gas milage on yer rats?????

[chopper tom]

Alright i'm gathering parts for my little gas savin 4 cyl t-bucket project and been readin how some v-8's get good milage because of light weight of their cars ?
SO ,for you guys that have there rats up and running ,i would like to hear what kind of gas milage that you guys have been getting, 4,6,or 8 cyl?
Give a breif discripion and the weight [if possible ]of your rat !

 

[Inked Monkey]

Not really what you're looking for, but I just took a road trip in my 64 impala and averaged 16 miles to the gallon. It suprised me because she's a heifer! She's got a mild 350 and a powerglide.

 

[Tripper]

Daytripper!

Chopper,
The old Daytripper gets around 20mpg. It has a bone stock 350/350 with a 8.5 Ford rear with a pretty tall gear cause I'm doin' 2200rpm @ about 70/75mph. Probably has around 200hp but weighs next to nothing.

BoB

 

[donsrods]

I normally get 20 + mpg in my T that has a 350/350 combo. Weighs probably in the 2000 pound range, and has 3:00 gears with 30 inch tires. But coming back from Billetproof I ran a 120 mile stretch and used just a tad over 4 gallons. I was pretty shocked, but at those speeds I am just off of idle and I think the engine has finally seated all the way. The car also has no wind resistance because of being so low with hardly any windshield.

Don

 

[Willowbilly3]

I am really hoping to push 30 with mine. The 260 in an original fairlane would do mid 20s so I am hoping that a much lighter car with better breathing can top that.

 

[zzford]

My 33 coupe has a ZZ4 350 with a 700r4, 3:50 gears an 31"tall tires. It got a little over 20 mpg returning from Daytona. I was happy with that. That is better than my wifes I-6 Trailblazer.

 

[RoddingRon]

The '64 327 I'm putting in the Commander only was getting about 12 mpg when I had it in my 59 pick up, but I know the gearing was a lot lower then I'm going with this time around. I'm building the Studebaker to be a long distance cruiser and I'm hoping to get somwhere in the upper teens to low twenty mpg. I honestly don;t know if I'll be able to do that with the 327 though (it's a little on the radical side). I may be swapping in the bone stock 350 (read that as no fun) I have, but because I want to drive the Studebaker a lot, and at 4 bux a gallon I'll need to have it somewhere around 20 or better for me to be able to afford to drive it as much as I want. I have to keep in mind that from the factory the Studebaker Commander was a tank (don't remember exactly, but somewhere around 4500 lbs or more) and all that weight will give my old butt a nice smooth ride, but it will be at a cost ( back to dang $4 a gallon again)

 

[Willowbilly3]

OK, you Chevy 350 guys can slap me around a little for this but why not find a 283, or even a 305 instead of the 350? A healthy 283 will scoot you right along and get much better milage than a 350.
I had one in a 67 Chevy 1/2 ton and it would make 20. I had to have a 350 and never got over 12 after the swap, and the only real difference in power was at full throttle.

 

[chopper tom]

I really like the 305's with a big cam and an alluminum intake they do very good in a small rat rod or an s-10 can get good gass milage too.
I cant help but think that a t-bucket with a 2.5 s-10 4 cyl will get in to the uper 30's though and should scoot good too[it may not sound as cool but i will get to drive it plenty].the 2.5 in my chopped s-10 gets around 26 mpg right now but i really dont know the wheight of my s-10?
I wonder how much a t-bucket weighs with a 4cyl in it .
I am beginning to see that less cylenders isnt always cheeper on gas though, and that weght and driving conditions have a big lot to do with it too!

 

[21tat]

I use about three inches a week. No ****. I use a dipstick to check the gas. Drive to work just about five days a week and use about three inches. Got a 350/400 combo. 30 Tudor, pretty light and low. Have no idea on the mpg.
Fill up about once a week.

 

[lowbuckrats]

mpg

Driving up and back to the Jalopy Showdown, went a total of 842 miles and used a little less than 40 gallons which equates to about 21 mpg. That was doing 80-85 miles an hour the whole way except thru towns. I have a mild 350 4bbl/ 2004r combo with 2:42 gears in the rear of my 39 Buick. I think the key to good mileage is making your combo efficiant as possible and power to wieght ratio. A good strong engine that breaths well that has lots of torque with an overdrive tranny in as light of car as possible does the trick. My 60 Chev biscayne gets with a 307 4bbl/ 700r4 w/ 3:55 gears gets about the same as my 39 but wieghs prolly 800lbs more. I like using Quadrajets because of the small primaries that are used most of the time. Remember these carbs were used during the gas-crunch 70's. Oh, by the way here is my car in the beginning of the video right after the 1st A/pickup comes rolling by at the JS dirt track.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGH3ZS4YWoM

 

[bob w]

LBR, Tha's good information you are providing. And, it's based on an actual trip. It gives be confidence that I can get good mileage out of my next project. I'll bet it was a blast driving the track.

 

[hi-roller]

In my 69 Barracuda in all its Bondoed glory and with its warmed up 340, i still manage about 20-21mpg on the highway. My daily driver is a 63 Biscayne with, I'm guessing here cuz I dont know my chevies, a 235 six and 2speed power glide and it manages around 23 cuz its a big car.

Preston