Last summer, after 7 years, I finally had the bugs worked out, or so I thought. It ran reliably and with the right tires, it could slam me in the back when it took off. But I rarely ran it that way.
the most fun was just chugging down the road enjoying people’s reaction to it, (it does one’s ego wonders). Gas was cheaper but even so 15mpg was annoying but hugely better than 3.5mpg when I first ran it. To get better mpg I had to change to a different 4 cylinder engine (an elderly inboard boat motor) and as a side benefit its power tripled. The engine hydrolocked and on starting last fall, burst, splitting the entire length of one cylinder. The engine needed another block but the few available were beyond boring and could not be sleeved. So I found another 4 cylinder boat engine, (33% smaller at 2.5 liters) and in spite of internal rust could be sleeved and bored. It should be running this summer and will get better gas mileage. The speed this car attained was so far in excess of its safe handling speed that perhaps a smaller engine is warranted, but I found(and bought) a replacement for its larger engine last week.
