Smaller engine rat rods??

[mikec4193]

Hi everyone

I keep reading about these awesome rat rods getting built on here and in various magazines as well and it appears that the majority of them are smallblocks or even big blocks for powering these things down the road. Why would you not want something that is good on gas but with my own personal look to it.
Gas in my neck of the woods is sitting at $3.75 a gallon. Why would you want to feed 8 cylinders to get around town with when maybe possibly a 4 cylinder or a 6 cylinder would get you from point A to point B only with less cash spent at the pumps????

Maybe I am just too practical when it comes to these Rat Rods.

Any insight / thoughts / opinions would be awesome.

Sincerely
MikeC

 

[billy]

fuel economy is why i am running 3.00 gears in my rear end and a 500 cfm 2 bbl. carb in my 5.0 v8.
i get 20 mpg in town.
i keep thinking i want a 4 bbl.
but i just dont want to pay for the gas.
if i could afford it
there would be a big powerful engine in there just for the coolness factor

 

[tattoodfreak]

Strictly my personal opinion but you can't beat the sound and feel of a V-8. Not to mention the sensation you get when you mash the pedal-yea I know you can hop a 4 banger up and get the same or more hp but it's still not the same. I'm not rich by any means and my daily driver doesn't have to be a V-8, but my toys-yea they're going be gas guzzing V-8's

 

[BruceKoukalaka]

I just can't stand hearing those sewing machine engines screaming to make enough horsepower to get out of their own way. Give me a healthy V8 any day !!!![cl[cl[dr[dr I will admit to my ratty old '53 International R130 having a straight 6 because all the numbers do match however my '53 R160 will have a healthy V8 gas or diesel in it[[

 

[Tripper]

BB's rule but gettin' from point A to point B wasn't
my whole motivation... I wanted to get there AFAP (as fast as possible)! [ddd[ddd[ddd It all depends on what u want to build... if fuel economy is important to u... by all means go with a 4 or 6 bang!

Oh yeah... I hate gittin' beat on da street!
BoB

 

[21willys]

Because four bangers just ain't cool. And your not going to get any power out of them without spending a small fortune.

If we was worried about being practical we wouldn't be building 75 year old cars in the first place lol.

I could go on for hours...

 

[Flipper_1938]

high-winding four bangers can be a whole lot of fun when they have a manual trans bolted to the back.

I would love to have a Toyota 1NZFE engine adapted to a rear wheel drive transmission. That little engine is the most impressive 106 hp that I have ever seen. Fast enough to send you to jail for reckless driving and get great gas mileage (44 mpg in my 2001 echo).

In a streamlined 20's-30's car it would be great.

 

[Magnum]

already thinking about my next build, even though I'm barely into my current one... it'll be a 2.3 liter 4 cylinder & 5 speed... but no body so to speak... found a model T chassis in the scrap pile, & that got me thinking about building a 4 cylinder speedster... they typically had an engine cover, a floor & some seats, & a tool box & spare tire in the back... along with a fuel tank... not much else... I'm thinking it'll be about like riding an old Jeep, or a motorcycle... I'm hoping for something that "looks" traditional, yet will roll safely down the freeway at 65 -70, with juice brakes & modern skinny tires... I'm guessing if done right, the mileage will be outstanding... as a plus, there are not any around here that I know of, so it'll be unique as well

 

[daniel2020]

I like the idea of a smaller engine. Just purchased a Chevy inline six with a three speed manual trans off Craigslist for a hundred bucks. Sorta lookin for a old International or other big truck cab for to make a rat rod. I think the six will be suitable to fry the tires!!!

 

[Ricks Garage]

Build it anyway you want.......
I have one with a 272 Y-block with around 250 HP, I am currently
building one with a 400 Pontiac with 450 HP, neither will get "gas mileage"
though the Pontiac will have 3.36 gears to allow highway cruising.

weld on.........[

 

[mikec4193]

HI guys

Thanks for all the input....I guess I am not a typical rat rodder...

