Hybrid Hot Rod, sticking it to the man

LPG/Propane is the way to go, less $ in set up and a good return (at least down here) its readly avail and there are "factory" vehicles avail from GM and Ford here.
I ran a falcon with 250 six on LPG a few years back and it was cheaper to run then an auto 1.8 subaru and way more fun, I think the Alt fuel deal is better to look at for the moment then the Alt power sources burn a heap of LPG for the 10k electric components might cost.

Who ever said Wankel up there, a tuned one will run to as much fuel cost as a decent V8, and people will point at you and laugh.....

 

These V-6 Diesel motors were put in a Cutlass Ciera in the early 80's- they got 35 40 MPG in those and they are a lot heavier than say a modle A coupe would be....I think they are connected to an S-10 bolt pattern tranny as they were front wheel drives........THEY RAN HARD -PERFORM SUPRISINGLY WELL.
Another choice is a Ford escort4 cyl Diesel or Mazda and Ford Courier pickup 4 cyl diesels....

 

Isuzu makes a very good 4 cylinder diesel. They are primarily maufacturers of heavy trucks.

 

you could always go with a VW TDi motor. they can be chipped to run some sreious boost and make over 200ft/lbs of torque. on a light A or T this would be ideal.

 

seems like I remember a thread like this awhile back where someone chimed in with a prewar Ford pickup, mostly stock flathead v-8/T5 combo, tall skinny bias plys, getting like 38 mpg.

40's/50's flathead six powered Plymouths were widely known to get 20+ mpg. It's not too hard to imagine where you'd end up if you cut weight down from 3000lb to 2500 or less, added a five speed, etc....

I think we all have the right stuff in front of us already, we just have to be careful how we put it all together.

 

This post confirms the many reasons I'm building a 27 T RPU with a tri-powered early 283 hooked to an S-10 5 speed & rear-end. I'm anticipating somewhere in the neighborhood of 22 MPG+ on the interstates! That's made possible with a 3:42 gears turning about 1500 RPM at 65 MPH in 5th gear! Granted those numbers are speculative, but entirely possible! I'll post the results as I determine them.

 

one thing to keep in mind that spending money on stuff to get more MPG is a waste.....the money you save on gas in the long run will never repay you for the parts you bought chasing that MPG.....

i say stick the 302 and c6 in it since you already have it.....tune the carb good, and put a good ignition system on it....

you will save lots of money by doing that.....

think about this:
say you spend $1000 chasing MPG

$3 a gallon

25mpg x 1000 miles=$120
20mpg x 1000 miles=$150

$30 difference in 1000 miles....

if i did my math right it would take you 33,000 miles to break even

 

If you want a non tradiational motor go diesel. You can make gobs of power still get decent gas millage and theres always vegie deisel...

 

I doubt this is the same one, but here's something similar. There's also the McLean Mono-Wheel - talk about some wild stuff...I do like the sidecar w/WL engine though...

 

They allways tell you to buy new cars that are more fuelefficiant (sp?) but how much oil are they using to make that new car with all the plasic stuff? we should get medals for keeping old cars in traffic!

 

When this whole thing(hot rods) got started,the way to get it done was lose the weight and add power.Stripping down for battle.Modifieds, track Ts etc. Build your own parts or do without. One of the standbys was to replace engines with newer and improved later models. Why then is it a sin to go to late model or foreign engines.My wife's '02 turbo'd Neon gets 33 m.p.g.(when she drives it) it weighs 2659 lbs.and goes like hell! This threads subject 27 T, with almost any late 4 banger could reach 1500 lbs. The Neon goes high 14s as is .How quick would the T be? 40 m.p.g.50 m.p.g.?? Ten years ago my glass '23 tube chassis, bucket went 7.90 @169mph @ 1350 lbs. with a blown, injected quad 4. this car on the street got 30 m.p.g.Our EFI is capable of running stock o.e.m.injectors when not in boost. When the pedal is slammed it goes to alcohol
This setup, on any of the later engines is capable of well over 500 h.p.yet still able to get 30 to 50 m.p.g. Our predecessors would have given their ass to have one of these engines. Damn near every one of you would give your left nut for an Offy!! These engines are what an Offy would be if they were production pieces.From the very outset hot rodding has been about new technology.Model A's were quicker than Ts,V/8s
were quicker than A's etc.etc.
Tradition is great, and should be protected at all cost. But progress is the very back bone of hot rodding.There is no reason we can't have a traditional car with late model engines.A Ford Duratech 4 cylinder weighs 187 lbs. This engine would make a 1,000 lb. T buckets a doable project.
Gemini EFI

 

awwww heck, just use a geo metro 3 cylinder and a 2wd tracker transmission

just kidding of course, but you would probably get 60mpg on the highway if you kept the weight under 1000 lbs....

 

I had my doubts about this thread early on. I was afraid "tradition" was going to stifle ingenuity. I just bumped the rating because there is a definite trend here. We are still diverse and open to options. There's no shortage of creativity on the HAMB!
I really look forward to the day that I'm sitting in my propane burner when an all electric pulls up beside me at a light. Electric motors have 100% of their torque available at zero RPM. He may get the hole shot, but I'll make it up on the big end!

 

propane injected turbo diesel is the way to go, power and economy

 

Dreadman and Scotty have raised a great subject up for discussion.
I spent eight years building solar/electric vehicles in the 80's-90's w/a team from the Tech school in NH. The (2) 12 hp DC motor car had plenty of power, as we could push it up to 4 times the rated hp for a few seconds. 4 X 24total hp gave us 96 hp, in a 1000 lb chassis. It was great in gymkhana (?) competitions where you had to punch it out of every turn. The later Ni-Cad and NI-M-H batteries were able to reduce the on-board weight, but a fuel powered vehicle still held a distinct weight advantage. Esp. when range is considered. the electric's at that time would run about ~120mi on a full charge. Think 8 full size Diehards or equivalent batts.
Among us older, and traditional hot rodders in Southern NH/Maine, for engines we've talking about either the VW 1.8T gas turbo, which when running a chip is a screamer, or the VW TDI, also benefits from a performance chip setup. I'm seriously considering a lightweight, openwheel '29 on '32 rails w/an unusual V-twin bike engine. If I go w/a full hood, only the exhaust note will tell what's up.