Driving golden era cars in the modern era

[Bourne ID]

You definately get a feel for the timing of a gear change with practice, I started out on standards so it just comes natural and easy. But it's hard to tell exactly how hard she's working when you're in top gear flying down the highway. With the three speed she allways sounded wound out at 65 mph so I drove her like "an old man in a hat" and now with the 350...I still drive the same!
Low and slow is my motto!!!

 

[C-dot]

I'm getting about 22mpg on the highway witha V8, wood paneled land yacht. I have no complaints!

OT: I get 13.5km/L on my tank, which is roughly 10 miles per gallon. And its a 6 cylinder.

It's not even a cool car

I'm not happy right now.

 

[Justin B]

I get around 18mpg in my Jeep in DFW traffic. It's a 4.0 straight six with a five speed.

 

[Talbot]

Loud pipes save lives! They also help you know when to shift. Certainly one of the things about earlier model cars is you are a lot more aware of what the engine is doing and the feel of the road.

One tip an old timer gave me was to accellerate slowly to about jogging speed before giving it the beans.

Seems to be a little softer on the gas. That or get a Fish carb!

http://fuel-efficient-vehicles.org/energy-news/?page_id=785

 

[AtomicEraTom]

What on earth do you drive?!

OT: I get 13.5km/L on my tank, which is roughly 10 miles per gallon. And its a 6 cylinder.

It's not even a cool car

I'm not happy right now.

 

[C-dot]

What on earth do you drive?!

Pontiac Grand Am SE. Its a 54 litre tank, and I clock about 400km per fill.

EDIT: My math is bad. That would be 13.5 litres per 100km, which is 17.8 miles per gallon. Bit better than 10... :embarassed:

 

[AtomicEraTom]

I was shocked before, 17.8 isn't so bad. Still too low for a V6/Manual, though!

Pontiac Grand Am SE. Its a 54 litre tank, and I clock about 400km per fill.

EDIT: My math is bad. That would be 13.5 litres per 100km, which is 17.8 miles per gallon. Bit better than 10... :embarassed:

 

[Bourne ID]

I had a US postal Jeep about 20 years ago, thought I was the coolest guy around with my right hand drive . That thing was a gutless wonder, two wheel drive, 4 cylinder and got about 12 mpg. I only worked about 5 miles from home at the time and didn't worry too much about the gas, but when I moved out about 20 miles from work....I couldn't afford to drive it anymore. No wonder the Postal Service is allways raising the cost of stamps!
It was a lot of fun with the steering on the right ! Kinda wish I still had it for bombing around the farm.

 

[Gregg Axley]

To steer it back on track. LOL
I put Stabil with Ethynol treatment in my streetrod. I run the car from time to time, but it sits a lot. This stuff also keeps the carb from getting gummed up. Love that Ethynol!!!!!! I would suggest something for those who have a car that sits from time to time. It used to be just for cars that sat all winter, or a year or so. Now with that lovely crap in the gas, I've found (at work) many times it HELPS build moisture in the tank. I may be wrong on this, but I have a lot of cars with engine lights on if they sit, until I run some cleaner through them.

 

[Stearmen]

Re Light

My 58 Delray would do 0-60 in 5.2....minutes lol

I remember back in the 70s when I was Drag Racing. In bracket racing, it isn't always the fastest car that wins, you dial in a speed then the slow car goes first, and then the faster car. The difference in quarter mile times is when you get to go. If you go faster then your stated time, say 13.3 and you do a 13.2 second run, you loose. I often raced a station wagon that turned in low 20 second runs, I was in the 13s, believe me, when you are sitting on the line waiting for the light to turn green, and that darn station wagon is lumbering down the track, it was very hard to wait and not get a red light and lose, he often looked like he was about to go through the traps when I was starting. Needles to say, he often won because the other vehicle red lighted when they got to inpatient.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

Ha, I loved this story! My dad had a 66 Caprice Wagon (runs in the family) that he had until around 1980-ish. It had a 396 and a TH400 and was beating those new 'Fox Body' Mustangs. They always wanted to race that big ol' wagon, but were sorry!

I remember back in the 70s when I was Drag Racing. In bracket racing, it isn't always the fastest car that wins, you dial in a speed then the slow car goes first, and then the faster car. The difference in quarter mile times is when you get to go. If you go faster then your stated time, say 13.3 and you do a 13.2 second run, you loose. I often raced a station wagon that turned in low 20 second runs, I was in the 13s, believe me, when you are sitting on the line waiting for the light to turn green, and that darn station wagon is lumbering down the track, it was very hard to wait and not get a red light and lose, he often looked like he was about to go through the traps when I was starting. Needles to say, he often won because the other vehicle red lighted when they got to inpatient.

