Gas mileage discussion + thread collection

[Ol'fogasaurus]

https://www.bing.com/search?q=are+winds ... fb&pc=LCTS

https://www.mywindshield.com/blog/your- ... d-the-law/

This is something I discovered tonight. I don't know if this is in the US only or just what but I have seen vehicles w/out one. The second one does talk a bit on what has happened in the past that was not correct (no windshield on the vehicle)

Still an interesting question.

Lee

[oprn]

Strong, cold north wind all day - a toque, coat and gloves day. Stayed home planted the garden and worked on floor joists for the new deck. We are going to Calgary (3.5 hours one way) for a grandbaby fix tomorrow, coming back Tuesday. Perfect time for a mileage test run. Forecast is for rain Monday and snow Tuesday... No thanks!

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Dune house diary 080 copy.jpg

This is how my buggy looked after it rolled off the trailer when the cage was custom. The side curtains were folded up in the buggy but they worked

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The side curtains did not stop at the body lines but came down further for strength. The only problem was that the passenger side rolled connection into the windshield would periodically pull out of the windshield frame. Never got that fixed but I still have both the buggy and the top w/side curtains.

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Something I still recommend having even with an off-road buggy of some sort.

Lee

The side curtains had mounting pieces on the inside flap matching up with the twist snaps on the inside of the body.

That works very well.

[oprn]

I am happy for you and it's a great Buggy nothing against it or you, just not my taste. If I want to drive with a roof and side curtains I will take this car instead. It has far better road handling, ride, driver comfort, safety and fuel mileage than I can ever hope to get from my Buggy. I will never be able to modify the Buggy to match it but... the real problem is, it's not a nostalgic late '50's, early '60's open Buggy and it never will be... each have a place in my heart and they are not interchangeable!

[oprn]

So there you have it! I will wait for better weather to drive the Buggy and if the wind blows hard, if it rains, if it hails on the road after we leave... we have warm clothes and rain suites to fall back on. If the weather people say it is just going to be all around bad, the Buggy stays home and we take the Golf or the Porsche.

The Golf gets 34 mpg with a 2 L engine and the 944 gets 35 mpg with a 2.5 L engine. I contend that the Buggy at 1/2 the weight of either of them and a 1.9 L engine should at least do as well. That is what I am working toward and that is the reason for my interest in this thread.

[Ol'fogasaurus]

So there you have it! I will wait for better weather to drive the Buggy and if the wind blows hard, if it rains, if it hails on the road after we leave... we have warm clothes and rain suites to fall back on. If the weather people say it is just going to be all around bad, the Buggy stays home and we take the Golf or the Porsche.

The top, side curtains are not always used on the road but when parked in the garage the assembly keeps dust and other things out of the buggy.

They also keep "lookers" out or they should have to ask to look inside. It also slows down "grabbers".

I have driven it on the road and while the top is not internally noisy and it dims some of the other noises from outside muffled somewhat.

"Riders" often prefer having the top on so conversations can be had, hair combed and the "screeching" sounds like "I didn't want to do this", et al can be kept down.

You don't see tops and especially the side curtains on buggies or other body stiles on X-Bug now days but they can be a help.

Lee

[oprn]

Lee, how does your Buggy do for fuel mileage? A top on vs top off comparison would be interesting and informative.

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Copy of DSC02268.jpg

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Sorry, no fuel milage available on the buggy's, rails and other toys as they were quickly converted and used only on the sand.

When the blue buggy was still street legal, I rarely drove it on the street due mostly to kids running out onto the busy street and pointing out the buggy (looked like a toy) to other kids not on the street, and yes... this is true! The street where I lived back then went into one of main drags into town and is still very busy (very steep hill) as it eventually connected to the water Puget Sound Ferry System.

Also, it was hard getting into the different plants I worked at at the time, because of the guards stopped me at the gate and I had to show my car license, driver's license, insurance, etc. to get past them. It is surprising just how fast knowledge of something like the buggy in the plant got around. I was finally asked not to bring it in by the guards.

Lee

I also found hand tools on the floor of the buggy once which was the final thing. Correction, that was my '29 Ford roadster

Lee

[oprn]

Your perspective on the subject is fully understood. Thank you. All good!

[oprn]

Finally got a nice bit of weather for a mileage run yesterday. Started out the run at 56*F in the morning. The ambient peaked at 71*F in the afternoon. A pleasant enough "sweater only needed" end to the trip. I love the sounds, smells and fresh green of spring here that can only be fully appreciated in a car with 360* view.

We covered 310.6 miles and used 9.99 Imperial gallons of 87 octane. That comes out to 31.1 mpg so the previous high was 29.9 mpg. Not a screaming big improvement but it is in the right direction. Speeds varied between 60 and 70 mph, normal highway speeds. I might try a run at 55 mph sometime and see...

I also have not done a detailed carb balance since putting the car back together. I will try to take the time to do that in the next day or two.

[oprn]

Interesting side note, when I went to start the car yesterday, it was a bit ornery. Normally, pull the chokes on, twist her tail and she is off and running. yesterday it cranked too long, started and quit. A couple pumps and try again... took way too long to catch... like it was flooded and when it started it was missing and popping out the carb. It was just like it was flooded and too lean all at the same time!

Well Sir, it was! I went and had a look, one of the choke cables had slipped out of place. It was rich on one bank and lean on the other! First time for everything! Need a better retainer.

[oprn]

I did a more detailed carb balance yesterday. I also leaned out the idle screws some too. The idle mixture screws have always been very vague adjustment wise, taking many turns with little change in the way the engine ran. I think it's just a function of these screws having a very long taper and very fine threads. I was running 4 to 5 turns out and an AFR of 12.7 at idle. Now I am at 2 to 3 turns out and a 14 AFR. It seems to take 2 turns one way or the other to hear or see any change at all. This time I used 2 turns out as a starting point then tweaked them until I saw close to the same temperature on each exhaust tube next to the head. With this method a 1/4 turn would make a noticeable change in temperature. We will see if that changes anything on mileage. This engine runs just barely off idle at cruise so the idle screws could very well be an influence.