My 51 Caddy has a Chevy 454 / TH400 combo and about a 3:55 gear. Driving 65-70 on the 1,000 round trip to the Hunnert I averaged 13.5 MPG, which is actually about what I get around town too. No complaints, but I have been shopping around for a 700R4. If that bumps me up to 17-18 like I hope it will I'll be happy. I think he key to optimizing fuel economy in carbureted cars is in keeping them properly tuned up. I think HEI (or pertonix, etc.) and radial tires are a help too, even though that may be skirting 'tradition' somewhat. I think aerodynamics are a lot bigger factor in newer cars MPG than we realize. I had a 2000 Vette with an automatic tranny and it would get an honest 27-28 MPG on road trips.
Personally, I still think we all need at least three hot rods (or maybe just "modified old cars" if they're not allowed to be hot rods): 1) A pre-'35 highboy with an electric motor, controller, and batteries (ultimately replacing the batteries with a hydrogen fuel cell if and when that technology trickles down to the hobbyist) for around town. 2) An ethanol-fired V8 car to keep the internal-combustion tradition alive (see the above tips for maximizing fuel economy, but you should be making up the difference on the other two and not have to worry too hard about it on this one. 3) A biodiesel/SVO/"veggie oil bullshit" 1950s or 1960s wagon/sedan/personal luxury car for long, comfy road trips in style. -Dave
Very interesting observation... I'll take that into consideration when building a car next time.... Guess, I better pull the overdrive out of my flathead powered A. Here, I painted it flat black and put red wheels on it, I thought I had a hot rod. Guess you cant believe everything you read...
I have been averaging 18mpg on the highway with the 324/700r4 and stock rear (2:32 I believe) in my 55 Olds.
Over 30 mpg in a homebuilt hot rod, I think not. Anything near 20 would be outstanding and then I'd consider it suspect. How many folks have checked their odometers to see how correct they are? My wife's turbo 4, 5 speed Passat, will barely touch 30 mpg on a long trip with no AC and keeping it right at 70mph, kick it up to 85(where I usually cruise it at) and it goes to 25mpg. IT"S A HOTROD FOR CHIRSSAKE! Be happy if you get 15+. Will be interesting to see what Lakesmod's new ride gets tho, he's headed in the right direction.
I'm getting a little over 22mpg with the '33 pickup. '58 283/Power Pack/4-barrell/zoomies/Saginaw 4-speed/2.75 gears, 36" tall rears. And that's between 75-80 mph highway cruisin'. 60 foot times are measured with a calendar.
Being a hot rod does not preclude it from getting near, or more than, 30 mpg. If you say it's not a hot rod because it gets more than X mpg, you're ignorant.
My father-in-law put in over 100,000 miles in a '98 vette at 26mpg. He just traded it for a 2007. I get 20mpg doing 80mph to work daily. I have tried everything less of a T5 tranny that I know would really help. But I refuse to struggle in SoCal traffic with a clutch. In retrospect, I should have built a 302 with an AOD. I would have had triple the hp with at least the same mpg and more than likely more.
So, you are saying that crate motor has the balls to redline in high gear? That would be over 240mph in a flying brick, love it.
'58 Chevy Apache, mild 283, T-5, 3.73 rear gears average (over several trips) is 21 MPG running A/C at 70-75 mph. And yes the odometer/speedometer is accurate. It was rebuilt and calibrated in 2004 with the current size tires/wheels. The trips were between OKC, Enid and Colorado Springs. It gets as good or slightly better than my dad's 2005 Chevy full size shortbed pu with a 4.3 and AOD.
My old 49' Fleetline with a 4.3L six, TH700-4R, and a 3.73 rear, got on average low 20's with its carb'd, HEI'd, engine going the speed of traffic - about 70 mph. Best I got was going 65mph for a couple of hours on the highway and hit 28mpg. It got better gas milage than my 2.8L stick shifted S10!
Most of us are driving 50 year old cars and getting about as good mileage as anything you can buy today barring a few standouts. We pay less for insurance, less for registration, no tax like on a new car purchase and we're "recycling" as were not burning new resources for the production of new cars. If Al Gore, Ed Begley, and the rest really wanted to help the environemnt, they'd be better off to buy a rod than a Prius.
the way they get the high MPG numbers in vettes is the second overdrive. It is .5 and the car has enough torque and low drag to keep it moving.
