Something I always ponder...a daily driven gas mileage hot rod

Dang it.

 

I drive the old Cummins Powered Power Wagon daily , rain , snow , sleet , sunshine -20 to 105 . You can not make it overheat , it will go anywhere on the planet that you point it . Best part is the Cummins Power will average will over 20 mpg day in and out .

 

No, you're right. That's why I was looking for something quick. I'm just not much on the newer stuff.

 

Not so fast on the ecoboost fours and sixes. Read up on head gasket and head problems they are having.

Mark has the best idea. It shouldn't be hard to find a 4 cyl mini truck, Ford, Chevy, I would even look at Mazda and Nissian. Toyota's are usually the highest money. Can't beat a small truck for a work truck, enclosed cab, good heat and maybe AC. A little paint and it could be cool like Mark's...

 

The fwd GM ecotec can be turned 90*
The solstice and Saturn version is RWD
There are adapters out there for the fwd. I’ve seen em bolted to tremecs.
Some say a solstice bell housing and a jeep ax-5 5spd will work. Don’t quote me on that but there is OE rwd pieces and transmissions for these.
Supposedly there are Toyota, Nissan and maybe Volvo options for trans. I’d have to search some more.

 

PS. You’d probably get close to 30mpg with an LS.
We put a flex fuel 5.3 in a 41 Chevy truck. Owner said it got 25-27 mpg. Your project is lighter.
That’s around 330 stock hp
Just saying

 

Yes. Head and oiling issues.
Id ask a ford tech, before presuing that route.

 

Agree on a mini truck 4 cyl and trans takeout for a quick hot rod. Or better yet, just get an S-10, lower it and cruise that as Moriarity showed. Looks better than many vehicles, easy to find and cheap parts. Can haul stuff, and cheap insurance.

Here is my 97 Sonoma, with 350 vortec and 5 speed. Fun little driver. For sale. New paint and lot of new parts.

 

I had a 4cyl 5spd s10. Ran great.
Wouldn’t pull a greased string out of a cats butt.
120hp/140torque.
hauled 6 22.5 wheels and tires once. Did ok. Lots of down shifting.
The 95 Tacoma I have would run circles around it. Better MPG as well. Those are like 140hp/160torque
Not sure on the gearing between the two.
the Mitsubishi and Isuzu were also more fun than the s10.
Friend of mine swapped out his 2.2 for a supercharged 3800. Picked up a complete engine at a pic a part for $250. Bolted to the 4cyl bell. Had to fabricate an intake tube for the supercharger, the throttle body is against the firewall when rotated 90*

 

Years ago maybe late '70s, the author of popular hotroding magazine did an ongoing article of a 70? Monti Carlo that got 30 mpg with a 4-bolt 350.... You might want to check it out.....

 

The cheapest and the fastest way to have a daily driver old car is to start with a solid donor car or truck, pull the sheet metal off, and add whatever old body easily fits on it. The more out of proportion the body is to the frame, the more work is involved in making it work easily.
A Model A is not going to be a good fit on any modern chassis, the body is too narrow. A late 30s to late 40s bodies fit on modern small car or truck chassis much better.
I've done this a few times.

 

Here's what I have observed: the ecoboost 4 problems are 2018 and older. The block deck was redesigned for 19. I looked at that setup real hard. In a small front such as a 32, where do you put the innercooler so it doesn't look like a wart on the nose? The local parts store had a ranger, the gen before the current one, poor fuel mileage and little performance. I think it was before duratec. The small cars are the ones that make the best transportation. Because it will be short term, why not buy one of those and just concentrate on operating costs and forget the rest for a while? The 2012 and newer dodge chargers with the 3.6 v6 are good for 30mpg. Not as good as honda civics but at some point, are we talking transportation or having something that has style also?????

 

So, I guess the real deal is I wanna streamline the fleet. I have a buttload of cars I have to tag.
My current stable

• Wife's 2019 Lincoln Nautilus
• 2002 F150 Crew Cab-Wore smooth out
• 1928 Ford Tudor sedan- Drag-N-Fly- No tags
• 1930 Ford Roadster
• 1935 Ford truck
• 1936 Ford Truck
• 1955 Ford Customline
• 1956 F100
• 1963 Avlair Mark II Travel trailer

The 56 is taking the place of the 2002. Once the 55 is done the Lincoln can go away. By then it will be wore out anyway. I just figured I would build a "shooter car" for you northerners. Something that I could sell once I fully retire and make a little $$$ on it. If I buy an old wore out Ranger or S10 and then dump money into it, when I sell it later that money is just a loss. Just thinking out loud here.

