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Project Cars--You Get to Vote on "Hold 'em or Fold 'em"

25654 messages,  Last post on May 23, 2013 at 2:52 AM

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Messages Page 2436 of 2567

#24342 of 25654 Re: . [xwesx] by fintail

Apr 24, 2012 (11:35 am)

Replying to: xwesx (Apr 23, 2012 2:08 pm)
You're lucky in that you were able to replace that cap right off the shelf - I don't know if I could pull into a NAPA and find an oil cap for an engine on an odd German car that went out of production in 1965 (although maybe it is interchangeable). I'm just happy it didn't make a big mess - when a transmission cooling line broke years ago, it made a horrible mess under the hood.
 
I think these old cars will be around when we are all long gone.

#24343 of 25654 Re: it makes no sense... [explorerx4] by tjc78

Apr 27, 2012 (6:29 am)

Replying to: explorerx4 (Apr 23, 2012 6:47 pm)
I had an '86 Mustang GT, yes first fuelie V8 Mustang.
 
I just looked this up, I always thought the earlier Stangs had Ford's CFI (crappy fuel injection ) like the TC/Vic/GM.

#24344 of 25654 Re: it makes no sense... [tjc78] by andre1969

Apr 27, 2012 (6:42 am)

Replying to: tjc78 (Apr 27, 2012 6:29 am)
I just looked this up, I always thought the earlier Stangs had Ford's CFI (crappy fuel injection ) like the TC/Vic/GM.
 
Yeah, I remember having to look that up as well. For some reason, I was thinking that the Mustang GT had fuel injection in '85 and the Camaro IROC had a 4-bbl, but looking in my 1985 Consumer Guide, just reinforced that sometimes I get a bit lysdexic! Had 'em backwards!
 
For some reason I was thinking that the fuel injection Ford used starting in '83 was PFI, but it was just TBI...essentially a carburetor with a fuel injector nozzle in it. For some reason though, in those days it often seemed like Ford did just as good with a 302 and 140 hp or so as GM did with a 150-165 hp 305. Maybe Ford tended to use slightly quicker gearing?

#24345 of 25654 Re: it makes no sense... [andre1969] by tjc78

Apr 27, 2012 (6:56 am)

Replying to: andre1969 (Apr 27, 2012 6:42 am)
Ford did just as good with a 302 and 140 hp or so as GM did with a 150-165 hp 305. Maybe Ford tended to use slightly quicker gearing
 
Most of the cars had 2.73s or 3.08s. I think the CFI 5.0s (even the later SEFI models too) had most of their torque down low so they got out of the gate pretty good. The early box Panthers never felt slow to me and my 89 LTC with duals certainly wasn't fast, but more than adequate for what it was.

#24346 of 25654 Re: it makes no sense... [tjc78] by andre1969

Apr 27, 2012 (7:30 am)

Replying to: tjc78 (Apr 27, 2012 6:56 am)
Now that I think about it, GM's 4-speed automatics of that era also tended to upshift a bit early, unless you really, really stomped on them, or shifted them manually.
 
My grandmother's 85 LeSabre had the 307 and a 2.73:1 axle. In normal driving it felt sluggish, but if you did the aforementioned, performance seemed to open up quite a bit.
 
The 307 was also pretty torquey, something like 255 ft-lb, and it was around 1600-2000 rpm. I think it also hit its 140 peak hp at around 3200 rpm. Another thing I noticed about that car, is that once you got it above 85 mph, where the speedometer pegged, it seemed to catch its second wind! I wonder if that's simply because it was geared so tall, that 85+ mph was where it got back into its peak power range in 4th gear?
 
My '85 Silverado actually takes off pretty good IMO, considering the weight of the thing. Its 305-4bbl has 165 hp, but it weighs about 4200 lb. And just has a 3-speed THM350 transmission and a 2.56:1 axle. I've seen some publications that only put the LeSabre at around 3500-3600 lb, which seems awfully light to me. I know back in those days, Buick/Olds did tend to weigh a bit less than their Chevy/Pontiac counterparts. Part of it was that the Olds 307 weighed a bit less than a Chevy 305. But supposedly Buick/Olds took a few other weight saving measures that Pontiac/Chevy didn't. Supposedly the bumpers were a bit lighter. And, in the case of the LeSabre at least, they used gas struts to hold up the hood, rather than hinges.

#24347 of 25654 Re: it makes no sense... [andre1969] by texases

Apr 27, 2012 (7:36 am)

Replying to: andre1969 (Apr 27, 2012 6:42 am)
"For some reason I was thinking that the fuel injection Ford used starting in '83 was PFI, but it was just TBI...essentially a carburetor with a fuel injector nozzle in it."
 
Well, it was more than that in how TBI cars drove. Our '95 Suburban had TBI and never had any fuel-related issues, unlike the electronified carb monstrosities TBI replaced. Not the most fuel-efficient, sure, but TBI allowed for all the computer controls needed to give good cold starts and drivability.

#24348 of 25654 Re: it makes no sense... [andre1969] by Mr_Shiftright HOST

Apr 27, 2012 (7:41 am)

Replying to: andre1969 (Apr 27, 2012 6:42 am)
I think I had specified that it was the 5.0 HO that got fuel injection in 1986. I believe some Mustangs with other engines had it earlier.

#24349 of 25654 Re: it makes no sense... [Mr_Shiftright] by tjc78

Apr 27, 2012 (8:02 am)

Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Apr 27, 2012 7:41 am)
I looked it up and saw that the 85 V8 had a Holley carb. I could have sworn I've seen Ford V8s of the era with dual snorkel air cleaners that said EFI. Could it be the baby LTD cop cars?

#24350 of 25654 Re: it makes no sense... [andre1969] by tjc78

Apr 27, 2012 (8:05 am)

Replying to: andre1969 (Apr 27, 2012 7:30 am)
My grandmother's 85 LeSabre had the 307 and a 2.73:1 axle. In normal driving it felt sluggish, but if you did the aforementioned, performance seemed to open up quite a bit.
 
I was looking at a similar vintage LeSabre and thought for sure it felt slower than my 89 MGM. I never got it opened up on the highway to know for sure. 85+ in one of those old boats is always fun!

#24351 of 25654 HO EFI by tjc78

Apr 27, 2012 (8:15 am)

I knew I've seen this before. Here is an example of an 84 GT HO EFI. 84
 

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