Have you given any thought to a blower ICW any motor changes? Based on my 2000 Pontiac L67 3800 V6 and 4L60 combo, I would recommend it highly. My 27 gets 24 mpg at 75-80 mph on the interstate and easily 20 around town. And considering most rods are pretty much bricks in the wind compared to a modern p***enger car, I'm happy about it. My series II 3800 (231 cu) makes about 250 hp and has 260 ftlbs torque. The series III motors have a little more. No, it isn't funny car fast, but it scoots good enough with a 28" tire and 3.50 gears. Pulling out to p*** is brisk and fun, and as easy as falling off a log. If you swapped in one of the older GM V6s that uses the SBC bellhousing, it would be pretty simple, but getting it to work as well as a the newer 3800 might be more difficult as my motor came with all the new gizmos that make it run great. Or a small blower on another small displacement SBC? Or one of the old Buick GN turbo's V-6s if you don't like the blower idea. I like the blower because I think it keeps underhood temps down, and I'm not worried at all about loosing the few hp it takes to spin the blower. Gary
All very true. To the OP, you need to go way back to the drawing board. Every engineer in Detroit tried this in the 70s. 2 BBL 440s, 7:1 compression 460s, anemic small block chevys. Guess what worked for gas mileage? modern cylinder heads, more gears and better fuel injection. So spend the money on a completely different setup, or on more gas. Find the change over point. you may see that money spent on 5 more mpg will take years to break even. You can use a vacuum gauge to "tune" your driving. Find the sweet spot to have the most cruising vacuum (part throttle) at 65 mph and keep it there. It is called hyper miling and some folks have done this to acheive 45 mpg in vw or ford focus. Only heresay though, my truck gets 25-28 and I drive like a lunatic.
Quadra-jet! Ride all day on those tiny 2 barrels then open up those back two monster barrels when needed. Some love them, some hate them.
i've got got two newer cars that are the same weight one has a 2.2 4 speed auto and the other has a 1.8 6 speed the 2.2 driven by the same person is easier on gas as it doesn't work as hard to move the m*** at the speed i drive 75/80 at 55 the 1.8 has a slight edge it all has to do with the weight to power ratio, gearing, tire size and type. a 265 4 brl with a 4 speed auto in a montee carlo got 30/32mpg when driven like an old man. as for carb it's the same thing it's driveability that's important and a two brl normally bigger ****erflies than the primaries in a four brl because they have to cover a wider range of speed. the biggest change is driving style.
But I wouldn't consider getting a wide range lambda sensor and tuning the carb properly. Not exotic enough...
Just go out and buy the smaller engine. One small "oops this doesn't fit" and you will be spending a lot more than you expected. Charlie Stephens
Everything you can do to make the short block and valvetrain easier to roll over is going to pay dividends in fuel economy. It's a huge part of the magic used to get those amazing power/economy numbers from modern engines like the LS1. Quick crude example... Take two mostly identical engines, except one shortblock requires 40ft/lbs to roll over using regular oldschool piston rings, the other uses a modern low-tension ring pack and requires only 13ft/lbs to roll over. That's a constant savings of almost 8hp at 1500rpm. If your car cruises at 2500, that equals a constant savings of roughly 13hp while you are driving down the hiway. As a bonus, WOT at 7000rpm, the low-tension shortblock would have about 36 more hp on tap. Do yourself a favor and build that 350 with modern hyper pistons, skinny low tension rings, and a compatible cyl wall finish using torque plates. Not only will the engine will last a lot longer, but even more important, less friction in the cylinders will pay fuel economy dividends for the entire life of the engine. Less friction in the cylinders also means less heat being put into the cooling system. Oil temps come down as well. Proper clearances and thin synthetic oil will help too. Another thing to think about...it's entirely possible for a low-tension 8cyl engine to require less energy to roll over than a 6cyl engine using std tension rings. There's are lots of variables, but there is a good chance that the low-tension 8cyl would get better fuel economy than the 6cyl. It's also harder to build a low-tension 6cyl, as not many shops are equipped with the torque plates required to get round bores in a 6cyl.
If you are after better mpg, the cheapest and easiest single thing you can do is install a vacuum gauge on the dash, column, console, etc . Early 60's cars had them. I think they were called MPG indicators. While you are driving, the higher the vacuum reading is, the less air (hence, less fuel) is getting to the engine. Anything you do in your driving habits that improves the vacuum level wil increase the mpg at that instant. It adds up after time. Can't have a heavy foot tho.
Its a 32 pickup has 3.5 gears first picture. I had a 34 pickup 2nd picture with 350 and 600 eldebrock, 700r4 and 3.0 gears got good milage on freeway 26-29 but in Los Angeles you sit a lot and just idle had it way lean got 9-10 mpg and only drove 10 miles to work. Same job and distance with a 65 Ranchero 302 roller motor but with 550 elebrock insted of fuel injection, AOD and 3.0 gears 12-15 mpg still ran down the freeway great. I was thinking the 350 is such a big air pump at idle and if I made a 265-302 chevy and used the heads and valve train from zz4 it would work (light truck and enough HP when moving for OD trans and 3.0 gears)?
I have a 5lt & 700R from an 86 Camaro in my ride. Not as punchy as a 350 however it gets me from 'A' to 'B'. I use 3.54:1 rear with 235:65:15s. It sits on 2K rpm at 60mph and 28mpg on the highway. My new ride has a 90 model 350 (383) with 700R, not too concerned about economy, mainly performance and drive-ability this time around.
I can tell you that your thinking is way off there Gary. The blower is essentially a compressor and those ****ers get hot. When you build boost you build heat. I had a 2004 Supercharged Cobra Mustang and it was fitted with a liquid intercooler to cool the inlet charge as a cool intake air temp makes more power ( a small radiator under the blower with a separate cooling system including a circulation pump) That roots blower got extremely hot when you worked it making boost and the underhood temps definitely go up. Visit a drag strip sometime and watch the guys with blowers (even the street cars like my Cobra) with the hoods up and bags of ice on the blower beween p***es. Larry
Could be... but the Poncho (and other GM cars) L67 (Eaton puffer) 3800 only runs 6lbs of boost and on the street and in traffic runs at 205 deg nicely, all seasons. It isn't a race car, by any means. Gary
Ls1 auto box with transaxle from a vett with stock fuel injection.im getting 33=35 on a long run according to computer thats us gallons
I've been thinking about how to make a 350 smaller. Some pretty smart ***ed answers p***ed thru my CPU. GM eliminated two cylinders and called it a 4.3 litre, V-6. I had one in an Astro Van, indestructible, plenty of power, good fuel mileage. There you have it! Whew, I really feel better now..........
I was a commercial truck fleet manager for 13 years. I saw the Astro van come and go. The Astro van on a good day got 21 mpg, never more, unless you were going down Mt. Whitney.
The gas price thing has nothing to do with who the president is. This is an issue we will have to deal with. Can't run a newer motor in California and get it registered. Cut-off date is 1985. No newer. So, a 265 gets registered easily. Hot rods pull very little weight. Get the compression down, carb working right, gears, and keep your foot off the gas, you'll be able to get it in the high 27 to 32 mpg. This is with a stock 265 motor. But, what the hell is it worth? How long to pay for the motor? I THINK ETHANOL MAYBE THE ANSWER, BUT DON'T KNOW. NEVER USED IT.
6 PSI is not too bad and not always in boost is good. If you made 6 PSI continuously then heat would be an issue for sure. And yes, 6 PSI is hardly a race car.
There are pistons out there to put a 400 crank in a 305. I always thought to get mileage the longer stroke to maintain torque in a smaller engine would be the way to go. Blue
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