Are any of you considering building an "efficent" hot-rod?

Just playing devil's advocate:

I had an otherwise stock 2000cc '71 Pinto with a tube header on it. Uncork the header and it sounded like a real motor. I also had a Chevy Sprint (their version of the Geo Metro) and I loved that car! Automatic and air conditioning -> 70+ mph over the Grapevine with not a hint of overheating (and about 38 MPG). Zippy, easy to park.

Hot rod content:

Like the man said, it takes X amount of gas per horse power. The only way to increase gas mileage is lose some weight or lose some power (or drive slower, you know, like there's an egg between your foot and the accelerator pedal).

gary

 

not true, a lot of modern four cylinders sound like weedeaters,but a lot of the older ones don't. look at the older brittish cars, triumph,mg,austin healy, they all had a good sound. even older hondas sound nice. the new ones with the fart cans,that have the vteck are the ones that sound like a weedeater on steroids. on my old iron block 86,i have a genuine cherry bomb glass pack, and it sounds a lot like old brittish cars. engine is a bigger displacment then a lot of the weedeaters is one of the reasons why,plus it doesn't rev to 10000 rpm in first gear. what about flathead fours? they sure had a nice sound. mine probably sounds lot like the pinto,same cc's too.

 

My wifes '57 has a .060 over 283 with a mild cam and powerpak heads, early Edelbrock small port intake with a 450 cfm Holley... Runs great, gets good gas mileage, dependable as all get out....

Al

 

cams, headwork, timing sprockets- http://www.teamswift.net/3tech/

turbinetech.ca makes turbo kits for them....

 

the setup i'm thinking of running in my 34 ford p/u.229 chev v6 with a couple of webbers on top,may try squeeze a third on there(with smaller distributor),or a couple of strombergs.with a 3 or 4 speed.

 

now that looks nice.

 

I wonder how a 4 cylinder continental industrial would act in a super light car... It would look the look. And there are lots of parts out there yet. I have to look in some books and see how many cubic inches they had...

 

Electric mottors don't need transmissions.

 

Big 4 bangers---slow revvers like industrial engines might well have a more hot-rod style exhaust note. The latest GM industrial bangers have 180cu.in. displacements. With cylinders that big a rorty sounding exhaust should be easy to accomplish. Also lets not forget that in terms of cylinder size early 200cu.in. Ford bangers are hard to beat sound-wise although they wouldn't likely be anyone's first pick for fuel efficiency. The 2 liter and smaller high revving OHC engines are entirely another matter as has been pointed out.

 

I'm going full BEV (battery electric vehicle). Yeah, it's outside of the scope of the board, so I won't get too into in here.

But it's traditional from way before traditional was traditional.

 

Er, uh, in general automobile usage yes they do. Very few vehicles using conventional electric motors do so without multi-speed gearing of some kind. The only types that can in general get away without such gearing are the new in-wheel motor versions whose natural mechanical advantage precludes the need.

 

been thinking of taking my 1973 350 sbc back to a two barrell

 

been thinking of taking my 1973 350 sbc back to a two barrell from a four

 

If you have vacuum secondaries your not going to win much,am I wrong?

 

i have been told that 2 barrels get worse mileage than 4's because the primarys are smaller than the secondarys on a 4 barrel.....2 barrels have bigger openings to allow them to keep up at higher RPM's from my understanding....

 

3.8? whered u get the intake?

 

That's why they call them "hot"!

In regards to the emptying bank accounts, not news here. My two cars get a high mpg of 12 and a low of 6 mpg. Convert the J2 Olds to a 4 brl.....not hardly at least not in my lifetime.

That won't help you. Most 4 brls drink less than 2 brls. If your 4brl's cfm is 600 or over, try replacing it with a 390 cfm 4 brl. But definitely not larger than an 500 cfm. And then keep your foot out of it.

Actually this gas price dilemma has saved me some money. Had been planning on purchasing a completely rebuilt 392 hemi, but now have decided hold off. Only downside is that now the little woman has starting eyeing my fun money.
<!-- / message -->

 

I did it and pics are attached! 2 liter Ford Zetec, T5 tranny, Hildebrand quickie, 1400 lbs, Hilborn electronic injection. I have not checked the mileage, I did it becasue I wanted a 4 cylinder and could not afford an Offy!

Rex

 

Sweet HotRod !
Do some mileage checks for us and report back, OK ?

 

cool... how's it "go"???

buddy put a Zetec in his VW Vanagon Camper... thing can dam'n near pull the front wheels off the ground now

 

heres an example, this one isn't mine,but the same engine,i have a lot of internal work so it is quite a bit louder,but with lower gas mileage. very close to the sound of a lot of the old detroit iron block 4 bangers. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdgRz8Ttf_Y&feature=related

 

Anybody that says this isn't a hot rod can kiss my ass.....damn that's cool! What kind of power does it have...and if you don't mind me asking...whats it cost to do put a motor like that together?

 

AMEN.

I was getting a little queasy with all this talk of little four bangers.
The day I see a '40 Ford with a tuner four banger, and a coffee can exhaust tip is the day I'll eat a bullet.

I had a stock '90 LX 5.0 Mustang with 3.0 gears, and it got 28-30 MPG at 70 MPH.

You don't need to resort to four cylinders to get better mileage. Just lower HP V8's, OD trannys, highway gears and EFI.

(OOPS, did I say that out loud on the HAMB, sorry. There's probably a more appropriate forum for such talk)

 

brewsir,
I got the motor out of a 2000 Ford Escort ZX2 which was stick shift so it had a flywheel and clutch, had to change the disc to match the T-5 inlput shaft but using the stock pressure plate. The engine has 20,000 miles on it and pushes 175 psi compression in all cylinders. Paid $750 for it and $375 for the T-5. Biggest cost were $425 for the adaptor bellhousing, and then pretty big bucks for the Hilborn electronic injectors and the ECU, about $3000 total. But you could easily do a set of Weber side drafts for less than 1/3 of that.

Rex

 

wow...thats very reasonable for an exotic looking setup...doubt I would do the injectors but the rest maybe! Now the real question is can it kick a V8's ass? (I just had to ask!)

 

That depends on the operating range.

 

the carbs are just dummied up on there at present.the current manifold is a edlebrock 4 barrel.i'll either make an adaptor or a new manifold if adaptor looks too high.

 

That is very, VERY, cool, Rex!

 

NICE. Gary

 

You own that Abarth? Gary