the half mile I got to drive it today. Funny story though, I ordered my plugs when I ordered my headers from Tom Langdon. He sent me a set of Champions with the gasket but I pulled out some version of R44. XS or something like that. Mind you, I do think the head of this engine I just had built was from a later year as it has the holes for the AIR system which I plugged. What does he know that I don't?