Friendly Wager: 60 mpg 95 Mercury Tracer

[M_a_t_t]

Hopefully my MPGuino is still calibrated correctly. I've been getting some higher than usual numbers for my commute this week. It has been a little warmer than usual these past few days. Tank was sitting at 37.3 MPG before this trip. One thing I did differently was I EoffC'd to the stop light where I turn onto the state road. It is very predictable and there is usually no traffic. Going to have to continue that tactic and see if it really could be worth an extra ~1 MPG.

[M_a_t_t]

Got a new best for the drive home. I kind of "cheated" though. There was a motorcycle stopped on the side of the road outside of the town I work in and I stopped to see what was up. Had some bad gas. Bike was running, but didn't want to stay running. There was a gas station just down the road though so we went our separate ways. I left and once I realized what I had done (started with a warm car on the side of the highway) I tried to stretch that advantage as much as I could. 45 MPG! My current tank average is sitting at 37.8 MPG. I went as slow as reasonable (30-40mph). Traffic was minimal as usual.

[M_a_t_t]

Just filled up. 38.4 MPG. Not bad I'd say. Tomorrow is the last day that the forecast is predicting abnormally warm (65+ F) so my next tank will probably go back down to ~35 until I do more mods. I need to get some work done on the van though so I will be busy with that in my free time. Once I get done with the van I have some suspension work I need to do on the mercury. Then I will probably finally get around to finishing those separation edges. Those last 2 may switch priorities, I will be sure to take pictures though.

[M_a_t_t]

Felt like doing some weight reduction so I took the dash apart and removed anything I don't need.




Basically all that is left is the cluster, pass airbag, and the main cross bar. I cut the rest of the brackets off. I was going to clean it up and paint it, but decided to not bother. It's a lot easier to remove it now anyway if I decide I do want to paint it. Ended up saving ~18lbs. Started out at 45lbs as removed. What I mean is I had to remove some dash parts to get the dash out, like the instrument cluster, so the total weight should be more than 45 lbs. After removing extra parts and cutting off brackets I ended at 27lbs. The passenger air bag was 8 lbs by itself. There is a little bit more I could have cut off the main crossbar, but I wasn't sure if I could cut it off because it has one of the mounting bolts on it. However, I think it is mostly just to keep the lower half of the dash (and related trim parts) from rattling around.



After mounting it (without the 3rd bolt) and driving for a few days I think next time I remove it I will cut those end pieces off. My original goal was to get it under 20 lbs and I think I can get it if I grind the tabs down and cut the end plates off. I ended up having to put it back together before I was expecting to need to so I need to do some more finishing touches. Mostly the climate control panel, airbag module, and the "extra" wiring for the deleted things. I don't think I will cut the wiring harness, but I want to get it cleaned up and probably zip tied up and not just hanging. I don't have any pictures of it re-installed, but once I get it tidied up I will get one and post it.

PS: I think my math is off, but I remember the bare cross bar weighing 13.5 lbs and the pass air bag was 8 lbs. So if I can get that last 1.5 lbs then I should be able to get it where I want it.

[Xist]

When I removed my dash the metal was rusty, so I useda wire brush, dusted, primed, and painted it.

However, I didn't have new heater core clips, so it leaked, and I removed the dash again.

That was probably six months ago.

[M_a_t_t]

Thankfully my heater core isn't part of the dash. It's in the ducting behind it so I didn't have to mess with it at all.

I'm slow to finish things sometimes so I can relate. I haven't finished testing the separation edges on the car and they've been on there for 2 months


I think I am going to try and get everything set up and keep the testing stuff in the car so that I can test on my way home from work. That way I don't have to go back out to test, plus it seems wind is usually calmer later at night.

Also my FE has dropped ~4 mpg since the cold weather has come back. That has improved my testing/modding motivation too.

[Xist]

I am slow, but other projects keep coming up, like agreeing to build a ramp for a terminally-ill lady, although that isn't my problem anymore, so I have been trying to catch up on projects.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

If I were you, possibly I would be lurking about the fitment of the instrument cluster of some motorcycle in order to cut weight a little further

[M_a_t_t]

I am far from finished with the cluster. I would like to make a custom panel anyway. I haven't quite decided how I want to do that yet though and the stock one is plenty for now anyway.

I have an extra gauge assembly for my KZ1100, but I'm not sure there would be much weight savings using it.

Just weighed it and it weights 2lbs and 13.25oz (1.74 kg). I could strip the cluster down more though. It's also air cooled though so I would have to add another gauge, it'd probably end up being a wash.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by M_a_t_t

It's also air cooled though so I would have to add another gauge, it'd probably end up being a wash.

Usually when I see cars adapted with instruments from some motorcycle, it's from some newer one, often a small Honda with air-cooled engine, but it doesn't mean it's impossible to use one from a water-cooled one.