Mods for a 1989 Pontiac Lemans

[Sven7]

A Kammback or boat tail will double as a sun shade while probably improving your highway fuel economy 5-10%. Your car has the same EPA rating as my Probe but probably has a higher Cd. Work on the drag on the rear end (hatchbacks have large wakes) and you'll start seeing improvements.

[baldlobo]

i was looking around the internet and found out your car has the sunbird 2.0l ohc engine. you could find a 1.8l out of an earlier sunbird(bad news about the engine though is that it has an odd ball european bell housing pattern); so the only transmissions that fit are the th125c(3 speed auto), and i think it's a getrag 4 or 5 speed. that and getting the 16valve head from across the pond wouldn't be cost effective.

if your mechanicly and electricly inclined you could try swapping a mpfi intake on to the 2.0l from a 92 or later sunbird

[dfregozo]

I started looking at google maps and it tells me that from my house to my work it is 16.4 miles away and it would take me 32 minutes to get there using the highway. However I found an alternate route through the city that is the same distance 16.4 miles away. Now, since I would be driving at city limit it would take me 39 minutes to get to work according to google. Therefore by not taking the highway it would take me 7 minutes longer to get to work.

I don't have a problem with the commute taking longer but I think this is another opportunity to same more gas. I'm going to finish my current gas tank using the highway and then the following gas tank I'm going to try this new route to see how much gas I would be saving not using the highway. Depending on the difference I could also do both. I could take the streets to get to work and then take the highway home since it will be hotter on the afternoon but also most of the drive would be downhill.

[dfregozo]

I would like your thoughts on this idea. Now, I'm not a mechanic by any means but I've been thinking, I've heard of people removing the thermostat to have the car drive colder. Therefore, since I live in AZ, I think I could possibly benefit from removing the thermostat to allow water to run freely and put a full grill cover.

What do u guys think? This is just an idea, that could allow me to put a full grill block here in the hot Arizona dessert and get all the benefits to get better FE. Would I benefit or would it be counterproductive?
Shoot me with your concerns, if I'm wrong then this will allow me to learn more about cars.

[JRMichler]

Very bad idea. The thermostat does several things.

It helps the engine warm up faster. Warmer engines get better MPG. We use grille blocks to help engines warm up faster.

It keeps the engine at constant temperature. Constant temperature is good for engines. They run most efficiently at a certain temperature, and the thermostat keeps the engine at that temperature. That said, some engines run better with a thermostat slightly hotter than factory original. Others don't.

A missing thermostat sends too much flow through the radiator. This can reduce the flow through the engine block and cause hot spots.