i have a buddy in kcmo that has a 88 corvette that he sent brand new to linkenfelters in ohio and had a 388 installed. the last in shop install by linklefelters, this car will run 11.80 in the 1/4 a 170 by the speedo. on a fast road trip on seconday roads to nebraska like 100-120 all day this car got 20 mpg w the ac on. if that isnt a hot rod i dont know what is.o yeah this car has been driven from kcm0 to phx az and i have ridden in it with the ac on in 115 degree weather.
Fuel guage quit working about the same time the odometer quit clicking over... What part of HOTROD is concerned with mileage? HOTROD is concerned with fuel mixture for best horsepower maybe, but mileage? I got from Long Beach to the Las Vegas Speedway on 16.5 gallons in my 2980 lb GMC barn door , slowed down below 80 a couple times too, is that good?
My F1 gets 12 if I keep it under 65. Kick it up to 75 and I can watch the gas gauge move. Have a ZZ1 crate motor and a TH400. 3:50 gears and 255/60-15 rear tires. Recently bought a 69 short bed F100 with a 390 and 3 on the tree with overdive. Puttin around on the courty roads at 55/60 it gets 18. Freeway speeds drops it to around 15.
My old '60 Pontiac would pull 18 MPG highway with the stock, well worn 389-2barrel and a 4-speed hydro, 3.08 rear. I've always wondered what that same motor/trans/rear combo would do in a 2500-3000 lb car instead of a 4000 lb plus car. With the 4-speed trans, the car would haul ass, too. I haven't had a newer one yet with any kind of motor that really got any better gas milage. Doesn't matter if it's TBI or computer carb - the only one that beat them was a 3400 lb T-bird with an EFI 3.8 and Ford AOD - I could pull close to 30 highway out of it. Anything GM with a V8, 17-18 tops. One Dodge I had I was lucky to get 13 MPG out of. And it didn't weigh much more than the Thunderbird did.
My 40 coupe with 9.61 comp 327, 2x4 induction, 4 gear, 3:55s and L78 bias, averaged a little over 16 on the trip to Bonneville, with a best of 24 on the fuel run from Watkins CO to Hays KS. I imagine if I put the hood on it would get a bit better.
Hate to be an A-hole, but there were little post-war Plymouths and Studes knocking down mid twenties for MPG. 1 BBL carbs, flatheads, and bias ply tires. Unless you were in a hurry... I've always thought it'd be interesting to bring a little MoPar 218 up to about 9:1, fuel inject it, add electronic ignition, and put a modern 5 spd manual with OD behind it in something fairly light (approx. 3000 lbs) like a '40 Plymouth coupe. -bill
This is my son,s 58 Anglia powered by a blown 1660cc Ford Crossflow with a 5 speed manual gearbox.5th gear motorway driving this thing sits at 70 - 80 mph all day and gets 35mpg.
If your favorite shows are a 700 mile round-trip, and/or your HOT ROD is your daily driver, than mileage is a concern. In VENTURA gas is over $3 a gallon! Its not going to get any cheaper in the long run. TP
My 38 chevy coupe 305/700r4/280:1 gets 22mph at 70 and 20 mph at 80. Im wanting to put some 3:50 gears in it and I dont think the gas mileage will suffer much. Its almost lugging at 70 at 1600 rpm. Of course here in west texas all the roads are downhill.
My 32 pickup has a 327/350 combo and 308 rear gear,,,and averages13 to 15 MPG,,,and I have a heavy right foot! HRP
here's the only way I know to hit 30. High 20s highway is an easy number that lots of V8s and sixes can reach. But 30....... Modern(ish) design 4 banger. We're talking iron duke or 2300 ford at the oldest. No turbo or blowers or hopping up, unless you're increasing compression in search of efficiency. Fuel injection. Even a bottom of the line throttle body is worth a couple mpg over a carb, especially in town or cold start. Overdrive, preferably a lightweight modern 5 speed. Strongly consider a later model rearend with less parasitic loss. The last one is the hardest- A small, closed car with decent aerodynamics and low weight. Honestly, you can ignore any item on that list and still hit 30 on the highway, in good conditions. But it's been my experience that to get 30 regularly- including in strong winds, traffic or construction, hills, loaded vehicle, etc- you're gonna have to hit all those criteria. Not very hot-roddy IMO, but think we're gonna start seeing more of these things in the future. Personally, I have a turbo 3.8 out of a GN on a stand, and am looking for the right (barely off-topic) vehicle to put it in. Goal is a driver with decent mpg and acceptable power.
