Ok.. Like everyone else, I'm planning on cruising to some events close by and some farther away. Before this I would never consider the cost of gas. My thought was----it's the price to play with our toys! My '54 Ford F100 with a 460 in it sucks gas like a baby on a titty! Now, gas in the Omaha, NE area is around $3.15/gal +/- and it's supposed to keep goin' up! I have a few questions: 1. Is anyone else thinking about not going to some events that they normally would go to because of the gas? 2. How many mile or events etc.. do you plan on going to? Is this less then last year or the year before? and.. 3. Like many, I'm building another rod and now I'm seriously thinking about the drivetrain and fuel economy instead of HP! Which sucks.. Are you guys thinking about the cost of driving your rod or are you goin' for the HP??.......OR can you do both? Thanks for listening----
yes i change the whole drive train in my 50 chevy to be more fuel economy took the 400 cu. motor that had to run on high test to a 290 hp 350 that runs on reg change the rear from a 4:11 to a 3:37 so it gets better gas mileage
My opinion is that if I have to worry about the cost of gas, in my rods and old cars, I'm in the wrong hobby. Please note that I said I and am not referencing your concerns. A daily would be another matter but my company pays for all my gas (except rod gas). 1000 miles at 10 mpg = 100 gals = $315.00 for gas. 1000 miles at 20 mpg = 50 gals = $157.50 for gas. I might spend (read that probably spend) $160 a weekend for beer so............
I am not going to the Autorama in Detroit because the price of gas is just to much for the 4-5 hours I could spend there. I have a rebuilt 283 going in my coupe as soon as it warms up, good bye built 350. I usually like to go to Billetproof but won't go this year because of the price of gas. Being retired kinda sucks sometime.
these days who really knows , i myself if theres somewhere i want to go i just gas it up and go but i would think there are a lot of folks that tend to stay close to home these days just for that reason alone , gas prices suck and i dont see any end to anytime soon or ever .. theres been a lot of threads about this subject as it is on everyones mind these days maybe these will help.. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=246451&highlight=gas+mileage http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=246547&highlight=gas+mileage
For me it's more than just the price of gas. If that was the only cost thats thru the roof I could handle it. The increased cost of everything else has shrunk the pot till almost nothing is left to play with. I realize costs go up but is there any limit to the greed.
Gas money is beginning to be a factor in our trip budgets. Add gas to motel and food costs in your planning decisions.
my truck gets about 12 miles to the gallon.. thats why me and my old lady have newer cars we drive around daily - the truck comes out on the weekend when the paychecks come
Definately making me rethink my new project. I was going to use a tri-power Ford 390 FE in the truck but since I plan on using it as a daily the 302 sitting in my shop is looking better all the time.
I wanted to be able to go cross country in the A (see avatar or profile pic). So it has a 331 CID SBF w/ a T-5, 3.70 rear and 28" tall tires. 1st is a pain (too tall) but it's great on the freeway, or after the first 12 or 15 feet. Stop and go sucks though, so I'm thinking about either swaping to a different T-5 (lower 1st) or a rear gear swap. I would like it to be 15% lower in 1st, and a 15% increase in cruise RPM isn't going to make that big a difference, 2100 is 65mph now. So far 17.5 MPG is the best I have got, but she's running rich, so I expect that to improve as I dial in the carb. I wouldn't say we aren't going on cruises, but then we built both the A and the Anglia to cruise long distance, the Anglia averages 25 MPG and has a 21.5 gallon tank (figure 20 ish useable).
I have a '70 Olds 455 in my car and it does not get the best fuel economy Up until this winter I worked a second job in the winter to pay for certain "extra" things I wanted for the upcoming cruzn season. Last winter I saved my money for an interior. The winter before I saved my money for motel/gas and other related event costs. You do what you have to do to to make it work. Also, I try to share expenses with someone else that's attending and if I know someone in the area the event is in, or on the way, I might ask to sleep on a couch. In return, folks stay at my place all the time. It's all in your priorities
Damn Skippy. If you want to do something you'll make a way - if you don't you'll make an excuse. That said, I did just have to cancel my trip to Detroit this week - money and a scheduling conflict with the Doctor. I had planned on sleeping on Denises couch too. I drove my Caddy to shows in six states last year, including a thousand mile round trip to the Hunnert. I'm driving farther than that to go to Billetproof Florida in two weeks and gas is more than it was last year. I did swap in a 700r4 so I hope my mileage gets better - I got 13 last year, if I can squeeze out 16 I'll be satisfied for now. I have a daughter in college and very little disposable income. I usually take whatever money I make pinstriping and use that for hot rod money. If I can work a little at a show and break even I'm a happy camper.
The price of gas is definately a consideration in my plans, but since with have 7 months of crappy weather up here (Ontario, Canada) I only get to drive my '49 coupe 4-5 months on weekends, so I don't worry about gas mileage too much. On a daily it makes a big difference. Gas is about $4.10 a gallon now and they predict it could go to $5.00 to $5.50 a gallon over the next 18-24 months. Gas hasn't been under $3.00 a gallon here for years. Gas isn't going to go down anytime soon. Once people get used to $4 a gallon gas, they stop bitching and the profits and tax revenue continues. We're living proof up here. People up here keep hoping the government will step in. When 43% of the cost of gas is taxes, what would make them want to cut their tax revenue? Besides, the green movement is politically popular and it's generally believed the higher the price of gas, the lower the consumption and so it's better for the environment. What they forget is that it kills consumption and drives inflation which further reduces our disposable income. It's a vicious circle. I personally wouldn't own a V8 daily unless I hauled stuff a lot and really needed it. My daily is a 4 cyl. and my wife's, who doesn't drive as much is a V6. I take the train to work most days and I still spend $250 a month on average in gas between the two cars. My friend with an F250 spends between $150-200 a week in gas! (i.e. $600-800 a month). I couldn't afford that.