 

$1500 for 2. Both 5 speeds. One is turbo


they’re out there

 

My uncle was a Ford dealership mechanic for years. He loved the SVO Mustangs that had the little Lima 2.3 Turbo motors.

 

There was a couple local when I was in high school.
They were surprisingly fun

 

A friend used to have a '62 Falcon 4door and he swapped an SVO Mustang 2.3 Turbo EFI & T5 into it. It ran mid 13's on 14" radial street tires and got 25mpg. Unfortunately it was totaled when a drunk driver smashed into it while it was parked in front of his house.

My old '54 Ford Mainline 2dr with the stock 223/3spd got 22mpg on my highway trips if I kept it under 65mph, and around 16mpg if I was trying to keep the pace with the other cars on the road, (Texas, where everyone goes 80+)

 

Chrysler 2.4 engines found in cars and vans from 1996 to 2007 are plentiful and cheap I payed 150 for one, lowest HP was 150 lots of goodies for them with a turbo you can go 300+ HP couple to a Jeep Liberty 2wd 5 speed and install a manual pcm, should move that little roadster pretty good and get 30mpg. I had 2.0 that I beat daily for 250,000 miles no problems
Dan

 

@Sharpone is there aftermarket stand alone harnesses or are these simple to convert to standalone? Does the PCM have antitheft or any goofy shit? I know these are pretty popular engines, just never looked into them.

 

I've had this day dream about putting Japanese running gear in a hot rod. 1JZ/2JZ and a 5 speed could really scoot!

 

IIRC just get one from a manual 2.0 DOHC pcm from a neon and I think PT cruiser will work also, no anti theft or anything like that on the ones I had, there are some after market controllers Megasquirt etc Neon.org has a lot of stuff for swaps , performance upgrades etc. I believe an AT pcm will work but lower the max rpm which isn’t a problem with the 2.4 (makes power and torque at lower speeds) also use a throttle body from an AT bigger also. 40 lb injectors from a Mustang help also.
Neon.org has everything covered also Jason @ Bad Tree Productions is a bit of Neon and 2.4 engine guru
https://m.facebook.com/groups/2699006370139024/
https://www.youtube.com/live/_agBLwci3rc?si=U1y3Ld8U0Pxh2xKt
https://forums.neons.org/
Dan

 

A few years ago I picked up a 3SGE "Beams" JDM Altezza/IS200 Engine and 6spd trans. The plan was to put it into a 1st Gen Celica, but those got hard to find. Then I was on the hunt for an MGB-GT to throw it in, but again, couldnt find the right car for the right price. I ended up selling the engine & trans to focus on my '56 F100, but ultimately I'd like to get another Beams engine to throw into an early Ford.

I had an '04 IS300 with the 2JZGE (non turbo), I sold it in 2021, and the new owner totaled it a month later. That engine was super smooth and peppy, but it wasn't the best for fuel mileage. It would be a great swap into anything old and the 2JZ aftermarket support is huge.

My younger brother is prepping his '61 Falcon 2dr for a 2.3 Ecoboost & 6R80E Trans out of a '17 Mustang. He's already done the suspension front & rear, and has a built 8" ready to go in, and has the swap harness/ECU set up as well. Just needs to do the actual swap now. That Ecoboost gets 28mpg and runs mid 13's in a 3600lb Mustang, so it should get better mpg and be much faster in a 2300lb Falcon.

 

Mmmmmmmm2jz.
Helped a student adapt a 350zx 6s of trans to a 2jz he stuffed in a BMW

I’d love to have one in my Tacoma.
I did pull a low mile 5.0 and 5spd from a 95 mustang.

that might work when the 22r dies

 

I am so far out of my comfort zone on this conversation…. It all sounds like Greek to me.

 

2jz = twin turbo Toyota Supra engine

 

Actually if you can adapt old school V8s into old iron especially 20s and 30s stuff you can handle the modern stuff same thing only different. Just find a young wippersnapper tuner to do the final tuning. These kids (I call em kids because most are younger than me) are pretty damn sharp, you’d be impressed.
Dan

 

I got a 88 Thunderbird Turbo Coupe free in 2004. I have beat on it for 100,000 miles. It is going on 250,000 miles now. I have had more fun with it than any car since my first car. It does 235 hp to the wheels. At the Turbo Ford meet at Bristol in 2018 I made the final round. It ran high 14s in the quarter. It gets close to 30mpg on a trip.

 

I would expect 78-87 El Camino with a 4.8 LS, later 4.3 v6 or even an eco tech 4 out of a Soltice would do pretty good on mileage. They are certainly comfy drivers.

 

How bout 1/2 Pontiac 389?
Old tempest 4cyl