Have any of you used a spacer below the carburetor to increase fuel mileage and if so, where would be the place to purchase a factory build one. Can one (a helix) be made from a 1" piece of wood and a jug saw or circular hole/saw driller? I have a one barrel Rodchester carb. Would a two barrel increase fuel economy and what would you recommend. Would the helix would better with the two barral carb? Thank you. KentC
Kent, as a guy that worked in research chemistry before I went insane at retirement and started messing with old cars and trucks I can give you a little insight into mileage booster claims. Fact one: It takes about 15 or 16 parts air to one part fuel to carry a flame across the top of the piston. 13 parts air and it rolls black smoke and 18 or so it just won't burn. Think of lining kitchen matches up with the heads 1/8" apart, when you(the sparkplug) light the first match head it lights the second, the third, etc. As you move them further apart you reach a point where the burning head won't light the adjoining one. The match heads represent fuel(gasoline) molecules and as you can see there is a limit on what will burn and what won't. There's been the myth of the "miracle carburetor" forever but physics just won't allow it. When you hold a ballbearing between your thumb and forefinger, release it and it falls UP then an engine will run on 25 parts air and only one part fuel. Now mixing the fuel and air better does let less fuel remain unburned but this swirl effect needs to occur in the combustion chamber because if it is done under the carb it will seperate right back out as it travels through the intake runners. There are other things that help like a hemi chamber with a centrally located spark plug, higher compression(forget that with todays swamp water gas), or Hondas CVCC system but the only thing that gives more power and economy is turbcharging and that's alot of plumbing, pricey, and high maintenance. Guys, if this is too long winded don't hesitate to tell me to mget off the soapbox.
I asked my mechanic about improving mileage and he swore by the helix. He said he always made his from hardwood. His main business was putting together high performance cars for rich kids. But he did say the best way to was improve exhaust flow, like through a "flow-through" muffler (or a straight pipe if not too loud). For years I used water vapor injected in a 1989 Camry, driving in Dallas to improve acceleration. It only improved mileage about 1-2%. It was made from 4" plastic pipe and a plumbers plug, a manual metering valve, tied into a vacuum line into the intake manifold. KentC
LOL ! you guys are TOO MUCH ! . The long intake manifold obviates any carby mods you might try , if you want better economy and more power , go to multiple caruration ~ Three is best but harder to tune than two . Wood . On an engine that has countless thermal cycles . You're _joking_ right ? :+ -Nate
Think about what Nate says, by the time the air fuel mixture gets to #1 or #6 what happened at the carburetor no longer applies. As the mixture travels down the LONG runner any two droplets of fuel that contact each other become one larger droplet, then they contact another and another and so on. One of the reasons V8's are getting 20 plus miles per gallon in new cars is because they have port injection that doesn't give time for the fuel to separate. If the mod your looking at is cheap, go ahead and do it, remember alot of people given a placebo in a drug test do get better even though it was just a sugar pill. The mind can convince the rest in many cases.
Coilover, it also doesn't hurt that those V8's are using variable valve timing, oxygen sensors, knock sensors, higher compression, and more computing power than mission control had during the first moonwalk. LOL. Like you said, it won't hurt to try it, but under NO circumstances should anyone use wood to make one. It just will not hold up to everyday use, and could lead to catastrophic engine damage when it fails. Money would probably be better spent to improve exhaust flow on most older cars/trucks, or to add a better radio, so you just enjoy driving them more. They are big heavy machines, that won't get 30 mpg unless you always drive downhill, and can coast in neutral most the time. Just my 2 cents worth....Mike
