An internet friend of mine had an interesting observation. With gas at $3 a gallon and only getting worse, it's been 100 years and now hot rodders are beginning to seek the benifits of using a 4 cylinder in their hot rods. The same amount of cylinders he started out with. Kinda cool, in a sad way.
$3 a gallon... I wish.. gassed up today 3 gallons, $36.... welcome to the UK... still cant get enough bent 8s....
My wife and I have four cylinders cars for our daily drivers (late model EFI junk) but my Hot Rod........NEVER!!!!!! I'm pushing 60 and remember dumping my Hemi around 1974 because of the arab gas embargo's. I've been kicking my own ass for all these years for doing that Gas can be $10 per gallon and the daily driver two cylinders......but my rod will still have a V-8......better one hour of fun than a week of a car that shits
The day I have to go to a 4 cyl. is the day I park everything , remove the batteries, cover them up, and go buy a fishing pole......
Not really, I don't think. The problem we had in the late '70s was supply, not really price. OPEC shut the taps off. We waited in lines on an odd or even day, just to GET gas. Sometimes, you'd wait for a few hours and while you were in line, the station would run out. People were following gas trucks around hoping they were on their way to fill a stations tanks. Sometimes, they weren't! Hot rodders didn't think about not using a V8, though they waited until their day to fill up.
Who's putting 4 cylinders in their cars because of gas prices? I never noticed anybody doing that or actively saying "hey I put a 4 cylinder in here cause I don't like paying $80 for gas." I mean if you're that concerned about gas prices you'd be driving an econo-box to begin with. To me having anything less than an I6 is kinda like a girl with no boobs...it's still a girl but...well you know. Just my 2 cents.
4 cylinder? Whatchootalkin'boutwillis? I thinking overdrive and mabey a little less gear...but that's also so I can go faster.
70's Supply problem.???..thats what you were fed on the news...l was in Conn. then ,working for a Custom Van outfit supplying dealers with conversion vans. Feds made it manditory to "ration" gas guzzler Van Production against Compacts, changing the percentages to just about make it impossable to get new vans, We went to converting 4wd pick-ups ,gotten out of Canadian Plants, MEANWHILE a Bridgeport TV news Helicopter Caught Oil Tankers "Circling " in Long Island Sound in "holding" patterns Instead of dropping their loads at the docks. It's always NOT what you're told. Bigger "powers" pulling the strings.
Ahem....Banger motors - a little respect for our strangeness please. However, the next one will be a V8!
I wan't to build a badass banger motor just because. The Gas milage will just be a bonus. Of course the Hemi comes first...
It wasn't even supply. American gas companies saw what people were paying overseas for gas and created a shortage. Gas was $.25 a gal. It went to $.65 and stayed there. There was so much gas, you would see tanker trucks going to closed gas station to fill the tanks, all in the dead of night. Times ran an article, during the height of the fuel "shortage", showing 75K barrels of oil going overseas. When the government threatened to "Nationalize" gas companies, miraculously the shortage ended. Each time, the rising prices have been blamed on fuel shortages. We export has much as we use. A friend of mine works for Exxon/Mobil. He saids theres enough gas now, to last for 500 years. When prices spiked to over a buck a gallon, my brother whos a cop said they were getting gas for $.18 a gallon.
And the industry "spokesmen" will always tell you the prices reflect "Supply & Demand' ....Nice way of saying "we got the supply and demand you to pay whatever we want to charge". BullSh*t
Man, I can't speak for what happened at the docks in Long Island Sound, but the oil embargo is a pretty documented event. http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/time/dr/96057.htm Regardless of who pulled the strings and how, the consumer on the street could NOT get gas. Back to topic. I know of a couple people who are checking out hot rodding 4 cylinders for speed and performance. They see a market on the horizon. I'll never give into it, but a little 4 banger in a t bucket has MAJOR possibilites.
i still cant get over the fact that it was 67c the day I got off the plane in Atlanta in January 1998 - thats quite an inflation in 10 years. wow. 10 years. I just realized I've been here in the U.S. for 10 years on 21st of this month...
My ex wife fell for that crap back in 1974 and trade my 70 roadrunner, sassy grasy green for a ford maverick. What a pos car that was. My road runner would be worth a lot today. ( Bitch )thats why I divorce her a couple of yrs after that. All my hot rods have V8s and always will.
My 4 banger is pushing 13 MPG, but it is a flathead... MPG trade off is bad, because with the 4 you have to gun it to do what even a 6 can do, wasting gas
they was talking on the news that the price of fuel is not controls by supply and demand but the white collar profit traders on wall street. It it wasnt for them running the price up, fuel be around two dollars a gallon.
Hot Rods.......Tire smokin', gear jamming, reduced weight ,more horsepower, multiple carbs, 3/4 cams, dual exhuasts, strokers, injectors, NITRO, burnouts, heads up ,run what ya brung, NOT little 4 Banger buzz boxes for pussies.
I guess our forefathers were pussies then ..funny cuz i thought they had nads of steel.. even with there 4bangers on the dry lakes..
Specific "Niche" classes are cool...in all forms of motorsports...we're talkin' here about the majority of HOT RODDERS
I'm still waiting for the 70's to repeat themselves, and be able to buy a "gas guzzler" for cheap because someone wants to get "rid" of it...hasn't happened...yet...
Most guys that run 4 bangers do it 'cause they want to not 'cause they want to save a dime at the pump. If, like me, you can't afford the gas then you should cut the fat out of your expences elswhere. I quit going to bars 'cause it's cheaper to drink at home with some buddies and the cash I save goes into my tank. Also, a stock small block will run faster than most hopped up four bangers and will probably get the same gas mileage. Maybe someone who has a souped-up banger could tell us what kind of gallons per mile they get.
I've seen some internet photos of non hamb cars with modern 4 bangers. I think it's silly personally. There are many very cool vintage 4 bangers, if you want a 4 cylinder hot rod, get a BMW 2002, Fiat, Alfa, VW, etc. A hot rod need to sound a certain way and it's not going to do it with 4 cylinders. Get a cheap jap 4 banger to go to work (which face it, if you have to sit in traffic isn't fun driving anyway). Drive the hot rod when you can truly enjoy it and don't worry about the gas.
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