Took Rusty on a short drive today to make sure he's ready for the road as I'm taking him to see Dad tomorrow. I reported yesterday that I found a number of problems with the carb and corrected them, and the short putt putt around the neighborhood indicated that solved several issues Rusty was having. And, today's drive confirmed that as there are no misses, dropouts, burbles, nada. And, while it is all subjective, it feels like it now accelerates as hard with the E'brock as it does with the Holley. I still plan to test that out with Dynolicious, but seat-of-the-pants says it runs very well

I'll let you know tomorrow how the MPG turns out.

 

Every time gas prices go up or there is a "shortage" these snake oil salesmen crawl out of their holes. I saw one that claimed it "pre-ionized" the fuel charge in the cylinders. It was a wire loop that clipped over the spark plug wires at the distributor. I've seen the "atomizers" that claim by introducing an alcohol/water mix in through the PCV system it improves combustion and economy.

Try asking one if they will either submit their device for independent testing, or let you try it out before purchasing, or does it have a money back guarantee. See what happens, I know, I used to have fun with them when I owned Preston Carburetion.

 

I send people to THIS ARTICLE by Popular Mechanics about gasoline-saving gadgets, it's a pretty good one (article).

 

Chris, I have seen just about every one of those gadgets and they all worked just like Popular Mechanics said.

 

"A fool and his money are soon parted"

 

Cold Air Intakes.

 

Good article, I read that one before. %99.99 of all the stuff like that on the market is nothing but snake oil, but I keep looking and reading. I've learned over the past 22+ years of commercial driving that driving habits have the biggest effect on fuel mileage on any given vehicle. Most of us have seen these kind of things for years, or heard the rumors about them. Anywhere from the screen under the carb that will get you 60mpg to the mothballs in the tank that does the same. But I'd still like to find out about that guy in Miami that Popular Mechanics had an article about back in the mid 80's. According to the article, he had a contract with Ford to supply Mustangs minus motors. He was suppose to have built a turbine motor that he installed in a Mustang that he drove from Miami to D.C. on a single tank of gas. That was the last I ever heard of him. Or the guy on Fox News a few years ago that had figured out a hydrogen converter of some kind that he use to power his Taurus using water. He also used it to power a cutting torch that somehow burned but didn't produce any heat. Last I ever heard of him also. Saw that one twice, once in Bakersfield and a few months later in Phoenix on Fox News. So it's not ALL snake oil I don't guess.

 

Men In Black.

 

I occasionally hear about people inventing devices or techniques (or whatever) and are never heard from again after some short publicity.

Of course, various conspiracy theories abound....

 

Pretty much ALL Charlatan Snake oil Salesmen like Dennis Lee and his PICC, GEET, HHO scams, preying on the ignorant and elderly.

The otto cycle internal combustion engine is notoriously inefficient, but until someone rewrites the laws of thermodynamics, no magical device or chemical compound is going to change that.

Better off finding a new way to convert heat to mechanical motion.
Far too much energy wasted through heat, as friction and out the cooling and exhaust.

 

Yep they do. Those are the only 2 I can remember that got national coverage that I know of.



"The otto cycle internal combustion engine is notoriously inefficient, but until someone rewrites the laws of thermodynamics, no magical device or chemical compound is going to change that.

Better off finding a new way to convert heat to mechanical motion.
Far too much energy wasted through heat, as friction and out the cooling and exhaust."


Well yes and no.
If it was entirely true then we would still be seeing fuel mileage like we had back in the 50's. Just because something is inefficient does not mean it can't be improved on, just the opposite, it leave more room for improvement.

But anyway, this isn't what Gary's thread is about, sorry Gary.
But if you find what it is called and how it worked out I'd like to know also.

 

No problemo. I'll find out what the gadget is.

 

kedwinh,

Re-read what I said.

Four stroke engines are inefficient... as implemented today.
(recovering energy wasted as heat is perhaps the easiest way left to improve on that)

There is no device or chemical that defies the laws of thermodynamics.

'50's cars were overweight behemoths rolling on bias ply tires, with all the aerodynamics of a small house.

After that, higher octane fuel allowed increased compression, and closer engine management have made small improvements in efficiency.

We have already gone as far as mandating low viscosity oils to reduce pumping and frictional losses.

The 1908 Model T ford got 28 miles per gallon.
What's the average today???

There is no paradigm shift.

 

We have to use gasoline and electric to get that kind of mileage today. I bet the model T was pretty heavy also for its size. Those smart cars that look like a grocery cart got terrible efficency for what they were. Honda was flat out lying about what their cars would do mpg wise. I would be willing to bet there is a govt standard of plus or minus margine of error that automobile manufacturers go by that works in their favor as well.

 

I believe you are referring to the late Smokey Yunick, one of the all time champion snake oil salesmen, he even conned NASCAR a couple of times, a 15/16 scale Chevelle and a car that he drove around the track after NASCAR couldn't find his extra fuel capacity. He threw the fuel cell in the back and drove around the track with it not hooked up then put in in his trailer and left.