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Posted: March 13 2008 09:31 AM
 
greg miller (aka bigdude) [ View ] [ Email ] [ Car Ads ] [ Blogs ]
Three Rivers, Michigan
(269) 273-1254
 resident know it all
 
I say as long as the gas prices are so high, those non english speaking attendants get off their butts and do the pumping. This keeps up and nobody is going to be able to go to many shows.
 
 
Comments
 
Posted by DaveHughes  -  03/13/2008 10:05 AM
hahaha- That is the best idea I have heard about the gas prices yet!!, If anything good has come out of the gas prices is the fact that I believe I am gonna put the 33 on the road and park the diesel dually and trailer. I am gonna put in a new 3rd member with airplane gears for a little mileage.Its time for some rock chips
DaveHughes [ View ] [ Email ] [ Blogs ] [ Car Ads ] seaman, Ohio
 
Posted by DaveHughes  -  03/13/2008 11:51 AM
I hate the fact that I have to raise my towing and recovery prices but I have no choice. I absorbed the 2.50 diesel but Cant absorb the 4.10. But when you tell people you have to raise your prices most look at you like your crazy.When it costs twice as much to operate its not hard to figure. Its gonna hurt everything I am affraid but it does beat walking.lol
DaveHughes [ View ] [ Email ] [ Blogs ] [ Car Ads ] seaman, Ohio
 
Posted by 31tudor  -  03/13/2008 10:42 AM
Since we're going to Del Mar we've been talking about taking the diesel Excursion or the gas Expedition as the tow vehicle. Although the diesel gets better mileage (especially when towing) it will still be cheaper to drive the gas SUV because of the price of diesel.


If you all are wondering why diesel is so expensive, it's literally my fault. See, when diesel was still $1.65 a gallon and gas was $2.10 I bought a diesel. That very week diesel went to $2.25 and gas slipped below $2.00. It's all my fault for buying a diesel, sorry guys!
Eric Hibbs [ View ] [ Email ] [ Blogs ] [ Car Ads ] St. George, Utah Charter Member since January 2002
 
Posted by DaveHughes  -  03/13/2008 11:02 AM
I thought it was me eric, I was towing my rod with a tahoe-decided I would save some cash By buying a diesel- It passed gas in a matter of days.it worked well. I have not sit in the seat of it since october.haha
DaveHughes [ View ] [ Email ] [ Blogs ] [ Car Ads ] seaman, Ohio
 
Posted by 31tudor  -  03/13/2008 10:56 AM
Yep Dave, you hit the nail on the head: by buying a diesel it passed gas! LMAO That's just what happened to me too!
Eric Hibbs [ View ] [ Email ] [ Blogs ] [ Car Ads ] St. George, Utah Charter Member since January 2002
 
Posted by tlp1968  -  03/13/2008 11:20 AM
I made the big mistake 2 days ago when I got the car out for the first time since the fall. I saw it needed fuel so I went to the station and gas was 3.29 for premium so I only picked up a few gallons. Little did I know it would be 3.69 two days later. Oops
StreetRodding.com Marketing Director [ View ] [ Email ] [ Blogs ] [ Car Ads ] Springfield,, Illinois
 
Posted by Starfire  -  03/13/2008 11:43 AM
Way to go Shine now you've opened up Pandora's box....hee, hee!

I have to agree with you about the '70s and '80s cars needing to hit the cruncher, however; they weren't that horrible on fuel consumption they were just junk for the most part from the git-go. No future Barrett-Jackson Auction material in that era once one gets past 1976. The real guzzlers were the late '50s cars and all '60s cars.

And about those God awful 750 cfm carbs. Worthless! Always have been unless one was building a serious racing engine, and maybe even then worthless. An engine with a stock or even mild street cam usually doesn't need anything above 600-650 cfm. It has really never made any sense to me to build up a 700+ hp engine to be trailered to a show and to sit there all weekend just to be fired up to get it back on the trailer. Going back to the 1950's I know it is possible to take a 283 Chevy or 312 Ford engine and make it sound mean as hell though completely stock. And isn't that what most street rodder's really want, something that looks good and sounds mean as hell? Ain't a one of us old gray haired fools going to be headed to the strip next Sunday to unload on someone else in a 1/4 mile.

