10 mm For under 3bills ????

[Petrol & Powder]

The Gremlin was the target of many jokes but of the American small cars of the 1970's, It was one of the better examples. They looked a bit strange but mechanically, they were pretty straight forward. The 232 six cylinder didn't use much fuel (a key feature during the TWO oil crisis of the 70's)
The last couple of years for the Grelim you could get a 4 cylinder (VW water cooled) engine that got even better mileage.
A friend had one and it was not a bad car! Still looked goofy, but you could afford to ride around in it!

 

[CWLONGSHOT]

One of my friends had a gremlin in high school. I remember a bunch of us on the wrestling team, picked it up and turn it sideways in a parking spot wedging it between two other cars. At the bowling alley one nite.
I know we could fit quite a few kids in there. I don't remember a lot about that specific car.

Another one that's in the same category as the Vega. My uncle love those cars he had a few of them and he had one with a V-8 in it. CW

 

[JonB]

In 1981, I bought my first car, a rusty 73 Gremlin with 75Kmi, paid $100.
I drove it for a year, pretty much abused it, I was 16 at the time, LOL.
Then sold it for $180 to a migrant worker who was gonna drive it to Louisiana.
It's really mind twisting for me to compare those numbers, to today's 8 yr old used car with less than 100Kmi.

 

[JonB]

Oh, my second car was a 71 firebird...again less than 100Kmi on it, and paid $325 for it. I think that one was sold to the scrapyard, I don't exactly recall for sure though?

 

[Jeff H]

....She got a little Dodge Omni (IIRC) 5 speed 4 banger after that. What great car!!!

In '82, my First Sergeant bought a new Dodge Charger, which was an Omni with a bit of tweaking and a tuned exhaust. It was pretty zippy for an American four-cylinder of the day and it handled well. Two years later, the taller, boxier Omni came in the GLH version. I was eyeballing brank new bright red one in the parking lot when a redneck buddy walked up and claimed it was his. I asked what "GLH" stood for. "GO LIKE HELL!" was his reply and he assured me it would. Wasn't bad at all for a "normally aspirated" 2.2L.

1976 AMC Hornet wagon with the 258 was once one of my rides. The electrical system could be a nightmare at times and the carb shook loose about once a month and made it hard to start, but a solid means of conveyance otherwise.

I've always been partial to straight-sixes anyway. The 258 seemed one of the more notable ones to me, as was the Ford 240, 300, Dodge 225 and the AMC/Chrysler 4.0L. I still run a couple 4.0s daily and with a pile o' miles on 'em.

 

[RicinYakima]

I've always been partial to straight-sixes anyway. The 258 seemed one of the more notable ones to me, as was the Ford 240, 300, Dodge 225 and the AMC/Chrysler 4.0L. I still run a couple 4.0s daily and with a pile o' miles on 'em.

My little F150 w/I6 300 towed my 5000 pound 22 ft 5th wheel 72,000 miles in 12 years. The 5th wheel was falling apart and we decided to buy a bigger one with a slide out kitchenette. Sold the F150 to an acquaintance with 175,000 miles and he drove it for 10 years.

 

[Petrol & Powder]

The straight Six is an AWESOME configuration for an engine. The type is pretty much doomed in today’s world of low hoodlines and transverse mounted engines but it has a lot more going for it than most people realize. They can be incredibly durable, and they produce excellent torque for their given displacement. The straight six is also inherently balanced.

I’ve owned and/or operated a bunch of them and loved them all. Chrysler Slants sixes, Chevy 250’s, Jeep/Chrysler 4.0 Liter, an International Harvester and others.

Pulling this thread back to the inexpensive verses cheap distinction; cars make a good analogy. There are cars that don’t cost a lot but provide decent service. A Gremlin with a 232 or 258 Six cylinder and 3 speed manual may not have been the classiest car around but it was a simple little car.

A Ford F-150 with the 300ci straight six was an absolute workhorse. And a Plymouth Valiant with a 225 slant-six wouldn’t win many races but it would start every time and didn’t cost much to operate.

CW- My apologies but I can’t say the Vega was in that same class . Yes, they were certainly cheap but that aluminum block with no iron liners was just not a good idea.
So you could (and probably still can) get a decent inexpensive car or you can just get a cheap car. There are some close parallels in the world of firearms.

