I first started in auto parts after I got out of the Army in '67 and was around for the Jimmy Carter "gas crisis" during that period several of the speed equipment companies started gearing towards products that would improve MPG.Some of these are still around or can be found used if anyone is interested in going this route lets talk about it.
Really a smaller carb or primaries on a 4 bbl , OD trans and better gears in the rear like 3.25 or 3.00 would really help with fuel consumption . I still have one of those vacuum gauges that tells you when you are pushing on the gas too much where you have to keep the needle in the Green area ! Jim
I don't really care. As long as I have my car, I'll drive my car. Unless I wanna ride my bike that gets about 25-30 mpg (with a w***ell peanut gas tank.). Though, I also understand that real people have families to support. Right now its just me and my toys
i seem to recall hot rod or car craft did a story on a small block chebby (what else) called miserly mouse(?). was back in the early 80's when gas hit a whopping buck a gallon.
There was also some crazy stuff from J.C.Whitney back in the 70's, spark plugs with 8 electrodes,there were the carb spacers one had a cone shaped screen that was supposed to atomize the gas made of a special ion producing material and another one that had propellers to atomize the fuel.One thing I tried that actually worked was the Vapor Injector I had on a Toyota Corolla the MPG gain was about 3-4 MPG when I moved from Oregon to California the "emission police" made me unhook it even though hydrocarbon reduction was about 40% with it hooked up.
well it hurts me to say this but on my 55 i dont drive it as much as id like to ecause of the gas, i mainly only get it out on the weekends. but on my daily driver, a toyota echo. it already gets 38 mpg back and forth to work, i tried a hydrogen generator. they were the hot new item a few years ago. it actualy got worse gas milage. if i didnt live 30 miles from work it wouldnt mater as much. at work we had people bring us all kinds of stuff to put on. one that still is popular and reminds me of something jeff brough up is the typhon. it is for late model suff and gose before the throtle body. resemles a propeller made to swirl the air, thats all it doing since most injectors are right before the valve. some are even in the cyl. now. but with the 55 it dose ok 18ish with a 302/aod/308 with a 2 bbl carb that i need to rebuild. my rpu im building hoping to be more of a daily driver. i wanted a 6 cyl auot with od engine combo, and im trying to buid it as chep as i can. so i traded an old nehi/rc cola box for a 3.8 v6 chevy with a 350 lock up trans combo. not my first choice but it was the best i could do. gona run a 3.55 rear gear. this thing might weigh in at 2000# max when im done. so it should get high 20s on mpg.
Here are two best gas mileage manifolds from "back in the day" http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro...w=Ford+Streetmaster&_sacat=See-All-Categories and the Offenhauser Dual-Ports these employed small runners to enhance port velocity at lower RPM's power range was off idle to 4500-5,000 RPM.
instead of a 6 in your rpu, what about a 2.3 ford motor. they have been around since the stone age and are reliable as an anvil. well, except for the timing chain, but you were going to freshen that up anyway. 5 speed manuals behind just about every ranger/mustang you see, 4 speed autos behind the rest. didnt a 3.8 face east and west? not familiar with what they came in.
well this is the chevy 3.8 looks like a 305 with 2 cyls missing. they only made it about 3 years then went to the 4.3 s10 engine. basicly the same. and i intend on using it to pull stuff. when i was looking for the engine combo i was looking for a 2300 or 200, 250, but this is what i was able to trade straight up for. it came out of a 1980 malibu rear wheel drive car. but most 3.8s are front wheel drive and are buick motors.
The 3.8's were used in T-Birds and Tauruses I recently had a '91 T-Bird with the 3.8 and it was real good on gas about 26-27 Highway with the AOD and a fair amount of power this would probably be ant interesting swap,good read here ( http://wiki.ask.com/Ford_Thunderbird_(tenth_generation) the set up from the Super Coupe is even better,these T-Birds can usually be had cheap as I've seen them on craigslist under $1500 common.There has been talk on several forums of using the rack and pinion and sizeable disc brakes from them and also the IFS rear end which these have which uses the 8.8 center section.A glance on ebay shows a lot of aftermarket brake upgrades at bargain ba*****t prices.Since it would be "Ford in a Ford" and since the 302's were around during the same period also you could probably use the mounts like we use for the 302 swap.
the ford 3.8s used there own mounts. but the whole point of the rpu build is under a 1000 build cost. right now its looking at about a 500$ build. what ever i can get for free or trade for. i got 28 dollars invested right now. 10 of which was aquiring a ***le, its an es*** rpu now. lol
Yeah, I can see the $28 you've got invested. That looks like a lot of work but will be great when it's done.
no that actualy a power jazzy chair , i bought one from a thrift store for a 100 bucks then solld it for a 100 to a freind, got it back on payment on his build, then traded to another guy for this. i have a 39 plymouth truck bed im gona shorten and use. this bed is too identifiable as a model a
Do you have the tailgate with the "Plymouth" on it ? If you do they are hard to find and bring good money for the ones rebuild to an original . I had a 37 Ply p/u and wish I kept it . Actually the 3.8 was a very good engine . I had 3 Taurus with them and they all got great mileage . One 2 door and 2 wagons . All vent well over 100,000 miles and the only thing that went bad was the ignition modules . They all got about 20 mph around the town & suburbs where I live . The highways got in the lower 20's so no complaints with them at all . I still think about getting another one again . Towed my boat and trailers with no problems at all ! They were also decent cars on long drives being very comfortable . Was one of the Best cars Ford made ! Jim
used to have the whole truck. i bought it for a 100 bucks. bad shape. sold the tailgate and front grille for 350, sold the rusty cab with absolutly no floor for 300 kept the bed and straight axle. which ill use in my rpu.
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