So I`ve got a 53 chevy body... and a typical cheap small economical car... I take then engine from the small economical car... put it on the chassis of the larger chevy, with a longer drive shaft of course... Then I would have an economical chevy? rite?
More like a SLOW Chevy! The Chevy 6s got pretty fair mileage as is - even better warmed up a bit - IF you could keep your foot out of it!
little economical car engine is only economical because it is pushing around a little economical car. once you put it in the much heavier chevy you will find it is working too hard and looses all economy. a Small v8 would probably do better. if you want economy I bet a diesel would work well. something from say a small pickup.
Won't be that economical trying to haul around 4,000 lbs of steel. That engine is probably too under powered for the size of the car and will just be a waste of time and the engine probably won't hold up.
I know its a dumb ass question, but I dont seem to see many people do it... I dont own a car. i was just wondering if there are reasons, why its not something Ive seen done..
Not dumb ass at all, that's a fair question coming from someone new to the game. Shows your thinking.
Have you ever seen a tractor pull ? High HP & Torque cars and trucks pulling 40,000 - 200,000 lbs ! Understand what I mean ? Your set-up won't work very well ! GOOD LUCK !
I have a '51 Ford with a full roller 302 and with the air on it gets 24mpg on the road and dynoed out at 378hp at the flywheel. If I took the time to do the head work I could free up some more gas mileage but I am not complaining.
I'm gonna approach this one from the other side just for the hell of it. Some of these economy cars weigh more than you would expect. I'm willing to bet that if you had the resources and know-how, you could pull it off. But the time and expense you put into it would pay the difference in gas for years for a nicely built small block with a manual overdrive, and you could see decent mpg. v8 not working hard= 20 mpg and cheap to build 4 or 6 cylinder struggling= 22-25 mpg probably maybe less. Just opinion...
Something detroit never told you. You never get better economy by detuning. If ya gotta go late model go with a late model 8 or at the very least a six.
I'm building a turbo Mercruiser 3.0L which is a bigger version of the Chevy II four banger. Should make an easy 300-350 hp and just as much torque at 12-15 psi of boost on 91 octane. No reason why a turbo banger couldn't get the job done in your Chevy.
it could work, but the 235s werent exactly gashogs. mine gets 20-22 mpg, and is bulletproof. EDIT ***never mind, didnt fully understand the question***
I think you'd be better off taking your body and putting it on a late model Impala cop car. You'd have all new suspension, but still the body that you want.
What does a 53-54 Chevy weigh anyhow? I do know that a late model Firebird outweighs a 57 Chevy 2door post car by about 150#. Maybe a modern 4banger with injection etc. might not do too bad a job in the larger body given that the little car it may come form has railroad rails in the doors etc. and what would the weight differential actually be? Inquiring minds want to know.
you'd have to go with a banger designed for a heavier car though. something like the honda element motor (2.4l) which has a big stroke the older nissan pickup banger might work good (also 2.4l) in england I'd look for the turbo diesel banger motor though. nice power and mileage.
Best advice in my opinion. With the time, effort and money you would invest you would just end up with a seriously uncool Chevy In most cases, it's not what you drive just how you drive it. Keep your foot out of it and you'll save gas.
Alright, economical and cool can be accomplished (rarely), but it can be done. Try this: Instead of a small engine in a large car, try small on both sides, cuz like revkev6 and stude pointed out, a heavy car will kill the economy, not to mention the motor itself. So, look up two cars: The Morris Minor and the Volvo Sport (60's). Here is a Morris: And here is a 1950's-1960's Volvo Sport: (my favorite of the two and easiest to find at a cheaper price) The advantages are obvious once you see one up close. They are smaller cars, but not insane like an MG Midget. AND they have that way cool styling we all know and love. As for motors, I'm not real familiar with the Minor, but the Volvo Sport had this little 4banger that was Über small. An updated motor would probably be a great idea. And to see a Volvo Sport chopped and dropped is bad ass. Small car, Small motor and Style...Fuel Economy, at least as close as you can get. Hope that helped with the whole 'lookin outside the box' thing. ~Jef P.S. HAHAHA, I just noticed you were from England! You've probably got a tonne of these cars over there, I'll leave my post for guys over here that may be thinking the same thing, as for you, just ignore my post...lol
Where's Fat Hack when you need him... Original 235 in the Chevy with Powerglide 115hp@3600 rpm, 204 lb.ft.@2000 rpm 2009 Chevy Cobalt 2.2L 155hp@6100 rpm, 150 lb.ft @4900 VW TDI 1.9L diesel 108HP@4150, 173 lb.ft@1900 rpm
Doesn't anyone else think that a modern V-6, say a 3L out of a minivan has as much or more H.P. and torque that a 53 Chevy???? And the weight wouldn't be that different. so of the injected 6's get amazing milage. I don't think a four cyl. would be any good, at least no fun, but I think a V-6 would be more than enough to equal or surpass the stock moter. In my experience I'd say a V-6 mini-van would smoke a '53 Chevy in a dragrace. At any rate it would be an interesting swap.
About 3400 pounds. I had my mountainbike on a roof rack on mine and some "green" cycling pals inquired about my boat of a car since their Toyota looked about half the size. I had em open the door and sure 'nuff, the Toyo OUTWEIGHED my 54!
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