 

[Stearmen]

Ha, I loved this story! My dad had a 66 Caprice Wagon (runs in the family) that he had until around 1980-ish. It had a 396 and a TH400 and was beating those new 'Fox Body' Mustangs. They always wanted to race that big ol' wagon, but were sorry!

I should have added, his car was a strait 6 of some kind, can't remember the make, I seem to recall Ford, but could be wrong. He was slowwwwww! I new of some 426 Hemi powered wagons that were completely gutted inside and out, made them very lite, and fast!

 

[AtomicEraTom]

What a trooper! I'm surprised he was even bothering to race it!

I should have added, his car was a strait 6 of some kind, can't remember the make, I seem to recall Ford, but could be wrong. He was slowwwwww! I new of some 426 Hemi powered wagons that were completely gutted inside and out, made them very lite, and fast!

 

[Stearmen]

What a trooper! I'm surprised he was even bothering to race it!

Like I said, he won quite a few trophies by being persistent. Didn't hurt that us faster ones were impatient and often got a red light by leaving to early! I also remember another track, where a guy in a VW Bug would get a trophy every year for at least 5 consecutive years. He wasn't that good, he was just the only one in his class!

 

[Bourne ID]

Drove the Plymouth in to work yesterday and the clutch kept getting harder and harder. Downshifting became impossible and by the time I got to work I couldn't even get her into reverse to back her into a parking spot. Figured I'd let things cool off and park her in my spot a little later, got in an hour later and turned the key and she lurched forward with the clutch pedal to the floor! STill in gear!! Knew I had to get under her and get some adjustment on the clutch before I went anywhere and of course it's POURING RAIN!!! The original bumper jack was a little scary so I grabbed the big scissor jack from the company van, threw down some cardboard, grabbed my toolbox and slid under. I had a quarter inch of threaded adjustment left on the pushrod and she was good to go, later when I got to my buddies shop and told him of my rainy ordeal he said that he had made that same adjustment the week before! Obviously she's backing herself out so a lockwasher and some locktite oughta fix the problem more permanently. Good times!! Wouldn't trade her for anything!

 

[Flipped Lid]

I hope you put some jack stands under the car before you crawled underneath it. I've personally known two people who were killed because jacks gave out on the vehicles they were working on and I've read of many other instances of that same thing. No one should ever count on a jack as the sole means of supporting a vehicle if they plan to work underneath it for even a minute.

Drove the Plymouth in to work yesterday and the clutch kept getting harder and harder. Downshifting became impossible and by the time I got to work I couldn't even get her into reverse to back her into a parking spot. Figured I'd let things cool off and park her in my spot a little later, got in an hour later and turned the key and she lurched forward with the clutch pedal to the floor! STill in gear!! Knew I had to get under her and get some adjustment on the clutch before I went anywhere and of course it's POURING RAIN!!! The original bumper jack was a little scary so I grabbed the big scissor jack from the company van, threw down some cardboard, grabbed my toolbox and slid under. I had a quarter inch of threaded adjustment left on the pushrod and she was good to go, later when I got to my buddies shop and told him of my rainy ordeal he said that he had made that same adjustment the week before! Obviously she's backing herself out so a lockwasher and some locktite oughta fix the problem more permanently. Good times!! Wouldn't trade her for anything!

 

[AtomicEraTom]

I almost lost my pa that way. My sister's GMC Jimmy came down on him, luckily the jack only dropped a little.

I hope you put some jack stands under the car before you crawled underneath it. I've personally known two people who were killed because jacks gave out on the vehicles they were working on and I've read of many other instances of that same thing. No one should ever count on a jack as the sole means of supporting a vehicle if they plan to work underneath it for even a minute.

 

[Bourne ID]

Oh yeah!! Wheel chocks and jack stands in full use whenever I crawl under there! Freaks me out just thinking that someone wouldn't do that for their own safety! Such a simple thing to do with such huge implications.

 

[Gregg Axley]

Safety first Bourne, very nice.
I had one dropped on me back when I was in my early 20's.
Thankfully I wasn't really hurt, other than being really sore.
LSS a guy tripped over the handle to a floor jack, shifting it.
The car (an 85 mustang) came down on me, thankfully the jack kept it from crushing my chest.
I came out after another guy jacked it back up, wielding a wrench and chasing the guilty party around the backyard. He made it to his car and left immediately. Ah, water under the bridge, could have been worse.
Bourne what you experienced yesterday makes for great stories and even greater memories years from now.

 

[Flipped Lid]

Just checking. Good work.