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  • Originally posted by SuperBuickGuy View Post

    So you're saying reality tv isn't real?

    He makes for good entertainment, but you are correct - don't try this at home, they're professionals... they write for magazines and stuff.

    he was commenting that he was getting 4.5-7 mpg - which is interesting because my dad has a 34' class A motorhome that's 454 powered.... it gets 11.
    I'd love to know how any 34ft long, 454-powered Class A Motorhome is getting 11mpg.

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    • Originally posted by FINNEGAN View Post

      I'd love to know how any 34ft long, 454-powered Class A Motorhome is getting 11mpg.
      hey Mike-you NEED the disc brake rear axle from one of those motorhomes-not that hard a swap, improves the small oly trucks immensley
      67 Fairlane 434 ci/464 hp/488 tq-RIP
      05 GTO torrid red/red gut, LS2, Auto (my knees hurt!)

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      • Originally posted by FINNEGAN View Post

        I'd love to know how any 34ft long, 454-powered Class A Motorhome is getting 11mpg.
        better gears,overdrive, less weight, aerodynamics, geriatric driver.... or are you going to try to sell me that you weren't doing 80.....
        Last edited by SuperBuickGuy; February 21, 2019, 07:16 PM.
        Doing it all wrong since 1966

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        • Originally posted by FINNEGAN View Post

          Actually, this truck handles and stops better than any other crew cab square body trucks I've ever owned. In fact, it stops better than my '06 Duramax when I towed my enclosed TAG trailer behind it and that trailer had brakes on all three axles. I Just put 5,300 miles on the ramp truck and have zero complaints about how it hauls. The fuel economy sucks but I'll work on that. The old 454 V8 runs really well and the engine compartment is unmolested. I can buy a lot of fuel for the price and time spent on a diesel swap so I currently have no plans to perform an engine swap on the ramp truck.
          I have used a 454 91 crew cab ramp and got better mpg.
          I'd like to see you put an air/fuel meter/data logger on that thing.
          I'll bet the tbi injector spray pattern is not as fine a mist as it should be.
          1) from sitting and
          2) from the original owner running the crap fuel through them.
          3) the tbi fuel regulator is weak/shot.

          you should get be getting 8-9mpg at 65mph without o/d. more now that you have the spoiler. make fiberglass panels to make the truck cab flow to the box in the sides. instead of the flat plane of the box the air hits. look under the rear bumper, block that parachute off, so it isn't catching air flowing under the truck. and causing drag. this is supper easy and cheap to do. and helps big time.
          An air dam under the front bumper. to limit the amount of air getting under the front of the truck and hitting all the low hanging fruit up there, a arms, crossmember, etc.
          all are somewhat small gains but together make a huge difference.

          I'd also hit up your roadkill sponsor gear vendors for a unit .

          oh, and one more thing, remove that 40h/p hog off the water pump. and install electric fans, if you can.

          My crew cab picked up 2-3mpg (highway)just with a new fuel regulator and fixing the injector spray patten At the time I got new g.m. injectors for the tbi as there wasn't any local places to get the old ones tested and cleaned, at a far price. the new injectors for the tbi was 42.57 each. the fuel regulator wasn't much at all. admittedly these injectors had more miles on them than your truck. but it was the sitting and running the old fuel through them that caused most of the spray pattern issues. nothing a cleaning would not have fixed.
          Last edited by JamesMayberryIII; February 22, 2019, 03:25 AM.

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          • Originally posted by JamesMayberryIII View Post

            I have used a 454 91 crew cab ramp and got better mpg.
            I'd like to see you put an air/fuel meter/data logger on that thing.
            I'll bet the tbi injector spray pattern is not as fine a mist as it should be.
            1) from sitting and
            2) from the original owner running the crap fuel through them.
            3) the tbi fuel regulator is weak/shot.

            you should get be getting 8-9mpg at 65mph without o/d. more now that you have the spoiler. make fiberglass panels to make the truck cab flow to the box in the sides. instead of the flat plane of the box the air hits. look under the rear bumper, block that parachute off, so it isn't catching air flowing under the truck. and causing drag. this is supper easy and cheap to do. and helps big time.
            An air dam under the front bumper. to limit the amount of air getting under the front of the truck and hitting all the low hanging fruit up there, a arms, crossmember, etc.
            all are somewhat small gains but together make a huge difference.

            I'd also hit up your roadkill sponsor gear vendors for a unit .

            oh, and one more thing, remove that 40h/p hog off the water pump. and install electric fans, if you can.

            My crew cab picked up 2-3mpg (highway)just with a new fuel regulator and fixing the injector spray patten At the time I got new g.m. injectors for the tbi as there wasn't any local places to get the old ones tested and cleaned, at a far price. the new injectors for the tbi was 42.57 each. the fuel regulator wasn't much at all. admittedly these injectors had more miles on them than your truck. but it was the sitting and running the old fuel through them that caused most of the spray pattern issues. nothing a cleaning would not have fixed.
            This truck is an aerodynamic brick. It weighs about 14,000 lbs fully loaded. It doest haven TBI, its got a quadrajet. I'll have a wideband o2 gauge on it this week to see how its actually running. I've been cruising it 70-75mph on the highway and with a TH400 and 4.56 gears it's turning about 3,300 rpm.

            My plan is to install a 4L80E and road test it. Then try a Holley Sniper EFI system and then road test it. It's not really lacking power but any improvement in efficiency would be nice. 'd be surprised if it gets better than 8 mpg after the mods. I'm contemplated building a fiberglass deal above the roof but I really don't want to change the look of the truck.