MPG is pretty important for us in the U.K. as fuel is now over $10 per gallon. My daily F100 gets aound 20 round town and 25 on a run, My T Bucket gets about the same but the wife's RPU with 215 Buick gets an easy 30mpg on a run and 24 round town. There's a guy here that has a F100 with BBChevy & 700R4 that reckons he gets 30mpg, I didn't believe him !!!
1953 Chevy truck, 261 with progressive tripower, dual exhaust, HEI, V8 Camaro T5, 3:55 gears, 235-75-R15 rear tires. ACCURATE SPEEDO. Crusing @ 65 I'm turning about 2000 rpms and I get 22 mpg on long trips.
'60 wagon w/ 350 mild-crate motor (i spent quite a bit of time dialing in the carb to optimal air/fuel throughout ranges,) Muncie WC 4 speed and 3.70 rear end. I get 20-22mpg all day. Plan to take out the Muncie for a future hot rod project, and replace with a 5 speed-- which should bump up a little more. -scott noteboom
...about the only way I think you'll get that is to run an LS1 t56 combo. Its not traditional but it'll get the job done. My 98 Camaro SS with a .650 lift cam, headers, 4:10 gears and everything else still gets like 22 mpg on the highway. Before all that it got nearly 30 mpg.
My 41 has a roller 302 with a early Edlebrock Performer intake. A holley 600 carb, stock ford Dura-spark. Tranny is a C-4, the 8"rear diff has 2.79 gears. It gets 22 MPG by GPS.
I was thumbing through a Motor Trend Magazine I have and it has an article about how to convert your car to Electric to beat the high cost of gas. It's a 1959 Motor Trend...
I get 26 mpg hwy with my 37 Ford sedan, stock LT1, 4L60E trans, 355 gear, and all the computer goodies, really pisses my buddies off at the gas stations.
Im thinking about parking my 06 Chevy Silverado Crewcab HD 6.0, that gets 9-12 MPG..and start driving my 52 with a 350. Not sure what kind of mileage yet on the 52, but it has to be better than what Im getting with my truck..
They have these circular magnets that you clamp on your fule line, the magnetic fields line up the molecules in the gas to they all burn in the same direction, then there is that ionizer thing in the JC whitney catalog. and the toronado intake vortex generator, and the acetone trick, and water injection. And make sure you put a couple of wooden cloths pins on the fuel line to prevent vapor lock.
i have a 235 in my 58 truck. Before i rebuilt the head with hardent valve seals and fixed my overheating problem i had 7 mpg. Now it jumped to 14 mpg on unleaded. I will put a t5 in it with triple carbs and dual exhaust that should boost it to.
You must have had the stickshift. My 89 Vette (with 2.54 rear-end) could get 29 mpg on the highway pretty reliably and I maxed it out at 32 mpg (pissing off the people in the slow lane behind me.) It got passed by a convertible Slaab one day and I had to do something about that. 383, hole-shot converter, 3.54 gears and 17mpg if I'm lucky now. Seems like GM's about the only folks that can make power and gas mileage (I'm not thumpin' my chest about it, look at who has to pay a Gas Guzzler tax) Heck, my 300 hp 4 banger rice burnin' daily driver (STi) maxes out about 20 mpg.
The 48 pulled 20 day in and day out with the 250 and three speed stick. Nova rear with unknown ratio. The same truck pulled 16 with a 350/turbo 400 and 308 gears. One thing I found out quick with my daily, a 71 GMC 3/4 ton with a 350/350 preformer intake and 650 spreadbore Holley. The swap to a fresh HEI and good wires and plugs was worth 3 mpg right off the bat. Going from a single to dual exhaust helped a noticeable amount also. Gas is hovering around 3.50 a gallon here so mileage is a big deal. If I drove the 71 to Bonneville it would cost me over 400 just for gas this year. Most of the car events I am interested in are an average of 170 miles away so that limits what I go to as my work schedule only allows for going on Friday/Saturday.
the best we have is a 04 Chevy Tahoe...305, 4speed, and 4x4..the works prety much...it gets about 2mpg up hill and 40 down hill...atleast thats what the cars computer tells us haha...honestly though it isnt bad i would say somewhere around 18-24
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