Gas Milage & HP Gimmicks

I could not find a picture of the Ford version of the Radioactive Spark Plug, But I did find these Firestone versions.

 

any one want a beach front condo in Omaha?

 

We have relatives in Omaha, Neb. They said all the good beachfront property there is owned by Canadians trying to sell their Alaskan swampland.

 

I can see the logic, but...maybe not the viability? But, then again, snake-oil salesmen lasted into the late Fifties, and we still have hucksters of different stripes out there.

 

I do know that Marvel Mystery Oil quieted the clicking valves in my old Harley Panhead engine and it ran smoother.
I even used various split tip spark plugs and paper filtered air cleaners on cars.
Amazingly some old carburated, distributor controlled cars got better fuel mileage than a lot of today's computer programed plastic look alike cars.

A Model T engine was "FlexFueled." It ran on about anything liquid including kerosene and peanut oil. In fact the first diesel engines were designed for peanut oil and I had a Ford gasoline powered car that got 50MPG back in 1987.

 

Those carbed cars sacrificed power and emissions to make high MPG back then. A guy I knew in high school had his Pinto tuned to get darned near 40 MPG, but it was a 4-speed slug that stank to High Heaven.

 

My 1987 Ford Escort got 50MPG consistently but a three year old on a BigWheel trike could beat me up a hill.
It was the car with an experimental throttle body carb.

 

Wait, all carbs have a throttle body. Are you talking about the throttle body fuel injection, like what was on the four-cylinder Tempos and Tauruses?

 

Yes sir! And a 1987 Ford Escort was the first four-cylinder type with the electronic throttle body. This one was different and not supposed to be sold to the public.
Like the Fish carb and others it got too good fuel mileage and would hurt big Oil.

 

Gas Pods, supposedly an aerodynamic improvement:



"Ram Implosion Wings" (?)



"Cigarette Lighter Plug-In Fuel Saver" (yes, that's what you do. A review said it had a resistor, 3 capacitors and an LED in it.)