Drove to the slant six race in Mason Dixon today, and discovered that I now need to set the fan to come on at a lower temperature to keep the temp low at idle. It never got really hot, but did creep up to 210 by the time I got home. I was driving over the mountains on this trip. It ran this hot routinely when I had the 190 thermostat. When I pulled in the garage, i checked and the fan had not come on at 210. I turned the fan thermostat switch down, and the fan did come on then. I suppose this change could be the result of an iffy switch, but I suspect the grill block-off is a part of this. I will keep driving it and see.

Sam

_________________

The ecomodder sight is very helpful! I'm a member but it's been a few years. Last I had was a geo metro and between ecomodder site as well as teamswift.net, I managed an avg of 52.08 mpg combined. 1.0, 5spd, larger rim/tire, severe weight reduction (not even a dash), etc etc. as you said, it's salvation by band aids. Heck there's research somewhere about a passenger side mirror is like 5% air drag?

So some ideas since I been there.
Less weight (lighter jack, lighter wheels, no spare, so on)
Under body panel. If you could get it mostly flat and go to the lip of the bumper then to me it would help the two flows rejoin. I follow your thoughts on your design and agree pretty much.
Narrow tire (more contact = more rolling resistance)
They beat me to the mud flaps lol

Another one that I just happen to try was an hvac register. I had no AC (broke and less weight) so I was driving w parts to fix the house. I wanted air on me like a wing vent so I stuck a floor duct register out the window and couldn't believe how much it shoved air in. So I placed one in the front lower bumper slots and then proceeded to hook it to the breather. This showed great gains. It's no turbo by any means, however, since an engine is an air pump the more help the better. The less it has to do to "pull" air into the intake the better off you are. So following that one can lead to that at 55mph that's a bit of air being shoved in. And I've drove it through rain, snow, sleet, and even puddles w no hydro lock (before I get flamed).

So I say keep up the work, stroll over to teamswift.net as they have sections on mpg as well. Good luck and keep at it.
Pohlman

_________________
225, Offenhauser, Holley 350, A833OD, 3:55, GM HEI,99 Durango starter
BOOSTED! WH1C, BIG FMIC, 10#
Operation Noble Eagle 03-05
Operation Iraqi Freedom 05-07
Operation Enduring Freedom 12- 13

I believe air is pushed into NA engines by atmospheric pressure, not sucked in.

_________________
67' Dart GT Convertible; the old Chrysler Corp.
82' LeBaron Convertible; the new Chrysler Corp
07' 300 C AWD; Now by Fiat, the old new Chrysler LLC

Yes it's the pressure diff that causes air to move. I also know there's no such thing as suction, merely low air pressure. I'm just not trying to get too technical and relay the idea of it.

Side note, I'm working on a lower air damn for my truck and we shall see if it makes improvements.

_________________
225, Offenhauser, Holley 350, A833OD, 3:55, GM HEI,99 Durango starter
BOOSTED! WH1C, BIG FMIC, 10#
Operation Noble Eagle 03-05
Operation Iraqi Freedom 05-07
Operation Enduring Freedom 12- 13

Thanks for the encouragement. Since there is no OBDII on these old cars, it is hard to document the actual mileage. On newer cars you can plug in a scan gauge and get instant MPG readouts. So, I don't know how good these things are.

AFter reading Doc's reply to the "I'm getting old" thread, I think I will go back and do basic checkup of tune stuff such as spark plug wires. I think I will buy a compression gauge and actually check that on the engine and make sure the basic health of this engine is OK.

The Fall panic is starting to set in for the piano world, and that means I am overworked with little free time, (but more money). I don't think I will be able to pay as much attention to the Dart for awhile. Thanks again for your comments.

Sam

_________________

Thinking on the technical side of things, I was trying to figure out how to show whether or not a scoop of sorts would work to help the engine. So about the most technical and detailed way I could come up w would be to add an GM MAP sensor on the intake. It takes 5V and depending on the readings it puts out between 0-5V. So a volt meter would display the output but how to get to 5V in....
Any way just brainstorming.

Tried logging into ecomodder and teamswift but no luck, seems I can't remember my credentials. I did find old posts on teamswift though.

Back to reading....

_________________
225, Offenhauser, Holley 350, A833OD, 3:55, GM HEI,99 Durango starter
BOOSTED! WH1C, BIG FMIC, 10#
Operation Noble Eagle 03-05
Operation Iraqi Freedom 05-07
Operation Enduring Freedom 12- 13

There is a gm map sensor encorporated into the efi, however you have to have the lap top connected to read it. There is a way to construct a mileage readout with MS, but it requires some kind of sensor on the drive shaft to calculate the speed of the car.

There is a blue tooth communication plug in to the ecu port that will send a dashboard readout to a droid. If the ever get it worked out for the iPad, I am in. All that operating info with NO wires! The only thing you would need additionally would be gas gauge, oil pressure, speedo, turn signal and high beam indicators.

Sam

_________________

Ssg Pohlman: Are you looking to intergrade into computer of FI system, or just a standalone sensor to get a signal to read additional air flow like one uses an o2 sensor to read voltage to tune a carburetor?

If stand alone, steady 5v can be had using a few cheap parts from Radio Shack. See: #9 near bottom of this page.

_________________
67' Dart GT Convertible; the old Chrysler Corp.
82' LeBaron Convertible; the new Chrysler Corp
07' 300 C AWD; Now by Fiat, the old new Chrysler LLC

Looks like a variation of vortex generators:

http://www.keyt.com/news/gas-pod-invent ... index.html

_________________
Ed
64 Valiant 225 / 904 / 42:1 manual steering / 9" drum brakes

Ha! It's bad enough that I have pink wipers (aunt in FL thought I needed a set of breast cancer ones) but to add little pods to my truck as well. I might buy into the idea on something newer but I've faced the fact that I drive a Maytag fridge. It's a giant box and would need some major mods or smooth it out. So I just enjoy my 15/18 and smile.

_________________
225, Offenhauser, Holley 350, A833OD, 3:55, GM HEI,99 Durango starter
BOOSTED! WH1C, BIG FMIC, 10#
Operation Noble Eagle 03-05
Operation Iraqi Freedom 05-07
Operation Enduring Freedom 12- 13

Sam have you thought about rear wheel skirts? I seem to remember that body style had them.

We fast forward to 2016 and drop in to Sam’s “A Bodyâ€￾ Aero Works to see how that Dart is [url=http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=buckminster+fuller%2c+car&id=4371EB31217FA730F4C6D8A113C487D4804014E3&FORM=IQFRBA]coming along[/url]… Indeed he has fit rear fender skirts, and smoothed out the body a bit more, and eliminated the persistent drag of one wheel boosting fuel economy north of 50 mpg.

Good work old bean… But, I prefer the old red over that green… LOL

It is beginning to look like it’s going to be a long cold winter in Maine this year. I think I’ll start incorporating a few of your ideas on my heap to see if it can crack the 20 mpg barrier.

Bill

_________________
67' Dart GT Convertible; the old Chrysler Corp.
82' LeBaron Convertible; the new Chrysler Corp
07' 300 C AWD; Now by Fiat, the old new Chrysler LLC

I react a little to their claim of a NEW invention??

http://www.autospeed.com/cms/A_3061/article.html

There is a lot of interesting articles on reducing drag, complete with real life tests, in this online magazine. A lot of other tech stuff too!

Olaf

_________________
Aspenized