            Comment


            • Originally posted by FINNEGAN View Post

              This truck is an aerodynamic brick. It weighs about 14,000 lbs fully loaded. It doest haven TBI, its got a quadrajet. I'll have a wideband o2 gauge on it this week to see how its actually running. I've been cruising it 70-75mph on the highway and with a TH400 and 4.56 gears it's turning about 3,300 rpm.

              My plan is to install a 4L80E and road test it. Then try a Holley Sniper EFI system and then road test it. It's not really lacking power but any improvement in efficiency would be nice. 'd be surprised if it gets better than 8 mpg after the mods. I'm contemplated building a fiberglass deal above the roof but I really don't want to change the look of the truck.
              About the same as the one we had/used. ours was tbi. maybe it was later than 91. I don't think so.
              The a/f meter should tell you a lot. we didn't drive at 70-75. 65 was where we stayed.

              I want to try a sniper. but I also want to find a 1985 t/a q-jet bowl cooling set up that had a fan and ducting /relay and temp sender/timer. that blew cool air on the bowl after shut down.
              The sniper with the ecu on the unit. and heat soak. micro chips don't like that.

              Comment


              • Originally posted by FINNEGAN View Post

                This truck is an aerodynamic brick. It weighs about 14,000 lbs fully loaded. It doest haven TBI, its got a quadrajet. I'll have a wideband o2 gauge on it this week to see how its actually running. I've been cruising it 70-75mph on the highway and with a TH400 and 4.56 gears it's turning about 3,300 rpm.

                My plan is to install a 4L80E and road test it. Then try a Holley Sniper EFI system and then road test it. It's not really lacking power but any improvement in efficiency would be nice. 'd be surprised if it gets better than 8 mpg after the mods. I'm contemplated building a fiberglass deal above the roof but I really don't want to change the look of the truck.
                Should make for some interesting t.v.
                Previously HoosierL98GTA

                Comment


                • Originally posted by FINNEGAN View Post

                  This truck is an aerodynamic brick. It weighs about 14,000 lbs fully loaded. It doest haven TBI, its got a quadrajet. I'll have a wideband o2 gauge on it this week to see how its actually running. I've been cruising it 70-75mph on the highway and with a TH400 and 4.56 gears it's turning about 3,300 rpm.

                  My plan is to install a 4L80E and road test it. Then try a Holley Sniper EFI system and then road test it. It's not really lacking power but any improvement in efficiency would be nice. 'd be surprised if it gets better than 8 mpg after the mods. I'm contemplated building a fiberglass deal above the roof but I really don't want to change the look of the truck.
                  8 mpg is nearly 100% better fuel economy.... I thought 90/91 had EFI, weird. Ever thought of a tag axle?
                  Last edited by SuperBuickGuy; February 22, 2019, 12:35 PM.
                  Doing it all wrong since 1966

                  Comment


                  • Originally posted by SuperBuickGuy View Post

                    8 mpg is nearly 100% better fuel economy.... I thought 90/91 had EFI, weird. Ever thought of a tag axle?
                    The video of him going to buy it. list it as an 1989.
                    so it could go both ways. a carb or tbi . early or late build.

                    Comment


                    • Originally posted by JamesMayberryIII View Post
                      The video of him going to buy it. list it as an 1989.
                      so it could go both ways. a carb or tbi . early or late build.
                      my working hypothesis was 87 on were all EFI, however, as I mentioned before - it's a hypothesis, maybe GM couldn't get the airflow out of the carb, or maybe someone changed it because it didn't have enough umph with 14,000 lbs since max airflow from a TBI is rougly 600 cfm for the BB TBI... were it me (and keeping it gas), it'd get an 8.1 and at least a 4L80e and more likely a 6L80e.
                      Doing it all wrong since 1966

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                      • Finn says " I've been cruising it 70-75mph on the highway and with a TH400 and 4.56 gears it's turning about 3,300 rpm."

                        "14,000lbs fully loaded" you say? I'm surprised you get over 5mpg anywhere?

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                        • My '87 3/4 ton 454 has TBI.
                          Ed, Mary, & 'Earl'
                          HRPT LongHaulers, 08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19.


                          Inside every old person is a young person wondering, "what the hell happened?"

                          The man at the top of the mountain didn't fall there. -Vince Lombardi

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                          • Having been under the hood in a GM dealership or two in the 1980's, I can throw a bit of light on the confusion about which truck had what fuel system. It was a grab bag in the 1987-1992 model years. The square-body pickup was phased out as the new round-body truck was introduced in late 1987. The square-body was continued as mostly cab/chassis offered in 3/4 ton on up. The square-body trucks continued with Q-jet carb and gradually phased in TBI. Depending upon the engine option code, and the VIN code, the R/V,( R being the 2wd, V being the 4wd model), you might open the hood and be faced with either the Q-jet or the TBI. Eventually all of the Q installations vanished. So, Finnegan's truck will be an R-model, and as a big-block, would have had the Q-jet as original equipment. The R/V truck eventually migrated south to be manufactured in Mexico and all other North American production changed to the round-body style. Since the R/V model would no longer meet USA standards it was no longer sold here.
                            Many cars have a button on the dash marked 'lighter'. Ever seen one that says 'darker' or 'heavier'? Is it just me?

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                            • Tim
                              Melbourne Australia

                              65 Hardtop Impala, 70 GTS Monaro, 93 "80" Landcruiser

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                              • I didn't realize that Welder up folks had a shop in Havasu. I know this is terrible to say, but it's nice seeing someone else blow stuff up. I still am concerned about the cometic gaskets in Plastic Fantastic.... figure I'll be there soon enough... though with that said, I'll take the compression hit and solve it with Felpro.... it's nice to have options.
                                Doing it all wrong since 1966

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