Gas prices is one of the reasons i put a six back in my 54 instead of a v-8... i don't play near as much as if i would have had a v-8..but when i can't afford gas then i will just stay closer to home. I don't make many long trips, so i just plan ahead like Denise was saying. I've always planned on a big v-8 when i finally get to build my coupe or sedan but now the kewlness factor of an ol flatty is more appealing
Gas here in Rochester NY is around $3.35 a gallon right now. I'd like to say that it isn't affecting me, but I have noticed in the past year or so that I only take the big block chevelle (which gas on that is about $3.60) out when I'm taking it to the drag strip. It hardly ever gets driven Monday through Fri. My regular daily gets around 17 a gallon, so whenever the weather allows (basically whenever there isn't snow or ice on the ground), I ride the motorcycles. But as far as shows and such, gas price wouldn't effect me. It just cost more, which means I gotta save more. My father's going to the Gatornationals in a week, and gas in his motorhome is probably $600 each way. He goes every year, this year to offset the gas price he just got more people to go, which offsets the fuel price.
A properly recurved distributor can have a big impact on gas mileage. For a street car you want to retain the vacuum advance and hook the vacuum line to direct manifold vacuum. Most vacuum adv have too much travel and require a limiter to work best. Also you need a vac adv cannister that has the correct internal spring so the vac adv kicks out as the engine load rises. Back when I was recurving distributors I set up a typical sbc street car with the following adv. Initial timing at crank 10 degrees [ with vac line disconnected ]. Total timing at crank 34 degrees [ with vac discon ]. Mechanical adv 12 at dist/ 24 at crank [ all in between 2500 and 3500 depending on lots of variables ]. Vac adv 5 degrees at dist/10 at crank [ start adv at 6" of vac all in by 12 to 14" ]. Hook vac line to direct manifold vac, NOT ported vac. I see too many hot rods with no vac adv. Properly set up the vac adv helps with part throttle driveability and gas mileage. For a street driven vehicle there is no downside.
We're combining all the trips we can into one big errand for around town stuff. Along with using the Ranger 4x4 with its 20 mpg in town mileage. The F-150 SuperCrew pickup gets 13-14 mpg in town so we try not to use it too much. I probably ought to swap out the 32's 3.70 diff for a set of 3.25 or 3.00 gears, but most of the running around I do in that is in town so higher gears there won't help much. Getting about 12 mpg in town with it and 16-17 mpg on the highway. Not real sure the "as aerodynamical as a brick" 32 would improve a whole heck of a lot on the highway with higher gears. One interesting thing I see at rod runs or car shows are the owner comments about over 20 mpg in roadsters with big cams and a higher horsepower per cubic inch than my mild cam, leaned out about right carb 462" Buick that I drive pretty mellow most times. Probably the same guys whose cars never overheat even when it looks like everything in the "keepin' er cool" dept is done wrong. Best one there was the flat sheet metal fan "shroud" right up against the radiator with only a fan diameter hole through it. Appears as over 50% of the radiator was blocked off from airflow. Course, the guy when asked commented that it never overheated. And maybe it didn't considering he only drove it to the local car shows and rod runs. Never saw the car out of town....
I try to bring one or two guys with me. That cuts the fuel costs way down and usually just adds more fun to the trip. I also try to share a hotel room with 1, 2, or 3 other guys. If one of us has to sleep on the floor, no big deal. All we do is sleep and shower up, so no reason to get our own rooms. Having a 2-3 guys riding with me down to Austin this year will be a huge help. Changed from the 3.70 gears back to 3.00, so that will help, too. I've seen a few guys on here run a Q-jet carb (smaller primaries) on their FEs to get better mileage, so I may be trying that, also. Garagerods, you could maybe try that on your 460? Malcolm
i was up in canada last year to visit some car buddies last year we took the coupe probably drove 1500 to 1800 hundred all together gets about 15 on the hiway and it really bites up north that 4.00 a gal plus sucks! i feel 4 you 49 coupe i dont know how you guys do it! but in the states we will be there soon and you will be at 5.00 crazy have not heard shit from our goverment what there going to do cause the high end bastards are reaping the profits!!!!
I really need to try that 3 other guys part.....I've been doing it all wrong with only one usually, or Megan
No. How about you come back and complain when your gas is at $9.60 a gallon. In the last 6 years or so, the price of gas has DOUBLED. In the 15 years that I've had a license, it has more than TRIPLED! On top of that, thanks to the fact that I live/own a business in the poorest county of the poorest state, my income has dropped to about 10% of what it used to be. I can't afford to drive them; with the economy, nobody will buy them; and I certainly can't afford to rebuild them for better fuel economy (although I would NEVER give up power for economy, even if I could; that's what my daily driver is for). The ONLY time I drive my hot rods anymore is if I'm going to a show, and even then, the fuel just puts me further into credit card debt. I'm also a huge firearms fanatic, and I had to sell one of my rifles to pay for registration and fuel to get me to Autorama and back. I guess it's like Denise said, you do what you gotta do.
The way I look at it, I dont smoke, drink, do drugs, or gamble. I choose to waste my money on gas to go to shows and enjoy my car. My wife and I work every day, we are sure that our esseentials are met and have no problem spending money to enjoy our hobby. Lucky for me, my wife enjoys this as well.
Gas as already hit $4 a gal in San Francisco, or so the news saids. I've cut my cruises by more than half. I pick the ones I like the best. Fortunately, I can get a couple of overtime spots a month to supplement by income.
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