Living virtually half way between Houston and San Antonio I absolutely marvel at the weekend exodus from both. At around 5:30 on Friday afternoon about 1/2 of Houston jumps on I-10 and heads to San Antonio and meets a like crowd from San Antonio headed the other way an hour and a half later. Goes on every weekend like gasoline was free and has shown no signs of lessening with $3.15 a gallon gasoline. Guess they'll keep doing it until they default on their mortgages from buying gas to run back an forth needlessly.

We should have been planing on having to change our methods of transportation 20 years ago. Instead of building more and bigger Interstate Highways, freeways, and toll roads we should have been focused on high speed passenger rail service and less than car load rail freight service. We have not been too awfully smart. In the meantime, I'm going to see if I can work a trade for some goats in exchange for my V2, 22 hp, lawn tractor. Either that or I'm going to reduce the size of the lawn around the house to maybe no more than an acre.
Starfire [ View ] [ Email ] [ Blogs ] [ Car Ads ] Weimar, Texas
 
Posted by jecarroll  -  03/13/2008 11:23 AM
Guys, it's only money... if you want to save some, why not park the tow vehicle & drive the rod to a run?
jecarroll [ View ] [ Email ] [ Blogs ] [ Car Ads ] ransomville, New York
 
Posted by tlp1968  -  03/13/2008 11:51 AM
Starfire you have stepped on all 10 of my toes (60's cars, 750 carbs, and drag racing) But let me put in a comment. Many of us gas guzzling big block running, big cam, big carb folks only drive them on the weekends and for fun. The daily drivers need to be made more efficient. I have been looking for a new 6 passenger vehicle (say minivan) and cannot find a single one that gets better than 19 mpg in town and 24 on the highway. I personally think that it is incredible that a country with as much going for it as America has that we cannot come up with a way to get better fuel economy. Come on you retired engineers (as my old grade school teacher used to say) get your thinking caps on!
StreetRodding.com Marketing Director [ View ] [ Email ] [ Blogs ] [ Car Ads ] Springfield,, Illinois
 
Posted by 30 A pickup  -  03/13/2008 12:20 PM
I am hoping my A truck will get 28-30, with the 6 speed!!!
30 A pickup [ View ] [ Email ] [ Blogs ] [ Car Ads ] Cowpens, South Carolina
 
Posted by ol bear  -  03/13/2008 12:39 PM
THE DEMOCRATS ARE COMING ,, AND I MEAN TO WASHINGTON ,,LOL .. HIGHER TAXS ,INFLATION AND HIGH SAVINGS INTREST RATES ,,, I REMEMBER WHEN THE LAST TIME THE DEMOCRATS GOT INN ,, DAM WE MADE A TON OF MONEY ,,,............... OL BEAR TRAFFIC IS EASING AROUND HERE
OL BEAR [ View ] [ Email ] [ Blogs ] [ Car Ads ] crown point, Indiana
 
Posted by 31tudor  -  03/13/2008 12:41 PM
jecarrol, because 4 adults don't fit in a '32 roadster too good, LOL.
Eric Hibbs [ View ] [ Email ] [ Blogs ] [ Car Ads ] St. George, Utah Charter Member since January 2002
 
Posted by DaveHughes  -  03/13/2008 01:25 PM
I trailered as much for the conveinience of bringing everything under the sun with you and more home, when you take my better half with you.But I will be changing things this summer. I will be on the harley more and the diesel pickup less.lol
DaveHughes [ View ] [ Email ] [ Blogs ] [ Car Ads ] seaman, Ohio
 
Posted by Starfire  -  03/13/2008 01:40 PM
Sorry about the "Toes" Tammy, but I think you may have missed the point both Shine and myself were making about the big carbs and gas guzzling cars. That point being they unnecessarily chew up gas with no net benefit even if only being driven to a Rod Run. Building a car for the track is one thing, building a car to make the Rod Runs is another. I suspect fewer than 5% of the typical street rod owners have ever taken their "weekend" ride to the strip. Most of the cars probably wouldn't get past the safety inspection at most strips anyway. Personally, I wouldn't even think about taking a car I had 35 to 55 grand invested in for basically appearances to any track for the purpose of racing it. The good old days of "Run what you brung" are long gone.