I get about 30-33 on the highway about 25 city and my 61 ranchero with a 200 3speed manual and about 3.47 gears out back
I just put a Tremec 5 spd in my 62 with 3:36 gears in the 8 inch. The 5th in that tranny is a .62 overdrive. I am not getting 20 to 22mpg compare to the BW210 that was in there at an average of 16mpg. BB
I get 23-25 on the highway with my 28 roadster. 327 325hp 5 speed and 9" w/350 gears 29 1/2" rear tires It'll run low 13's in the 1/4 mile, do a crazy wild burn-out. and cruise 75-80 @ 1900-2200 rpm Gary
Light car, low end torque, tall gears and skinny tires are the key ingredients. Aerodynamics helps too but that's not something you're going to get with a rod. Back in '76 I had a '67 Catalina work beater with a high compression 400 2 bbl., TH400 and 2.29 gears. It weighed every ounce of 4,000 Lbs plus and rolled on bias ply tires, snow tires in the back. I beat the snot out of it but it would get an honest 20-21 MPG with the AC on and could bury the speedo in about a half mile from a standing start. It had 106,000 miles on it when I slammed into an embankment sideways at 40 MPH. A friend of my girl fiend's ( Freudian slip, not a typo ) Dad bought it for the engine to put in his '65 GTO Conv. while he rebuilt the 389 Tri Power. He put a new timing chain in it, replaced the main seals and stuck his Tri-Power on it and dropped it in so he could drive the car. I saw him years later at a car show with the GTO and asked what he ever did with my old motor, he pointed at his car and said "It's still in there, it ran too good to mess with putting the 389 back in." My boss at the time had a '65 Catalina with a 389 4 bbl., TH400 and Michelin radials that would pull 21-22 but he rarely drove under 70. If it was me I'd get get something really light and swap in a 60's Pontiac V-8 with a 200-4R, 3.55 gears and tall skinny tires. I was looking for one for my '55 Studebaker before I discovered it had a 289 in it instead of the 224. The guys over at SDC are claiming some pretty impressive mileage numbers from 289 powered cars so I figured what the heck. Fairly light car, good aero design, 200-4R, 3.73 gears and some nice skinny tires........ should get around in traffic pretty good and get decent mileage on the highway. I'm slipping a mild regrind cam in it and I just picked up an Edmunds 2 X 2 manifold for it, the stock 4 Bbl. would probably run better and get better mileage but I'll give up a few ponies and a couple MPG for a few points on the "Cool" scale.
I got 17.5 MPG on the last leg of our Bonneville run, and that's with sooty pipes (rich) on the Model A. It has a 331 CI stroked 302, Aluminum AFR heads, Roller cam (Comp), 9.5:1, RPM Air Gap, 4barrel, a hood, T-5 w/ a .68 OD, 3.70 gears, and 28 3/4" tall tires (32 Psi). In consideration of those that seem to be touchy about the terms 'mileage' or 'fuel economy' (ar anything close), might I suggest we switch to the military-esque terms of "range" or "endurance."
Too true! Lessee - the worst mileage I ever got was my '69 Mach I (428SCJ, 4-spd, 4.30 gears) = 7mpg in town, 9mpg on road Best mileage in my '53 Stude (warm 289, 3-spd w/OD, 3.73 gears) = 20-22 mpg on road (75-85 mph) Most of my cars (new cars included) get between 15-17 mpg.
I suppose I should mention the mileage on mine was based on what the driving distance was between the two gas stations were according to Yahoo Maps.
Less weight=more mileage. Back in the '70's I had a 440 Mopar powered T bucket with long rams (two four Bbl's) and it got 17mpg. The car weighed 1900lbs. Somebody out there has to have a small block or V-6 powered fenderless car getting better numbers than that!
Hey I got 26 mpg in a 89 vette going on 2800 mi road trip in 89 got a jeep grand cherokee 2wd with small v/8 cant do better than 17 or so my 30 model A sedan was getting in 20's at almost freeway speeds Last but not least retrorod I have a fish carb if you would like to try it out on your motor am in so cal too let me know Ken
"Chicken" said he is getting between 25 and 35 MPG with my old Falcon with an updated 200 and a 5 speed... of course, he could be chicken-shitting me too.
My Austin r.p.u. with a Cummins Signature 600 and an 18 speed fuller with 2.90 gears gets 200 ton miles/gallon on reduced liposuction residuals.
I got 17.5 on the first fillup going to Hunnert with my '57 lincoln premiere, bone stock drivetrain. Rest of the trip I seemed to get 15-16 mpg. Best thing was that the engine only used 4 quarts of oil
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