$4 gas & your g-body

[R/T kota]

I HATE quadrajunks.
I wish I knew people actually like those carbs, I've thrown atleast 7 out.
We pulled them off so many different engines and democars and just tossed them..

I knoww the pic is old and hard to read but on the 1/4 panel of our old race car it says NHRA record holder and guess what kind of carb was on it?

And 2 speeds are not always better.
In a 2000 lb race car maybe, but in a full weight street car, its going to slow you down.

 

[Vern]

Karter, the thread is about affordable available parts & setups to accomplish both street performance AND reasonable fuel mileage. If you are not concerned about fuel milege and street performance why did you post here? My post to you was not about attacking your parts / setup. I am sure they will work fine for your intended purpose. Since you posted your set up and mileage I showed what a different setup with the same engine same 373s same ET might realistically net you. Thats all.

The question to you was if you went from 10 to 16 mpg would you drive it more? Maybe not if its primarily a drag car.

And yes their are pros & cons to different parts and that should be part of this thread. A 2 speed trans might be a little better for a drag car. A 3,000 stall is what I have in my GN only it happens to be a lock up converter so when I am not at WOT it does not slip and goes down the road like any stock automobile converter might which will save fuel, engine wear, and keep heat out of the trans. As for a 496 with blower and relavance to this thread I am still all for it if you can afford it and afford to drive it regardless of mileage.

I don't care that you have thrown out 7 Q-jets. Your carberator preference or anything else in this thread is not personal to me. Again I was not attacking you. BTW with regards to q-jets I have seen at least 4 opinion polls on favorite STREET carb on this and other like forums and the q-jet was always picked as the best or favorite street carb. It would not be my pick for small block powered drag car but its hard to beat as a street carb. I know the Q-jet is more difficult to learn to tune and even then its more time consuming and difficult to tune. Although once tuned it will stay on tune longer and is not affected by weather as much. When a Q-jet is tuned as well as another carb it will normally make just as much power on pretty much any setup thats built primarily for street driveing AND and get you better mileage.

11-1 pistons or rather compression is relavent to this thread as more compression is more efficiency ie more power and more mileage right up to the point of detonation which begs the question as to how much is workable with pump premium. I have some input on that but it will have to wait.

 

[Coveted]

wasnt attacking anyone.
The thread title said how does it affect you, and I posted.
thats how it affects me, or doesnt for the matter.

My car will still probably see 3k miles this summer.

 

[andrewmp6]

Ls1 4l80e or go down to a iron duke and a over drive transmission.Only way i know to make good power and easy on fuel is a diesel a turbo v6 is ok but you'll get some odd looks in a car with a diesel engine.Most people don't know some of the g bodys could have came with a diesel.Our gas isn't that high canada its 7 dollars a gallon and most other big countries its the same way.Or get you a beater small car thats easy on gas and have your fast car as the weekend toy.I drive 50 miles round trip to work everyday best thing i got on fuel is a 71 mustang mach1 that gets 14mpg lol.

 

[Uncletruck]

I thought about the gas problem years ago when getting in to these cars as a hobby. This is where I could only figure that if I built something up outrageously, I would not likely want to keep it or drive it if gas went to the level where it is at today. Unless you are wealthy, and I'm sure there are many out there where prices of things or cost of gas is no object, keeping a car around as a toy is an expensive thing to do- I have never wanted my old cars to become just toys or life sized model kits to look at because I can't afford to drive them.

I think (THINK, key word), I picked the "build up" for my '78 LeMans wisely. The swap to the stock 350 Olds/TH350 is going well replacing the original 231 and TH200. Once finished, the combo if driven modestly should give pretty colse to the MPG of the stock V6 powertrain, yet have more torque and power (and less MPG) when called upon. These are old and heavy cars, so expecting 20 MPG isn't realistic with what is needed to power them. I'm really hoping to pull off 15 MPG with the Olds power, and if it's around that area I'll be happy, I think the original EPA rating of the Olds 350/TH350 powertrain for '79 was in that ball park for the heavy B body it came out of, so it might pull it off in the LeMans.

Even needed parts and such have gone up in price, not to mention registrations, inspections and insurance. I'm saddened that I had to sell my '81 Malibu wagon for a number of reasons the engine swap for the LeMans being one of them, but I'm trying to do what I can in the bast way possible I know of to hang on to this hobby, which unfortunately is becoming something only the wealthy will be able to enjoy in the future. If the government has it the way they want it, all the rat rods and even nice old classics will end up in the junk yard, a few old cars will go to Jay Leno's museum, and we will then brag about how much power the electric motors in our micro-pods have. :evil:

Yes, most know that some G and B bodies had the Olds diesel option during the time. The biggest was the 350, it made a whopping 105 HP, yes less HP than a base 231 V6, and it typically lasted about 50k miles before becoming a boat anchor. These engines were too weak as they were not cast any stronger than stock gas engine blocks and heads, (as required for the high compression of a diesel) they were very loud, had an electronic glow start system that was a joke, and Roosa or Stantadyne mechanical fuel injection pumps that seized due to inadequate water filtration. Class action law suits made GM get out of the automotive diesel engine market in the USA much faster than they got in to it.



