TBucket Engine Project (Dart SHP)

ITS ALL ABOUT ATTITUDE.
IF YOUR CONCERNED ABOUT GAS MILAGE THEN YOUR AN OLD.MAN AND DIED.
DIRT NAP 6 FEET IN.THE GROUND.

I HAVE BEEN HERE ON GRUMPYS SITE FOR OVER 4 YEARS NOW.
NOT A SINGLE 1/4 MILE PASS MADE BY ANY IN THE GROUP .
JUST RICK AT HIS HOMETOWN STREET RACE NATIONALS .
DID OK.
BUT .......MAN THAT 455 GTO RACECAR WAS RESL FAST ....I BET HE HAD 4.30 -4.56 GEARS.

GAS MILAGE......WHO GIVES A FLUCK....
ITS STILL UNDER $2.000 A GALLON HERE IN ILLINOIS .
PREMIUM 91 PURE NON ETHONAL GASOLINE IS $2.66 A GALLON.

ALSO.....NOT A SINGLE CORVETTE HAS RACED A HELLCAT ON DIGITAL CORVETTE FORUM.
IF THEY DID THEY LOST....
 
NOT A TA said:
Really, how much difference in yearly expenses will there be if it gets lousy gas mileage?
Click to expand...


If I was going to buy a second rear end pumpkin, I think I would go with the 4.33
ratio. Like NATA said above, just how much difference would it really make in cost.
At $2.75/gal the total cost for one summers cruise season of 4000 mile is less than
$50. If I'm way off in my estimation of MPG, then even $100 is not outrageous for
one summer.

MPG.JPG
 
Rick
Too much is just enough!!!

Your words.

My vote is also for 4.11. You will probably see an INCREASE in gas mileage because you
now would be in the RPM band of your camshaft while cruising. You're well below it right now.
"Right now I'm turning 1881 rpm at 70 mph."

You can't drive your Excel spreadsheets.
 
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Rick is a Former Pro Dirt Track Racer.
From a Small Town too.
Winning is Everything !
 
I wasn't thinking bout your cams rpm range, I am sure you could do some tuning and keep your mileage at a decent range. I kind of agree it may run more efficiently when in that cam's range.
 
Rick is Scientific .
Best way to monitor engine performance for fuel economy is by watching peak intake manifold vacuum.
Drive down the Highway on a flat section .
Hold speeds at. 50-55-60-65-75-80 mph.
Note engine vacuum readings.

My 1987 C4 TPI Corvette Convertible gets best gas mileage at 80 mph.
At 100 mph cruise set I still get 22-24 mph.

80 Mph I get 28-32 Mpg.
2.73 rear diff gears in the Dana 36.
700R4 with .70 :1 overdrive.
 
http://www.wallaceracing.com/calc-gear-tire-rpm-mph.php
http://www.wallaceracing.com/Calculators.htm

WITH A 2.87:1 REAR GEAR, IN A C4 CORVETTE,
AND STANDARD 24.6 " TALL TIRES , AND THAT o.d. 700R4
HE WILL PROBABLY BE CRUISING
AT UNDER 2500 RPM AT 80 MPH
if you know the tire height and differential gearing, and transmission used, you can easily calculate the rpm at speed


http://garage.grumpysperformance.co...hing-the-drive-train-to-the-engine-combo.741/

http://garage.grumpysperformance.co...late-gear-ratios-and-when-to-shift-calcs.555/

http://garage.grumpysperformance.co...electing-a-torque-converter-stall-speed.1715/
 
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1987 C4 & '88 C4 Convertibles with Automatics & Z52 Ride & Handling package like mine were built with 2.73 Gears.
Except Twin Turbo Callaway Corvette Z52 Roadsters.
A Dana 44 with 3.07 gears was installed by Reeves Callaway.
 
I thought the T-bucket Moonshine Barrel Fuel Cell Tank held 7-gallons Rick ?
Maybe install another Smaller Moonshine Gas Tank.
Plumb in Parallel .
 
2.73 rear diff gears in the Dana 36.
700R4 with .70 :1 overdrive.
24.6 " TALL TIRES.
2,600 RPM Grumpy in my 87 C4 @80 mph.

What does the Vette have, a 350 with 400 HP?
What is a typical 1/4 mile ET & MPH?

This is getting interesting. My 84 T/A has 4.10 gears,
700R4 with .70 :1 overdrive, 28" tall tires, and the 334.
I know how it ran before, with problems - can't wait to see
what it does this time around. Before it died, it had trouble
getting off the line until the engine reached about 3500 rpm.
Then it would take off like a rocket and run 108-114 mph
in the quarter mile (street) using a G-Tech.
 
Fast enough for now Mike.
The 87 C4 is my daily driver for now till I. get my '63 GP ready & done.
I checked today.
80 mph is 2,000 Rpms.
100 mph is 2,600 Rpms.
 
Thats what I thought, I remembered you saying it was 15 gallons. Wow, can't believe I remembered that was about 2 or 3 years ago!
 
I've been gone all this last week to a National TBucket Alliance NTBA cruise in Mountain Home Arkansas. What a great time I had putting in 544 miles in 6 days cruisin the back roads of Arkansas. To get there and back was 724 miles for a total mileage of 1268 for the trip.

The trip gave me a great chance to check gas mileage. Going there I cruised at 75-80 mph and got 18.3 mpg. Coming back I check twice at 65 mph and got 19.1 and 21.1 mpg. The 19.1 was really twisty roads and speeds varied between 40-60 mph with no TCC lockup, no way to keep a constant speed on that section of road.

On Thursday's cruise I was coming down a hill and went to apply the brakes and there was NONE, the pedal went to the floor, so I geared down and that helped some and finally I had to go to my emergency brake. The rear axle bearing spun on the axle and pushed the sleeve off. This allowed the axle to come out of the rear end about 9 inches before coming to a stop. This allowed the brake shoes to expand without touching the drum. I was very lucky that the turn was left handed and the right axle was being pushed into the axle housing during the turn.

The person organizing(Rick Lucy) the event was the sheriff of the county where we were. He had one of his deputies come so we could sit in the air conditioned car while we waited for the roll back tow truck. I have Hagerty insurance and it didn't cost me anything for the tow. One of his contacts at a repair shop had me back on the road in 2-1/2 hours, so I didn't miss a thing the next day. He had to tack weld the sleeve on the axle to make sure it didn't push off again and recommended that I buy some Strange Engineering axles and retaining plates as soon as I could. Sorry I didn't get any pics of the axle sticking out, but I did get some pics of the cars as you can tell below.


Below we are cruising to the Gravity Brewery in Big Flats Arkansas.

 
the video looks like you had some fun driving rural roads,
I'm sure you found out a few things about the way the car drives during your excursion,
that may help you decide if the rear differential gear ratio needs changing.
what was your impression of the cars engine and power on the trip? any over heating issues on the engine or transmission?
,did you get to open the t-bucket up and run it at triple digit speed at any point in the trip?
If your going to change axles , be sure to change differential bearings.
 
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