What if? what if gas price$ continue to soar. Will we see 4-cyl rods..like we did in 70's HotRod magazines?
Thank God I missed most of that! So why would you even want to make us think of such things! I cant take the voices any more!
I think we're already there. It's simple reader demand, people will ask for 6 cylinder and 4 banger build ups, because that's what they will fall back on as drivers to save money. I'm going to start driving my son's 63 Ranchero for this very reason, cool body and economical engine. As long as they don't bring back those ugly ass paint jobs we should escape with our sanity. LOL Nik
I don't know, four bangers (Flathead) and inline sixes are kinda cool.... But those funky, air brush paintjobs with the copies of Boris prints... They gotta go! Flatman
I loved all 3 of my Pintos. Those "cars" were a lifetime away from my 71 caddy. The purists will stay pure. Rod
American Rodder has said that a 27 track T with an eco-tech engine will be built on the pages of Street Rod Builder. Total Performance is in on it too.
ever notice when theres a big gas price increase that BiG block chevies (blocks, heads, complete engines etc...) go UP in price too!!?!!? why is this? --- yep i think we will see more 4s & 6s pop up in cars.
I 'm thinking about using a Toyota 22R, I got it for free and it's in good shape.Gas here is $1.20 a liter. Anyone used one of these engines?
i have a 'yota 20r and 5 speed in my track t project.....had the car for 11 years....and still haven't got it going yet.....and at the rate i'm going ....it will probably be another 11 before its done.......focus......gotta stay focused.....haha brandon
Yes. And that talk about purists stayign true to V8's is hooey. People will soup up what they can afford just as they did "back in the day". Can't afford the big V8 and it's fuel and maintence needs? Then they build a small, light 4 or 6 powered runner. It's a natural progression of things. I've thought about building an oddball, but common as dirt 3.0 Essex V6 Ford (think mid 90's Ranger) with a custom intake and totally stock internals and/or about a naturally aspirated 2.3 Ford in a closed cab pickup or a sedan of the Model A persuaysion (sp?) and when money allows I can swap it out to a V8 that I'll have waiting in the wings. Just ideas. But yeah I think 4 and 6 powered rods will become more common again with the higher gas prices. V8's will always be around though.
I've got a 2.0 A/T out of a Capri and a 2.3 4spd out of a Courier. Both run well and they are free. If they weren't, I wouldn't even give it a second thought, but I figure I can go ahead and build my rpu using one of these and swap in a V8 later when I have the money. I am planning to make the rpu modular so that it will have motor and tranny mounts adjustable so that most swaps will require little more than unbolting/bolting whatever transplant I choose. I'm planning the same thing for the body to go with a couple of different styles but leaving the cowl and doors permanently attached.
My '90 Mustang GT when it was stock got like 24 or 25 mpg in a heavy under geared car (convertible). Car Craft put together a 302 with a Weiand Stealth intake, AFR Aluminum heads, and the OEM factory cam and got 405 hp at the crank and I'd bet it still got good gas mileage. In something light it would haul A. Something like a Model A with a stickshift perhaps.
Fuel economy and hot rods are like oil and water... I wont let the fuel price dictate the way I build.
What fuel economy are you hoping to get out of a hot rod?? I don't understand why anyone would go through all of the trouble to implement something that they didn't want. Free or not free I would never stuff a v6 in anything, much less a 2.0 banger. By the time you get done fabbing up all of the parts, and actually drive it, is the mileage going to justify anything? My gi-normous 73 Plymouth got 19-21 MPG with a two-barrelled 318 and it weighs nearly 5000 pounds. I can't help but think that one could gain something by stuffing that same V8 into a hot rod that weighs a third less and not see a bearable amount of gas mileage. Keep your foot off the floorboard, drive easy, buy less beer and fast food. Cheap? You can find a running Chevy/Buick/Ford V8 car for well under $500 all day long if you know where to look....engine, trans, rearend all in one whack. With a 200R4 or a 700R4 and some freeway gears in the rear, mileage should be just fine...what does your daily driver get? Screw the 70's gas crap, why waste your time and energy? Build the motor that you want, run it hard and don't look back. Gas money in a hot rod should not take a priority over making a hot rod. They don't call them warm-rods...
Hot Rod Magazine is all over the GM Ecotec, going so far as to say it's the "small block of the new millenium" or something like that. I don't think so. It's stout, it has already run over 200mph, and is capable of stupid power - I think around 700 with a stock block and crank. But if it still buzzes like a bumblebee, I don't want it in a hot rod...
Although it isn't traditional, I've wanted to swap a Turbo T-bird motor into my 4 cylinder Ranger for a while. The 2.3 Fords are a dime a dozen and they run forever. If you're running an injected modern mill in a traditional styled ride - just keep your mouth and your hood shut! Who will know?
Chevy put a 262" SBC V8 (that's 4.3 L) in the mid 70's Monzas...right in the middle of the so-called gas "shortage" (It was FAKE!) I put a new in the crate 262" V8 in my 40 GMC five years ago. Haven't regretted it yet.
The more I think about this the more it bothers me. I've been thinking of building a custom van too. I want one of those short wheelbase early 80's Econolines with the 300 six and the overdrive stick shift trans. Suede with red steelies, signed and striped and a 56 F100 Grill. Does anyone think that this and the turbo tbird motor thing could be the early signs of a mental breakdown!
The deal, around here anyway, wasn't the price of gas ,but the availability of it. The gas companies invented a gas shortage, why I don't know, I think the idea was so people would plead with them to sell them gallons at 78.9¢ a gallon instead of 29.9¢ like it had been? Anyway, the fuckinggovernment made odd/even days that you could buy gas according to your license plate, and of course, both my cars were even so I couldnt buy gas in one, siphon and transfer it to the other and fill up again so as did about everyone I had to watch how far I drove for fear of getting stuck dry. And "even" sucked at the end of a 31 day month because then there were two odd days in a row! SO, it wasn't a case of a small engine as much as a really big gas tank! Which I had in the '60 Chevy long roof, but as someone mentioned, inline sixes don't get as good a mileage as a mild V8. Has to do with the length of the intake runners and gas falling out of vapor on the way to thw end cylinders I think. And the other car was a '67 VW with a Porsche 914 engine...small tank, guzzler engine. And traveling salesmen were screwed, they couldn't make their stops or service any great area at all. And forget going on a driving vacation.. you could only drive every other day. By the end of it people were GLAD to pay double the price...and all of a sudden, there wasn't a gas shortage any more...Imagine that? And then there was that idiotic 55 mph speed limit... You ever try to keep it down to 55 mph on the I-80? Don't get me started...
It's more like GM is alll over Hot Rod Magazine.... GM is giving away plenty to people who want to play. California Street Rods and the like do a great job on P.R. for GM. (Not a bad thing.) The echo tech is a stout little motor. However, I don't think 200mph is hard for any high-revving little engine in the right vehicle, and visually, there is something to be said about having valve covers and headers on each side. Hot rods do a lot to feed the eyeballs too... And I'm sure that maxed out to 700 hp, the mileage is crap.
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