Show Planning - Classes & Trophies

Gary Lewis wrote

Grumpin - A big difference is that I have a T19 and you have the C6.  The unlocked torque converter plus the other, pretty serious, inefficiencies in the C6 can account for up to 2 MPG of loss.  Not saying don't come as I'd love to meet you, but 10 - 11 MPG may be all yours is good for.  

Yup! I'd love a manual, but my joints don't do well with clutches anymore, left hip replaced already.

The C6 is a tough auto IMO, just not good on gas mileage, then again what should I expect?

Yes, the C6 is tough.  It was put behind the 460's and the diesels and didn't seem to whimper.  But, it was the last of the transmissions designed w/o an overdrive nor a lock-up torque converter, and it is a gas hog.  It was also the last of the Ford auto trannies that didn't need an electronic controller.  

I told my neighbor I'm seriously looking into maybe I can take my truck to Podunk in September, this was when he asked what I'd been doing to it all afternoon. It has Tim's pistons in it, after all. :)

He asked if it has A/C, I laughed and said it doesn't even have a radio. :)

But the front end has been rebuilt, back brakes assembled correctly, carburetor rebuilt, p/s pump replaced, new fluids, new tires & 5-year license plates, it could conceivably do it, but it'd be a pain...

Figured out today the front tank sending unit doesn't seem to be working anymore, the gauge won't come off of E when on that tank. It acts like that wire is entirely disconnected, there should be ~half a tank in there. This is a result of sitting in my brother's back yard for 7 years.

Getting at that thing is a PITA, there's a skid plate that has to come off before the tank can be lowered.

If I could find a factory NOS variant and have it shipped to your house, Gary, it could be one of the projects that appear at your shop. The current sender is a Spectra Premium variant, I haven't had much luck with their products in the long term.

It has 4:11 gears and 31" tires (LT235/85R16) I'm generally around 3,000 RPM on the highway. It drinks gasoline and likes the high-octane variant to keep from pinging under load.

The spare tire has a bead leak; I mounted it on the LR corner today, put a can of fix-a-flat into it, and drove it around a bit to distribute the goo in there, maybe it'll actually do its job . But the spare generally hasn't been good for long-term use (more than a few days). It's a 16.5" wheel and is trash because of that, anyways, but I need to find a 16x8, 8-lug steelie someplace to use as a replacement (I have an old 16" tire as a spare, just no wheel for it).

I took the radio out years ago and I'm not sure where in my house it's at, maybe I could put a boombox on the seat next to me (local radio stations are also part of the road-trip experience).

I'd want to stop for gas every 150-200 or so miles, that's kinda hard to do in OK as I remember it....?

I'd also want to bring at least two 5-gal gas cans (full) in the bed, just in case.

Chris - I'd forgotten that you have such low gears.  No wonder you get 10 MPG.  And with only 31" tires and that gearing I'm not sure you will get much better, regardless of tuning.  Turning 3000 RPM at 65 MPH is a killer on MPG.    

Big Blue is at 2500 R's at that speed currently with the 3.55's and 33" tires, and should drop to 1800 with the ZF - which is essentially half of your RPM.  And a ZF would drop yours to 2150, which isn't bad.

As for the gas sender, a NOS one would be nice.  But they are pretty much gone for the older small-hole tanks from what I've seen.  And the Spectras don't seem to last.  The one on Big Blue keeps getting stuck on Full, as it is now, which gives a false sense of security.

Finding high octane on the road isn't easy either.  I fought that battle to/from Lake Powell two years ago .and had to do some searching several times to find it.  And that's with a 36 gallon tank, so it was much less frequent than you'd have to do.  Having said that, once you get into OK, which means you are off the KS turnpike, the odds are much better.  There's a Conoco station at Blackwell and several of them in Ponca City, all of which should have it.  Then when you get to Pawhuska there's a Come & Go which has it.