I do have to say that not all cars of the '60s to the mid 1970's were big time gas guzzlers. I have a pair of '76 Lincoln Mark IVs which represent Lee Iaccoca's tribute to the last of the factory "luxury hot rods." They were/are 475 hp, 460 c.i. big block monsters sitting in a heavy chassis that with a full fuel tank (27 gallons) top out at just shy of 6,000 lbs, yet with the cruise set at 70 they'll get 22 mpg, the exact same as current production Lincoln Town Cars. From a dead start, pedal to the floor, they'll hit 70 mph before shifting up and will peg the speedometer in 2nd gear. Those cars came from the factory with perfectly balanced drive trains, right down to the wheels. (Note: Not all '76 Mark IVs had that drive train, only those with a bluish green color code on all the components).

Personally I think one of the biggest mistakes many building a street rod make is in the rear axle ratio. There is simply on valid reason for most to have a ratio of lower than 2.73:1. Anything close to 4.11:1 gear sets made a lot of sense with 100 hp engines, make no sense with engines having 250 or more horsepower that are only being driven to weekend events at speeds of 70 mph or less. Let's be realistic street rodding over the years has evolved into being a weekend dog and pony show where the objective is to gather oohs and aahs from visitors and even other rodder's while the cars sit in static display. No body knows what rear axle ratio is in a car unless there is a sign hanging on it. Change out those gear sets and watch the fuel consumption drop.
Starfire [ View ] [ Email ] [ Blogs ] [ Car Ads ] Weimar, Texas
 
Posted by DavyJ  -  03/13/2008 04:24 PM
As long as the government taxes gas as a percentage, they will not help control the price, As it goes up they get more...............its a no brainer. Gas here today went to 1.11/liter =$4.22 / gallon. The prices are still better than Europe. I am sure that we all will slow down for a while, then get used to it and carry on.
Still driving the wife's car, cause I am slow. [ View ] [ Email ] [ Blogs ] [ Car Ads ] Niagara Falls, Canada Charter Member since February 2005
 
Posted by Streetrodder007  -  03/13/2008 04:52 PM
I am thinking my current project Pro-street/ Nastalgic Drag car with twin 1050 cfm DFT's will get somewhere between 3 to 5 miles to the gallon, thats going down hill with a good tail wind! And it runs on AV GAS- which we up here pay no road tax, so it might be cheaper by summer, who knows?
Streetrodder007 [ View ] [ Email ] [ Blogs ] [ Car Ads ] Port Huron, Michigan Charter Member since April 2006
 
Posted by Tweety37  -  03/13/2008 05:33 PM
Shine. I'm interested in hearing your "formula" for 25 mpg in your '54 pu. I have a mild rebuilt 350 in our '37 Chevy. Heads milled .050 for 9 1/2 compression, mild cam, and Edelbrock performer intake. It originally had a 600 Edelbrock and consistently ran mpg's in the 13's. Last year I put on a 500 cfm Edelbrock and swapped jets/rods/springs to lean it out, and now run about 15 mpg at 70-75 mph. This is with a Turbo 350 and 3.08 gear. I'm thinking an overdrive (200-4r) would give me about 4-5 mpg more, but that's still way short of 25 mpg.

Thanks.
Tweety37 [ View ] [ Email ] [ Blogs ] [ Car Ads ] Bismarck, North Dakota
 
Posted by fitzwell   -  03/13/2008 05:35 PM
My hot rod IS a 20 mpg unit...just wait til the EFI & overdrive. My driver is a17 year old 30 mpg 4 cyl unit. We won't discuss the bike here


And yeah, shine, i still plan on going to Louisiana in April, about 1100 mile round trip. Way i figure it, that's my vacation & a little ( hell, a LOT) of fun time. Beats the hell outta plane fare to Disney world, or some other Godforsaken "destination"


I figure i'm doing my part.
normal?? Normal is a cycle on a washing machine [ View ] [ Email ] [ Blogs ] [ Car Ads ] benbrook, Texas
 
Posted by Tweety37  -  03/13/2008 05:58 PM
I certainly can't argue with the success you have with mileage. I'm pretty much stuck with the engine setup I have now, $$$$. I do plan on swapping in a 200r though. I agree that small ports/valves are more efficient because of higher velocity, but I've always heard that higher compression does a better job of burning the fuel/air mixture, as long as there's no detonation.

