MPG How-To

[tomslik]

"

May check into the Cadillac idea of 4, 6, or 8"

here, i'll check for ya,,,,,,NO!

I knew it was a bad idea but I wanted to see how they did it. All of these questions of mine are just to pass my free time between wife,pond, dogs,grass, shopping, grandkids and church. I spend time on the computor but if there's anyone else on here you're talking about where you've been and where you're going. I'm just playing with ideas. GPster

they(caddy) had lawsuites for a reason, crap analog computers.

caddy still kinda uses the idea on their northstar engines(also not one of their best ideas) only they use cylinder-killing for if you overheat...

[tomslik]

tell ya what i'd like to try is a chevyII 4 cyl with a vortec head swap.
kinda like the midget engine deal or a 250-292 with 2 vortec heads sliced together.
wonder how  the 6 would work on the street?
furnace braze the heads?
would maybe the fast burn aluminum be a better choice as far as material?

i dunno,it'd make a cool engine, though

[GPster]

tell ya what i'd like to try is a chevyII 4 cyl with a vortec head swap.kinda like the midget engine deal or a 250-292 with 2 vortec heads sliced together.

Those kind of ideas have entered my head but not necessarily because of the gas price subject. I keep talking myself out of those ideas because of cost/practicality for me. I wonder how the cylinder spacing compares? The whole idea might be easier with an overhead cam outfit. I've also thought about a flathead V8 with 13 1/2 to 1 aluminum heads. Install the head with two gaskets and a spacer plate between them. The spacer plate would form the valve relief with-out grinding the block and it would also lower the compression enough that you could run a blower on it. I always wondered if you weren't creating weak links at the valve seat and cylinder edge/top piston ring with reliefs? This is one of the reasons that I rode a 3 wheel bicycle before I got to drive again. If I get to thinking I forget what I'm doing and I'd fall over. GPster

[32 Chevy]

Hey, don't forget the all aluminum 215 buick v8. There has been a lot of research on them over the years, and with the right cam and valve combo these things will really spin. The 215 in my 32 chev, bored and stroked to 305 c.i. weighs only 285 pounds ready to run. If I keep my foot out of it, she gets a decent 19 mpg in a square box shaped car. A relatively stock 215 can easily be tuned for 200 h.p. and will go a looong way on a gallon of gas. I know a guy who has one in an M.G. and he gets over 30 mpg.

Dave R