'70s rides, decade of disaster or delight?

[tlake]

Maybe that should be afternoon delight?! If anyone remembers that Starline Vocal Band song, lol. But did the era that gave us bean bags and the Bee Gees, produce interesting cars? I have some affection for the Aspen & Volare. Those 360s made 195 hp net, which would have been almost 300 in the old gross days.



280ZX

Pacer X

[dougbfresh]

Ever DRIVE one of these? Those "Lean-Burn" engines were something else. After 1972, there wasn't much good till the late 80's. Dated a gal back then that bought an Aspen new-it was not a good car.

[tlake]

Originally Posted by dougbfresh

Ever DRIVE one of these? Those "Lean-Burn" engines were something else. After 1972, there wasn't much good till the late 80's. Dated a gal back then that bought an Aspen new-it was not a good car.

Was it a 49 state 360 car, or just a 318? The 360 was a nice engine in a Dodge Magnum XE, or the compacts, and 10 hp stronger than the Olds 403 in a 6.6 liter T/A. Not all the Chrylser Corp. V8s were ELB.

[carsandcycles]

It was pretty much over from '71 till the middle '80's; very few exceptions.

[dougbfresh]

Originally Posted by tlake

Was it a 49 state 360 car, or just a 318? The 360 was a nice engine in a Dodge Magnum XE, or the compacts, and 10 hp stronger than the Olds 403 in a 6.6 liter T/A. Not all the Chrylser Corp. V8s were ELB.

I had a 1977 Chrysler with a 400 lean Burn, not much to write home about. Thank goodness most of these cars are GONE now. Go buy a new hemi Challenger if you want a fun MoPAr with POWER.

[olddog]

The EPA was killing everyone with their demands in the mid to late 70's. No one was building a good running engine. I felt the lean burns were better than the rest. The biggest problem was the plastic caps wouldn't allow you to adjust the idle jets. You just had to drill or break them off, and it would run pretty good, once you richened it up a bit.

Ford was putting out 429 and 460 engines that needed 91 octane to keep from pinging to death. Absolutely no power and they sucked down fuel like it was free. All this while that idiot Jimmy Carter was lowering the speed limit to 55 MPH and putting a wind fall profit tax to prevent drilling oil wells in the US. Ford went with the ported vacuum same as GM but they didn't diesel when you tried to shut them off.

GM had to retard timing so much to get the emissions cleaned up that the heads acted like glow plugs. You turned the key off and the engine kept running like a diesel. A friend was so ticked off by it, he would just let it sit and diesel until it died. We used to time it and take bets on how long it would run. I think it hit 5 minutes one hot day. Most people put them in gear before turning the key off. Or you could put an older distributor in it, an older carb, and do away with the ported vacuum and make them run as good as they did in the old days.

[tlake]

Originally Posted by olddog

The EPA was killing everyone with their demands in the mid to late 70's. No one was building a good running engine. I felt the lean burns were better than the rest. The biggest problem was the plastic caps wouldn't allow you to adjust the idle jets. You just had to drill or break them off, and it would run pretty good, once you richened it up a bit.

Ford was putting out 429 and 460 engines that needed 91 octane to keep from pinging to death. Absolutely no power and they sucked down fuel like it was free. All this while that idiot Jimmy Carter was lowering the speed limit to 55 MPH and putting a wind fall profit tax to prevent drilling oil wells in the US. Ford went with the ported vacuum same as GM but they didn't diesel when you tried to shut them off.

GM had to retard timing so much to get the emissions cleaned up that the heads acted like glow plugs. You turned the key off and the engine kept running like a diesel. A friend was so ticked off by it, he would just let it sit and diesel until it died. We used to time it and take bets on how long it would run. I think it hit 5 minutes one hot day. Most people put them in gear before turning the key off. Or you could put an older distributor in it, an older carb, and do away with the ported vacuum and make them run as good as they did in the old days.

GM's ESC engines were slightly later, but were more responsive. The trouble was they were only fitted to the small V8s that were left like the 301 and 305, but they ran better than things the late Ford 460s. The W72 400s Pontiac was fitting to the Trans Am and the 1977 Can Am were strong engines, and the Corvette's L82 350 of the late '70s weren't bad either. There were a few good 49 state engines around, but you had to look.







RX-7 & Cosmo

[3boystoys]

Nothing good from about 1973 to 1986 from anybody, by the time GM went to port injection, things started getting better.

[tlake]

1972-74 401-XR Gremlin and SD455 T/A are two cars that could match a COPO Camaro, and they didn't need 100+ octane gas to do it.





SD455

[seo24]

I'm delighted in riding 80's-90's car because its easier to drive.

[tlake]

Originally Posted by seo24

I'm delighted in riding 80's-90's car because its easier to drive.

'80s tech had some bright moments. If the GLHS (Goes Like Hell Some More) was good enough for Mr. Shelby, it's good enough for me.

[3boystoys]

Ever DRIVE one?-they were TURDS.