Hiya

[TheTalman1]

Names Ryan, I'm a tinkerer/machinist/mechanic who's finding gas a touch pricey and I like being efficient.

My car is a 1992 caprice stationwagon that has been my daily since 2009, I bought a buick century to try and get better gas mileage but it died on me and I don't have any scratch to try again currently

My car has 181,000 miles on it and i put more than 55,000 of those on myself and have been doing my best to keep her well maintained,(oil,brakes,seafoam,shocks,rebuilt throttle body,air/oil/fuel filters,tie rods/sleeves/centerlink, tires) and i love it to death, I have only ever had one failure to start that wasn't due to a battery and that was in -5 degree weather and a seal went on it and puked all of the oil out of the bottom. Car has earned my love and respect.

[California98Civic]

Welcome!

Like this?



Always liked the look of this gentle giant, but wow if gas strikes you as costly, this car--even though you love it--offers the solution ... if you sell it and get something twice as efficient for the same $$$.

Still, it's a pretty behemoth.

[mcrews]

that's a BIG car!
Welcome!!
for starters, take the psi to 40+.

[Daox]

Welcome to the site and good luck with the MPG.

[TheTalman1]

Exactly but mines blue. If i can get together the scratch a diesel rabbit is not outside the realm of possibility, and the wagon is for sale currently but until then i want to see what kind of mileage i can get out of her. I have added 10-15minutes to my daily commute while keeping the distance the same and my average speed should be something like 45mph now rather than 70 which should give me the biggest gains. I will also replace missing piece of front air dam and maybe some slight aero mods like a grill block and whatsitcalled/continuing mud flap back and up and the same in front of wheel

[TheTalman1]

Also I can afford the gas i am currently using but I would like to be more efficient with what i have and time added to my commute is not a huge issue to me. I have gotten 25mpg with it before 60mph from Toledo to Cleveland and back for a job interview. Additionally the drivetrain is in great shape even for a car with far less miles than she has, all cylinders have decent compression within +/- 10% and she goes through all gears and O/D functions well only thing i'll have trouble with is cruise control is out

EDIT: Also is it safe to over-inflate my tires like that? rating on tires says 35 PSI max and she's no featherweight

[darcane]

While it's a big, heavy car and older V8s are pretty thirsty... it's still more efficient than nearly all full size trucks, even most new ones. And strip away the body, it's not too different underneath.

Overinflating tires a little is rather innocuous. Tires can fail easily from underinflating (this builds up a lot of heat in the tire) but not so much from a few psi over. Pump it up close to the burst pressure and that's a different story...

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Is it fitted with a mechanically-driven radiator fan, right? An electric one is a cheap and effective upgrade.

[TheTalman1]

Yes sir rooster it is, and thats something i had forgotten about, thinking a trip to scrap yard to pick up fan out of ford thunderbird or maybe fan out of a 1994-1996 caprice would work well, i don't remember what i'd need to do for a temp sensor/switch though

[cowmeat]

Most stories here start out just like yours. With gas prices they way they are, swapping out the tank for the econobox is the only thing that makes sense.

I sold my Land Rover and picked up the Festiva. With the money left over from the sale, I drove the Black Widow free for over a year, and now it saves me around three grand a year with it's current mods.

Driving is FUN again! It's pretty nice having to come up with 12 bucks a week for gas instead of 75 bucks a week. . . .