Thanks
Tweety37 [ View ] [ Email ] [ Blogs ] [ Car Ads ] Bismarck, North Dakota
 
Posted by DaveHughes  -  03/13/2008 06:05 PM
Shine Did I hear you right??? EFI ??? look out everyone in hell its gonna be gettin cold
DaveHughes [ View ] [ Email ] [ Blogs ] [ Car Ads ] seaman, Ohio
 
Posted by Starfire  -  03/13/2008 06:46 PM
Hey Shine that 5.0 setup shouldn't give you a bit of trouble. My poor old beat up 18 year old F150 with just shy of 300,000 on it has a 5.0 EFI in it and aside from coughing up its rod bearings at 279,000 from my towing about 3,000 lbs over rating it's never caused a bit of trouble. I will warn you that if that 5.0 you are going to stick into your project has sit for a while you may have a problem with clogged injectors. Have run into that before, but it's a no brainer if you have the tool kit for in the car pressurized injector cleaning.

That old F150 of mine is going to get a freshly rebuilt 5.0L H.O. out of an '88 Lincoln Mark VIII as soon as I can get around to it. I figure the roller cam engine with the truck intake on it will make it one heck of a tow vehicle that should get around 16-17 highway pulling a trailer with a car on it, and that is with a ridiculously low gear ratio in the axle. (that may soon be changed to something like a 3.73:1)
Starfire [ View ] [ Email ] [ Blogs ] [ Car Ads ] Weimar, Texas
 
Posted by Starfire  -  03/13/2008 06:57 PM
I can tolerate the butt ugly aspect of it, but having to remove the upper intake to remove a damn valve cover just irritates the living heck out of me. Its one redeeming value is it works damn good. Oh, I should have mentioned, don't clean the throttle body with anything like carb cleaner. It won't like it!
Starfire [ View ] [ Email ] [ Blogs ] [ Car Ads ] Weimar, Texas
 
Posted by q1ap  -  03/13/2008 06:57 PM
Now that's interesting Big Dude...................... I avoid CNN and most News stations because of all the negativity, but in reality I have pissed and moaned about our goverment, but I'll tell you this much.I wouldn't want to live anywhere else! I've been out of this country on vacation and one all expense paid trip by our goverment. My point is when I take a road trip from Florida to York Pa. I stop for gas,food and a motel. Take your pick of some foriegn country where gas is $6.+ a gallon and your stopped at every border for a search of your papers, passports etc. These are crazy times, remember in the 50's and 60's rock and roll was the devil? Man I wonder what they would think if they saw what's on MTV now! I'm thankul for this site and love to come here for the rants, raves and information.

On the formula for MPG, I'm running crate 350/300 slightly dressed up with tri-power, turbo 350 trans w/300: gears and cruise all day on a Rochester 250 cfm and get about 20+ mpg until I open all 3 up and the smile on my face is worth it!
q1ap [ View ] [ Email ] [ Blogs ] [ Car Ads ] St. Augustine, Florida
 
Posted by REBORN55  -  03/13/2008 08:04 PM
My last streetrod got 21mpg. 55 gets 15-16 on a good day. Don't know what 47 will get. Really don't like paying that much for gas, but not a whole lot I can do but cut back on the beer. Still going to do the same amount of shows this year as last.
Ken [ View ] [ Email ] [ Blogs ] [ Car Ads ] De soto, Illinois
 
Posted by Jaybird  -  03/13/2008 08:47 PM
Well, I parked the F250. It's now my permanent Water Hauling truck. Just leaving the tank in the back. Driving a 200.00 Mazda to work. Already put 30k on it. As far as rodding, not cutting back there. Lifes too short. The hot rod getsme away from the corporate crap. An extra 10 bucks a tank can't pull me outa my 32 or keep me from a show (yet). I'll make adjustments to keep my hot rod . Having said that, I am going to add an overdrive, different tire diameter and do a real nice tune on the motor. May start looking into vintage style EFI.
Jaybird [ View ] [ Email ] [ Blogs ] [ Car Ads ] Cincinnati, Ohio Charter Member since December 2003
 