Kinda sounds like some of you guys arent really into the small engines....I raced 4 cylinders (Dodge Neons)at the local dirt track for 10 years and had a blast. I could race a whole night for $5.00 in gas in the tank. We were only 1 second slower than the V8 Hobby stocks were and we spent about a 1/4 of the cost of those cars. I have never run a V8 so I have never felt that V8 feeling; also my budget for fun stuff is very very slim (saving for my retirement) so something that is good on gas would make me want to drive it more I would hope at least.

MikeC

 

[Flipper_1938]

V8 and a high stall converter is fun, but it has cut down on the quality time that I spend with my truck. $4.00 a gallon for gas sucks when the truck only gets 10 mpg.

 

[tattoodfreak]

HI guys

Thanks for all the input....I guess I am not a typical rat rodder...

Kinda sounds like some of you guys arent really into the small engines....I raced 4 cylinders (Dodge Neons)at the local dirt track for 10 years and had a blast. I could race a whole night for $5.00 in gas in the tank. We were only 1 second slower than the V8 Hobby stocks were and we spent about a 1/4 of the cost of those cars. I have never run a V8 so I have never felt that V8 feeling; also my budget for fun stuff is very very slim (saving for my retirement) so something that is good on gas would make me want to drive it more I would hope at least.

MikeC

Hey by all means build your car the way you want-we don't judge-besides there's nothing cooler than being non-typical! And if it will make you drive it more that's what it's all about-above all have fun!!!

 

[zzrodder]

To me, little engines just go against the whole Hot Rodding way of thinking, plus no matter what mileage or performance you can extract from a 4 or little 6 banger, you just can't beat the sound or look of a V8.

 

[learaviator]

Yes, you are being too practical....[ddd

 

[Sam_Fear]

Hmmmmm..... a little Honda Vtec in a old car..... like a '29 Model A Tudor.... maybe I should try that.

 

[soltz]

Like the saying goes, "theres no substatusion for cubic inches" for fun. I had mine put together with the 2.3 ford cam motor. it ran ok and got good mileage but just was'nt enough fun. [cl

 

[Torch]

Build it anyway you want.......
I have one with a 272 Y-block with around 250 HP, I am currently
building one with a 400 Pontiac with 450 HP, neither will get "gas mileage"
though the Pontiac will have 3.36 gears to allow highway cruising.

weld on.........[

I had a 73 grand prix 2:73 gears th400 and 400...
cam was a ram air 4 cam
factory manifolds dual exhaust and cast iron intake with 800 cfm quadrajet of a 455
8.5:1 compression and 4x heads

pontiac #9794041 flat tapped hydraulic adv308/320 @.050 231/240 lift .520 (hp rockers) HP366/5,500 Torque445/3,900 overlap 87 LSA 113.5 intake centerline 112.0

power came in hard from 2000 rpm to 6000.

I'd get rock solid dependable 18 mpg out of it on the highway if you could keep your foot out of it, if not it'd get around 10-12 around town mashing on it and ripping the tires off everywhere.
pull out from behind a semi at 60, nail it she would downshift and you'd be going 80-85 by the time you cleared the nose of the truck.
you could run it up to around 55 in first, 95 in second

the key to the torque with the low compression was the 113.5 degree lobe separation angle
108 or 110 would have had way too much overlap and lost power really bad on the bottom end. the excessive duration made up for having smaller intake ports than a rectangle port 454 chevy or a ford 460.

 

[cycledog]

My wife's bone stock 48 Chevy with a 216 six gets worse gas mileage than my small block Chevy powered coupster.

With that being said you gotta figure the power to weight ratio and all that good stuff. Besides that, hot rods have absolutely nothing to do with gas mileage.

 

[RoddingRon]

This was at Charlotte good guys. 4 cylinder Chevy with a 5 speed manual trans....Really cool car, and I would do something like this if the situation presented itself, but.....yes, I'm a V8 guy first and fore most