better gas mileage

Point well taken!
Lets call it 'range' then.
Moi? I'm just cheap.

 

Range has to at least be 1320ft!

Everything after that is a bonus!

Doc.

 

Live closer to where you need to go.....

 

Oooo... I like this one!

 

A true hot rodder won't be happy leaving anything on the table.
Efficient energy transfer will get you the best and all it can be.

Heat, parasitic loss, unnecessary rolling resistance, excess weight, aerodynamics, compression and blow by, proper tune, and matched component all play a roll.

Take your 1320 purpose built car on the street and you won't be happy with it.
Take your street car to the 1320 and you won't be happy.
Take a truck designed to pull heavy loads and you won't be happy with it doing anything else.
Take your cruiser and pull a heavy load you won't be happy.

 

Yeah but we can all dream!

 

I know a guy who still has a 455 cu in Olds 442 he bought new in the seventies. He also has a wife, 3 kids and a lousy job. He can afford to buy ONE (1) tank of hi test with octane boost a year. This is enough to go to 2 or 3 local shows in the summer and cruise the Dairy Queen with his kids a couple of times. Then it goes back in the garage.

I'd rather have a 4 cylinder or 6 cylinder car I can drive around all I want.

 

Depending on his rear end gears, I'd say you're about right. My 305 1985 Chevy 1/2 ton with a turbo 350 with lockup converter and a 2.73 or so rear end clocked 16 mpg week after week until the motor got tired. The lockup converter helped - there was a noticeable drop in RPMs when it engaged.

Now I have a 350 and non-lockup turbo 350 in the same truck and seem to get around 14 or so.

 

If you want gas mileage you need more gears and preferably EFI, late model engine with good heads/ports e.g. late Buick 3.8. But of course such talk isn't HAMB-compliant

Of course the question is how much to spend to get it.

Pickups especially old ones are like pushing a picket fence through the air so as soon as you get above 50mph all bets are off.

 

MPG and the HAMB don't belong in the same sentence...

 

That's kind of silly isn't it FNG ?

 

Let me ask you something... Do you grow a set when you drink???...

 

just sayin...

 

Apologies all around if i overstepped my bounds

 

Don't worry 777, I'm on your side MPG is a swear word!

Doc.

 

Hotrods are performance cars. Performance isn't just how fast you can go in the 1/4 mile. It is how well everything works together. Cornering, straight line, start and stop as well as MPG.

 

Ok, I give...
I also tune my Holley carbs for mileage and performance... I just play with them till I'm happy..

 

So true....!!!

 

He doesn't have a gas problem, he has a budget problem. This doesn't have to be an expensive hobby. But it does cost money. You have to know your limits and plan accordingly. I don't make a lot of money, but I find a way to save for what I want and I want to drive my hot rod. I like to drive fast. I like the noise my V8 makes. I LOVE knowing that my car is overpowered for it's weight.

I figure I get about 16mpg and I live with that. I have a budget and stick to it, so I can enjoy my car and my foots in it as much as I can. It's not hard.

What grinds my gears are the people who over think what these cars are and what they're for. If it's a hot rod, it will probably get shitty gas mileage. What's considered good? 20mpg? 25mpg? 30mpg?

One tank of gas a YEAR? He needs to sell it and get a bicycle. If you're not driving, then give it to Speedy Bill and see if he'll put it in his collection.

If you can't afford to play, get the fuck out of play ground. Jees!

 

Well...it does belong together....when you want to take your " street rod " to a show 300 miles away, and it costs you 60 gallons X 4.00 ...thats $240.00 you gave to a company that paid zero fed tax in 2012....thats a crime in my book....my old 51 ford would have cost me $96.00 round trip and lots of smiles per mile....and I would have nearly $150.00 more to spend on steak and goodies than you did...

10mpg yours vs 25mpg mine

 

Thank you Fred!

Doc.

 

LOL.
I was just thinking chop the top.



Pickups especially old ones are like pushing a picket fence through the air so as soon as you get above 50mph all bets are off.

 

A working vacuum advance can be worth a few mpg too. An optimized one's a little more than that.

 

Driving with an eye on a vacuum gauge will help MPG.

 

Doesn't 'driving with an eye on the vacuum gauge' mean you miss seeing all the pretty girls...?

 

put a stick in it, you will get better fuel mileage. try not to spend $2000 to save $10 a week, it won't be worth it.

 

Ditto on the pretty ladies...

 

Please explain how a Th2004R is 'cheesier, weaker' than a 700?
The 2004R was used in B body sedans and wagons, Caprice cop cars, and those Buick Regals with the hair dryer option.

Hold that thought for one moment...

PowerGlide- 1st: 1.76:1; 2nd 1.00:1(43% drop)

TH350- 1st: 2.52:1; 2nd: 1.52:1(40% drop); 3rd: 1.00:1(34%)

TH2004R- 1st: 2.74:1; 2nd: 1.57:1(43% drop); 3rd: 1.00:1(37% drop); 4th .67:1(33% drop)

TH700R4- 1st: 3.06:1; 2nd: 1.62:1(47% drop); 3rd: 1.00:1(38%); 4th .70:1(30%)

The PG and 2004R have the same 1-2 shift percent drop.
What's your argument?

The PG, 200-250-350, and the 2004R all have close to the same 1-2 shift drop.

The 700 has a near 50% drop from 1-2, with mild gears such as 26" wheels/3.08 FD at 25MPH the engine would be ~3K rpm, shift into 2nd and fall on its face to off idle at~1200rpm.
The other transmissions with the same 26" wheels/3.08 at 25mph would be closer to 2700rpm, shift into 2nd and be at 1500rpm.

Is this a pseudo macho thing?
I can get 10-12mpg, at 3100rpm while doing 65mph
OR
I can get 16-18mpg, at 2600rpm, while doing 80MPH.

But what do I know, gas is only $4/gallon around here, and I5 is long and boring.

More money for grill, grog, and girls

 

There is noting wrong with making a powerful engine as efficient as possible. Some of you act as though it is some sort of badge of honor to waste fuel. What if I told you you could have 330hp, and 28.5 MPG in the same 2400lb. vehicle (with the aerodynamics of a tool shed)? Proper selection of components, ratio, and a ton of tuning are still hot rodding to me, just fuel efficient hot rodding. You can go plenty fast without making a pig of yourself.

 

Well said!

I don't understand why "there's nothing wrong with " would be needed in a conversation about gas mileage. It boggles the mind.

I believe this thread also shows that some don't understand how efficiency actually makes power. Or how much of a difference matching the components actually means.
The whole car needs to work together and if the components are matched each one adds to the other in harmony. Choose one wrong and that hurts everything.

To contemplate the idea that MPG is not a factor must also lead to the conclusion that dead weight on your tug of war team is OK and even better if some of your team is pulling the wrong way.

There's also some mis construed ideas about the effectiveness and operation of certain components. Without understanding that the right choice selecting components could be made only by chance.

Power per pound of fuel matters.
Transfer of that power matters.
Efficient use of the transfer matters
The "USE" is mileage acceleration, heavy load, transportation or cruising

Therefore MPG matters.

The purpose changes as Max effort short distance, Max effort long distance, moving heavy loads, cruising, or transportation but you still want the most effective motion per pound of fuel.

Maybe fuel cost doesn't matter to a guy who's changing pistons every 4 seconds but you can bet your ass that using the fuel efficiently is what that whole rig is built around.