But, with two 5 gallon jugs of gas, which is exactly what I did when I took Big Blue and the trailer to Grove to get the Chevy, you'll have another 100 miles of range.  And that should get you to another station - you just might have to search for one with 91 octane.

I bought an E0TZ-9275-G on eBay, it should be at my house next Friday. I did virtually zero diagnosis, watch it turn out to be that some rodent ate through the wire and the sending unit is fine.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/New-OEM-Fuel-Tank-Level-Sending-Unit-For-Ford-E0TZ-9275-G-/182402944935

I wonder if I could make it to Goodland, KS for my first stop for gas, that's about 200 miles away.

I found & reinstalled the radio, there's a chance it'll work for the trip; the connector on the antenna cable is damaged and its connection to the radio is fairly minimal.

Does anybody still use a CB radio? I powered up 2 of the things I have laying around, I don't hear anything on any channels anywhere.

As I remember it, once you're on 60 from the Interstate (which I confused with 20 earlier) there's virtually zero gas stations, am I wrong?

With the two 5 gallon cans you should be able to make it to good old Goodland.  (We used to drive there from home for pheasant hunting, so have been there many times.)  But you'll probably want to stop and add one of the cans to make sure you don't run out on the interstate.

As for Oklahoma, you'll have gas at Tonkawa where you exit I-35 onto US 60.  The station is immediately to your right.  Then there's gas in Ponca, but you'll have to go into town and lose time.  Instead, go on past Ponca on 60, cross the river, and then up on top of the hill there are several stations.  Your map may call that McCord.  There's there's basically nothing until Pawhuska, and the best selection is where you turn south from 60 onto 99.  (Don't take 9 Mile Road, nor turn south on 18 toward Fairfax since there's not much gas down that way - and it is longer.)

South of Pawhuska there may be gas in Wynona, but there certainly is in Hominy.  Then, when you turn onto OK 20 there's nothing until you are basically in Skiatook.

"Does anybody still use a CB radio? I powered up 2 of the things I have laying around, I don't hear anything on any channels anywhere."

Hardly at all. I just pulled my CB/SSB out of my truck because I just don't ear anybody anymore.

I have two nice CB/SSB radios and a 10 meter (I have my HAM license) and rarely talk to anyone.

I do better on my base CB/SSB with a better antenna of course. I have talked to guys in Ohio and Tennessee with some good skip.

Kind of a CB geek, had one in almost every vehicle I have owned since I was 16. Even have my old FCC license around here somewhere...I think!

SSB = single side band.  Used to have my license - WA0FFF.  Worked 80 and 20 meters with a Heathkit DX80 transmitter and a Knight R100A receiver.  Long time ago.

ctubutis wrote

I wonder if I could make it to Goodland, KS for my first stop for gas, that's about 200 miles away.

Many years ago [my children were still very young], while enroute to Denver, we experienced one of KS's late snows and ended up having an accident and spending a couple of days in Goodland.

Nice people, but not good memories.

That wouldn't be good memories at all.

Mine are much better.  I heard Red Rubber Ball yesterday and commented to Janey that my memories of that song are sitting in a cafe in Goodland with my father and my brother as we took a break from hunting pheasant.  I played that song on the juke box, so it would have been in the fall of '66.  Sitting outside would have been my '58 Bel Air.

Another remembrance from that trip was my return trip to Manhattan, KS.  I was in engineering school at Kansas State and had traveled what we now know as the back roads of Kansas to get there.  On the way back I stopped at a restaurant in a little town and asked what all of the road construction was.  I was told that it was I-70, and while the construction was done it hadn't been opened yet.  But the locals were using it and that I should as well.  I did, and assuming that the highway patrol wasn't going to be there I "cruised".  (That car cruised easily above 100.)  Made really good time back to school.  

One of my memories is walking to a little diner in the snow [it was very cold] and finding that many of the vehicles were left with engines running while the owners ate!