Posted by roofcam34  -  03/13/2008 09:44 PM
31tudor....You can't take all the blame for the high diesel prices. My brother did the exact ame thing. He whined at his wife for a year about how he needed a diesel for towing the RV, because of the lower price and better mileage. Heck! I think the diesel and gas prices flipped the same day he brought the new truck home (2005??). He's still catching hell from the woman.
Roofcam [ View ] [ Email ] [ Blogs ] [ Car Ads ] Sioux City, Iowa
 
Posted by Starfire  -  03/13/2008 09:51 PM
Well there you have it. He should have brought home a new truck and a new wife........ (grin)
Starfire [ View ] [ Email ] [ Blogs ] [ Car Ads ] Weimar, Texas
 
Posted by RedricoAdelphianet  -  03/14/2008 09:49 AM
350 TPI 700R4 25MPG,REGULAR GAS IM A HAPPY CAMPER.
RedricoAdelphianet [ View ] [ Email ] [ Blogs ] [ Car Ads ] Pittsburgh, Pennsylvannia
 
Posted by tlp1968  -  03/14/2008 10:35 AM
Went shopping on the Internet for a new daily car, gas ratings are 19/24 on a good day for a minivan (still have kids in elementary school remember) However for the price of a new van I could have a starter street rod....decisions decisions. LOL
StreetRodding.com Marketing Director [ View ] [ Email ] [ Blogs ] [ Car Ads ] Springfield,, Illinois
 
Posted by DaveHughes  -  03/14/2008 11:48 AM
tammy- buy the rod- take care of it and it will make you money or you will atleast break even. Hard to come out on a new mini van. But then again, not real practical taking the kids to school in the snow in a 32 roadster
DaveHughes [ View ] [ Email ] [ Blogs ] [ Car Ads ] seaman, Ohio
 
Posted by DavyJ  -  03/14/2008 01:42 PM
Tammy, if we had known you needed a mini van......... I recently sold a 65 Pontiac Stratochief wagon, bigger than any mini van on the market. 6 Cyl powerglide, got about 16 mpg, but you can save on insurance, E-test and it goes up in value if you maintain it.
Still driving the wife's car, cause I am slow. [ View ] [ Email ] [ Blogs ] [ Car Ads ] Niagara Falls, Canada Charter Member since February 2005
 
Posted by MOREorless  -  03/14/2008 02:54 PM
The original comment on here was, "For these prices they can get off their butts and pump my gas." I can remember being in a hurry to go somewhere and pull into a gas station with one attendent with three or four cars waiting. And the attendant in no hurry. I used to fume to myself, "I wish I could pump my own gas and get out of here." When it happened I was happy. I still rather pump my own gas and get out of there. Also plenty of times I had just washed my car and some attendant would start wiping my windshield and screw it up. Or use a dry paper towel on the rear plastic window on my Corvette and scratch it. Don't touch my car and I will pump my own gas is what I like.
MOREorless [ View ] [ Email ] [ Blogs ] [ Car Ads ] DEARBORN, Michigan
 
Posted by bigdude  -  03/14/2008 03:11 PM
Yes that is faster --until you go inside and some old lady or ilegal is getting a money order or smokes!
resident know it all [ View ] [ Email ] [ Blogs ] [ Car Ads ] Three Rivers, Michigan Charter Member since January 2004
 
Posted by tlp1968  -  03/14/2008 03:15 PM
I would have loved your Stratochief...but as Dave said the snow and ice are terrible here several months out of the year. It breaks my heart to think of something that nice getting plowed by some idiot who is just learning to drive in the snow. I just looked at a Honda's choices and their 20/28 mpg doesn't sound so bad. Just need to find a used one so I don't have to sell one of my kids to buy it :-)
StreetRodding.com Marketing Director [ View ] [ Email ] [ Blogs ] [ Car Ads ] Springfield,, Illinois
 