-UT-

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

Well, if we are going to be obnoxious, I have no use for engines that lope at idle, cars without air conditioning, or engines I can hear at cruising speed. If I were to own a 10 second car, I would want it to be a streetable as Grandma's Cadillac, and as fuel efficient as a new V6 Camry. I also hate Holley carbs so much, I would like to start a jihad against them! I dislike cars that require my constant attention, dislike chrome anything under the hood, and my engine is all a glorious shade of black spray paint with a stock air cleaner (dual snorkel), stock 305 valve covers, A/C, and will soon have my third favorite option (after A/C and a good stereo): Cruise control! I don't strip out sound deadening, I add even more! I am in love with my Quadrajet, and stock 305-looking 355. It may only run low 13's on a very good day, but I can drive it anywhere and it may even pass a smog sniffer test too. If gas did not cost what it does, it would be making a trip from Tampa, FL to Binghamton, NY in August to visit friends. Unfortunately, I can't now afford the few hundred bucks it will take to paint and assemble it, let alone the week off work. If I did it, I would not be able to pay the mortgage.

That being said, build what you want, I don't really care. If you do not wish to try to get your engine to work well everywhere, not just at WOT, that's your choice. Holleys are great on the drag strip, terrible anywhere else.

 

[Vern]

R/T, How fastdid that record holder go? What motor, what mph, and what did she weigh?

Uncletruck, "I never wanted my old cars to become just toys or lifesize modle kits to look at because I can't afford the drive them." Amen. 15mpg with a 350/th350 and say 3.23s and a not the over the top cam I would think is realistic along with some maybe a mid 13 1/4. Quick enough to be fun and thrifty enough to be driveable. If you have a 50 mile commute then you should probably add an economy car to your stable but 15 mpg is a lot more driveable or rather affordable than 9 mpg.

"heavy old cars so expecting 20 mpg isn't realistic" I don't know I ran a mid 12 at 110mph and got 17.0 hwy from a 509ci Cadillac in a gbody and a mid 12 at 108.5 and get 22 from a Buick turbo V6 in a gbody. I mentioned the guy who ran a 11.5 at 120 and probably gets over 20mpg in a MCSS with a new gen 427ci LS7. Yes I know thats high dollar and not affordable to the masses, still older LS1s are out their and becomeing affordable. Not sure about the nightmare of the swap though. Still even my cheap big ole Cad got reasonably close and runs hard. I think 20 mpg and good performance may be attainable for affordable money. Somebody will probably pipe up. Maybe as someone said it can be done with an old diesel and a turbo.

Maybe we could have a build ups / set ups section where people could list their setups if they got say 15mpg AND ran a 13.5 or better ET in a gbody. That would be a section unique to gbodyforum.

 

[megaladon6]

actually our cars aren't that heavy. 3500lbs. hondas weigh about 3200 and the corvette comes in at 3k. you can get very good mileage, and power, out of our cars, you just need to design the engine just right. EFI would be a must, a set of high velocity heads with relatively small runners, decent compression to get the most out of what you got, and just the right cam. the cam's the hard part but i saw a story (i'll look for it later) on a guy who built a 500?hp gen1 engine using ford rods and got almost 30mpg.
the olds diesels were NOT weak blocks. they're actually the strongest blocks, people love converting them to gas 'cause you can't break 'em. the engine was poorly designed though, and had loads of problems. for correct info, talk to KrisW. he knows them inside and out, including what they neede to work correctly. oh, diesels ALWAYS have low HP numbers. it's the torque that makes them great. my jetta has 90hp but 150tq out of a 1.9tdi. the 2.0l gas engine had 115hp and 120tq. the diesel keeps up with the vr6 without a problem!

 

[R/T kota]

R/T, How fastdid that record holder go? What motor, what mph, and what did she weigh?.

10.55 in the b/sa class I think it was. The car was sold more than 10 years ago after the owner/ driver passed away so just going from memory here.
small block 350 built to the rules of the class at the time. Even had a q jet on it.
If I remember right, the car was around 3300lbs.
Never seen one mile of the street. Race car since it rolled out of factory.

 

[Coveted]

actually our cars aren't that heavy. 3500lbs. hondas weigh about 3200

The new hondas are boats haha

The good fuel efficient hondas weigh nothing.
1988 crx hf capable of 50+ mpg weighs 18??lbs and had about 70hp

I have a 1990 dx that weighed 2090 with an auto gear box got about 92 hp
For fuel economy you want an EF honda.

IF i was building a fuel effecient gbody, I'd probably consider the 4cyl from the 82 camaro and an overdrive transmission and 2.29s

edit/ ALSO
ls1 >*
i know spenty of ls1 guys getting over 20 mpg with bolt ons making lots of power.