Some of you may have read about my trucks engine biting the dust on teh way to pick up this set (http://videokarma.org/showthread.php?t=249706)

Well I got it fixed and drove it home yesterday evening.

I put in four new pistons, a set of rings and new rod bearings just for good luck. It took longer than anticipated because no one stocked the .040 over pistons or rings.

I also cleaned all the carbon off the valves and head and installed new valve stem seals, this engine had been burning about a quart of oil every 250 miles for years because the valve stem seals were rock hard, some of them had actually fallen apart and the rubber was detached from the metal.

I put in a set of OEM Toyota valve stem seals that a co worker gave me, he was a Toyota mechanic before he came to work at the County, I also used the OEM Toyota head gasket.

The alternator has 360,000 miles on (one set of brushes 200k ago) it and it decided to burn up on the way home, I guess it didn't like all that oil that got dumped on it when the piston blew, the steam cleaning probably didn't help either so the stator windings went up in smoke on the way home.

Here's some pictures of the carnage, my good luck was the block wasn't damaged beyond some superficial scuffing that honed out easily.

I drove it 80 miles in this condition, I had to pick up the TV so I really didn't have much choice.

This was caused by detonation, probably because the timing was a little over advanced but also because it burned oil and there was massive amounts of Carbon in the combustion chamber, oil also burns very hot and can cause this if too much of it get's in the cylinder.

Wow, you drove it 80 miles like that? It's a wonder more parts didn't disintegrate along the way. That engine's a hero.

Hehehehe...Remember when the guys on Top Gear tried to kill a HiLux ? After imploding a building under it, they gave up...

I know a guy who said at one time he and his brothers had a '51 Chevy blue flame six. The car kept on going but finally got so old and rusty it would hardly cast a shadow any more and it was going to get towed to the junk yard. He said at least he wanted the "pleasure" of blowing the engine so he fired it up one more time and floored the accelerator with a length of 2 x 4 jammed in. Ol' Chevy roared and roared for a half an hour until they gave up on it but it never blew.

Wow! I'm surprised that the bore didn't receive any damage from that!

I once had a 72 Plymouth Duster with the 198 /6 engine that I didn't overhaul until around 300k miles. Well, after numerous valve jobs and times of using oil along the way it was just getting too weak to drive anymore and had lost compression expecially bad on one cylinder.

As I was tearing it down, all of the top rings were cracked and in multiple pieces. However one bore had this weird/deep line on it and once I pulled that piston out, one of those cracked ring pieces had wedged itself sideways in the piston groove and created that spot! It needed to bore out .060 because of that and I drove that thing another 100k miles before I ended up selling it.

Since it was a standard shift car the thrust surface on the crank needed welding up. By the time I sold it you could watch the crank move in and out when the clutch was engaged! If I had kept it I would have stroked it to a 225. Still ran like a top though!

I know a guy who said at one time he and his brothers had a '51 Chevy blue flame six. The car kept on going but finally got so old and rusty it would hardly cast a shadow any more and it was going to get towed to the junk yard. He said at least he wanted the "pleasure" of blowing the engine so he fired it up one more time and floored the accelerator with a length of 2 x 4 jammed in. Ol' Chevy roared and roared for a half an hour until they gave up on it but it never blew.

I can believe it. Had an '81 P30 1-ton Step Van, the longest one, with a 292 straight-six from 1964. Often ran it flat out, especially on the interstate - 55/60 was top speed. The engine never did overheat or come close to it.

Also had similar luck with an ex-Army 3/4 ton Dodge van with a slant-six hooked to a heavy-duty 727.

That slant six is a damn fine motor,they will run seemingly forever if properly cared for,the torqueflite is also one of the best transmissions ever made.

What's great too,is that the slant six debuted in 1960 and could be had in the full sized Plymouth which had the largest fins that year!

That slant six is a damn fine motor,they will run seemingly forever if properly cared for,the torqueflite is also one of the best transmissions ever made.

What's great too,is that the slant six debuted in 1960 and could be had in the full sized Plymouth which had the largest fins that year!

Mopar slants stood up really well, considering they had only five main bearings. One of the negatives was the fact, they had solid lifters the first 20 years of their production.

Mopar slants stood up really well, considering they had only five main bearings.
I was reading up on all the domestic 6's not long ago and was surprised to read this. The Ford/GM/AMC engines have more main bearings but when you talk longevity, everyone mentions the slant. Then again, none of those engines are junk. One of my rides is powered by the AMC 258.

I know that the old Toyota straight 6 was related somehow to the Chevrolet 6...are those fours in the same family?

I thought the 6 used in the Land Cruiser years ago was a metric adaptation of the AMC motor - I could be wrong. The old Chevrolet 153 4-cylinder was not so popular in the Chevy IIs but was used in marine and industrial applications for years. I believe it was a cut-down Blue Flame six.

One of the strengths of the Chrysler slant-six was that it was designed to be an aluminum block and was thicker than most - I believe they could be bored out to 0.10

Personally, my favorite six-cylinder was the old Nash/Rambler 196 that the 232/258 replaced. The smoothest and quietest running motor I ever had the pleasure to own.