Posted by roofcam34  -  03/14/2008 04:12 PM
[Well there you have it. He should have brought home a new truck and a new wife........ (grin)]



Starfire....I'm sure that entered his mind, but this one brings home too much money.
Roofcam [ View ] [ Email ] [ Blogs ] [ Car Ads ] Sioux City, Iowa
 
Posted by Streetrodder007  -  03/14/2008 08:49 PM
TLP1968 - Tammy, Always buy American !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I would hate to see you change your Avatar icon from a Camaro to a Jetta. I think I would puke, and then faint ! haha
Streetrodder007 [ View ] [ Email ] [ Blogs ] [ Car Ads ] Port Huron, Michigan Charter Member since April 2006
 
Posted by '40MercCoupe  -  03/14/2008 09:24 PM
I hate to say it.....but I too have been looking @ finding a "tuner" due to the milage. Darn Avalanche @ 14.5mpg gets pricey these days. If anyone knows of an American car that can compete with the 26/30 mpg tuners please let me know. I will make a purchase in the next few weeks. Especially if I have to fill up this tank. But man it is a comfortable, great looking tank!
'40MercCoupe [ View ] [ Email ] [ Blogs ] [ Car Ads ] Greeneville, Tennessee
 
Posted by rcool33  -  03/14/2008 09:41 PM
Hey Bigdude, What really upsets me, is when i'm behind an elderly person who's buying $ 30- $ 40 dollars worth of lottery tickets!

I think that money should be put in a fund so there grandchildren can buy a street rod.

As far as gas prices go, i work in downtown Pittsburgh and take public transportation to work. My office is next to an 10 story parking garage. At about 7:30 every morning, the full sign comes on. Most cars have one person in them, and many, many are sports utility vehicles. I have nothing against SUVs , cause i have an explorer, the wife a blazer. But we know they don't get the best gas milage.

I'm not sure how high gas has to get before these people will stop driving? Also, has anybody noticed your high school student parking lots, mine is full, and the kids are driving newer cars than me! OKAY, I'M DONE.
rcool33 [ View ] [ Email ] [ Blogs ] [ Car Ads ] aliquippa, Pennsylvannia
 
Posted by n2tires  -  03/14/2008 10:31 PM
Tow vehicle. Whats that?
n2tires [ View ] [ Email ] [ Blogs ] [ Car Ads ] Pikeville, Kentucky
 
Posted by Starfire  -  03/14/2008 10:40 PM
'40MercCoupe - I have no idea of how reliable the claims are, but Ford claims the Focus will get 35 mpg. I'm sure like all the rice burners it's about like riding in a Bud Lite can with wheels but at least it has a U.S. company name on it.
Starfire [ View ] [ Email ] [ Blogs ] [ Car Ads ] Weimar, Texas
 
Posted by '40MercCoupe  -  03/14/2008 11:20 PM
Thanks Starfire,

I'll check it out. So far I agree with you all these tuners look like Kegs on wheels.
'40MercCoupe [ View ] [ Email ] [ Blogs ] [ Car Ads ] Greeneville, Tennessee
 
Posted by hotrod39  -  03/15/2008 01:35 PM
IF PRICES KEEP RISING WE WON'T BE DOING MUCH OF ANYTHING GROCERIES ARE UP DUE TO FUEL COSTS INSTEAD OF WATCHING THESE CONDITIONS CORPERATE AMERICAN KEEPS SELLING OUR GRAINS AND JOBS OVERSEAS BUSH CAN'T ADMIT TO A RECESSION !!!! AT 10 GALLONS TO THE MILE I'LL CONTINUE TO PUT 10 BUCKS IN THE TANK EVERY TIME OUT BAD ENOUGH IT'S PARKED FROM OCTOBER TILL MID APRIL THE SEASON TO SHORT NOW TO PARK IT BECAUSE GAS IS 4 BUCKS A GALLON NEVER LIFE IS TO SHORT TO GIVE UP MY ONLY ESCAPE FROM REALITY
hotrod39 [ View ] [ Email ] [ Blogs ] [ Car Ads ] somerset, Massachusetts Charter Member since January 2008