Posted on 05/10/2022 11:16:16 AM PDT by Red Badger
VIDEO AT LINK.......................
V8 With Lawn Mower Carburetor
The original Ford Maverick wasn't a small pickup truck. It also didn't have a hybrid four-cylinder engine, but that's not stopping this V8-powered 1974 Maverick sedan from getting a whopping 41 mpg from its 5.0-liter engine. That's considerably better than the brand-new hybrid version Ford offers today, which gets an EPA-combined rating of 37 mpg. But as you can imagine, there's more to this story than just a small carb on a big engine.
The experiment comes from ThunderHead289 on YouTube, and it's actually well-thought-out. It starts by finding the smallest lawn mower carburetor available with a float bowl, as that's necessary for it to work on a larger engine. An adapter plate was 3D printed to mount the carb to the intake, with another adapter printed to hold small air cleaners. With everything bolted into place, the engine fired up on the very first attempt, proving the concept was feasible.
Starting up is a far cry from driving, and that's where things get a bit more complicated. Needles were adjusted for a proper idle, and a method of regulating the fuel pressure was established to better match the carb's capability. Also, it's worth noting that this engine isn't exactly stock. It's used as a testbed for rebuilt carburetors and has a few manual adjustments for controlling fuel pressure. It also includes some modern tech that allows on-the-fly adjustments of engine parameters, including the air-fuel ratio.
A good portion of the video offers a deeper dive into the technical aspect of the experiment, but for our purposes, just know that it freaking works. Not only that, it seems to work quite well. The old V8 Maverick starts up cold without hesitation, idles smoothly, and emits a proper V8 sound when given the beans. Of course, the engine is down on power – exactly how much isn't mentioned in the video but on a 37-mile test run, it reaches highway speeds of up to 80 mph. The trade-off for power is efficiency, as a fuel stop after the drive revealed an estimated mileage of 41 mpg.
With gasoline prices in the US currently averaging above $4.00 per gallon, seeing an old V8 outperform many hybrids is certainly impressive. How long such a small carb lasts in this application, however, remains to be seen.
Source: ThunderHead289 via YouTube
It's not demand as much as situations require it. Our roads are outdated, some by nearly a century, and if you can't accelerate quickly, you're going to get struck.
Most any carbureted OHV V8 can run about 16 to 1 at cruise on level ground no problem, with good ignition and good distributor curve. It will need to run maybe 12 or 13 to 1 under load or acceleration.
One thing it won’t do, and I suspect the case here, it will definitely NOT pass smog testing. That was one of the tragedies of Detroit and the federal regulations. They de-tuned the engines by retarding the ignition timing, valve timing, lowered compression, etc, all in the effort to reduce NOX. It worked, but cut fuel economy in half, made them run excessively hot. Right in the middle of an Oil Embargo and monetary inflation and devaluation.
Oil ran about $2 a barrel for maybe 20 years. Then it rapidly went to $9
Yeah, this seems like a lot of effort for something that could have been attained far more easily.
Those seeking lower burn rates (at the expense of power) would disconnect the secondaries on their four barrel carburetors and change out jets with narrower ones. Cubans really refined adjusting carburetors to save gas.
Thunderhead 289, Uncle Luke...
Lean fuel mixtures under load, under acceleration, is where stuff starts burning up.
No problem at cruise, on level ground. Very few understand this concept today, not too many did back then.
A lot of auto mechanics had a good side gig re-tuning Ford pickups back in the day. Chief complaint was their brand new pickup couldn’t haul a horse trailer.
One of the big bugaboos was “smog” camshafts. Degreeing the cam would show 4 or 5 degrees retarded valve timing. Now another characteristic is what are called manufacturers tolerances. In some cases, you’d get maybe a mis-ground camshaft, add in tolerance “stackup”, chain stretch or wear, and find the valve timing 15 or 20 degrees retarded. Damn thing won’t even get out of its way
Music to my ears❣🥰
Pitter patter my heart ❤
I have owned 2 Ford GTs, and 2 Cobras, I am aware of AFR, etc.
;-)
My 75 Vette just got a new Edelbrock Performance intake and Edelbrock AVS2 carb... I’m getting 9mpg... Whooohooo
Stay inside with Covid for almost 2 years resulted in this? I love it!
Until it burns a valve or piston from running lean...
5.0l @6500rpm is moving ~600cfm air
Back in the late 60s, one of my frat bros had a 144 ci Ford Falcon with a 1-bbl. We made a “restrictor plate” of about a half inch diameter and slipped it under the carb.
Car ran perfect but only would go about 40mph. Eventually we had to tell him. I guess we were about two decades ahead of Nascar.
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