 

[RicinYakima]

So you could (and probably still can) get a decent inexpensive car or you can just get a cheap car. There are some close parallels in the world of firearms.

That is very true, there are several small cars that are very good for less the 25 grand. Just like guns, you have to research what you are buying.

 

[Bret4207]

V8 Vegas!!! Man, those things would scare you if you didn't know what was under your foot. They were great going straight, but they, at least the ones I played with, didn't like curves a whole lot.

 

[KeithB]

I knew a salesman with a Valiant that had the 225 slant six. Racked up over 400k miles on it with little trouble.

 

[fiver]

my dad brought home my aunts 65 valiant with the slant 6 and thought i was gonna drive it.
i repaired most of the stuff wrong with it, put a polish on it and sold it for enough money to buy the 68 charger my next door neighbor had for sale.
when Dad got home from his rail trip he was not amused.

 

[Jeff H]

My Slant Sixes were in pickup trucks.

 

[Petrol & Powder]

V8 Vegas!!! Man, those things would scare you if you didn't know what was under your foot. They were great going straight, but they, at least the ones I played with, didn't like curves a whole lot.

The V-8 Vega – The quintessential Hillbilly Hot Rod.

There was a fine line between smoking the tires and twisting the entire body from the engine torque!

 

[Petrol & Powder]

My Slant Sixes were in pickup trucks.

I had a 1964 Dodge 330 sedan (the economy version of the Polaris) with a slant-six and 3 on the tree.
and a 1976 Plymouth "Feather Duster" (lightweight Plymouth Duster) with a slant-six and a 4 speed Overdrive (a factory modified A-833 four speed with a special cluster gear and shifter)
Family member had a 1977 Power Wagon with a slant-six - wasn't fast but it was super dependable.

 

[Bret4207]

Slant 6's have always been good to me. Not an exciting engine, but tough and reliable.

 

[Joshua]

Slant 6's have always been good to me. Not an exciting engine, but tough and reliable.

The head water jacket passages were narrow and would rust up. My buddies dad would chuck up pieces of wire coat hangers and run them in a drill motor to clean out those passages when he was rebuilding them motors.
Their family loaned me a dented 63’ Valiant to drive for about 4 weeks when my truck broke down when I was 21. The Dad had three or four rigs with those slant 6 motors. He loved them and claimed the narrow passages were their only design weakness.

 

[CWLONGSHOT]

The head water jacket passages were narrow and would rust up. My buddies dad would chuck up pieces of wire coat hangers and run them in a drill motor to clean out those passages when he was rebuilding them motors.
Their family loaned me a dented 63’ Valiant to drive for about 4 weeks when my truck broke down when I was 21. The Dad had three or four rigs with those slant 6 motors. He loved them and claimed the narrow passages were their only design weakness.

Rusting is largely a non issue with antifreeze @ proper dilutions in place of just water.

We never had tge Dodge 225 but I drove a few we had a parts car @ a auto parts shop I worked @ in the early 1980's. It started every time snow sleet 100° days no matter it started and ran. I remember this skinny bias ply tires!

 

[Joshua]

Rusting is largely a non issue with antifreeze @ proper dilutions in place of just water.

Yes, it is well know that properly maintained antifreeze reduces rust. Big chunks of coastal and lowland California don’t freeze hard, even in the north. Back in the nineteen eighties and nineties it was common to come across older “classic” cars and trucks with just water, or heavily diluted antifreeze in the radiators. No one worried about blowing out freeze plugs. Back then “classic” Plymouths and Dodge trucks from that era weren’t as desirable as they are nowadays, they weren’t always well maintained.

The reason my friend’s mechanic dad had all those slant six cars was because they would over heat because of poor maintenance. He would buy them for a few hundred bucks. Pull the head, ream it out, bolt it back together and add the rig to his fleet of beaters.

 

[462]

Yep, think it was in '71 that I learned of anti-freeze's other benefits and started pouring it in the radiator. I've never winterized any of the RV's water systems.

 

[CWLONGSHOT]

"Antifreeze" is also has anti boil properties and well as corrosion resistance.

I follow no freeze worries. But I also know fool hard choices ta save $$. And Water in cooling systems as well as no thermostat is another. But engines are designed to run optimally at a set operating range. Normally above waters boiling point. Yes the pressure of these system alters that level but the corrosion properties especially in a known problem engine block should be enough to make there use a priority.